Hello,

My name is Joe Escobar and I am your instructor for HST195 History of the Vietnam War at Lane Community College.  You are receiving this email because you have signed up for the course and you have wisely included your email address in your ExpressLane account information.

I wanted to contact you before the term started with some information relevant to this particular course.  

Top 5 things you should know before taking this online class.

#1 This is not an "independent study" type of course.  You will not "work at your own pace" but instead be held accountable to weekly deadlines.  You will be expected to login to the class website multiple times each week.  In addition, you may not "work ahead" and attempt to finish the course material ahead of schedule or in less than the 10 week duration of the term.

#2 No late work will be accepted in this class.  You will have regular deadlines each week, given well in advance. It is imperative that you complete and submit your work by each deadline. 

#3 Your midterm and final exams must be taken in a secured testing lab on LCC's Main Campus. This means you will need to come to campus at least two days during the term. (For those of you living outside of the Willamette Valley area, you will be required to make special arrangements for a testing proctor.  See the LCC Distance Learning website for more details.)

#4 One of your "textbooks" for this course is a video series that you must watch.  If you do not purchase the DVDs, you may watch the videos in the LCC library.  There are also 30 DVD sets and 20 VHS sets that may be checked out by students on a first-come, first-served basis.

#5 You will also be be responsible for viewing several more hours of web-based video; therefore, you must also be able to watch video on your computer over your internet connection.

You'll find much more information by reading the class website.  I highly recommend that you do.  I have provided some technical tasks, such as downloading and reading a pdf file and viewing a web video clip.  If you cannot successfully accomplish these tasks, then you should drop the class.

http://media.lanecc.edu/users/escobarj/lcc/HST_195.html

Well, that's all of the news I have for you now.  I look forward to meeting you online and working with you in just two short weeks from now.

Until then,

Joe Escobar
History Instructor
Lane Community College

P.S.  Feel free to contact me with questions before the term begins, but I ask that you use Moodle messaging (INSTEAD OF EMAIL) to do so.  Often, student emails get "caught" in LCC's spam filter.  I don't get the messages and can incorrectly be perceived as being unresponsive to students.  Moodle messages ALWAYS get to me, and I respond very quickly.  If you've never sent a Moodle message, watch the help video on the Moodle class website.