Keeping Explorer open, open up your alpha account (or
whatever other email package you use) and check your e-mail messages. If
you have received a Welcome message from me then you were automatically
added to the class listserv. We will use the class listserv to communicate
with each other. (If you did not receive a welcome message from me,
you will need to join the listserv--instructions follow later).
Next go to my Main Page by placing your cursor over
this link http://www.uwm.edu/~ceil AND
RIGHT CLICKING. This will give you the choice to open the
link in a new window. Do so and you will now have two windows of Explorer
open. Right now you should have this Class Orientation
assignment in one window of Explorer, my Main Page in the other window of
Explorer and your e-mail program open. You may want to print a paper copy
of the class orientation to work from. Do you know
the trick of hitting ALT Tab to switch between open applications?
Simply hold down the ALT key and hit the tab key, then let go. This
switches you between applications. If you do it again it will take you
to the next open application. Do this a couple of times to make
sure you get the hang of it.
In the Explorer window that is showing my Main Page choose
the Systems book to get to the main web page for our class. I will
call this the "Systems page" from now on. Choose the Assignments button
and look over what we will be doing this semester. Now go to the
the Listserv assignment. Read through the
description of what a listserv is. If you didn't receive a welcome message
from me you will need to follow the instructions to join the class
listserv. If you did receive a welcome email from me you don't need to do
that since you were added automatically.
Next, I need to make certain I have the correct email address that you
will be using this semester. So go back to the main Systems page
(you'll probably need to hit the back button) and choose the Roster
button. Select your class roster and make certain that your
email and phone number is correct. I absolutely must have your correct
email
address because I record your homework based upon the email address I
have for you. While you are at the roster be
sure you click on your name--your picture is probably already up.
Now switch over to your email program and begin an e-mail addressed to ceil@uwm.edu with the subject heading sample homework. Just tell me something interesting about yourself in the message part, and then send the message to me right away. You should receive an automatic response from me acknowledging receipt of the email. If you do not get an automatic response, you probably misspelled sample homework so go back and check this!
Next start another message to me with the subject heading class orientation assignment. I filter AND GRADE your homework through the subject line on the email so please make sure you have it spelled exactly right!
Point 1 of your e-mail to me should look like this:
1. My name is "insert your name here". I was already on the class listserv OR I have joined the class listserv. I understand that if I send an email to ceil it goes just to ceil. (It must be ceil@uwm.edu if not using a campus pine account). If I want to send an email to the class listserv I must send it to ais308 (or ais308@uwm.edu if not using a campus pine account). I also understand that my homework is going through a filter and gets reviewed, but not immediately. So if I want to ask Ceil a question and get the quickest possible response I should not include it in my homework email.
Point two of your e-mail should look like this.
2. My e-mail and phone number are correct as shown OR My correct phone is XXXXX and my preferred e-mail is XXXXX. My picture is correct OR my picture is incorrect or missing. If you have a reason that you would like to have your telephone number excluded from the web, please let me know and I will remove it. NOTE: If you will need to submit homework from more than one email address please include the secondary address also. If you are substituting an off campus email address for your pine address, you will need to either forward your pine mail to your off campus account (see FAQ page for instructions) or you will need to unsubscribe yourself from the list on the pine address and rejoin using your off campus address (look behind the Assignments button under the Listserv link for instructions).
Now go back to the main Systems page. Obviously behind the Syllabus button you will find the syllabus, which is a Word document. To view the syllabus your browser needs to be set up with Word as a helper application. (Most current browsers will have common helper applications included or already set up). However if the Syllabus didn't appear you can go to the lab assistant to have them show you how to set up helper applications such as Word, Excel, Powerpoint. If you are at home check the help index of your browser for instructions. Since many of the documents you will need during the semester are in Word (and Excel, Powerpoint) you will want to take the time now to make sure you know how to access these documents through the web. If you go to the Class Presentations button right now and choose one you will find out if your Powerpoint helper is working.
Now go back to the Systems page and behind the Schedule button you will find the class schedule. Click on a few of the links and you will see that they take you to the appropriate part of the web page. The material covered is the same in both classes so you can certainly come to the other section if you should need to miss your class for some reason. Now click on the Help button found on the main Systems page. These are people who will help you with any difficulties you might encounter in the class. Go back and click on the Assessments button instead. This is where you will go to check your grades. Also, you will notice there are past exams there. Although we are no longer doing exams in AIS, I have left these up because they will be useful in studying for the quizzes. If you click on the Listserv button you will find copies of messages that have been posted to the class listserv. There are two ways you can see the messages that have been posted to the class listserv. Either check behind the Listserv button on the Web or look in your email account. Finally, go to the Readings Button. Behind it you will find a list of readings and article review forms for a number of articles we will read this semester. The articles are password protected (user name and password both = ceil) to prevent unauthorized access and avoid copyright violations. The articles and article reviews for the semester are ready to be printed by you at anytime.
Be sure you have read the syllabus completely--pay particular attention to how the grading is done. Point three of your e-mail to me should state:
3. I understand how the points and grades for this class are assigned.
I understand that if I do not keep up I will have great difficulty in the
class.
I see how the "helper applications" work and I know how to access
Word, Excel and Powerpoint documents over the web.
I accessed the articles and the article reviews and I understand I need
to print these out now or at a later time.
Go back to the main Systems page and choose the Frequently Asked Questions button. Read through all of the questions so you will know where to go to get help when you need it. Then read through the answers of the questions that interest you. In particular YOU MUST READ THE ANSWERS TO FAQ #1, 2, 12, 23, 24, 25, 26 and two other questions of interest to you. It is particularly important to read FAQ #1 on viruses because the computer lab is usually a source of viruses during the course of the semester. BE SURE YOU CHECK ANY DISKS THAT YOU ARE USING IN THE LAB FREQUENTLY for viruses and be sure you check any diskettes used in the lab BEFORE YOU USE them on your home machine. Also, while on the FAQ page be sure you read how to have your Pine mail forwarded if you use an off campus email account.
Point four of your e-mail should have a brief synopsis of the answers to the nine FAQs you read.
Point five of your e-mail should have the URL for the remaining buttons--Class Presentations, Class Notes and Class Links--on the Systems page. You are going to be cutting and pasting the URL from each remaining button and then giving a description of what is on the page behind the button in your e-mail to me. (URL stands for Universal Resource Locator--it is the web address--http://www.uwm.edu/~ceil.) Do this by clicking on the button you are going to be doing first and then going to the Location or Address box which shows the URL for that page. Now select the URL and cut (or copy) and paste it into your e-mail using the Edit function from the Menu bar. Write a brief description below the URL and tell me what you found there. For example, if you were doing the Frequently Asked Questions button (which you don't have to do) your point five would look like this:
5. http://www.uwm.edu/~ceil/faq.html
Behind this link I found a number of answers to questions that I will probably encounter in the course of the semester.
Now let's go on to point six. Go back to the Main Page with the stack of books. Choose the Fun page. I hope you will find something of interest to you there. I am always adding new links so let me know if there is something you would like to see on this page. Just take a quick look to see what kind of stuff is there if you don't have time to explore a little. Now go back to the Main Page. If you are at the school lab or other reasonably fast connection, check out the cool look of my Auditing page. My daughter Sarah designed the color scheme. I am so proud of her!!! You are of course welcome to look behind the About Me book if you are interested in knowing what I'm all about and seeing my adorable daughters. However, it is certainly not required for the assignment and if you are on a slow modem the pictures take awhile to download.
For your final two stops on the home page go to the Main page and then look below where it says THE Accounting Page. Click around and check out all the accounting and business resources my former students and I have been collecting for you. Finally, go back to the Main Page and choose the Career Help book to see what I have been working on lately. You will find this page very helpful in obtaining the job you desire.
6. Tell me briefly about what you found interesting on the following pages: THE Accounting Page, the Career Help page, the Fun page.
7. Point seven should indicate: I do not have any particular questions that I want to ask you regarding the class at this time OR I have a question about.....
Now go to your e-mail account and see if you received an automatic response from me acknowledging receipt of your sample homework assignment.
8. Point eight of your email should tell me if you received the automatic response email.
9. Point nine of your email should tell me that you have purchased your
dividers and have arranged your class materials or you intend to do
this soon.
Now send your class orientation
assignment
to me.
Be
sure to send a carbon copy to yourself. SAVE your copy of this assignment and the acknowledgment you will
receive from me as your proof of
completion.
(Don't forget there are lots of students doing electronic submissions
this semester and we have to track them all. Chances of me getting
everything recorded correctly 100% of the time are virtually nil!!! Save
your proof of timely completion!)
To send yourself a copy of an email:When sending yourself a
copy of a message in Pine you simply type
your email address in CC: (which stands for carbon copy). When sending
yourself a copy of a message in Netscape Mail you click on the "To:"
box then choose the CC: option and type your email address.
Now for a few administrative type things. You should have your e-mail account open. A number of past students have suggested I give some ideas on how you may want to organize your e-mail for the the class messages. These are just suggestions and you are certainly welcome to ignore them. First, create a folder for homework. If you have never created a folder in pine--look below for directions on how to do this. You should keep a copy of all your e-mails that you submit during the course of the semester and all acknowledgments you receive from me. That way if there is ever any question of whether you got something turned in or whether it was on time, you have proof. Second you may want to create a folder for Wall Street Journal article reviews that will appear on the listserv. Some of these will probably be of particular interest to you and you will want to have a place to file them. Finally, you may want to create a folder called class info where you can store administrative messages of interest to you that you wish to keep. Over the course of the semester there will be a lot of messages (some of which you will want to keep) so you will want to organize them.
Before you finish this assignment, you may want to print out this document and read it over again. This will help solidify in your mind what you did if you are not real comfortable with computers.