Whether you are a first-time online student or a returning online student, we recommend that you take a moment before your course opens and take these preparatory steps. Following these steps will help you gain a solid start to your course and enter your semester as prepared as you can be for your first day of online classes. For many of your online needs, you can re-visit our online webpage at the following link.
All of the steps below have links on the Online Learning Center webpage main menu. See: http://www.nobts.edu/online/.
1. Download your syllabus from the Course Schedule hyperlink.
2. Contact the Professor of Your Upcoming Course(s)
How can you locate the name of the Instructor teaching your course?
A. First Locate Your Course in the Course Schedule
Go to: Undergraduate Courses OR Graduate Courses Button
Select: The proper schedule (Graduate or Undergraduate, Online schedule, proper semester, etc.) Locate the course of your interest. The Instructor’s name will be listed beside each course.
B. Look Up the Instructor’s Email Address
Go to: Online Faculty Email Addresses in Menu
If your Instructor is a full-time NOBTS professor, his/her email will be located under the link to NOBTS Faculty. If you professor teaches for us as an Adjunct Instructor, the names are listed on this page. Look in the menu and click on the faculty online email address. Email your Instructor and ask about a syllabus and/or required textbook(s) for your upcoming course. This also establishes a personal contact with your Instructor.
C. What if your schedule contains a TBA (To Be Announced) or your adjunct Instructor’s email address is not listed?
Call Toll Free: 800-662-8701 Request the Graduate Dean’s Office for Graduate courses. For Undergraduate courses, ask for Leavell College. These offices will have the latest information for TBA listings and/or newly added adjunct instructors for online courses.
3. Purchase Your Required Textbooks
We highly recommend that you do not purchase your textbooks before you have made contact with your Instructor. Once your Instructor confirms the textbook list, order your textbooks so you will have them prior to beginning your online course.
4. On Opening Day: Download Your Course Syllabus
On the opening day of classes, you will obtain access to your online course. You open your Blackboard account and under the Courses tab, you should see all of your courses. If you do not have a Blackboard account OR are having problems, please contact Blackboardhelpdesk@nobts.edu or call the Information Technology Center (ITC) via the toll free number. Ask the operator for the ITC office.
The date for the first day of classes is listed in two places: 1) Online Learning Center under the Course Schedules button; and 2) at the back of the Graduate or Undergraduate catalogs accessed by clicking Catalogs on the Online Learning Center webpage.
We highly recommend that you download the official course syllabus from your Blackboard course. This syllabus will have your official dates and details for your class assignments.
5. Mark Your Calendar with ALL Your Assignment Due Dates!!!
We cannot overstate this point! This may sound obvious to you, but one of the most common errors of online students is allowing assignment due dates to slip up on them. In your busy schedule, it is very easy for this to happen. Be prepared by following and working your calendar appropriately for every assignment in every course.
6. Locate and Visit: Ondemand.Blackboard.com
How do you use the course software at NOBTS?
We use Blackboard as our course software. Although we do not have formal preparatory course instruction, you likely will discover that your courses are fairly easy to navigate. We are including some of the most basic and common items that you will encounter in your Blackboard online class. Watch a few of these short, but very helpful videos in order to learn how to navigate your class in Blackboard. You may visit Ondemand.Blackboard.com and learn how to perform ANY function you will likely encounter in your online course. Go to the student’s section for assistance.
