Page last updated: 4/23/08

Thank you for taking an interest in online History 1301, 1302, and Texas history.  This page should help you decide whether one of these classes is right for you.

BUT BEFORE YOU PROCEED,

  STOP HERE FOR JUST A MOMENT, PLEASE, AND READ THE INFORMATION BELOW. 

QUICK NOTES:

1.   There is no orientation for any section. 

2.   ALL EXAMS MUST BE TAKEN ON CAMPUS OR AT A VC TESTING CENTER (Gonzales and Port Lavaca).  There are no exceptions to this rule.  If you know you    CANNOT take exams on campus or at a VC center, these are not good classes for you.

Number of exams per class: History 1302 has five exams;

                                                      History 1301 has six exams.   

                                                      Texas History covers everything from prehistory to the modern age and has six. 

3.   All exams must be taken on the schedule established by the syllabus.  That means there are specific times during the year in which you must come on campus or to a VC testing center to take a test. 

4.   Three days are scheduled for each exam, and the centers have a list of times- morning through evening - when exams will be offered.  All exams are timed at 50 minutes.

5.   There are always three days available for each exam. 

6.   BEFORE YOU REGISTER FOR ONE OF THESE CLASSES, BE CERTAIN YOU WILL BE ABLE TO COME TO CAMPUS OR TO PORT LAVACA OR GONZALES TO TAKE THE TESTS.  DO NOT TAKE THESE CLASSES IF YOU CANNOT COME TO ONE OF THE TESTING CENTERS DURING THE SCHEDULED TEST TIMES.

IMPORTANT NOTE:  Starting in Summer, 2008 and from that point on, there will be NO makeups in online classes.

SPECIAL NOTES FOR SUMMER AND FASTTRACK CLASSES CAN BE FOUND AT THE END OF THIS PAGE.  POTENTIAL SUMMER/FASTTRACK STUDENTS, PLEASE READ.

THAT BEING SAID, HERE'S SOME INFORMATION ABOUT THESE CLASSES.

First, they're lecture classes that simulate the classroom experience as closely as possible. Like the students attending the live sections, you'll "meet" two times a week (more in the summer, of course) for about an hour and fifteen minutes to listen to lectures and take notes.  WHEN you listen to the lectures is entirely up to you.  Midnight?  Three am?  Two in the afternoon?  Nine-thirty in the morning?  The choice is yours.

All you have to do is get into the class, click on the calendar, then click the link for the lecture you want to hear.  The program will begin automatically .  The class uses Impatica to stream audio lectures with Powerpoint slides.  IMPORTANT NOTE:  VERY SLOW DIAL-UP connections will not work with this format.  If you are on a REALLY slow connection, you need to listen to the lectures on campus or in a library somewhere with a faster connection. 

HERE'S A LITTLE INFO ABOUT THE WORKLOAD.

The time spent in these classes is comparable to what on-campus students shoulder, though past online students have indicated they take up more time than their on-campus counterparts.  This is especially true if computer glitches take place or if the student has to replay sections of the lectures.  On the other hand, however, on-campus students only get to hear each lecture once.  Those taking these classes online have access to the lectures for the entire semester. 

You'll spend a lot of time taking notes.  In each class, you will have to read THREE BOOKS.  One is the textbook.  The others are MONOGRAPHS -- serious, non-fiction books about historical events.  In 1301, one of the books is on slavery.  In 1302, one of the books is a paratrooper's recollection of combat in WWII.  In Texas history, one book is about the vaqueros of the King and Kenedy ranches.

No matter if you're in 1301, 1302, or Texas history, you'll have to take several exams over the lectures and the textbook.  (These are heavily, though not exclusively, weighted in favor of the lectures.)  And you'll have to take TWO exams over the monographs - one exam for each book. 

All of the exams are multiple choice-true/false.  The book exams, in addition to multiple choice-true/false sections, have a writing component.

This class does not have a weekly or daily check-in requirement.  I can monitor how often you access the class, but you decide how often you log in and when you hear the lectures.   You are welcome to visit me during my office hours or e-mail if you have questions.  Online students are entitled to the same level of assistance and are offered the chance to attend all of the study sessions available to on-campus students.

Should you need to contact me for further information, my campus extension is 3245.  The campus phone number is 573-3291.  My e-mail address appears on the title page of this website.

All three courses will open on the first day of the semester.

NOTES FOR SUMMER/FASTTRACK STUDENTS:

Summer/fasttrack classes have an extremely fast pace.  There will be a test every week, and this class streams audio lectures (some of which last more than an hour) through your computer.  Expect to have to listen to one or two of these per day.  You also have the same amount of reading as the students in the regular semester.

My online sections seek to recreate the on-campus lecture environment, so you will listen to lectures every day.  That means there is very little room for technological glitches. 

BE CERTAIN, therefore, that you have a computer capable of streaming audio and pictures for lengthy periods of time.  If your computer is prone to lock-ups, glitches, is quirky, cannot handle large audio files, or does not have a good connection to the Internet, you may have serious download problems. 

If you know your computer is slow and often glitches with audio files, you may want to think about using a different computer or connection for this class.  You do not want to get into a situation where you can't play large sections of lectures or in which a test is coming, but you've only managed to hear to sections of lectures.