e-Newsletter - Volume 4, Number 89
Welcome to Class!
by Bill Anderton

Welcome to JG-01 “History, Polity and Ethos of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) taught by Dr. Jerry Gladson.

There are a few housekeeping details you should complete as soon as you can in order to get of to a good start in this class. If you haven’t, please do these things as soon as possible:

• Check the student account information you entered at registration on your My Account Page. This is very important because course-credit documentation will be based on your student account information. Of course, course credit is not transferable.
• Review the Class Syllabus page.
• Review the How To Take This Course page to know what is expected of you in this class.
• Post your information in the Class Roster. Be sure to add a photo of yourself. Be sure to update any of your information if it changes during the class. Your contact information and photo will be private and will only be seen by members of the class. Note also that there may be students from academic institutions other than your own; indeed, there may be students from anywhere in the world.  Keep this in mind as you make decisions about the information you wish to include in your visible profile. You are always at liberty to make direct connections with any other student(s) in your cohort by contacting them directly.
• Please introduce yourself to your classmates in the thread provided in the Class Forum. Tell us a little about yourself.
• Confirm the bandwidth available for viewing our videos using our Bandwidth Check and that you can transit any firewall in your network by using our Port Tester. Take any remedial action needed or contact us for support and assistance. Please do this early to cure any issues before the class starts.
• Make sure you have the latest version of Adobe Flash installed, if supported by your operating system and browser. Also, make sure you have the latest version of Java installed. Update if needed.
• Review the "Entry & Navigation Tutorial" so you know how to get around in the Virtual Classroom. The "Entry & Navigation Tutorial" will show you various ways to enter and re-enter the Virtual Classroom and navigate through its pages once you enter.
• Review all of the Features and Function available to you in the Virtual Classroom via the buttons in the sidebar on the right side of the pages in the classroom.
• Purchase the class textbook. Link to the Amazon purchases can be found on the Textbook Page is provided for your convenience.
• Review the Class Calendar. Make note of any scheduled events. Also (important!) please make not of the due-date for all assignments!
• When reviewing the Class Calendar, please make special note of the two live online meetings and make plans accordingly.
• From time to time, we will send various notices and updates to you via e-mail. Be sure that e-mail from "transformingthechurch.org" is whitelisted and allowed so our e-mail to you isn't caught in your SPAM filter.

If you need any technical support help, please contact me through the Class Forum. Or, if you wish, my private contact information is in the Class Roster.

--Bill Anderton