What is this
course about?
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Over the last couple of years I have encouraged my students to make use of the resources available on the World Wide Web. This is no longer optional; I will expect every student in this class to make sure he or she has an account with University Computing Services, because the resources on the web provide such a wealth of information that anyone not utilizing it is going to be at a disadvantage. Virtually all course materials will be made available on the web, and often in an enhanced form that offers significant improvements over class handouts. The syllabus, for example, will be hotlinked to notes and web sites appropriate to each week's subject matter, offering access to lots of information you can't get from the paper syllabus. If you don't yet have an account on the university's computer system, you should go over to one of the student labs in the Engineering/Computer Science building and ask how to get one - it's extremely simple to do. Once you have an account, you can use Netscape with virtually any computer on campus, and with the right kind of modem at home you can also access the Web any time of day or night. Once you start up the Netscape program, you can reach the class home page by either of the following routes: the simplest alternative is to type the following address in the "Location" window at the top of the page: http://research.umbc.edu/~miller/geog111.html or, to go directly to the online syllabus, http://research.umbc.edu/~miller/geog111/syllabus.htm then hit a carriage return and follow instructions once you reach that site. You can bookmark the site if you are working from your own computer, allowing you to skip the typing the next time you log in. If you prefer to point and click rather than type, go to the UMBC home page: http://www.umbc.edu/
Once the home page comes up, click on "The Student Link". When that page comes up, scroll down to "Academic Resources" and click on the second item from the bottom of the list: "Online Course Materials by Department". On the next page, click on "Geography" and, once the next page comes up, click on "GEOG 111". (I told you it was faster to just type in the address yourself!) You can bookmark this page to get to it directly next time - as long as you are working on your own computer. Once you are attached to the course home page, you can start exploring. I have set up a version of the class syllabus with hotlinks attached to it directly. For each week in the schedule you can find some notes on topics covered in class and in the assigned readings; a list of bookmarks with interesting images and information pertinent to that week's subject matter; and links to material provided online by instructors of other introductory geology courses across the country. For any topic that puzzles you, consult the list of bookmarks: you may well find four or five different presentations that explain the topic in a different way, often with impressive graphics, animations, or photographs. If you have no computing experience and don't know how to use the World Wide Web, that can be taken care of easily. Let me know, or contact University Computing Services and ask them where to go for help. |