Welcome to English 101-1DL, English Composition. My name is Jeff Meyers, and I’ll be your instructor this semester as we look at writing essays, including research writing.

If this is your first experience with on-line education, I am sure you will find it an interesting, challenging and rewarding experience. If you have taken on-line courses before, I am glad you decided to participate in this program as well.

I have also taught English 235, Technical Writing, on-line for quite a few years as well as Eng. 101 in a hybrid format, meaning that students came to class four times a year to take in-class essays. We now offer English 101 as a totally online version of English Composition. I am excited about the possibilities and hope you enjoy it as much as I know I will. I understand your feelings if you are nervous or a little confused at this point. But I believe you will become more and more comfortable with the concept the more you work with on-line lessons.

It’s important to note that we have lots of technical support staff to help us with any problems we may encounter. You can find help at helpdesk@clintoncc.suny.edu or by calling (518) 562-4161. The key to developing confidence in a WEB environment is to stay with it and to seek help when needed.

You will find syllabus-like information in a number of documents below. I suggest that you read each document in this section in the order they appear and ask any questions you may have along the way by clicking on the “Ask a question” box at the bottom of each document. You may want to print some of the documents if you take comfort from hard copies.

We will not be using a textbook for this course, but I will provide you with online access to several sites that provide solid information on important writing skills and requirements. As I will emphsize throughout the course, revision plays a major role in writing properly, and having easy access to all of the rules/regulations that guide proper English is vital to your success. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, and don’t be afraid to respond to any of your classmates’ questions.

I have posted complementary information for each chapter in the different modules and have included some questions to help get the discussions rolling. Once we get going, I would like to be a participant in the discussions along with each and every one of you. We will all get bored very quickly if I end up doing all the talking.

We will also be looking at several examples of the essays you will be assigned this semester. I think it is very important that you all understand your role as the writer of expository information (make sure you know the meaning of words when you find them). You will be expected to write using specific support, clear organization, unified information and good sentence skills (all of which we will talk about throughout the semester). I would like all of you to be confident in sharing your ideas regularly.

I hope you’re getting the idea that your active participation in these discussions will become the heart of this course. After all, we are dealing with student communication. Don’t think of this solely as one of those dreaded English courses you may have come to know. It’s a tool that I want to help you use in your future work in college and beyond.

Thanks for reading this. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. But for now, I suggest you read through the rest of the Course Information before moving onto the course modules.

Good luck, and remember that help is always available for you. — Jeff Meyers