5th October, Wednesday

Caitlin Baird

Oct 5, 20225 min read

Today's meetings

8am - 8.30am: grace period; read daily post, watch videos, and generally prepare for day

8.30am - 9am: all students attendance and announcements meeting

~9am - noon: independant and small group learning time: course-specific study group links

Introduction to Computers (ITC)

10am: MSE review: ITC students welcome

10.30am: ITC quiz review & assignment discussion

11am - noon: office hour - optional, drop-ins

noon - end of class - send daily progress email

Progress email answers etc:

Yes, I am receiving your progress emails. I will address your questions etc below.
Please don't panic if you've forgotten to send progress emails. Try and remember going forward as it helps me help you.
If you would like to view the lab youtube channel, click here.
ITC: Yesterday, we went over your assignment criteria and examples.
ITC: If you are using the online software for Office, you are missing many features. Please download the full desktop app and sign in with your college credentials. It's free. If you are on a Chomebook, please discuss your options with me. If you are using a mobile device such as a tablet, again, please discuss with me. Click here for a list of the missing features cross-referenced with the assignment instructions.
ITC: We will be going over the quiz content today. Click here for the week 1 quiz study guide. Click here for week 2.
ITC: Please check the FAQs for other common questions about the course. We will discuss this during our review meeting at 10.30.

Reminders:

I have added a short survey to my Feedback tab asking for input on how easily you could access and utilize resources on the lab site. Please take a few minutes to fill it out - it's anonymous. I really appreciate your detailed responses.

If you are unable to access Teams features such as chat and private calls, please see my Teams resources here and join me in office hour for further assistance if needed.

If you would like a Keyboarding account to improve your speed and accuracy, let me know so I can create an account for you. The links etc are on the Keyboarding Courses page. Click "Typing Club" to get started - sign in with your personal email; leave the password space blank. If you requested an account in your progress email, your account is ready.

Reminder: send me daily progress emails. Click here for details.

Course-specific instructions:

B1075R

Continue with Daily Schedule.

CES

Please submit your cover letter and resume drafts if you have not already. Remember this course is pass/fail and based on participation/completion - if you have not sent your drafts, they are overdue. Everything I've received is in the DropBox for you. At 10am, you will be working with your peers to edit your work. Read through each cover letter and resume. Use the examples in the DropBox and resources on the Courses page to guide your feedback.

Read this post about how to workshop and watch the video. I will join you at 10 to help set you up and provide my own feedback.

If needed, watch the video on digital editing in Word and the video on resume formatting in Word.

With your classmates, if you haven't already, please watch the video Cover Letter Guide (on your Courses page) and read its corresponding document in the DropBox. Also read through the tips in this post and this post. Further resources are available in the DropBox and on your Courses page in both written and video formats; see the Suggested Daily Resource Schedule. Watching the videos will give you some perspectives from professionals on what to do or avoid. In particular, I like the advice from Dr Amina Yonis (at the very bottom of your Courses page).

ITC week 1

Today we will review for tomorrow's quizzes. Check the daily schedule for links.

As per the daily schedule, continue using the chapters (1-5: Windows and Office) linked on your Courses page to fill in your week 1 study guide.

If you haven't yet, download the Assignment instructions. Remember you can complete the three assignments in any order; they are due the final day of the course at 4pm. Use the walkthrough demo videos on your Courses page to complete the assignments.

ITC week 2

Continue with study guide 2 and your assignments. Check the blog for the bonus quiz study guide; the answers are embedded in the Talkthrough 6+7 and 8+9 videos. Remember there is a Review video on the Lectures tab which I will assign tomorrow for the final.

KBD

Continue with Typing Club and other practice. You do not need to complete all activities in Typing Club - start with the placement exam and then complete as many as you can - prioritize accuracy and the speed will come. I will check in with students achieving lower scores to discuss your extension options etc. (Minimum passing is 30WPM without errors; MLA is aiming for 50WPM.)

MSE, MSW, MSP, BCA

Continue with Pearson. Please join me in office hour if you have any activities for which you'd like to discuss the template grade so I can pull up your account and we can go through your file together. Remember the simulations are not for marks and are often fussy. If you are having trouble accessing Pearson, please send me a screenshot. You will have unlimited attempts for the simulations and five for graders/midterms/finals.

OSK week 1

Continue with your assignment booklet, downloadable from your Courses page. These are in-class exercises, and do not need to be as perfect as a project for which you are given more time. I suggest you begin filling in your study guide as you progress through the material, making notes of any questions or confusion. You can send these queries as emails, chat with me during office hours, and/or wait as we will discuss everything the Wednesday before your exam.

Remember you take the exam in your second week of OSK (so no exam review today). It's your choice whether you present in your first or second week, but typically students choose the penultimate day of class. First week comes with a 5% bonus.

Tomorrow, our check-in meeting's topic is up to you. Please discuss this amongst yourselves today and let me know via progress email so I can prepare any resources or demos.

OSK week 2

If you are presenting tomorrow, use today to finish your slides and practice. If you haven't already, check out some of the resources on the PowerPoint Courses page - particularly, there's a video called "How to avoid death by PowerPoint" which I strongly suggest. Remember the grading rubric is on your Courses page to download as is a video demo and example slides.

If you have already presented, focus on the study guides for Friday's exam. To fill them in, read through the PPT files on the OSK Courses page. If you need more information on a subject, refer to your textbook (upper right corner of your Course page on ECampus). Today and tomorrow, use the Practice Midterm and Practice Final to see what sort of mark you'll get on the exam; check your answers with the Review videos on the Lectures tab.

PSK

Continue with the Daily Schedule. You should be working with your teammate(s) on your presentation. Make sure to check out the presentation rubric. I will drop into each group's meeting today to check in.

The Lab at Vancouver Career College