What is an online course?

The computer becomes the classroom in an online course. An online course allows you to interact online to receive information about assignments, send completed homework to instructors, chat with fellow students and instructors, and conduct research.

You need a Pentium Class computer with at least 32 MB ram and a 28.8 modem. You must have an Internet Service Provider (ISP) and your own email address. Online courses are accessed via the Internet using a Web browser (Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer). The College will make the Internet available to all students through your own account and there are computer labs for your use at each of our campus sites if, in fact, you do not have Internet access at home.

Allegany College of Maryland uses Blackboard as its course delivery system for most courses. Blackboard offers a password-protected "online classroom" that provides e-mail, course content, chat, calendar, discussion board and other course tools common in an online course.

Online courses are identified on our class schedule as "web" courses and additional information is available at the time of registration. Please note that some courses may require additional application software (Microsoft Office, etc.) for use in the on-line course. Most students find Blackboard easy to learn and easy to navigate, but if you have questions, contact us at http://www.allegany.edu/dl/onlineorientation/ooblackboard.shtml

VIEW THE ONLINE COURSES SCHEDULE:

• Spring 2008
• Summer 2008
• Fall 2008

VIEW SAMPLE SYLLABI

Technical Requirements for Web Courses

Students enrolling in a web course should:

1. Have basic computer and Internet literacy skills
2. Have a reliable Internet Access Provider (you must provide your own Internet Service and email account)
3. Know how to use a search engine
4. Know how to create and modify documents in MS Word (or compatible word processing software)
5. End users must use a certified or compatible operating system and browser configuration with the Blackboard Academic Suite.



Windows          Operating Systems				MAC Operating Systems****
		2000**	XP	10.2	10.3
Internet Explorer Web Browsers	5.2	N/A	N/A	C	✓
	5.5	C	C	N/A	N/A
	6.0	✓	✓	N/A	N/A
Netscape and Mozilla Web Browsers	NS 4.78	C	C	C	C
	NS 7.1***	C	C	C	C
	Firefox 1.0.x***	✓	✓	C	C
Apple Safari Web Browsers	1.0	N/A	N/A	C	N/A
	1.1	N/A	N/A	N/A	C
	1.2	N/A	N/A	N/A	✓




Key
✓	Certified - fully tested and supported
C	Compatible - key application areas tested
N/A	Not tested - specified Browser is not supported for the Operating System




^* All configurations marked as Compatible and have undergone a limited engineering analysis to test areas of the Blackboard Academic Suite that may have browser issues. Additional information on known browser issues may be found in the Knowledge Base.

^** Microsoft Windows 2000 supported configurations are considered compatible when run on Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows ME.

^*** Gecko is the shared rendering engine at the heart of the Firefox 1.0.x, Netscape 7.1 and Mozilla 1.5 browsers, which are all considered compatible browsers. Only Firefox has undergone testing that qualifies it as Certified.

^**** The Safari Web browser and the Gecko browsers for Mac do not currently fully support the Live Connect technology used by some features in the Blackboard Learning System. The Equation Editor, Collaboration tool and SCORM Content type may experience issues when these browsers are used. See the Knowledge Base articles 181-2429, 181-2428, 181-2431, 181-2432 for detailed information.

^***** The Visual Text Box Editor is only available to users with Microsoft Internet Explorer running on Windows Operating Systems.

6. Know how to send, receive, forward and attach files to emails.
7. If using a modem, 28.8 bps or higher is strongly recommended.
   

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