This online session is designed to be engaging and enlightening. That said, online courses can often be intimidating and overwhelming at first. Please know that the more you look around, experiment, and explore, the more familiar the technology will become and the more enjoyable your experience will be. If at any point you find yourself confused or stumped about what to do or where to go, scroll down to the very bottom of this page and post your question. We'll respond as best we can.

Joining the Session: 

To participate in the session, you will need to request access to this wiki workspace. Click on "request access" in the upper righthand corner of this wiki page and submit your email address, when prompted. Once accepted, you will receive an email letting you know that you have been given access and you will be prompted to set up your account with a name and password.

You will also need to join our Google Community at https://plus.google.com/communities/113934762020606742698. When you click on the link, you will be prompted to create a Google account, if you do not already have one. Once you have an account, you can request to Join the Community by clicking on the red tab. 

Here are some tips to help you during the session:

1. Each week has its own dedicated page (Welcome to Week 1, 2, 3, etc…) where we have outlined the weekly tasks. All of these pages are all available on this wiki's sidebar located to the right. 

2. Read the instructions carefully for each task, as some will require you to access information on this wiki, while others will ask you to upload photos or post comments on our Google Community. Play around in the Google Community and become familiar with its features (you can watch instructional videos to familiarize yourself with all that Google+ has to offer here: Google Community Tutorials).  

3. If you feel lost, just go back to the instructions on the weekly welcome pages on this wiki.  

4. Why do we have two places for interaction? PBWORKS is a wiki which allows us to organize our content and provides a roadmap for you. That said, there are more dynamic places to interact online. Our Google Community allows us to have discussions, post videos and photos and share ideas much more fluidly. If you are not sure where you are supposed to be or where you are supposed to post, always go back to the weekly welcome page and look at the tasks outlined. 

5. Some people get anxious when they "fall behind." Remember that this is not a formal course; rather, it is a learning experience in an informal setting. You can come and go as you wish and engage as your schedule allows. Due to the nature of some activities, we will post discussion questions beginning on certain dates. This will allow you for experiential learning (my discussion questions might be leading in terms of how you carry out the activities) and also will allow us to manage the Google Community better (all posts appear on the home stream and it can get crowded and confusing!).

Generally, discussion threads will be posted week by week. For example, we will post discussion questions for Week 2 at the beginning of Week 2 and not during Week 1. 

6. This session is designed to be rooted around discussion. For connections to happen, you have to be willing to challenge yourself and share/participate. You can learn a lot as a passive participant, but your experience will be far greater if you engage in discussions. 

7. Our session has many educators. We, the moderators will be facilitating the entire process, but we will not be able to answer every single post, or reply to every single thread, though we will try to be as present as possible.