Kilgore College Distance Education       

Online Orientation

ARTV 2301                                 
(Fall 2008)

Course Name:  2-D Animation I

Welcome to Class!

How to logon:
• This online course uses a web-based course management system called WebCT. I highly recommend that you print the instructions for logging on if you have not used WebCT software before.
• Your WebCT account will automatically be set up for you during the first week of school. *You do not need to create your own user id! Directions for accessing your WebCT account are available on the Resources page of this web site.
• Special note to VCT (Virtual College of Texas) students enrolled in this class though another school: Logon instructions will be emailed to you with 2 working days of receipt of your registration confirmation.

General Course Layout:
This course will follow the traditional Fall/Spring course schedule of a traditional on-campus course. We will be submitting work on a pre-determined schedule.
Here’s the way the entire course is laid out in WebCT, so if you get the layout down during the first two weeks, you should feel perfectly at home throughout the rest of the course:

Home Page
On the course “Home Page” (the page you see first when you log on to the course), you will see several very important icons.

Course Content
The first of these is titled “Course Content ”. Course Content is where you will spend most of your time on line in the course. Within this area you will find important information regarding the course, your assignments, required reading, tips and techniques, and more. This is the most important area in your course. Please check your Calendar often to know when certain aspect of the content (namely the assignments and required reading) is due. Also, Don’t forget to check your browser settings as you were told to do during orientation. This is very important. The getting started with WebCT information also has a message for AOL users that those of you who use AOL should read. It will save you problems later.

Assignments
Notice an icon called “Assignments”. When you click on the Assignments icon, you will find links to each chapter or category in the course. The icons correspond to the competencies and course objectives that are listed in the table towards the end of the course syllabus and are labeled by the chapter or activity. This is not a completely self-paced course as there are discussion board activities that you must complete during a specific time frame. That does not mean that you can’t work ahead on your individual work, but you must at least stay up with the scheduled activities throughout the semester.

Communication Tools
The “Communication Tools” icon is where you will find the main tools that we will be using to communicate with one another - “Mail, Discussions, and Chat”.

Discussion Board
Some of your weekly assignments will include sharing with the class your opinion/knowledge on a subject related to illustration as well as commenting on the postings of other students. I am looking for some thoughts here - not simply a “Yes, I agree”, but I agree/disagree because…” (And you don’t have to write a book - just express yourself clearly, completely and succinctly).

E-mail
You may send mail messages to the instructor as well as to other students in the course using the mail tool. Use the mail tool to ask questions of your instructor as well as to send required assignments. The only time it is appropriate to use the instructor’s external email address (LarryWiklund@gmail.com) is if you are having problems accessing WebCT, making it impossible to use the tool or if you have a sensitive matter to discuss with me. I check my e-mail daily. Notice that your assignments are due on various days. I recommend that you do as much work as possible early, giving yourself a cushion before the deadline. The instructor is not always available during the weekend. Sometimes the server or network is down during the weekend. The instructor, at his discretion, will make exceptions to due dates in the case of unforeseen access problems.

Calendar
Notice the “Calendar” icon. This tool will help you keep track of what you need to be doing and when you need to do it. This will reflect the start and end dates of the Course Content. Don’t forget to check for new entries throughout the semester! You can also make private entries such as setting up a reminder about when your anniversary is, or to go by the dry cleaner after work.

If you follow the instructions given to you, you should be able to successfully complete these exercises for not only this week, but also the weeks that follow.

Remember to be a serious, self-disciplined student, but most of all, have fun! If you experience problems, please let me know if I can help!

Student Learning Outcomes:
In this course, you will learn how to:
1. Use the Flash tool bar
2. Menu bar
3. Using the Timeline and multiple Scenes
4. Making Specific Named Layers under the Timeline
5. Making Movie Clip symbols & Graphic symbols & Button symbols
6. How to use Motion Tweens
7. How to use Shape Tweens
8. Making nested frames for a bouncing ball
9. Making a ball follow a guideline
10. How to use Mask to hide and show certain objects
11. Making background objects move at different speeds
12. Making transparent objects 0% move to 100% opacity
13. Adding Sound files & Lip Syncing
14. Creating your own Story Script & Storyboard Images placed in Flash
15. Completing a full color Animation lasting 90 seconds to 3 minutes or more. This does take a lot of effort to produce

Texts:
No Text Book is required, but there are some I would recommend getting for personal use:
How to Cheat in Adobe Flash CS3- by Chris Georgenes. This is one of the latest books on Flash that has a CD and many examples worth looking at.
and
Flash CS3 The Missing Manual by E.A. Vander Veer and Chris Grover
Available for purchase at: http://www.amazon.com.

Supplies:
Students will be required to purchase or have immediate access to the following software. All software is available for use on computers in the AGDT computer Macintosh Lab on the KC campus:

Course Policies:
Since course content is accessed via the Internet, the student must have stable access to the Internet, e-mail and the software included in the supply list above. Again, the Kilgore College Advertising and Graphic Design media lab has computers available on a limited schedule basis. As an online course, expect to spend more time on the computer than a normal on-campus course.

Technical Requirements

Computer availability/access: The student will need a lot of access to a computer with the necessary software installed, and the Internet. The Kilgore College Advertising and Graphic Design media lab has computer available on a limited schedule basis. As an online course, expect to spend more time on the computer than a normal on-campus course.

Macintosh vs. Windows PCs
The Kilgore College AGDT program uses Apple Macintosh computers. Most are G4 systems with some G3’s. All software for this course will be presented using the Macintosh platform. If you plan to pursue advertising and graphic design as a career, then investing in a Mac is a good idea. A majority of advertising firms and creative departments use the Mac platform. It is suggested that the student purchase a Macintosh computer and required software for the program if he/she intends to seek an AGDT degree.

If you already have a Microsoft Windows-based PC it will be the responsibility of the student to make the necessary conversion from Mac instruction to Windows equivalents. And technical problems and issues will have to be resolved by the student. No Windows technical support will be available. Limited Mac support as it relates to this course will be provided. If you are looking for an inexpensive advertising design machine consider the following: eMac’s are used in the AGDT department lab, these are “all in one” design and have a good amount of RAM, drive storage and have CD-RW/DVD ROM drive. Ebay also sells used Mac computer systems.
• Minimum system requirements
• 600mhz Power Macintosh G3 or faster [iMacSE]
• CD-RW drive
• 128 MB RAM [256 + is better]
• 20GB hard drive [40GB + is better]
• ZIP100 drive [note, the 250MB drives and disks are not 100% compatible with the older 100MB drives/disks]
• Email account that you check regularly
• Internet access, prefer broadband, 56K dialup minimum

Study Requirements

• Hours per week will exceed 6 hours of lab time. Time spent on the computer doing research and reading instruction will exceed 6 hours in most cases.
• Discussion board participation will be monitored and required for full course credit
• Assignment submissions will be via email.

Supplies
• Modern computer
• Internet access
• CD-R media (Recordable CD)

Tips for becoming a successful online student
Have the right kind of computer. If you don’t already have a Mac, consider getting one. This will help you out when taking AGDT courses from KC, getting jobs in advertising and graphic design, and expand your familiarity of different operating systems beyond Windows.

Software and where to get it can be an issue for some students, but consider this, the Mac and the software you run on it are your tools for the program. Its hard to be successful if you don’t possess the right tools. As a student, you are entitled to discount software. Check out http://www.academicsuperstore.com for details. Also, many software publishers offer discounted academic versions of their software. Contact Adobe: http://www.adobe.com, Macromedia: http://www.macromedia.com, and Microsoft: http://www.microsoft.com for details. Macromedia offers a 30 day trial version of most of its products. When we get to that point, you can install the needed software [for use in a limited amount of time] Again, the tools we are using are necessary for the program, and just as a mechanic needs specialty tools to work on your car, so do we as designers and animators need the right tools to do our work.

Academic Integrity and cheating and bootleg software
Information from Kilgore College: in addition, the use, distribution, and promotion of illegal copies of the software is strictly prohibited. The easy access to research papers, illustrations, and other work not produced by the student that is available on the internet is an issue that must be dealt with on an ethics level. simply put, If it is determined that a student project, paper or assignment has been plagiarized from an external source, the student will receive an “F” for that project and will be dropped for the course.

Synchronous vs. Asynchronous Communication:
This is a term used a lot in online courses. Simply put if you meet with the instructor at the same time, regardless of where, that is synchronous. If I leave you an email or a discussion board post that you answer at some later time, that is asynchronous. Get use to the E-mail/ discussion board mode of communication. This will be the primary way we “talk”, asynchronously.

General Procedures:
Overall, the course will attempt to adhere to the following list of objectives:

Evaluation:
Evaluation for this course will be based on weekly assignments, project scores, participation in discussions, and a final site. Attendance and class participation will be considerations in the final grade. Work not turned in on time will be penalized one grade point for each day that it is late. There will be opportunity to make corrections on most of the assignments as part of the learning process.

Grading:
Grading scale is based on the total points earned.

A = 90 - 100
B = 80 - 89
C = 70 - 79
D = 60 - 69
Below 60 is falling.

A. Absences: The on-campus policies for the AGDT department is as follows: Each student will receive a maximum of three excused absences. Any absence beyond this will reduce the attendance grade point by the following scale. After six absences, the student may be dropped failing by the instructor unless the student can make a special case for making up the work. All work missed by being absent must be made up. It is the student’s responsibility to check with the instructor about their number of absences. Three tardies constitute one absence. Leaving early is considered to be tardy as well. For online students, failure to participate in discussion board comments, email correspondence and submission of project assignments constitutes a lack of interest in the course, and is a direct indicator to the successful completion of the course. Tardies will not be accessed, but gross failure to participate will be determined as an absence.

B. Disclaimer: Your instructor reserves the right to make modifications in content and schedule as necessary to promote the best education possible within prevailing conditions affecting this course.

C. Academic Honesty Statement: It is the responsibility of students and faculty to help maintain scholastic integrity at the college by refusing to participate in or tolerate scholastic dishonesty. Plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty undermine the very purpose of the college and diminish the value of an education. Specific sanctions for academic dishonesty are outlined in the Kilgore College Student Handbook available in the Office of the Dean of Students, located in the Devall Student Center. Phone: 903 984-8531

To complete your orientation for this class:
Send an e-mail message to LarryWiklund@gmail.com
Subject:  Orientation complete
Body:  My name is <your name> and I have completed the online orientation for ARTV 2301 and read the information in the PDF file on the orientation page.  Choose as appropriate:  <I understand the policies and procedures for completing this course> or <I have the following question regarding the policies and procedures for completing this course: (question)>

If you need to complete an orientation for another web class, click here:   Web List

If you need to begin orientation for a telecourse, click here:   Telecourse Orientation

If you have completed the orientation for all of your distance education courses, please complete this short (4 question) survey:  Survey

If you need technical assistance after you complete orientation, you may call our distance education support line. It is operational for extended hours at the beginning of each semester.  Extended hours are Monday thru Thursday from 11am-7pm, Friday and Saturday from 8am until Noon.  Call 903.988.3704 or come by the Woodfin Center on the Kilgore Campus.  You can also send an email to:  techsupr@kilgore.edu.  Be sure to include a description of the problem you are having, your name, and the course you are having trouble with. If you have a general question about your course, please contact your instructor.

Link to Kilgore College's WebCT server:  http://disted.kilgore.edu