In this presentation, I'm going to show you
how to find instructions for setting up
your course; navigate through your course;
let us know how you're doing as you proceed through the course;
and get help from the instructor when you need it.
Please watch this entire video before starting your course,
as understanding how everything works will make
your experience much better.
Note that you can always rewatch this video
by clicking the How Does This Work button on the left.
Let's start with finding instructions
for setting up your course.
Each time you start a new course,
you'll begin on the Course Overview and Class Files page.
You must, must, must read this page carefully.
Each course has its own Setup document
which you get to by clicking this Setup Document button.
For some courses, setup is very straightforward.
For others, it can be quite complex.
But setting up your computer and learning
to follow written setup instructions
make up part of your learning journey.
If you get stuck, go back and read carefully.
Move slowly and deliberately.
If you find you're unable to figure it out on your own,
we are here to help you.
Instead of emailing, you should ask us for help
through the course.
I'll cover how to do that soon.
Most of our courses include class files.
You'll download those by clicking a link under the Class
Files section on this page.
This will download a zip file.
If you do not know how to work with zip files,
click on one of these links to watch a video explaining
how to unzip them.
Courses also come with PDFs, which you are welcome, but not
required, to download and if you want, print.
We ask that when you start your first course with us,
you introduce yourself.
This will help us understand your experience
level, your goals, and your working environment.
I'll show you how to do that shortly.
Next, let's see how you navigate through your course.
First, to start your course, scroll
to the bottom of the course overview in Class Files page
and click the Start Course button.
That will take you to the first lesson.
Each lesson begins with a short lesson introduction.
After reading that, click the Start Lesson button.
That opens the first activity in the lesson.
There are several different types of activities.
Readings, which sometimes include
demos that you are encouraged to follow along
with on your own computer.
For example, if the demo references
a file in your class files, you should
find that file and open it.
If something is confusing to you,
please ask your instructor for help.
Exercises, which you should definitely do.
If you have any trouble with the exercise,
please ask your instructor for help.
Presentations, which are videos.
Again, if you don't understand something, ask for help.
And quizzes to test your knowledge.
You can retake the quizzes as many times as you like.
The grades on the quizzes do not count towards your final grade.
The green checks in the navigation
indicate that you have completed this activity.
Mine are all green because I've completed the whole course.
Move on to the next activity by clicking the Next button
at the bottom, and you can go back to the previous activity
by clicking the Back button.
You can also navigate to past activities using the navigation
on the left, which you can close and open with this button.
As you proceed through the course,
you can indicate how well you're understanding using this slide
bar at the top.
It starts off at "I'm following well".
If you feel like you're doing better than well,
you can change that to "I'm following great!"
If you feel like you're doing worse than well,
pick one or the other options below that.
Remember, we're here to help you.
So if you're confused, don't just
sludge through, ask for help.
So how do you ask for help?
Let's go back to the course overview in Class Files.
On this page, there are instructions
for asking for help.
But you can't ask for help from this page,
you have to navigate to an activity.
So, for example, if you have trouble
with the setup for the course, click the Start Course button,
then click Start Lesson.
This will bring you to the first activity.
In Activities, you will see this chat bubble
in the bottom right.
Click it to open up a message box.
You can grow that message box by clicking the double arrows
here.
Then enter your message.
This, by the way, is also where you will first introduce
yourself to your instructor.
You can format your message using these buttons up here
and you can insert images using this button.
And you can also attach files using this button.
Learning to ask good questions in writing
is an essential skill.
By asking throughout your course,
you will be practicing this skill
and you will get better at asking questions in ways
that help people help you.
That will make you a better learner.
So please, think about how you ask your questions
and give your instructors as much information as possible
so they can provide you with the best help they can.
When you're done with your message, click Send.
Your instructor will get back to you within one business
day, often much sooner.
When they do, you will receive an email indicating
that they have replied.
You will also see an indicator over the Instructor Q&A button
letting you know you have new messages.
Open that up to find the message.
After reading it, you can reply and/or mark it complete.
OK, that's it.
We really hope you enjoy your course
and that you learn a ton.
Good luck.