>> Hi everybody.
Welcome to your completely video orientation for gerontology 301,
the biology of aging online.
I'm Jessica Coppola and I'll be your professor this semester.
Before we go any farther, I need you have a copy of your syllabus
and calendar before you continue with this orientation video.
In your schedule of classes when you registered, there was a link
that said please view the instructor's website.
And when you clicked there you went to the web page
for gerontology 301 and there was a syllabus
and calendar there.
If you didn't do that, pause.
Go do that now and have a copy in front of you.
If you don't have the schedule of classes handy,
you can also just Google Jessica Coppola Sacramento City College
and my web page pops right up and you can click
on the geron 301 link there too.
So pause, make sure you're looking at --
in fact, I'll show you a picture of it right now.
You'll see this.
Your syllabus and calendar for the course.
All right.
I'm going to assume from this moment
on you have that in front of you.
Let's talk about those of you watching this and hoping
to add the class first.
I'm going to mention to you 3 tasks in this video
and I need you to make note of those.
If you're a person wanting to add, you won't be able
to do those tasks until you're added.
So what I need you to do
if you're hoping to add is e-mail me.
Tell me your full registered name, your student ID number,
and this class is not looking too full at this point.
So your chances are very good
that when I get your e-mail I will be able to add you.
Your chances are even better if you're able
to get onto my waiting list.
So contact me.
The week prior to classes starting would be great
but the first few days of classes starting would work
as well and I will add you.
Once you're added, I'll need you to do the orientation tasks
that I'm going to mention in this video.
So when you e-mail me, tell me your name,
your student ID number, and please mention
that you watched this entire orientation
and that will help your chances of being added.
So now that that's out of the way.
Welcome. I know that some of you are probably new
to Sac City [phonetic] so I want you to know you are
at an absolutely amazing college.
I've taught at many colleges and this one has, by far,
the most resources for you.
So if you get in any kind of trouble this semester,
if you have challenges or things you need assistance with,
ask me because I can very likely connect you
to resources for childcare.
Resources for textbooks.
Resources for all kinds of things.
So be sure to ask me and if you're new to Sac City, welcome.
Next you have an absolutely amazing instructor and I say
that jokingly, of course.
But the truth is I really love teaching
and I like teaching online.
I've developed this craft over many years.
And I feel I'm doing a pretty good job of it.
You'll have to let me know at the end if you agree but I --
the reason that I'm so successful is because I want
to connect with you and I have found that it's exciting for me
and for you if we connect throughout the semester.
If you are caring for an elderly parent, if you are working
with the elderly in a care facility of some kind,
if you can connect this course to the things going
on in your life, it will enrich it for me
and it will enrich it for you.
So I'll have to prove that one to you but I really want
to connect and make this personal for you this semester.
So I'll prove that one.
Aging, in general, is a tough and challenging subject.
We are going to be talking about biology.
The title of the course, right?
Biology of aging.
So we're going to talk about cells
and we're going to talk about DNA.
And there are some hard concepts but that being said,
there are no prerequisites to this course at all.
So it's my job to take you from the ground level,
you know from high school level biology and chemistry and on up.
And I will do that but you need to know, in advance,
that you also have to put in the work and do the reading
and do the studying so that these concepts make sense
to you.
A lot of them take time to settle in and to work through
and so, you know, when we're talking about antioxidants
and how they function or skin aging
or all these really fascinating concepts,
they often have sciency foundations.
So promise me that you will put in the work
and I will promise you to help you to get there as best I can.
So know that upfront that this is going
to be a challenging but fun course.
As I think you might already be able to tell,
it's very important to me to get to know you
and to help make this material really apply to your life
and not just something that you memorize
and forget as you leave.
Let's look at your class calendar as far
as how the course will be laid out.
Oops. That wasn't the one I meant to click on.
So again, the top
of the syllabus has my contact information,
where my office is located, my office hours which are a time
that you can call me, come by in person, or whatever you wish
to discuss, whatever you wish but I'm going
to scroll all the way down to the calendar
which is near the end here.
And the course is organized by week.
Week 1 of the semester.
Week 2 of the semester.
So every week will begin Monday morning at 5 a.m.
and that week will end Sunday at midnight.
Now this first week for you guys I just want you to get started
on the orientation and getting used
to how the course will work.
So watching this video is one of your tasks for week 1.
Completing an orientation assignment is a task I need you
to do to prove that you watched this video
and an orientation exam.
And I'll show you where to find those in D2L in just a moment.
So you'll notice about how many chapters do we do each week?
Usually 1 right?
So it's about a chapter a week
and then those chapters will have handouts.
Now when I teach this class face to face,
we do the handout during lecture.
I think it helps guide us through the chapter.
Help us focus in on the parts that are most important
but since you guys are online, you're going
to do these handouts as you read your chapter.
Now some people will prefer to read their chapter first
and then work through the handouts but I suggest you
at least consider as you're reading chapter,
you work on the handouts and that will --
to me, practicing while you read helps cement the concepts
into your mind more securely.
So you understand them rather
than just surface memory, you know what I mean?
So these handouts are going to be turned in every week on D2L
and I'll show you where to do those.
And then every week there will be a quiz.
So that's kind of the format.
Read a chapter.
Work on a handout or two.
And do a quiz.
Now when it's an exam week.
Let's look down here at exam number 1, for example.
There will not be handouts or quizzes, right?
You'll just review for that exam.
Review that set of chapters and take your exam.
Now if you scroll down way toward the bottom here,
where's the final?
Your final exam, exam 3 is not cumulative.
Each of the exams, 1, 2, and 3, are like a unit.
A unit of 3 or 4 chapters
and that's what will be covered on the exam.
There will not a final -- a cumulative final exam.
There will be a cumulative make up exam and I'll be telling you
about that a little bit in the semester
but it basically can replace your lower test score
if you end up missing a test.
All right.
So that's that.
Let's go to D2L now.
So D2L is a course management system that all
of the Los Rios colleges use currently.
So let's go to the Sac City homepage.
And at the top of the Sac City homepage you will see
e-learning D2L.
Do you see it up there at the top?
It's also here on the left, e-learning D2L.
It'll get to the same place.
And if you click on it, you can log
in with your w number and your password.
And click log in and it will pull up a list
of all the courses that you are registered for,
for this current fall 2016 semester
or whatever semester we're in.
And here's our course, fall 2016 geron 301 online.
Now note you won't be put into D2L
until about a week prior to classes starting.
So don't worry if you're watching this orientation video
early, just know that the orientation tasks don't start
until when -- what did I say?
I think the 20 -- let's see.
The 22nd through the 28th.
So the orientation tasks have to be completed by the 28th.
That gives you plenty of time so don't panic
if you're not quite into D2L yet.
So let's click on our course.
Every week I'll be posting announcements.
Those announcements will very closely match the calendar.
I'll say hey guys remember you have to do a, b,
and c but right here, the word content is the one button I want
you to remember the most.
So if I click on content, you'll see that everything expected
of you is here on this panel.
So when I click on week 1, you know you need to click
through each of these tools and complete them.
You don't have to do them in order if you don't want to
but typically I try to list them
in the order that's most logical.
Here is some optional information on how
to take exams, how to study well.
Sometimes those are helpful at the beginning of a term
and then here's that orientation exam that's one
of the requirements this week.
It literally tests you on reading your syllabus.
How many -- what's your teacher's name?
How many exams are there?
Is your final cumulative?
You know, just basically making sure you understand how the
course is going to work, what's expected of you?
One question I ask you in there is if you don't participate
for two weeks in a row, you haven't turned anything
in online, will you be -- might you be dropped?
And the answer to that is yes.
In an online environment, the only way I have
to check your attendance is if you're participating
in the weekly tasks that I assign you.
And if I see between two to three weeks of nothing,
and you haven't contacted me, then I have to assume
that you no longer want to be in the class.
So it's really important that you keep up with what's due
and when it's due so that I don't think you've fallen off
the face of the earth.
Sadly that happens, I won't say often but it happens more often
than I would like in online classes.
People start so excited and ready to go
and then they just drift off and life happens
and they don't even log in.
And so I don't want that to happen to you.
I want you to stay engaged.
Keep it personal.
Keep it interesting to you.
Call me. E-mail me.
And stay -- keep your enthusiasm
that you have right now throughout the 16 week semester.
That's my hope for you.
So there's the orientation exam.
It's just a multiple choice exam.
So if you'll click through that, that would be a great.
Here is an orientation assignment
and the directions ask you to just type
up a little questionnaire telling me why you're taking
the class.
So open Word or whatever word processing program you have.
Type it up and submit it to me
under this orientation assignment.
In the directions, I make note that I can't open dot pages.
I don't have a MacIntosh computer.
So you will have to export that as a PDF.
You'll have to find a way for me to be able to open it.
So I've listed for you the types of files that I can open
like Word documents and PDFs and rtfs and txt or whatever.
There are some free resources.
So if you don't have Microsoft Office or Microsoft Word.
There's open OpenOffice.
There's GoogleDocs.
There are work arounds.
So connect with me.
This is really a very low stakes assignment.
It's only worth a point and I just want to make sure
that for the real assignments you can submit them to me
and I can open them and we're good.
There's also inexpensive versions
of Microsoft Office for students too.
So that's week 1 in a nutshell.
And you see the format.
Every week you'll have exactly what's expected of you
and yeah, so that's that.
Let's go back to my PowerPoint here.
So we'd look at the class calendar.
There's my office hours.
So -- oops that was supposed to say the Davis Center.
So I'm currently teaching on two campuses.
The Sac City main campus and the Sac City Davis campus not West
Sac this semester but so office hours are available
to you at either location.
So if you're interested please feel free.
The truth is if you really wanted to meet me
in West Sac I could do that too but I only check e-mail Monday
through Friday 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. I have a husband and a child
that I really enjoy being with and so I really try hard not
to check e-mail on the weekend
but you're still welcome to e-mail me.
I just won't get it until Monday morning.
So know that, that those are the hours that I reply.
And within those hours I reply very promptly.
Let's talk about your textbook next.
You and I both know that some classes you can get away
with not buying a book at all.
This is not one of those classes.
The handouts that I give you every week, the quizzes,
the exams, they are very much based on the textbook
and any videos or animations that I have posted
for you for that week.
So I just looked this up on Amazon a minute ago
and you could rent it for as low as -- this says $27.
The last window I was on said $16.
So I don't know maybe it varies by the moment.
But it's called the Biology of Aging by Roger McDonald,
a professor of aging research that I worked
with at UC Davis actually wrote the text.
And you can do -- get it however you want.
You can get it at the bookstore.
You can get it on Amazon.
You can rent it on cheg [phonetic].
Anyway you want as long as you have a book.
And I will have a copy, two copies actually, on reserve
but it would behoove you to have a paper copy with you.
It will make it so much easier to study, to get ready
for exams, to do handouts if you have a book with you.
If for some reason that's a huge obstacle, talk to me.
Let me help connect you with EOPS.
Let me help connect you with some of the resources
that can help you pay for books.
But you absolutely positively need a book.
The very first week I've provided a PDF of the chapter.
The author gave me rights to post the PDF
for this chapter 1 while you wait for your book
to arrive in the mail.
But order it right away.
Make sure that it's on its way so that you have by week 2.
So that's the textbook.
You have to participate in D2L each week.
So I hope that's obvious.
You have to have a computer with internet access.
I'd recommend a printer but that's not a requirement.
Some people have gotten away with not printing anything.
So keep in mind you have to have a backup.
If your computer goes down, if you get a virus,
if your internet gets disconnected for some reason,
plan on having a backup.
Maybe the public library.
Maybe campus computer labs.
Maybe a friend or family member's computer.
I don't know have a backup
because if you miss an entire week, that is a lot of points
that you've just missed out on.
So don't let that be an obstacle
to you being successful in this class.
Plan for it.
Know that Murphy's Law.
There will be a week when your computer goes down
and you can't get online.
So already have in your mind some backups.
And I'll be posting the campus computer lab locations and hours
so you have that but if that's not going to work
for you then have your own backup of where you can go
if your computer goes down.
Also an active student gmail account is very important.
Los Rios has a separate gmail.
It's not the same as your personal gmail.
It's a student gmail.
And when I send out a notice to you guys, that's where it goes.
It goes to your Los Rios student gmail account.
Now you can always forward that gmail
to your own personal account and I could help you to do
that if you don't know how to do that
but it's really important that you activate it.
So when you're in e-services registering for your classes,
click on that link to student gmail and make sure
to activate it and forward it or wherever you need to do with it.
I will be sending out extra credit opportunities,
for example, saying hey this is happening on campus
or this is happening in our area.
If you do it, you can get extra credit.
You'll never get those e-mails if you don't set
up your student gmail.
So that's very important.
As far as accommodations go, some of you qualify
for extra test taking time or other services.
You need to let me know that as soon as possible.
I can put that information into D2L.
I can extend your test taking time.
I can do all of those things but you have
to get me the proper paperwork.
By the same token, I'm using a lot
of video resources this semester because we're not in person.
So if something isn't working for you.
If you're not able to -- it's all closed caption but if
for some reason, you're not able to understand it, ask me.
Maybe I can deliver it to you in another way.
So don't feel embarrassed, you know,
to ask me for something you need.
I want you to be successful in this class.
So whatever that is, just be sure to ask me
and I'll make it happen.
So we looked at D2L.
You know what D2L is.
You know how to use it.
You know most everything is
under that content button for the weeks.
Sometimes there are things that get in student's way,
please don't let that turn you off.
Talk to me.
Sometimes pop-up blockers
or virus protection can cause some issues.
Just talk to me and I can find a work through for you.
By the same token, there's sometimes not
so great exam questions.
I'm not a perfect human being.
Sometimes I'll write one that you won't like.
Instead of just getting mad and blasting me
on rate my professor, why don't you just tell me?
Just e-mail me and say question on the exam,
I didn't like because blah blah blah
and my textbook says blah blah blah.
I mean say it respectfully, right.
I do have feelings but -- and 9 times out of 10,
I find that the students are right.
If you've taken the time to look it up in your book
and verify it, often you'll get your points back
and I'll be able to fix a really bad question.
So don't hesitate to do that instead of fuming inside.
Contact me and we'll fix it.
We'll make it right.
So the format each and every week will be for you to start
by checking your calendar.
Make sure you know what's expected of you.
Every week there will be reading and a PowerPoint lecture.
And often there will be videos as part of that lecture.
Little animations and things to help make sense.
There will be handout assignments every week
that will be turned in on D2L.
They will always be due Sunday at 11:55 p.m.
of that particular week.
There will be a quiz each week except
on the weeks when there's an exam.
And those are round about every month.
And so that's the format.
That's the predictable format each and every week.
You have to turn things in on time.
I will not accept materials late.
I find that I go crazy when I try
and accept too many late assignments.
So what I've done instead is I've built
in bonus point activities.
So if you have a sick child and you know you're not going
to get your handout done for that week,
plan on doing a bonus point activity.
Those will be posted in the dropbox right there at the top
of D2L and you may choose to do them anytime
between the beginning and the end of the semester.
And so you don't even need to e-mail me
and say I'm really sorry I need to miss this assignment.
I mean you can e-mail me if you want to but you don't have to.
You just can say life is happening to me.
I have to make up this assignment
by doing some bonus point activities.
Now I have about 70 bonus point opportunities.
That means you can miss, you know, a handful.
Two, 3, 4 things but beyond that you can't miss too many
or there won't be enough bonus points to make
up for what you missed.
See what I mean?
So it's fine if you miss one or two things.
That happens.
Life happens but if you're continuously missing,
keep in mind you won't be able to recuperate
from all that loss of points.
So there is some buffer there and you can know
that that's there but there's no endless buffers there.
Completion of all exams and quizzes.
Remember that your exams will all be offered online.
They will not be in person exams.
Proper etiquette is really important.
We will -- we may have a couple
of online discussion forums especially
in the review prior to the exam.
Be sure that you speak respectfully in the same manner
that you would in a face to face classroom.
No cursing.
No getting inappropriate on discussions online.
Remember it's just like a face to face class.
It's just conducted online.
Please keep in communication with me.
Make sure I know what's going on.
Don't fall off the face of the earth.
There's only about 850 points in this semester.
And that's broken into the weekly handouts,
the weekly quizzes, and exams.
So that's the approximate breakdown of points.
The truth is it might end up closer to a 1,000
but round about there.
Here's some major concepts that the course will cover.
First we'll begin with talking
about how is aging research even done?
Why is so much of it done in animals
and what parts have been done in humans?
What are the mechanisms?
What do we know about how and why we age mechanistically?
Is aging a disease or not?
How can we measure aging?
So two 60-year-old people might look completely different?
How do we measure their age if we don't know, for example,
their chronological age.
What determines how long a particular species will live?
And some species live much, much longer than others.
And so that's the sample of your course in a nutshell.
Remember this is just an orientation overview.
There will be lots more interaction between us.
So e-mail, call.
Make sure to begin with those orientation tasks
and then next week, we'll move right into the week 2 tasks.
All right.
See you online.
Have a great semester.
Bye.