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Happy Spring!
Welcome to the Spring 2007 semester at the University of St. Francis!
Hopefully by now you've had a chance to experience the online class venue. We trust everything is going well for you this semester. If you should need any assistance, please don't hesitate to contact us, the Center for Instructional Delivery,
at 815-740-5080 or toll free 1-866-337-1497.
Meet the CID Staff
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Brandy Perona,
Instructional Support Specialist |
In May 2002, Brandy graduated from the University of St. Francis with a B.S. degree in Technology Management and a minor in Business Administration. In August of 2002, she started working for the Reed-Custer School District as a Technical Associate at the Reed-Custer Primary School, with the responsibility for maintaining a network of about 350 users of Macintosh computers. She also provided technical assistance to district teachers, held workshops for teachers to earn CPDU's toward recertification, and assisted students in the computer lab.
In July 2004, Brandy started working for the University of St. Francis in the Center for Instructional Delivery as an Instructional Support Specialist, assisting and supporting faculty in the development of applications utilizing instructional technologies, through the use of the online classroom along with the traditional classroom. She creates and updates web pages using Dreamweaver, and provides training workshops for staff on the use of SCT Banner, and other software programs. In December of 2005, she acquired her Master's of Science in Management degree from USF.
In November 2005, Brandy started the building process for her home in Godley, IL , for which she served as the general contractor. In March 2005, she moved into her new home, and presently lives there with her two Yorkshire Terrier puppies,
Frankie & Oliver
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Tips for the Online Student |
Online students ought to know that they may be required to submit their written assignments in a specific document format.
Because of the limitations of some software and courseware, you may be required to send assignments to your instructor in a special word processing format. In most cases, the format would be a Microsoft Word .doc file, since the overwhelming majority of colleges and universities use the tools in Micorsoft Office – Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, etc. In some courses, you may not send a WordPerfect file, Wordpad, Notepad, or a Lotus Notes file. If you use any of those word processing programs other than Microsoft Word, you can, however, save your written assignment as an .rtf file, (rich text format), which allows your instructor to open your file using Microsoft Word.
Technical Tidbits
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My USF - a Web Portal |
Fall 2006 was the first semester that the USF Web Portal became active. This one-stop shop for online classes, schedule information, financial aid, tuition billing, email, and library databases has proved very handy. The feedback from the students has been very positive.
If you haven't taken the time yet to take a tour of your portal, here is what you will find inside:
- Home - Access to WebCT classes, Class Schedule, Announcements, and Personalized Messages
- My Services - Library, Financial Aid Info, Billing, Registration and more.
The portal is a work in progress, and these last three options are not yet in place, but will be coming soon!
- Community - Bulletin boards, club info, local events and more.
- Personal Info - Your Advisor, Major, College, email and more
- Your Space - add and customize your personal portal page.
Please look over your portal periodically to see the exciting new content that is being added.
View additional log in, user name and password My USF portal information.
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What is Wikipedia? |
Research is a huge part of college life. For every class, it seems that there's at least one research paper due. Sometimes the instructor will even tell you what publications, books, periodicals or websites are acceptable. A new research tool that is available is Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia that anyone can edit. This is a great tool for researching anything and everything. One must keep in mind, though, that Wikipedia can be altered by anyone - even you! Recent changes can even be tracked on your favorite entries. For this reason, some instructors may not accept Wikipedia as a research resource. But it is a FUN resource, nonetheless! Check out the University of St. Francis entry on Wikipedia.
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Free Online Classes
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College courses aren’t the only classes that can be taken online these days. Hewlett Packard has come up with some free online enrichment classes that might make your life easier. The HP Online Classes cover a multitude of topics, from classes in digital photography and Security Solutions to Personal Interests and Hobbies. There’s probably a class there for you!
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