Distance Learning
Frequently Asked Questions
This page contains some frequently asked questions about Distance Learning and online courses at NWACC. Please refer to this first when you have questions. If you can not find the answer to your question here, contact the NWACC Distance Learning Department .
1. Admissions and Registration
1.1 - Is online learning right for me?
1.2 - Take the Online Learning Pre-Test
1.2 - I’m a student at another school and want to take some courses that I can transfer to my college. How do I get admitted and registered?
1.3 - What do I need to do after I register for my online course(s)?
2. Classes and Degrees
2.1 - How do I find out what classes are available online?
2.2 - What degrees are available online?
2.3 - What do I need to know about being a Distance Learning student?
3. Compressed Interactive Video
3.1 - How do I go about renting the Interactive Videoconference room?
3.2 - Can I take an Interactive Video course from home?
4. Blackboard Support
4.1 - How do I log into Blackboard?
4.1.1 - How do I log into Blackboard if My NWACC Connection is down?
4.2 - What’s Spyware or Adware?
4.3 - What’s Java and why do I need it on my machine?
4.4 - What are pop-up windows and how should I handle them in my web browser?
4.5 - What is anti-virus software and why do I need it for my home PC?
4.6 - What is personal firewall software and do I need it for my home PC?
4.7 - What other online systems might be used for some of my online courses?
4.8 - What are plug-ins and helper applications and why would I need them?
4.9 - When can I start my online course for next semester?
4.10 - What is Phishing and how can I protect myself against it?
1. Admissions and Registration
1.1 - Is online learning right for me?
Online courses require four things for success:
1. Motivation – You need to be able to motivate yourself to complete your work and stay on schedule. Procrastination in an online course is a recipe for failure.
2. Organization – You need to be able to organize your time to work on your online course. Even though you won’t be meeting 3 hours a week in a classroom, that 3 hours of expected work won’t vanish. Online students can reasonably expect to spend 6-9 hours a week on each 3 hour class. You need to organize your time to be able to do the work necessary, and also to have quality, undistracted time in which to work.
3. Communication – You need to stay in contact with both your instructor and your classmates to be successful in an online class. The vast majority of NWACC’s online courses are designed for this kind of dialogue, so you should be regularly communicating in the course. Don’t be afraid to go beyond the minimum required communications as that will increase your study and discussion of the subject matter and improve your learning experience.
4. Basic Online Connection and Skills – Students need at least a dial-up modem at home, although broadband (cable modem, DSL, or satellite) is recommended. Students should have access to a computer at home or regular and consistent access to one elsewhere. Home access is strongly recommended. Students entering an online course should know how to browse the internet, send e-mail with attachments, word process documents and save them in different file formats, and fill out forms online. Students should know how to download and save files as well as install software also.
Back to menu
1.3 - I’m a student at another school and want to take some courses that I can transfer to my college. How do I get admitted and registered?
You should first confirm with your advisor at your regular school that the courses you take here would be transferable to that school. Once you have done this, you will apply for admission, be advised, and register, just as any other online student at NWACC would.
Specific details as to how the process works can be found HERE and HERE.
Back to menu
1.4 -What do I need to do after I register for my online course(s)?
As soon as you register for your online course, you should contact your instructor, preferably by e-mail. There is a Faculty and Staff Directory on the main College homepage.
Back to menu
2. Classes and Degrees
2.1 - How do I find out what classes are available online?
A general list of Distance Learning classes is located at http://www.nwacc.edu/disted/nwdeclas.php -- however, this is not always up-to-date. The best way is to read HERE about how to find online classes through our regular class search.
Back to menu
2.2 - What degrees are available online?
Currently NWACC offers the Associate of Arts online. There are a limited number of choices in some areas, particularly science, for this degree to be completely online. Also, the Science department recommends that science majors take all science courses, especially the labs, on-campus.
Back to menu
2.3 - What do I need to know about being a Distance Learning student?
Distance Learning students should be prepared for the amount of self-directedness and independence that come with these kinds of courses. There is a certain level of responsibility that students have to have to ensure their success in courses. NWACC wants DL students to be motivatived, organized, and communicative in their class. Details on each of these traits can be found on the Information About Distance Learning page.
Back to menu
3. Compressed Interactive Video
3.1 - How do I go about renting the Interactive Videoconference room?
An external facilities request form is needed to reserve the room. Interested parties should contact the Distance Learning office at (479)619-4299 first, in order to determine the availability of the room, before sending in a facilities request form. Fees and other information are located at http://www.nwacc.edu/disted/nwdeuse.php
Back to menu
3.2 - Can I take an Interactive Video course from home?
No. Interactive Video classes are classroom-based and involve classrooms from different locations being connected. So, it is not possible to take this kind of class from home.
Back to menu
4. Blackboard Support
4.1 - How do I log into Blackboard?
Normally, you will enter your Blackboard classes by logging into My NWACC Connection and going to the My Courses tab. Click on the link for your course, which will take you into Blackboard.
Back to menu
4.1.1 - How do I log into WebCT if My NWACC Connection is down?
If My NWACC Connection is not available online, that does not mean that Blackboard is down. The systems are linked but are separate. Blackboard keeps running even if My NWACC Connection is down.
If needed, you can log in directly at the Blackboard entry page: http://nwacc.blackboard.com Follow the instructions there about your username and obtaining your password.
Please remember that student PIN numbers are handled by the Student Records office -- 479-619-4398.
Back to menu
4.2 - What’s Spyware or Adware?
Spyware is a type of software that sends information from your computer to other sources, from the websites your browse to potentially information you type on the keyboard, such as passwords and credit card numbers. For this reason, spyware jeopardizes the security of your machine.
Adware is a type of software that opens pop-up ads on your computer when you browse or tries to get you to go to different sites.
Both of these types of software can be downloaded, both intentionally or unintentionally, when you browse the internet.
Spyware/Adware known to have problems with Blackboard include: Kazaa, Internet Optimizer, Starware, and Ask Jeeves. You should not intentionally download or install any of these applications.
In any case, all computer users should download and install an adware or spyware remover, and regularly update and run it to remove these types of software from your machine.
Spybot, a free download from http://www.safer-networking.org is a very good product.
AdAware, which is also available in a free version, is an effective product as well (although it has struggled to deal with Internet Optimizer in the past) and can be found at http://www.lavasoftusa.com.
Back to menu
4.3 - What’s Java and why do I need it on my machine?
Java is a programming language that many web applications use to run miniature applications on your PC, or to run scripts that perform certain tasks. Blackboard uses Java (and JavaScript, a scripting language that does smaller jobs of this sort), so you need to have Java on your PC.
Check your browser here to see if you have the required Java version.
Back to menu
4.4 - What are pop-up windows and how should I handle them in my web browser?
Pop-up windows are web browser windows that open because of adware or some action you have taken on a web page. Because various types of adware generate unwanted pop-up ads, pop-ups can be a nuisance as you try to work online. To help reduce this nuisance, many software manufacturers have included “pop-up blockers” in their software. These programs block pop-up windows from opening.
However, Blackboard brings up certain tools and links in new windows, and pop-up blockers will also block these.
Microsoft Internet Explorer has a pop-up blocker that is set to “on” by default. To turn this pop-up blocker off:
- Go to the Tools Menu of Internet Explorer.
- Select Pop-up Blocker.
- Select Turn Off Pop-Up Blocker.
- Select the OK button until you get out of Internet Options.
If this does not resolve your problem, you may have another pop-up blocker on your system. Several applications, particularly those designed for use with the Internet currently come with pop-up blockers as a standard feature. You will have to deactivate the pop-up blockers (or set them to allow pop-ups from nwacc.blackboard.com) individually. Most of these can be disabled from the Settings or Options for the software.
The following is a list of applications that are known to have pop-up blockers on them. Other Internet-related applications may also have pop-up blockers.:
AOL web browser and toolbar
Google toolbar for web browsers
MSN toolbar
Netscape Navigator web browser
Norton Internet Security
Spysweeper
Yahoo! toolbar for web browsers
A larger list of pop-up blockers, with instructions for how to disable them can be found at http://www.virtualhrcenter.com/popup_blockers.htm
Back to menu
4.5 - What is anti-virus software and why do I need it for my home PC?
Anti-virus software is vital software for any PC. This software protects your computer from malicious files (computer viruses, worm files) that attempt to load themselves on to your machine and carry out commands, damage data, reproduce themselves, and infect other machines.
Anti-virus software should be regularly updated and set to work actively, preventing computer infections by these malicious programs.
McAfee and Norton are the two most commonly used anti-virus programs.
Additional precautions you can take to protect your machine from viruses:
Never open e-mail attachments that you did not request or expect, especially ones that look suspicious. Even if the sender is someone you know, use caution and, if it looks suspicious, contact them to double-check that they sent it to you. Many worm files are designed to pull off e-mail addresses from a computer and use that address as the sender, even if another account sent the mail. This is called “e-mail spoofing,” when a program pretends to have sent mail from an address other than the account it actually came from.
If you receive unfamiliar files on disk, always scan them on the disk with your anti-virus software before opening them or copying them to your hard drive. Sometimes viruses or other malicious software are hidden in other files, or disguise themselves to appear to be other programs (these are called “Trojan horses”).
Back to menu
4.6 - What is personal firewall software and do I need it for my home PC?
Personal Firewall software is important software for any home computer user who has a broadband (cable modem or DSL) connection. These types of connections are set to be connected to the Internet always, just like a networked computer at the office. Therefore, your computer is regularly accessible from the Internet. A personal firewall will protect your computer from unwanted access and attack, as well as letting you know when certain types of software attempt to do suspicious activity.
Users with dial-up modems are generally offline for large periods of time, so it is somewhat more difficult for hackers and malicious software to find and access their machines. Still, a personal firewall will greatly increase the security of your machine and is strongly recommended. Fortunately, Windows and Macintosh computers now come with basic firewall protection included. However, you may want to consider a specific personal firewall product to add greater levels of protection for your home computer.
Back to menu
4.7 - What other online systems are used for distance learning courses at NWACC?
Some courses at NWACC may use different online programs as part of their materials. Math courses in particular may use MathZone or another system.
The best thing to do, particularly if you are taking an online Math class, is to contact your instructor to see which system you will be using.
Back to menu
4.8 - What are plug-ins and helper applications and why would I need them?
Plug-ins are programs that allow you to open different types of multimedia files in your web browser. Some online courses include links to video, audio, or other multimedia that the web browser cannot play by itself. Plug-ins add the capability to play these files to the web browser and work directly in the web browser.
Helper applications are stand alone programs that allow you to play or view different types of files, that otherwise would not open in your web browser, including video, audio, word processing documents, and presentations (such as Power Point).
A list of common plug-ins and helper applications with links can be found at http://www.nwacc.edu/disted/nwdegtec.php#pimenu
Back to menu
4.9 - When can I start my online course for next semester?
Online courses are scheduled to begin on the same date as on-campus courses, and should become availalbe on the morning of the first day of classes.
Back to menu
4.10 - What is Phishing and how can I protect myself against it?
Phishing is a scam where someone sends you an e-mail purporting to be from a bank or some other organization and tells you that you need to take action regarding some issue. These e-mail usually come with web links in them. However, the web links take you to online sites that are replicas of the actual official websites the e-mail purports to be from. At these sites, the scammers attempt to get you to give them important personal information, such as your Social Security Number, or credit card numbers, which they then use to commit identity theft and make fraudulent transactions in your name.
Under no circumstances should you ever respond to an unsolicited e-mail that appears to be from a company. At best this is spam, at worst it is a scam. You should also never give out personal information to a company unless you are absolutely certain you are dealing with the actual company website, and that the information will be secure.
Back to menu
4.11 - How can I protect myself from losing work if there are techical problems.
Though it happens rarely, technology can fail catastrophically, resulting in lost time or data.
Students and faculty can protect their own data and work by keeping backups of all documents for the course. Also, we recommend that students make copies of any discussions or e-mail assignments that they submit for a grade. ALWAYS SAVE A COPY OF EVERYTHING YOU SUBMIT IN THE COURSE.
NWACC cannot guarantee data can be recovered in the event of a major outage, however rare. We will do everything possible to preserve data, but students are responsible for keeping backups of their individual work wherever and however possible.
Back to menu
For questions/comments on this content, please contact the Distance Learning Department.
This page was last updated on:
|
