Online Student Orientation

Taking online classes takes a certain amount of discipline and time management skills. Some may mistakenly think online classes are easier than traditional classes; however, in many ways, they can be more difficult.

In a traditional classroom, you sit at a desk, listen to an instructor lecture, take notes, and raise your hand to ask a question all in a specific place at a specific time. However, in an online classroom, you won’t be sitting in a classroom. In fact, you may never even see your instructor!

The freedom and flexibility of an online class allows you to fit the class around your schedule. While the benefits of this are obvious, don’t be fooled: An online class can be much more demanding than a traditional class and strict discipline is required in order to be successful! Therefore, a successful student will need to be self-motivating to stay on task and ensure assignments are completed.

In order to succeed in an online classroom, good organization is a necessity. It is advisable to keep a notebook for the class, as you would do with a traditional class. Write down to-do lists and mark off each one as each is completed. Some online instructors use a “checklist” activity in Moodle that will allow you to do this online.

In addition, it is very handy to write down important dates and assignment due dates in a calendar that you view daily.

One of the most important skills to have in order to succeed in an online course is good time management. As there is no set time to meet for an online class, you must discipline yourself to set enough time apart from your day to do the necessary work for the class. As a general rule, you will spend at least one hour outside of class for every hour in class. This applies to online classes as well. For example, if you are enrolled in a 3-hour credit course, it is likely that you will spend at least three hours per week reading the textbook, studying, completing assignments, etc.

For a more detailed guide to using Moodle at BRTC, please see our Moodle User Guide for Students.

All students have access to the “Student Lounge” in Moodle, which provides helpful resources and information as well as a forum to discuss with other BRTC students.

To validate your enrollment in 16-week Fall and Spring courses, you will need to access the course by the first week of class. However, It is highly recommended that you access your 16-week online course(s) by no later than the first day or two to avoid missing assignments. To validate your enrollment in a short-duration online courses, you will need to access the course by midnight the first day of class.  Short-duration courses include 4- and 8-week courses as well as summer courses.

To access your course, once you are logged into myBRTC, find the box that says My Moodle Classes on the right side of the page. Click on the course you would like to access. Once you are in your Moodle course, you are validated and you will not be dropped for non-attendance. If you are a Mac/Apple user, instead of clicking on the name of the class, click on the Moodle icon (graduation cap) on the bar in the center column.

The Distance Education & Instructional Technology department has set guidelines for online course layout. Typically each course is divided into weeks, with the most recent topic at the top of the page, below the general heading section. The general heading section contains the name of the course and will typically contain important documents such as the course syllabus and tentative weekly schedule.

Reading the syllabus is a good way to become familiar with the class, including tentative dates for assignments and the overall structure of topics. It is recommended that you download a copy to your computer and/or print a copy for easy and quick access.

After you have read the syllabus, ensure you have completed the Student Agreement Form questionnaire for your online class.

It is important to read instructions, if they are given, and click on all links for the current topic in your course.

Academic integrity is the adherence to an ethical code of conduct within an academic culture that emphasizes honesty in all scholarly work and includes the avoidance of plagiarism and cheating.  Academic integrity promotes the ethical use of research material, protects the intellectual property of the scholars who produce the material, and avoid legal liability associated with copyright violation.  Furthermore, students who adhere to academically honest practices maintain their personal integrity by holding themselves responsible for engaging with their assignments, which helps promote their own learning in their coursework.

Students are expected to do their own work on all examinations and assignments.  They are also expected at all times to uphold high standards of integrity.  Plagiarism, cheating, and forms of theft of intellectual property allowing another individual to complete part f all course work for a student, or assisting another student in doing any of these acts are all examples of academic dishonesty and are prohibited.  Self-plagiarism is defined as the use of one’s work from a previous class without explicit approval from an instructor and is prohibited.  These rules apply to concurrent, traditional, hybrid, and online students.

One of the consequences of online learning is that there is little to no opportunity for face-to-face interaction with the instructor or fellow students. Therefore, it is imperative that you are aware of various communication channels set up by your instructor, including Q & A discussion forums, Moodle messaging, and email.

For general questions, if your instructor has set up a “Questions” forum, it is best to use it. Using a discussion forum to ask questions of the instructor provides other students who may also have the same question to reference the instructor’s answer in one place. If you don’t feel comfortable asking on a discussion forum, or if the nature of your question is sensitive, you can also use Moodle messaging or email. Moodle messaging is accessed by clicking the callout bubble at the top right of the page, just left of your name.

Your student email is a vital part of communicating with your instructor. It is important that you check it often. Beginning Fall 2018, students will begin using the myBRTC portal, where a single sign-on will be used to access email, Moodle, and other student support services. The student login for the myBRTC portal is firstname.middleinitial.lastname, with the initial password of six-digit birthdate in mmddyy format. Student email can be accessed at the following URL: https://blackrivertech.edu/current-students/student-support-services/student-e-mail.

If you are having trouble accessing your email, contact Computer Services at (870) 248-4050.

Although you may never step foot on campus, you still have access to all of BRTC’s services, including the bookstore, library, tutoring, advising, and software.

You can buy and rent books online through the online BRTC bookstore. For more information about purchasing and renting books, visit the BRTC bookstore website.

The library provides excellent resources for both traditional and online courses and has many databases that are available online. Usernames and passwords for online databases can be obtained by contacting the library or visiting the Student Lounge within Moodle, to access databases off-campus. Online databases can be accessed by clicking the following URL: https://blackrivertech.edu/black-river-technical-college-library/library-databases.

BRTC offers 24/7 online tutoring through Smarthinking. Smarthinking offers tutoring in many different areas and can be accessed using the same username and password for MyBRTC portal. You can access Smarthinking at the following URL: http://services.smarthinking.com/login/login.php.

BRTC offers career planning where you can explore career options, take interest and aptitude assessments, find programs that match your interests, search for jobs both locally and nationally, explore salary and benefit information, create and post resumes, get interview tips and more! The Career Planning Center can be accessed at the following URL: https://blackrivertech.edu/career-planning-and-placement/career-counselor-2.

ADA accommodations are available for online students. For more information about ADA accommodations, visit the following URL: https://blackrivertech.edu/current-students/student-support-services/ada-accessibility-services.

For more information on student support services offered, visit the following URL: https://blackrivertech.edu/current-students/student-support-services.

BRTC students have free access to Microsoft Office 365, which includes software such as Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft PowerPoint. In order to run Microsoft Office 365, you will need a computer running Windows 7 or higher or Mac OS X 10.10 or higher. For more information about signing up for Microsoft Office 365, click the following URL: https://products.office.com/en-us/student.

If you have additional questions about Distance Education or using Moodle, please contact the Distance Education & Instructional Technology office at our helpline at 870-248-4120 (available 8:00 am to 4:30 pm during regular semester hours; 7:00 am to 5:00 pm during summer hours) or email at online@blackrivertech.edu. Students may also access BRTC’s 24/7 online ticket system by visiting: http://ticket.blackrivertech.org/.