• Director's Note
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Director's Notes

Welcome to your second week at the Institute. I hope your first week was active, pleasant yet somewhat quiet. It might be your last week of that for a while:-)

Many of you have done a great job of getting your many tasks as well as course assignments completed this week. The first week of an online class is always difficult because of the need for orienting yourself to the layout of the course in addition to familiarizing yourself with course assignments and requirements. Given this, I think most of you are making good progress.

From my experience this past week, I am issuing the following reminders:

• Please be sure to include your first and last name along with the course you are in (EDF 6218) in ALL emails you send to me. I have many students in several courses. Many of you have the same first name and some have the same last name. Your email address does not always identify clearly who you are. If you want me to respond to you in a speedy manner this is the best way for me to be able to answer any question or check on anything. I wish I knew who everyone was by simply looking at the email address it came from but this is not going to happen the first weeks of class. To be safe, so I know who it came from, SIGN YOUR EMAIL!
• Remember that when you send a note to the listserv it goes to EVERYONE. If you are reading a message sent to the listserv and you hit the reply button to answer someone's question then remember that this goes to everyone on the list. If you want to answer specifically to someone then you will need to send them an individual email - do not hit reply - (Another good reason to include your name and email address in all communication)
• When you send a message to the listserv, everyone else will get it but you will not. The listserv assumes you don't need it since you sent it. If you want to save a copy, carbon copy yourself or use your email settings to save it for you. There are also directions you can follow to set your personal settings to receive the mail you send if you choose to do that.
• Any technical difficulties should be directed to the Mentor - Melissa. Feel free to copy me on it but I will generally let her assist you on technical matters.

I am looking forward to getting to know everyone through the icebreaker threaded discussion. I have read many of the posts and see that we have a varied group of people which always makes for lively discussion and a good course. Several of you have gotten the idea of replying to those who reply to you - kudos to you. Everyone should continue to spend time this week reading others' posts and replying to them as well as others who have replied to you. I have already received many pretests. I will read these and provide feedback this week.

Progress Reports

Check out the Week 1 checklist. Normally, this will not be posted until Friday each week, but the first few weeks I will try to have it up early so you can use it to check your status. I know some of you are completing assignments as I am writing this so please do not be alarmed if you have a blank. I will update it on Friday so you can see if I received your assignments or not. If there is a blank in any box beside your number then that means I have either not yet assessed that assignment or have yet to enter it into the gradebook so there is no reason to email me or Melissa in a state of worry. On Friday, that blank will either turn into a "0", a "L", or a "X". A "0" if your assignment is not completed, a "L" if completed but turned in after 5 PM on Tuesday (today), or an "X" if turned in on time. At any time, if you have questions about the checklists then email Melissa so she can follow up with you.

This week you will be replying to your classmates' posts. If you have not read the requirements for threaded discussions (in the week 1 instruction), make sure that you do so. To clarify the requirements, you are to respond to 3 original posts, as well as to your classmates' replies to your original posts. Make sure that you recognize the difference between an original post, a reply to an original post, and a reply.

This week things will begin to get busy. We have 2 chapters this week and a quick glance at the schedule will tell you that we almost always cover multiple chapters each week. This is generally due to the need for you to gain all the information possible early in the semester so that you can apply them in producing your final application oriented products for this course.

Quizzes

This week will be the first of many in which you will be required to login to the eLearning system and take graded quizzes. Please note that your average of these quizzes is calculated as 15% of your final grade in this course. Please be sure to run a system check (you will see the link listed on the main page of the elearning system where you log in) on your computer prior to using the system to minimize any technical glitches you may have when completing quizzes. All quizzes will be timed. The time limit will be set according to the length of the quiz and types of items included. This means that one week you may have 60 minutes while another week you may have 120 minutes. When each quiz is introduced in a session I will also indicate the time allotted for the quiz. This first week I am allotting some extra time for quizzes to give you a chance to get oriented and comfortable with the system. Once you log in to a quiz there will be a clock for you to monitor your remaining time. There is also a 5 minute grace period for that last save or click on the submit button. The quizzes will be turned off at 5 PM on the day they are due. No late quizzes will be accepted. Finally, I strongly suggest that you save your quiz/answers as you go - there is a save button at each question. There is also a save entire quiz option at the end of each quiz. To complete and submit your quiz you must click on the submit quiz button at the bottom. If you have technical questions about the quizzes within the elearning system then feel free to email Melissa.

PLEASE NOTE: You can view your score on the Quiz immediately upon completing the quiz but this score WILL NOT include any short answer or fill in the blank items items that I must hand grade prior to providing a final score. The week AFTER the quiz is due I review each student's quiz for partial credit and short answer items. This means that just as in a tradtional course you will not receive the final grade on your quiz until the week after you take the quiz. Correct answers will not be made available until the following week when everyone has taken the quiz and I have reviewed all quizzes.

Our objectives this week are to:

1. Overview the major projects/papers in the course.
2. Define theory, describe the process for building a theory, and discuss advantages and disadvantages of theories.
3. Distinguish between theory and principle
4. Define learning and compare and contrast different definitions.
5. Define epistemology and compare and contrast three main epistemological traditions from which most learning theory has developed
6. Begin to articulate your personal epistemological beliefs and a personal theory of learning and instruction
7. Discuss implications of brain neurophysiology for learning and instruction, including findings from brain research
8. Describe different brain structures and the development of the brain to include critical periods of development
9. Distinguish between experience-expectant and experience-dependent plasticity
   
   

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Materials

Each week this section will provide you with any necessary material that will be essential for you completing sessions.

Task #1:
If you have not yet joined the course listserv do so NOW. This is an important part of our communication to insure that you receive any current information about the course. The list being used for this course is called "web".  Instructions for subscribing to the list are provided for you to join the listserv for this course in the Conference Room. Additional information about other forms of communication, such as chat and threaded discussions are also there for you to read and review as necessary. Read and follow the directions for subscribing to the listserv for this course.

Task #2:
If you have not emailed me with your contact information and your preferred name please do so NOW! It is important that I am always able to get in touch with you when necessary. In most cases I will do this by email.

• Email your Director;
• Email the Mentor;
• Email other interns.
• Refer to the Course FAQ.