Dr. Lorrah has set up an Internet forum in Blackboard for students taking her sections of Humanities 212. The purpose of the forum is to promote discussion among students--not just within but also between class sections. Students in Dr. Lorrah's sections are required to participate, and receive credit for doing so.
Credit for forum participation.
Posting messages to the forum.
A forum is a site on the Internet where you can post messages for everyone with access (in this case Dr. Lorrah's Humanities students) to read and respond to. When you post a message to the forum, everyone with access to the site can read it and respond to it, or begin a new "thread," cyberspeak for "topic" on listservs and forums.
On a forum, you can easily carry on interesting conversations between a large number and variety of people. Even better, though, is the fact that you control when you read and respond to the conversation--you can do it whenever you have time to access the WorldWideWeb, whether it's just before class or at 3:00 in the morning.
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To participate, all you need is Internet access and a web browser. You can participate from anywhere in the world that you have Internet access. Computer labs all over campus provide such access to students who do not have their own. If the labs in Faculty Hall are not available at times convenient for you, check other buildings--there are labs open to students in all classroom buildings, and each one is open at different times. Pick the one most convenient for you.
To enter Blackboard, go to the entry page and then log on. Your ID is your first initial plus the last four digits of your social security number, all run together, like this: jdoe4567. The first time you log on, use the last four digits of your social security number as your password. Once you are in, look for the tools to allow you to change your password. BE SURE TO CREATE A PASSWORD THAT YOU CAN REMEMBER. Good passwords are things like the very first phone number you memorized as a child (provided that's not still your phone number!), a pet's name with one letter changed to a number, like Fr1sky, or something similar. You can use the same password that you use for your e-mail. The important thing is to be able to remember it!
Click here to enter Blackboard. Under "My Courses," choose Humanities 212, and then click on "Discussion Boards" on the left to enter the Forum.
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Dr. Lorrah will give a student five (5) points for each substantive message posted to the forum, up to a total of ten (10) points per week and a maximum of one hundred (100) points for the semester. You cannot suddenly load up on forum points at the end of the semester; if you begin contributing when there are only five weeks left in the semester, the maximum number of points you can earn is fifty (50).
Substantive messages are messages that make a contribution to an ongoing discussion or that start a discussion. These messages needn't be very long--around a full screen of text would be a good rule of thumb--but they must make an intelligent and well-considered contribution to the list. Posts saying nothing but "Me too," or "I agree," or filling space by copying what someone else said and adding only a line or two do not count. Your screen of text must be in addition to anything you quote from another student's post.
If you post anonymously, or under a "handle" or "nickname," your instructor cannot give you credit. Use the same name you use in class.
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Make sure to post to the correct thread if you are responding to previous messages.
If you want to start a new topic, be sure to start a new thread.
Avoid sending messages more than once by refreshing the page ("Refresh" button on browser) before assuming that your message didn't post.
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Sometimes you'll want to say something privately to a person who posts a message to the forum. If you don't know that person's e-mail address, you may post yours and ask that person to contact you.
You don't need an e-mail account to participate in the forum, but you need to have an active one to receive class e-mail. Murray provides free e-mail accounts for all of its students. Yours is firstname.lastname@murraystate.edu, and your original password is the last four digits of your social security number. You can use it as a webmail account by going to webmail.murraystate.edu. Activate your account, and then immediately change the password to something you can easily remember (see above).
If your e-mail won't work, call the Help Desk at 2346. You can use any networked campus computer lab to read and write e-mail, and it is an excellent way to communicate with your instructors.
Check to see that your e-mail address is correct in Blackboard. If you do not regularly check your Murray State e-mail (you should, as that is where the university sends messages to all students), change it to an e-mail address that you check regularly.
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Remember that posting a message to the forum is like speaking in public--anyone with access to that page can hear you. So be as polite as you would be if you were speaking in class.
Before shooting off a message that just says "All right," "No way," or "You said it," add your own considered thought on the subject. So-called "me too" messages do not receive credit, nor do flames.
Think before you post anything that could be taken as an insult to another class member. There is no "tone of voice" here--heavy sarcasm is offensive to many people. Hate messages will not be tolerated.
Finally, restrict your discussion to the literature and philosophy you're reading this semester in Humanities 212. If you want to talk about movies, politics, or your plans for vacation, please do so by private e-mail--not on the list.
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