ALS 3203 Online
"PC Use in Agriculture"
Spring 2009
For All
Course Section(s) (3 credits)
NOTE:
If youhave signed up for the class list_serv, you may start the lessons.
You should sign up for the class
list-serv by the end of the first week of classes,
and gotten a gator link email
account.
Due to the large number of enrolled students it is not feasible to continue to
post repeated emails for those that have not signed up in time
by the end of the first week of classes. I normally do not post
the first lessons until the beginning of the second week of classes,
because all student have not signed up for the list-serv as
directed. However, there are many students eager to get started, so go ahead. I will post the first class list_serv message at the end of this week.
Course
content has been designed for remote online(non-classroom) delivery
and participation. Course topics and content emphasis are chosen
by me. This
is NOT a Web CT course. Participants will have access
to student questions and responses posted on our class List-Serv pages. The first thing you must do
is to subscribe to our list-serv. Also, please obtain a gator link
email account. You must sign up to the class list-serv with
your gator link email account.
You may register for the list-serv with more than one email account,
however, but at least one
must be a gator link account. Once you have
done this you must maintain the same email account(s) that you
used to subscribe to the list-serv. This guarantees that whenever
I post announcements to the class list-serv you will receive them.
DO NOT LET YOUR EMAIL ACCOUNT EXPIRE while you are taking this
class. DO NOT LET YOUR EMAIL MAILBOX FILL UP SO YOU CAN'T RECEIVE
MY MESSAGES! Please Note:With course delivery completely online
there are likely to be problems. You are encouraged to immediately email me with conflicts, noting any error
messages.
Note -
A Personal Computer (IBM PC or MacIntosh) is Required to participate in this
course!!
There is no required
text but YOU MUST HAVE A PERSONAL COMPUTER to take this course.
You also should have one of the Office Suites (MS OFFICE or COREL WORDPERFECT)
which contain a full-featured word processing application and a spreadsheet
program.There is a freeware package called Open Office that
may be downloaded by you. This download may be found at their download
site. You are free to use that package of applications, but be aware
that the download is 90MB and will take forever unless you have a high
speed connection. View the University
Computer and Software Requirements for all students if you are
not clear about what you should have for this class. DO NOT RELY ON MICROSOFT
WORKS FOR
ASSIGNMENTS REQUIRING SPREADSHEETS AND WORD PROCESSING! It
does not have all of the features that are necessary to satisfactorily
complete assignments near the end of the course. Several early exercises
are designed for PC users. If
you take this class and will be using a MacIntosh, please notify the instructor
so arrangements can be made to modify lesson requirements.
In spite of what some may think, command line exercises may now be completed
on Apple computers as well as IBM PC's. Also, many new computers do not
ship with a floppy-drive. If this is the case, also notify me so I can
adjust the lesson requirements.
Online
Exercises
Some people may try to
answer exams under a false name or ID to see the
questions, then return to the exam later. If you are detected
doing this, I will do two things. First, you will receive a failing
grade in the class, and second, you will be reported to the University
Honor committee for further action. This is a warning. Cheating
will not be tolerated!
Course materials
will be formally posted and announced via the list-serv, after the
first week of classes, by January 9, 2009.
This class, while online, will not be a 24/7 email response, nor
should you plan weekend email replies. I do check email occasionally
on weekends, but do not count on it.
You may proceed with lessons as they are posted, and announced. Each lesson should be completed at the rate of
approximately one per week. Those that wish to work ahead may do
so at their own pace. I will announce any changes with the schedule
or discuss problems encountered by the class via the list-serv.
The first 4 lessons deal
with some basic computer skills that many find confusing and perhaps
archaic. Not all lessons require you to submit work. Occasionally
there are tasks that you may not be able to complete due to the
type of computer configuration you have. You are never penalized
for technical limitations of your system. The emphasis of this
course is to introduce you to a variety of computer challenges
to help you learn some basic computer skills. As stated throughout
the course, there is no penalty for making mistakes. This means
that you will receive full credit for a lesson if you complete
the lesson according to directions, even though you may not complete
all tasks without making errors. You cannot learn new computer
skills without making errors, and I believe that you should not
be penalized for trying. If you fear a penalty if you make a mistake,
your willingness to try new things will diminish. Therefore, do
the best you can on each lesson, follow directions, and you will
do well in this class.
The use of a few command
line procedures seems unnecessary to many with the advent of the
Windows and Mac GUI interface. However, there are still situations
where the ability to use the command line may be faster and more
effective than the graphical interface. This is especially true
when outputting folder filenames content to a text file, or sending
a directory listing to a printer.
PASSING THIS COURSE: In order to receive a passing grade in this course you must;
- complete all assignments
- submit a single certificate of completion for each lesson (when you have completed it),
- submit two text files listing the content of your als3203 folder,
- submit a final zipped file of your als3203 folder which contains all of the work you have done for the semester.
NOTE: Lesson 2 will be made available FRIDAY, 16 January!
Basic Computer Skills - |lesson
1 | lesson
2 | lesson 3| lesson
4|
Web Pages - |lesson
5| |lesson
6| |lesson 7| |lesson
8 |
Word Processing -|
lesson 9 |
Spreadsheets - |lesson
10| |lesson
11|
Desktop Publishing - |lesson
12|
When you have finished lesson 12, send me a final directory listing
of your ALS 3203 folder. You will then have completed everything
for the class! !
© P. M. Choate | Email
instructor
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