Assignments for English 264 Online
This is an online course which I hope will succesfully combine the technologies currently available for online learning with the techniques that have made my traditional, face to face course successful. My traditional course combines lectures, discussion, daily written responses to the readings, and a research paper. In this online course you will be reading the assignments in our anthology, listening to podcasts that explicate and supplement the readings, writing blogs in which you communicate your thoughts on what you have read, reading and commenting on the blogs of other students in the class, sharing your ideas and reactions in weekly class chat sessions, and finally researching and writing an extended analysis of one author (or perhaps even one text) you have read for the course this summer.
Readings
A schedule of reading assignments in our textbook, The Longman Anthology of British Literature, as well as in electronic texts available through this web site.
Podcasts and Other Audio Files
The primary form of lectures for this online course will consist of podcasts, and there will be occasional audio files to enhance our readings.
Blogs
You will create a blog for this course on our Blackboard site, in which you will respond to, discuss and analyze the readings. You will also read the blog entries of your classmates, and respond to them in writing by posting comments on their blog pages. Access the class blogs, or find information about blogging.
Chats
Although most of your work in this course will proceed on your own schedule, and in relative isolation, I would like us to get together once a week to have a communal online conversation through a Blackboard chat session. Section 3W1 will meet on Thursdays at 9:00 p.m. (EDST). If you have a conflict please let me know, but make every effort to rearrange your schedule to make the sessions. The chat sessions prior to July 1 will discuss the readings; the ones after will be primarily about the research paper assignment. I realize that some weeks you may not be able to participate in either sessions, so I will make transcripts available that you can read later; just be sure to participate even more at the sessions you can attend. We will have a final chat at the end of the course, to discuss your experiences in this online course.
Research Paper
The final assignment for this course is a research paper. The assignment is available here.
Jonathan C. Glance
Professor of English
Mercer University
Last Updated 15 May 2014
