Fire Drill
Schedule

• Fire Chief's Comments
• Firehouse Tasks
• Hot Topics This Week : Keeping Cool in IT by Knowing About Hot Topics
• Drills
  • 1-Alarm Drill: Networking with Others
  • 2-Alarm Drill: Reading Current News
  • 3-Alarm Drill: Using Online Tutorials
• Chief's Inspection List
• Fire Marshal Badge Skills
• Future Drills

Welcome to your second week of firefighting at Firehouse 6287.

I am enjoying getting to know everyone via the icebreaker discussion and the emails you are sending me. Everyone has been doing great it seems this week with getting oriented to the course and our learning environment. I have heard from almost everyone and we are n our way into heavier content this week. This is a small group this semester so we will likely get to one another quite well:-) Don't forget that on Friday the Week 1 inspection list will be available on Friday so you can check to be sure that you completed the required assignment for this past week (I did update it today around noon but not as of 5 PM). If you realize once the inspection is available that you missed something then just drop me a note and let me know when you will get it to me.

Course Expectations

The firefighter inspection is posted and linked. The purpose of the firefighter inspection is to provide you with a current assessment of your status related to weekly assignments, including threaded discussions. Each of you will be listed by the last 4 digits of your UWF ID number (NOTE: If you would like to be assigned a different number then feel free to request such in an email along with a 4 digit number.). Each week I will update the inspection list by Friday for assignments during the previous week to reflect the assignments you have completed. As I add this to the course site it is probably wise for me to add a brief note about my expectations related to participation in threaded discussions, etc.

The firefighters inspection should be used by you to determine that your participation in weekly assignments is noted but is not evaluative in any way.

Threaded Discussions: To ensure that the quality of your drills meet my expectations please be sure to revisit threaded discussions from previous weeks to check for any comments or suggestions I may have provided you. I will not respond to every individual every week even though I do read everyone's postings. At times, I will simply add to the comments you have made and give you an "atta" boy for a good submission. Other times, you may find that I ask you to elaborate or provide more depth to your postings. You may also find that your peers ask you to do the same. If you see these types of replies it should indicate that you have not fully met the requirements or expectations of the assignment. Here, I do expect you to post a reply in response to my questions or your peers' questions.

If you do not bother to go back and read and add additional postings when necessary then your participation grade may take a small downward turn throughout the semester. If you happen to check the threads and I did not respond to you then please expect that I was satisfied with your answer and you have complete credit for participation. I set aside time each week on Thursday and Friday to read and respond to threads from the previous week so checking back after that is recommended.

You should be concerned that your participation grade will suffer if you habitually post your assignments late. Posting late reduces the likelihood that your peers will be able to go back and read your post and provide you with feedback, input, etc. If you do post late it is your responsibility to email Melissa and let her know. She will not be checking all the past weeks for late assignments. Once I am done with the checklist for the previous week, there is no reason for her to continually backtrack unless she is notified by you that it is necessary. If you do notify her of a late posting please be as detailed as possible. Some weeks there are many discussions to choose from and it will help Melissa find your postings if she knows which one(s) to check.

When you participate in a threaded discussion I expect that you will read the posts of your peers and respond to them just as you would if they made a similar statement in class. You may ask for clarification, reaffirm what they say, add on to their example, question the legitimacy of their statements, etc. This creates "discussion" around the topic which is the goal of the exercise. Replies should not simply consist of "I agree" or "Right on." It must be more thoughtful and in depth than that.

As many of us (myself included) are procrastinators, most people do not post to the required threads until the day they are due. This creates some difficulty if everyone is also trying to respond to everyone by the same date. Therefore, my general policy is that you post your original response to the thread during the first week it is assigned. The following week you should spend some time reading everyone's posts and responding to your peers. In addition to your post I require that each student respond to at least 3 of their peers within each thread in which they participate. To clarify... you should respond to 3 others' original posts as well as reply to those who reply to YOUR original post if anyone queries you. An original post is not the same as a reply to a post or a reply to another reply. When replying to the discussions, make sure that you recognize the difference between an original post, a reply to an original post, and a reply.

If when you post your original response there are others to whom you would like to reply then feel free to post your replies within the same week. However, this extra week given for response to peers allows you some leeway in responding to others. There will be reminders in the "Chief's inspection list" each week. The idea is that you read how others are thinking about the topic and to clarify, expand, or reaffirm your own understanding. Please let me know if you are still unclear about these requirements and I will try to clarify further. If you have noticed your inspection lists in the gradebook section, you will see that the post and reply columns are separate in the checklists because I view these as separate assignments within the weeks they are listed. Feel free to post replies early but the checklist will only be updated for the current week.

Each column in the gradebook will be carefully labeled as to what assignment is being marked. If you are unclear what assignment is being marked please feel free to email me. I will be updating the firefighters inspection lists by each Friday. If you have any questions related to an assignment that you have not received credit for please email me. Please allow me at least one week to post an updated gradebook for the previous week. Also, don't panic if you aren't marked for something you have done. I make mistakes and am glad to review anything as long as you call it to my attention. 

Late Assignments: My final comment to you in this section this week (normally this section is much shorter) is in relation to turning in assignments late. As I noted above, your participation grade will suffer if you continually post to threads late. However, in relation to other assignments (i.e., reflection papers, web pages, etc.), my late policy is this. For every day the assignment is late I take off 10% of the total possible points for that assignment. For example, if an assignment is worth 100 points and you turn it in 1 day late, the most points you can receive is 90. If you turn it in 3 days late, the most you can receive is 70. After 10 days, your assignment is worth 0 points so there is no reason for you to turn it in. If you have any questions about this policy please let me know.

My goals for you during this week's drills are to:

• Find a firehouse crew member to partner with
• Participate in Chat and/or Instant Messaging
• Find out how to keep COOL in IT by knowing about HOT Topics and then ... "Stay Cool"

Task #1:
If you have not yet joined the course listserv do so NOW. This is an important part of our communication to insure that you receive any current information about the course. The list being used for this course is called "distance".  Instructions for subscribing to the list are on the listserv help sheet on the hot links page.

Task #2:
If you have not emailed me with your contact information, your preferred name and preferred email please do so NOW!

Task #3:
If you have not activated your UWF email account and  understand what your username and password are please get this done this week.  You may choose not to use the email account UWF provides but you will need to forward your uwf mail to your preferred account and it will be necessary for you to use your username and password during various parts of the course.  Therefore, figure it out NOW!  For additional information you may want to check out the ITS Resource Page for a variety of help sheets.

Task #4:
Read Chapters 1 - 5 and Chapters 7-12 in your "How the Internet Works" text this week as background information for this course.  These topics are not specifically covered but it is assumed you understand the majority of this information.

• Check the FAQ Page to see if your question has already been answered.
• Email Chief Curda.
• Email EMT Kelly.
• Email the firehouse crew and see if another firefighter knows the answer.

Now let's see what the hot topic is this week!