Lesson 1: Introduction to the Course

This first lesson is really like using a compas...you are getting your bearings in this Online class, finding out where things are, and getting the lay of the land!

It is vital that you read all the documents that have been provided in this course to get a feel for all the complexity of this Online class. And, I said "complexity", not "complex". It is not DIFFICULT to get around, there is just a lot here so you need to spend some time getting to know it. Sort of like exploring a city instead of a small town!

In each of these Lesson Plans you will see this same organization of material...an "Attention Getter" like this one...then a listing of the Learning Outcomes (what I expect you will be able to do when we are done with this lesson plan), the Teaching material for you to review, and finally the Assessment activities that are going to allow you to demonstrate that you GOT the Learning Outcomes.

As you will see, this is also the same structure you will find in the CourseBook once you start accessing that.

ENJOY!

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this lesson's material, students will be able to:

  • Navigate the Blackboard interface
  • Review and discuss the schedule of the course and the use of Blackboard and iTunes U

Teaching

Welcome

Welcome to the first Lesson in MHT 124! This is an exciting class for a lot of reasons.

First. Psychosocial Rehabilitation is the basic philosophy of that practice of Community Mental Health. It prescribes a set values and practices that shape the way we approach our work. This said it is one of the most important classes you will take. It is important because you need to evaluate if this philosophy is something that you can adopt and incorporate into your own world view.

Second. When we started the m-Learning Initiative (incorporating iPads into the curriculum) we had always had a plan to write our own textbook. Well, we did! Our first textbook (we call them CourseBooks) has been developed for THIS class.

By designing our own book we have been able to more deeply integrate the iPad into our curriculum. In the 3rd week of this class you will be learning about how we have integrated the book, iPad, apps, and the iTunes U Online environment into this course. From week 3 on you will be spending a LOT more time in iTunes U and only returning here to do the Online Graded Discussions.

Basic Structure of the Class

In the Course Information section of this class in Blackboard (Bb) you will find your Course Syllabus.

The class content is divided up into the following:

  • Two Lessons (these are found in Bb)
  • the m-Learning Lesson (this is found in Bb and teaches you how to load the iTunes U companion course into your iTunes U account on your iPad.)
  • 15 Chapters (these are found in the CourseBook that you will access through the companion course.)

The course assignments are as follows:

  • Graded Discussions (for the first two Lessons these are described in the Lesson Plans in Bb...the Graded Discussions for the Chapters are described in the CourseBook...HOWEVER, you have to PARTICIPATE in these Graded Discussions in Bb. So, for the Chapters, you will find the instructions for the Chapter Discussions in the CourseBook and then come back to Bb to participate in them.
  • Chapter Assignments are described in the CourseBook and will be submitted to drop boxes (where you will upload the files you create) in iTunes U.
  • Special Assignments are described in Bb but you will be submitting these assignments to drop boxes in iTunes U.

It sounds a bit wacky but each week I will be very clear in my weekly announcement as to what needs to be done and where it needs to happen.

Assessment

Lesson 1 Discussion

In this discussion I would like you to introduce yourself and tell us a bit about yourself and why you are in the Mental Health Program.

This will be your first graded discussion. In order to get FULL credit for the discussion you need to post your own answer to the prompt and reply to at least two other persons' posts. Every post that you make will be evaluated for the degree that it has answered the prompt, what you have contributed to the discussion, that it is a substantive post (rather than something like "I agree"), and on mechanics like grammar and spelling (there is a spell check in the discussion interface!)

Unless otherwise indicated, these instructions apply to ALL of the discussions in this course. I will not be repeating them each time so be sure you remember to post your own statement and reply to AT LEAST two others for EVERY graded discussion in this class.