Congrats on commencing your first semester in the Applied Linguistics Online Program! :-)
This info-post has been a long time coming, but before I wrote it I wanted to collect some frequently asked questions from you, and your fellow peers that came before you, in order to get a more comprehensive write-up!
in your first semester the Applied Linguistics program signed you up for two introductory courses, so you don't have to worry about registration. So, what's next you might ask? Well, the fact that you are reading this means that you are on a good path! The first thing that you should do is to read the main posting located in the New Online Student Information group. The information there deals mostly with administrative aspects of the program. This post is meant to address the more academic related matters of studying in Applied Linguistics.
One big thing to do, before classes start, is to order your books. We usually aim to have textbook information for Spring semester available by December 20th, and Summer and Fall course information available by May 1st. We usually post an announcement in the Announcements Block of this site (if you click on the Homepage menu item, you will see announcements top and center). By providing you with textbook lists early on you have an opportunity to find the cheapest prices, and to also thumb through the books to get a feel for the material. When I was a student (campus program) I took the opportunity to read texts over the summer for fall courses, this made my fall semesters feel a little less compact :)
Once you have textbooks ordered, the next big thing is to make sure you are able to log into your student email, into WISER, and into Blackboard. The credentials for logging on are the same across all three systems are the same (UMB email and password). In the New Student Information Group there are instructions for accessing email. Just log in once to make sure things are working. Once you check this out you should also get a library barcode (instructions are in a discussion in the New Student Info group). OK. With all this prep-work done, what about classes? W1hat should you do to get prepared for classes? First we have some answers from our FAQ! Secondly, a number professors (but not necessarily all) send a quick introduction email (check you UMB emails!) the week before classes begin to welcome them to the course and make them aware of any class specific tips and strategies. If you can think of more questions - please email applied.linguistics@umb.edu and let us know!
I thought I was signed up, but I don't see anything in Blackboard yet. What's going on?
If the semester has not begun yet, it's normal not to see anything in Blackboard. Courses do not show up there until the first day of the semester. If the semester has begun, and you still don't see courses there yet - do contact us to troubleshoot! As always our email is applied.linguistics@umb.edu.
How much interaction is there with professors?
The greatest concern of students that are studying online is that would be an isolating experience. One thing that is important to learners is the ability to collaborate with classmates and make connections with professors. How is this achieved when studying online? Just like in on-campus courses, there are different methods and styles of teaching. We have some professors that take the "hands off" approach, so that they don't stifle meaningful student interactions, and we have other professors that get really involved in classroom discussions. This depends, in large part, on the learners themselves and the group dynamics in the classroom. Students get feedback in their assessments and have contact with the faculty that way, but participation in discussion boards varies on a course-by-course basis. Learners connect with one another through weekly discussions, group projects, and through our community on this website
Are there online lectures or is it simply watching videos/reading books independently?
Again, this depends on a course-by-course basis. There are asynchronous videos where students watch short lectures and read materials independently, and then convene in online discussions forums and group projects in order to discuss and go over the material. Our program doesn't use "live" lectures because we have students distributed in all US time zones, as well as Europe and Asia. This would make live lectures with the entire class an impossibility :-) Most interactivity is achieved via assignments and discussions on discussion forums between fellow learners and the faculty member teaching the course.
What does an average class look like?
It's hard to really pinpoint an "average" class. Different subjects lend themselves to different formats in terms of how each class unfolds. The only real constant is that our courses are about 14 weeks in length in the fall and spring semesters. Classes usually are setup as weekly modules and students usually have one week to undertake the activities that are associated with that module, which usually includes readings, discussion forum postings, and assignments.
One of the things that I see as a pitfall for new online students is that they leave the "online" component until the last moment. They usually read the textbook materials, they work on the assignments, but they don't participate in the forums throughout the week. Then they log in on Friday (a day or two before the module ends) and they are confronted with 100+ forum posts (and then they freak out a bit) :-) The key to successful forum participation is to make time, every day, to check the forums. I think that 30 minutes in the morning and 30-45 minutes in the evening should be more than enough. This way you can read what you classmates have posted, you can respond to them, and you can keep up with the discussion. You don't have to respond to everything that is posted by your classmates, so if you log in one time, read everything, and decide that you don't have anything to write back in that session it's perfectly fine.
What is the outcome of this program? I want to know what this program would prepare me for. Is it more theoretical or practical?
Broadly speaking, our entire curriculum revolves around language and literacy and is very much anchored in the discipline of applied linguistics. We do cover methodology for teaching language, but we don't go in depth for classroom management techniques, or tackle specific content (i.e. social studies curriculum, teaching math to ESL students, etc.). So, our program is somewhere in the middle of the road, between theoretical and practical. I am an alumnus of the program (on-campus) and from my own experiences, some courses go more toward the theoretical, and some go more toward the practical. In recent years we've also expanded our research options, so if research is something you think you might want to pursue, do contact our Research Coordinator!
How is assessment done? What methods of evaluation do the professors use? Do students receive GPA/letter grades as in other programs?
Just like with on-campus courses, this depends. Participation in class is a common factor in all of our courses. Beyond that there are exams, papers, groups projects, presentations, annotated bibliographies and many more methods. This really depends on the subject matter of the course. Students do receive letter grades (and they have a calculated GPA) like all other programs.
How much time of studying does it take per course?
Every class is definitely a bit different and the amount of time spent per week per class really depends on the learner. Each course is 3 credits. The usual formula, for a regular online asynchronous 15-week semester, is that students study/prepare for 4-5 hours for each credit, each week. So, if a student is taking 1 course, the student can expect to spend 12-15 hours each week working on materials for that course (readings, videos, discussion boards, papers, etc.). Not every week is a carbon copy of the previous week, and not every student is the same. Keeping that in mind, some weeks will be (or feel) lighter than others, and some weeks will be heavier depending on the topic or what assignment is due. Also, some people are faster readers than others, or may have prior knowledge that helps them progress a little faster. These are just general guidelines to help you plan your weekly schedule. Three courses per semester can be considered a full time (40hrs/week) job.
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As always, if you found this post useful, please click on "like".
If you have questions not addressed by this info post, do send us an email at applied.linguistics@umb.edu and we'll address those, and add to the FAQ as necessary.
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