Resources

A Collection of Resources for Digital Media Zone students.

For Beginners

Learning online from Web-based instruction may be a new experience for you. Although there are many similarities to face-to-face instruction, there are important differences as well. We hope that the following suggestions will help you adapt to the distance learning environment, maximize its strengths for your learning, and help you find ways to become a successful online student.

Preparing for Success

Define Time and Space. It helps to establish a definite time and place for studying. Developing a habit pattern and a familiar study location will help you make regular progress and increase your effectiveness. This not only makes your study more pleasant, it helps your mind become more focused.

Course Calendar. Some students find it helpful to create a personal course calendar to keep track of the completion of their assignments, exams, group projects, etc. It allows them to think ahead and visualize progress.

Be Aware of Computing Habits. At home, you may use the computer for games or while you are doing something else -- eating, talking on the telephone, etc. You may pay attention only to the portions of the computer program in which you have great interest. Participating in an onlineNovember 18, 2005August 2, 2007te fully in the learning activities presented.

Seeking Help When You Need It

Be Assertive. If you have a question or comment, you must be willing to send a note to the instructor or your fellow classmates. One of the best things about this type of group communication is that other students are willing to help answer questions. Initially some students feel that they are taking a big risk by showing that they do not understand. Remember that the instructor or other students cannot see you to realize that you are confused, interested in sharing an idea, or having difficulty with the technology.

Use Online Help Features. If you need help with using Sakai or Blackboard, check the Help feature on the menu bar. Sometimes a Net search will help you discover solutions to technology problems. If you are exploring the Internet, many sites have a link to "Frequently Asked Questions" (FAQs).

Share Your Thoughts and Opinions. Let your instructor know how you feel about the effectiveness of participating in a distance education environment like the Internet. Your input will help the instructor plan for future distance course delivery.

Working Collaboratively with Your Fellow Students.

Many online courses incorporate some type of group work (i.e., discussions, peer reviews, small group projects, etc.). Being an effective group member requires an attitude of collaboration. Collaboration is defined as the process of reaching goals as a group that cannot be achieved efficiently or effectively by acting singly (Bruner, 1991).

Benefits of Collaboration. Most students find time invested in interaction and collaborative efforts produces benefits both for themselves and fellow group members. These benefits include a better or stronger product/discussion/project; a broader exchange of new information; greater coordination of talents or services; and combined resources for shared goals.

Group Communication. Groups seem to be most effective when there is frequent communication for the sharing of ideas, plans, disagreements, and consensus. In a WWW course, communication is often accomplished through discussion board postings, email, and instant messaging.

Group Skills. Groups seem to accomplish more when everyone shares in the

  • vision for a successful project;
  • investment of risk and/or resources
  • ownership and credit
  • decision-making
  • investment of time (i.e., to build trust, respect, and accomplish goals).

These guidelines occur more easily if members of the group focus on relationship skills like respect for self and others, honoring one's own and others' needs, setting limits, listening and responding, tolerating ambiguity and conflict, and commitment.

Group Roles. Effective group projects do not usually "just happen." They take a willingness and effort from all the members. That willingness and effort are frequently demonstrated as group members assume a variety of group-process-roles. In fact, some group members may often have more than one role at a time. The following chart provides an overview of roles that can either encourage or discourage group accomplishment.

Source: ET-MO Internet basics for beginners.

[Top]

FAQ

General Questions

  • What courseware do I need to use for my ZONE course? Open list
    • Sakai: Firefox

310 Introduction to Digital Communication

  • What will I learn in the DigiComm course? Open list
    • In the DigiComm course you will learn about various online communication tools (such as E-Mail, Discussion Boards, Instant Messaging, Wikis, and Blogs), the current issues (i.e. privacy, security, social) surrounding the use of these tools, and how to use them to communicate effectively in today's Digital Society.
  • What is an Online Communication Tool? Open list
    • The term Online Communication Tool (which we'll sometimes abbreviate as OCT) is a tool that enables human-to-human bidirectional (both parties are actively communicating) interaction using the Internet as the medium.
  • What do the acroynms OCT, DB, IM stand for? Open list
    • TOCT: Online Communication Tool
      DB: Discussion Board
      IM: Instant Message
  • Will I learn how to create a Podcast? Open list
    • Yes, if you would like to. One of the assignments allows you to create a podcast as an alternative to writing a traditional paper.
  • Will you be using the Sakai CMS in this course? Open list
    • The main DigiComm course is taught on Blackboard, however we will use Sakai for one week in the course when we explore and compare different discussion boards.

Cannot find the answer...

[Top]

MU Resources

Rollover each link for aditional information.

MU Library
MU Bookstore
IATS
Others

[Top]

Zone Resources

Digital Media ZONE Library
  • ZONE Library Use:

    The Digital Media ZONE has a small library of books relating to the courses we teach. The books are available for review in the Zone and may be checked out by ZONE students.

Digital Media ZONE Hardware and Software
  • Hardware Checkout Policy:

    ZONE Students can check out equipment from the Digital Media ZONE or The Reflector for class project purposes. Equipment can be checked out for 3 days at a time, with one renewal period possible. Please call or email the ZONE to check the availability of any equipment you need.

  • Software Use Policy:

    The ZONE has software required for completing ZONE course assignments and projects available on both PCs and Macs on computers located in the ZONE. Because of the limited storage space on ZONE computers, please bring a personal storage device (a DVD, CD, portable hard drive, jump drive, etc) to save your projects. Any student projects saved on ZONE computers will be deleted at the end of each week.

Web Resources for ZONE Students organized by Course
  • You will find additional resources for your course within your online course environment (Blackboard or Sakai).
  • The links below may be in addition to the resources in your course.
310 Introduction to Digital Communication
360 Introduction to Web Development
364 Digital Media Authoring System
365 Computer Graphic Design
370 Intermediate to Web Development

[Top]

Tutorials

Accessing your personal web storage space on Bengal using SFTP

[Top]

E-mail: zone@missouri.edu
Phone: 573-882-1653, 877-848-9663 (Toll Free)
Address: 201 Townsend Hall, University of Missouri-Columbia
Columbia, MO 65211

© 2005 — Curators of the University of Missouri

DMCA and other copyright information.
all rights reserved an equal opportunity/ADA institution

Last Revised: August 2, 2007