30th August, Monday: Welcome info + Links

Good morning, everyone! Welcome to the lab, or, if you are a returning student, welcome back.

Taking classes online is a learning curve for all of us. I appreciate your efforts and your patience.

Please read through this post and its links carefully as it contains everything you need for your time in lab class. Remember, this site is the primary location for your course material and for updates from me, so please bookmark it and take time to familiarize yourself with it.

Please note that, as covered in your welcome documents found on the tab "The Lab", there are multiple courses running simultaneously each week in the lab. I will do my best to reduce confusion. Your course material and relevant meetings will be labeled with your course code. Meetings specific for your course will be in the course channels on Teams. If you have not joined my Teams classroom, please do so by clicking here. If you are asked for a code, use uz8or6x. Note you need to use your college email account to access full functionality. Once you are a member of the Team, the meetings scheduled for the week will show on your Calendar. Please use the Meetings page for direct links to all scheduled meetings. I have added all of you using your school credentials (5042******@vacc.college). Let me know immediately if you cannot access Teams or your student account. Please be aware that, with all the updates and changes to college accounts, softwares, etc, some items on this site may be out of date. If you are ever unsure, please email me or message me on Teams. You can assume that this blog will be the most up-to-date information available.

Today's schedule 8.30am - 9am: attendance and announcements meeting - all students independant and small group learning time: study group links

*Career and Employment (CES)

*Excel

*Intro to Computers (ITC)

*Word 11am - noon: office hour - optional, drop-ins noon - end of class - send progress email 4pm – deadline for extensions granted last week

Today, I will be marking last week's coursework and submitting those grades for approval on ECampus. Please reach out if you received an extension and require further accommodation. I will update this blog as marks go live.

Please follow the instructions below and come prepared with your questions. The structure is typically as follows: I go through any important announcements, take attendance, then answer your questions from the chat, then open it up to conversation. Okay, so what do you do until 8.30? Well -

If you are new:

1. watch the four welcome/tour videos on the Lectures tab: https://caitlinbaird1.wixsite.com/thelab/lectures

2. read through the welcome documents on the tab "The Lab" including your Daily Schedule and Lab Policies: https://caitlinbaird1.wixsite.com/thelab/the-lab

3. sign in on ECampus for attendance, as per the instructions linked in number 2 above.

4. check out the FAQs for lab courses: https://caitlinbaird1.wixsite.com/thelab/blog/categories/faqs

Some important terms:

• ECampus = MyCampus = your college LMS

• the lab site = this green site

• Courses page(s) = on this site, click Courses > your course

• a tab = a page on this site accessible from the green menu (Welcome, The Lab, ...)

• program = the subject you are studying at college, the name of the qualification you will receive – examples: ECE, EA, APA, SSW

• course = a class, part of your program – examples: CES, ITC, OSK

BC-PRD students, please read this post: https://caitlinbaird1.wixsite.com/thelab/post/important-re-bc-prd-bc-orient-bc-itc-bc-ea-itc

Everyone:

1. watch the "Monday" video on the Lectures tab, paying attention to your own course

2. come to the 8.30 meeting prepared with your questions

3. make note of all scheduled meetings for your course as per the Meetings page:

4. click "Courses" at the top of this page and select your course from the menu. Watch the video labelled "Tour: *Course Resources" - these are sometimes at the bottom of the page, so scroll down - and/or read the embedded course outline

5. check out other videos on the Lectures tab as appropriate - these are labeled per course

6. make sure you're up to date with information posted on this tab, Announcements

7. if you haven't yet, read through the FAQs: https://caitlinbaird1.wixsite.com/thelab/blog/categories/faqs

If you are returning:

1. if you finished a course last week, fill out the Feedback form: https://caitlinbaird1.wixsite.com/thelab/feedback

2. continue as usual if you're in a two-week course

Overview by course:

CES: Pass/fail, one week. We will be creating a resume and cover letter, as well as activities for finding ads, applying, and interviewing for jobs. This course is heavily based on participation and has daily assignments. Access the Courses page on this site for Career and Employment. At the top of the page is a link to the DropBox. Please access the DropBox today and read through the instructional documents in the main folder. Throughout the week, you will submit daily documents via email which I will upload into the DropBox so that you can provide each other with feedback. Keeping this in mind, please do not include any personal information (example, phone number) that you are uncomfortable sharing with your classmates. For more detail, please read this post. Also on your Courses page, please watch the videos CES assignments per day and Notes on CES. As well as the resources on your Courses page, please read through the CES tag on this blog: https://caitlinbaird1.wixsite.com/thelab/blog/categories/ces I will be referencing particular posts throughout the week and in the below instructions for today. Your first assignment is the "master ad." This is an in-class exercise. You are to find ads for jobs in your chosen field, then use the key information to create a document which contains all of the most common and best-phrased parts of the ads. Sometimes people prefer to think of this as a "Franken-ad" or a "super ad." There is a document in the DropBox which goes over the exercise in more detail, including some examples. Make sure you've read this document through. I also suggest you utilize the NOC code for your profession as a guideline. This activity does not require references/citations, fancy formatting, or paraphrasing - copy+paste is totally acceptable here as we will use this "ad" as notes and criteria for application content. I want your master ad submitted via email by the end of class today. Using the study group, you may work with peers, particularly if they are entering the same field. If you finish the master ad exercise early, go back to your Courses page to begin tomorrow's work. Watch the video Cover Letter Guide (scroll down); this corresponds to a document in the DropBox. Use this to write a cover letter for your field. Supplement the Guide with the videos on the Courses page, the documents in the DropBox, and my written advice on the blog (advice for students changing or starting new careers; top tips etc; my most common feedback). Respond to your master ad with your content. Note: please read the article on patchwriting; my integrity policies are very strict. Don't worry about making it perfect, just authentic to you - we will be doing several rounds of editing to make sure your best traits are well communicated. Submit your cover letter draft tomorrow by the end of class, alongside an up-to-date resume. See here for submission guidelines. Please ensure your VaCC education is listed. ITC: Percentage grade, two weeks. Please download the document from your Courses page called "Suggested Daily Schedule" - this lists which resources to access each day of the course.

Please read through the course outline on your Courses page and the FAQ post; let me know if you have any further questions via email or chat.

Use the study group to track your attendance and work with your peers. To study for your tests, download the study guides from your Courses page on this site. There is one for each of your two exams. Find the answers in the downloadable PDFs and the corresponding talkthrough videos. As you progress through the chapters, write down your questions. We will have a review meeting Thursday. Please also email me any lecture requests for topics on which you would like further elaboration. The PDFs also have helpful information for your assignments. Instructions are on ECampus under "Assignments." You have the freedom to do your three assignments in any order, so I suggest starting with the program(s) with which you are most familiar (usually Word). Please note I have a full walkthrough of the Excel assignment (Assignment 2, Case Study 2) and many, many example assignments available on the lab site on the Courses pages for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. For the Word (Assignment 1, Case Study 1 or 2) and PowerPoint (Assignment 3, Case Study 1, 2, or 3) assignments I have demo videos which show how to perform all the functions listed as criteria. ITC week two: Continue with assignments. Begin Study Guide 2. KBD: Percentage grade, one week in class, flexible extensions; 60% passing minimum, which is a minimum of 30WPM adjusted for errors. You will record your exam speeds on a Tracker Form available to download from your Courses page. Please see your Courses page for a more detailed outline including grading information, links, resources, and instructions. This is a pretty chill course - you are only being graded on your final typing scores. The rest of the week is yours to schedule for practice using the linked resources.

MSE, MSP, MSW: Percentage grade, two weeks. Start with the videos "How to get started with Pearson courses" and "How to check your grades in Pearson" on the Lectures page. Note: I have already activated the new Pearson courses; you should gain access after attendance. Especially if you have not taken a course using Pearson before, please read through some of the resources on the Pearson FAQ tag prioritizing the Glossary, the Pearson and Office FAQs, and How to turn on pop-ups for the simulation activities. Until you have access, look through the resources compiled on your Courses page. I have demos from YouTube as well as walkthroughs of many of your assignments.

Use the study group to track attendance and work with your peers. IMPORTANT: note that MSE and MSP cover four chapters and therefore have four assignments and four tests which are for marks; MSW only covers three chapters and therefore has three assignments and three tests. If you are taking MSW and you are not familiar with PowerPoint, please begin at Module 2. If you are familiar with PowerPoint, Module 1 explores their common features. This module is not for marks and is optional. MSE and MSP start at Module 1.

See you at 8.30 for the attendance meeting.