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Writing
Lab:
The COS Writing Lab "www.siskiyous.edu/writinglab/"
page offers MLA guides and general information needed to do research.
Counseling
Help: If
you would like to have help in selecting the course best suited for you, or
if you would like to have help in formulating an educational plan anytime
during the semester, you can receive online counseling by e-mailing counselingservices@siskiyous.edu
. If you want general information on advising, tranferring, or careers, visit
the COS Counseling Office site.
Doing
Research:
You should plan on using the COS Library's On-line resources below:
NewsBank
NewsFile provides full-test articles covering social, economic, environmental,
government, sports, health and science issues and events from more than 500 U.S.
regional and
national newspapers, wire services, and broadcasts. A College of the
Siskiyous library card is required to access the database from off-campus.
After clicking on the above link, enter the first five numbers of your
library card barcode as both a Username and Password.
EBSCOhost link
provides an index and abstracts for more than 3,000 periodicals. Provides
full text
articles from 1,800 periodicals. A College of the Siskiyous library card is
required to access the
database from off-campus. After clicking on the above link, enter the library
card barcode number.
For those of you that live a long way from COS
and do not have a library card, an on-line library
card form is
available.
COS Library Catalog is
available on-line. You can do a search of the catalog by author, title,
subject or keyword. Find out if the COS Library has the book before you drive
to campus.
COS
Services:
COS provides many useful services to students, and I have linked to a few
important services below.
Financial Aid
COS Bookstore
Disabled Student Programs and Services
Critical Skills Labs
Distance Learning
Surviving
On-line Education: Taking an on-line course is certainly not for everyone. Some
students truly need the face-to-face
interaction with instructor and peers. Other students find that they lack the
high level of responsibility it takes to tackle an on-line class. At a
minimum, an on-line course requires the student to use their time wisely, be
organized, be self-directed, and be willing to try new modes of communication
and learning. Successful students often use the weekly assignment sheets to
create a course calendar so that they have an overview of all assignments. I
have also noted that students doing well in English are willing to put in the
needed time, read the text carefully (even the dull sections), and
participate in the discussion boards as best they can. As you will not be in
the classroom, you will need to be much more self-directed than it might
seem. If other words, you have to take responsibility for your own learning.
You will be expected to check your e-mail frequently, get all assignments in
on-time, do not allow yourself to fall behind at all, discuss your concerns
and questions with instructor and classmates, perhaps arrange to swap email
addresses with other students in the class, and participate fully each week.
Still, there are some benefits to taking such a course on-line. For those of
you unable to attend a regularly scheduled course, you will not be restricted
by time and place--you get to do the weekly coursework when and where you
want to do it. Also, the discussion board allows everyone to have his/her say
on the issues, and students can take the time to form thoughtful and clear
opinions before sharing them with the rest of the class. Lastly, if you are
really motivated by a specific weekly topic or link, you are free to explore
the topic or link at your pace and at whatever depth you wish to. You might
even enjoy reading a short article from the
Chronicle of Higher Education about seven students and their
reaction/experiences in taking on-line courses.
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