Welcome to English 28 or English 101 Online! I will be teaching the following sections totally online during Spring 2008:

English 28Sections 7004 & 7032

English 101Sections 7009 & 7033

The following is information to help you succeed in this class. Please read it carefully and feel free to email me (Marion Heyn: ) if you have any questions.

What you should know about the content of the class:

Both of these are reading- and writing-intensive classes that teach you how to craft thesis-driven, research-based college-level essays. English 28 is the prerequisite course to English 101, and placement into either of them is by successful completion of the prerequisite course or placement via the English Placement Test. If you are not sure which course is correct for you or have not yet taken the English Placement Test, please see the Counseling Department.

English 28 students will do extensive reading of short essays and a full-length book, while English 101 students will be required to read many longer essays and articles as well as a full-length book. All English 101 students must satisfactorily complete a research paper which involves multiple exercises and submissions. Discussion of the assigned readings are required and graded in both courses. Some group work—all arranged fully online—will be required for both courses.

In both classes, students will be completing the same course work as the regular classroom course; that means that you should expect to spend between 9 to 12 hoursper week on this one course.

What you should know about the structure of the class:

  • The class is entirely online – there are no required on-campus meetings.
  • You have a great deal of flexibility in doing the course work, but regular participation and weekly submission of work is essential to success.
  • The class will be available starting February 4th (no sooner) through the ETUDES-NG website. A link to the website and information on how to figure out your username and password can be found at:
  • This class proceeds at the same pace as the in-person sections. You will need to log on at least several times every week. Content and assignments will open and close on specified dates—you can’t do it all the last week. In addition, the class content is constantly building on previous knowledge. It is very important to keep up and make sure you understand all of the current material before moving on.
  • An online class is not any easier nor does it take any less time than the in-person version. You need to have the time and be self-motivated and self-disciplined to succeed. If you are not sure if an online class is really for you, take the quizzes at:
  • Due to the nature of the online environment, there will be a lot more reading and writing involved in this class than in a traditional class.
  • All of the following books are required. Please purchase them as soon as you are enrolled. They are available at the LAVC Bookstore and Amazon.com; other bookstores may also carry them. Titles followed by an asterisk * are on reserve in the LAVC Library:
    English 28 Textbooks
    They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing
    by Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein
    Models for Writers: Short Essays for Composition, 9th ed.*
    by Alfred Rosa, Paul Eschholz
    A Writer's Reference, 6th ed.
    by Diana Hacker
    The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother*
    by James McBride
    English 101 Textbooks
    Language Awareness: Readings for College Writers, 9th ed.*
    by Paul Eschholz, et al.
    The Argument Culture: Stopping America's War of Words
    by Deborah Tannen
    A Writer's Companion, 4th ed.*
    by Richard Marius
    A Writer's Reference, 6th ed.
    by Diana Hacker
  • Students enrolled in the course must have the word processing application Microsoft Word or a fully-equivalent and compatible alternative. WordPad and Works are NOT acceptable. Also, the new versions of Office are set to save files with a .docx extension. Learn how to change that to the standard, cross-platform .doc extension. All assignments must be submitted as .doc or .rtf file attachments; all work must be submitted to the ETUDES course site. You must be fully familiar with working with text files and attachments in order to succeed in this course.

What you need to do:

  • Make sure that you have easy and reliable Internet access. Dial-up service works but you will find it very slow. DSL or cable access are recommended.
  • Check to make sure that your computer system is adequate, that you have all the needed software, and that your cache settings are correct. Please see the following webpages for instructions on setting up your computer and do it BEFORE class starts:
  • Have a back-up computer lined up (such as the computer labs on campus or the public library) in case of problems. Technical difficulties will not be an acceptable excuse for late or missed work.
  • Have a working email address that you check regularly.
  • Log on at least once before February 8th (If you do not do so, I will drop you from the class as a “no show”).
  • Log on several times a week, preferably every week day, after that.
  • Read all of the content materials, complete the assignments, and participate in the discussions. Participation in discussions and groups is required.
  • Ask questions whenever you have them.
  • Learn some new interesting, fun and useful (honest!) things!

How to contact me:

If you need to contact me before class starts, email is your best option—my email address is . My campus phone number is 818-947-2532. I usually work from my home, but occasionally you can find me in my campus office, Campus Center Room 240. I look forward to meeting you in the discussion forums online during the first week of class.

Heyndocs/instruction/F07