INTRODUCTION

Lesson 00: Course Orientation

Contents

FIN 301: Corporation Finance

CLICK TO RETURN TO ANGEL LESSONS

Lesson 00: Course Orientation

Introduction

Welcome to FIN 301! To get started with your new course, I’d like you to spend the some time getting used to the online environment. This orientation lesson prepares you for working through the content and gives you the opportunity to practice using the course tools. Although none of the activities in this lesson will be graded, you are required to complete them. At the end of this orientation you will be able to:

  • complete      an academic integrity survey;
  • communicate      with the instructor and the class through the course e-mail.
  • explain      what each link on the course menu accesses.

The Course Menu: Syllabus

Let’s begin the orientation with a discussion of the course menu. The course menu is the list of links on the left-hand side of the page. The links allow you to navigate from the home page to the lessons to the course tools such as the discussion forums, drop boxes, and e-mail. The next few pages in this lesson will go over the links in the course menu. You’ve already seen the Course Home Page and the Lessons links since you are in a lesson now. The next item on the course menu that we’ll discuss is the Syllabus link. This is probably the most important document for your overall management of the course.

In the course syllabus, you’ll see two printer-friendly version links. The first link is at the beginning of the syllabus and selecting this link will open a version of the entire syllabus that is formatted for printing. The second printer-friendly version link is right before the schedule part of the syllabus. Selecting this link will open a version of the schedule that is formatted for printing.

Click on the Syllabus   link in the left-hand menu and spend some time reviewing each section,   especially the schedule. Be sure to check out both printer-friendly version   links.Faculty will inform   you if any changes occur in the syllabus. After viewing the Syllabus, you may   return to this part of the lesson using the “BACK” key on your browser.

The Course Menu: What’s New

Now that you have completed your review of the syllabus link in the course menu, here is a brief explanation of the next link: What’s New.

The What’s New link let’s you see new items in the course. The items may be unread discussion forum postings and new e-mail.

Clicking on the What’s   New link opens a new window with tasks that need your attention.

Click on the What’s     New link in the left-hand menu. After viewing What’s New, close the new     window and continue with this lesson.

 

As you begin sending e-mail, posting to discussion forums, and submitting to drop boxes, you should see the list of new items changing.

The Course Menu: Activities

The Activities link accesses discussion forums, drop boxes, documents, quizzes, and other course-related materials. In other words, this link accesses most of the tools that you will use to complete and submit assignments.

Once you click on the Activities link, a new window will open containing a list of lesson folders, private team discussion forums, and top-level links. The lesson folders contain lesson specific discussion forums, drop boxes, quizzes, and other files. The top-level links that are not within the folders are usually course-related rather than lesson-related.

On the last page of each lesson, there are icons that relate to the discussion forums, written assignments, and other course activities. These are placed on the assignment pages to help you scan the page and quickly see that you are required to submit or post something. The icons are as follows:

Written Assignment

Group or Team Assignment

Discussion Forum

Quiz or Exam Assessment

Note: When you see one of these icons on a lesson page, you will need to access the corresponding activity to complete an assignment. Drop boxes, discussion forums, and quizzes can be accessed through direct links found in the lesson pages and through the course menu. To find these items through the course menu, select the Activities link and then select, the appropriate lesson folder.

Your postings to discussion forums may be quite lengthy. In these cases you may want to write the text of the message in a Word document and then, copy and paste it to the discussion forum. This will prevent you from losing information due to a lost network connection. You may want to go a step further and save the Word document as this will prevent losing information due to a computer crash.

Click on the Activities   link in the course menu and spend some time checking out how the folders are   organized. Also, look at the different types of tools that are available.   After going through the tools, you may return to this part of the lesson by   closing the new window.

The Course Menu: Communicate

The Communicate link opens a new window with tools to read and send email, forward discussion forum posts to an email account, see the class roster, and store team files. See Figure 1.3

Email

To quickly send course mail, click on the Quick Message link and then, click on the To button. Click on one of the Quick Search links to access a list users. Check the boxes in front of the people you want to email and then click on either To, Cc, or Bcc to add them to the correct text field. When you are done adding users, click on the OK button. Fill in the fields for Subject and Message, and then, click on the Send button. If you want to add an attachment, click on the Attach Files link and browse to the file on your computer before clicking on Send.

To quickly access any unread email messages, click on the link under Unread Messages. To view, read, and compose messages, click on the View Box link. If you’re enrolled in multiple courses, use the drop-down box under Source Filter to view the email in your other courses.

It is important to note that ANGEL email is different from your regular Penn State email. ANGEL email allows you to communicate with your peers and instructor within your courses.  However, ANGEL email can only be accessed from the course. Email sent in ANGEL stays in ANGEL and responses to ANGEL email stay in ANGEL. This keeps all course communications in one site.

Course Roster

You can see all of the students who are enrolled in the course by clicking on the Course Roster link. Entries are listed by last name with faculty names appearing before student names. Each entry shows the name of the individual and his or her role in the course. You may also see an email address and a link to a user profile if the person has made them viewable.

Discussion Forums

The discussion forums you see under Communicate are the same ones you see in the folders under the Activities link. However, the view under the Communicate link displays them in alphabetical order for easy searching.

Click on the Communicate   link in the course menu and spend some time making sure you understand   how the email tool works. Also, look at the course roster to see the names of   your classmates. You may return to this part of the lesson by closing the new   window.

The Course Menu: Student Resources

Selecting the Student Resources link opens a new window with access to the Penn State Library Tools. This course does not have Library Reserves so that link will not be active.

Another item that may be found under Student Resources is Courses Resources. You’ll find links to Web sites that relate to the course content under Course Resources.

Before you can use   the library’s online resources, students must be registered with the library   as a distance learner. You must register at this Web site: https://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/secure/forms/lendingforms/distanceregistration.html   (Note: This link will open a new browser window with the registration form at   the bottom of the window.)

After you have   submitted this registration form, it may take a few days to be added to the   system. You will receive a confirmation e-mail that the library received your   form, but there may be a delay before you can access library resources. You   only need to register one time. After you register (it should only take a   couple of minutes), close the new window to return to the orientation.

 

The Course Menu: Reports

The Reports link opens in a new window and provides tools to help you track your course progress, grades, and more. It is divided into two tabs, Report Settings and Saved Reports.

Report Settings allows you to create reports and save the configurations of reports you’ll want to visit often throughout the course. Use the drop-down boxes under Categories and Report to select the information you want to capture in your report. Use the Configure Report option to define a set of dates for the information and then, select the report view. Finally, select one of the buttons (Run, Print Preview, etc.) to generate the report.

The Saved Reports tab allows you to access any reports that you’ve saved.

The Course Menu: Additional Links

There are a few more links in the course menu. They are as follows:

  • Getting      Help – Getting help is the online help for the course.      You’ll see links to the Outreach Help Desk and Adult Learner Enrollment      Services. You will find the Help Desk a fantastic resource so become      familiar with the Help Desk contact information.
  • Switch      Course – Clicking on this link will take you back to your      Angel profile page where you can log into another course.
  • Log Out – This      will log you out of Angel.

Academic Integrity and College Contacts

The World Campus is committed to maintaining academic integrity in this and all other courses it offers. The World Campus, the academic unit that is the home of each course, the course instructor, and exam proctors take academic integrity matters seriously.

Academic integrity–scholarship free of fraud and deception–is an important educational objective of Penn State. Academic dishonesty can lead to a failing grade or referral to the Office of Student Conduct.

Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to:

  • cheating
  • plagiarism
  • fabrication      of information or citations
  • facilitating      acts of academic dishonesty by others
  • unauthorized      prior possession of examinations
  • submitting      the work of another person or work previously used without informing the      instructor and securing written approval
  • tampering      with the academic work of other students

In cases where academic integrity is questioned, Penn State’s policy on academic integrity requires that the instructor give the student notice of the charge as well as the recommended sanction.  Procedures allow the student to accept or contest the charge through discussions with the instructor. If a student chooses to contest, the case will then be managed by the respective College or Campus Academic Integrity Committee. If a disciplinary sanction also is recommended, the case will be referred to the Office of Student Conduct.

All Penn State colleges abide by this Penn State policy, but review procedures vary by college when academic dishonesty is suspected. Information about Penn State’s academic integrity policy and college review procedures is included in the information students receive upon enrolling in a course. For that information in advance of enrolling in a course, please let me know.

Additionally, students enrolled at Penn State via the World Campus are expected to act with civility and personal integrity; respect other students’ dignity, rights, and property; and help create and maintain an environment in which all can succeed through the fruits of their own efforts. An environment of academic integrity is requisite to respect for self and others, and a civil community.

For more information on academic integrity at Penn State, please see the Academic Integrity Chart for specific college contact information or visit one of the following URLs:
www.psu.edu/dept/oue/aappm/G-9.html
www.sa.psu.edu/ja/

To indicate that you agree with the University’s policy on Academic Integrity and Plagiarism, you are required to complete and submit the Academic Integrity Form.

Activity: Course Introductions

The following activity will give you the opportunity to practice using one of the course tools. If you have any technical problems, please contact the PSU WS IT Dept. (always use menu selection #4 if calling the Help Desk).

Email Practice

Email the other members of the cohort through the course email system. To access the email tool, select the Communicate link in the course menu. Then select Quick Message.

  1. Click on the To button.
  2. Check the box next to All Course Individuals and then click on the To button.
  3. Click on the OK button.
  4. Put your name in the Subject Box.
  5. In the Message Box, greet your colleagues, tell them your name, and tell them where you live. Then, tell them what the expected temperature and precipitation for the day is in your home town. Then, click on the Send button.

Note: You can ask the instructor questions at any time using the course email. You can also communicate with the instructor using the Ask the Instructor discussion forum which you can access through the Activities link in the course menu. Use course email if the question is private, and use the Ask the Instructor discussion forum if the answer to the question is public, especially if the answer to the question will benefit the entire class.

You have now reached the end of the Course Orientation. You should now be familiar with the online course environment. To go to Lesson 1, you can either click on Lessons in the course menu or click on Contents at the top or bottom of the page. Then, click on Lesson 1: Understanding Yourself.

CLICK TO RETURN TO ANGEL LESSONS

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Hello world!

Welcome to Sites At Penn State. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment