While BCC does not have true online registration, accommodations can be made for handling distance students' registration by phone or by email. The college will have true distance registration when its conversion to Datatel is complete. If a student resides outside the BCC service area, Bladen and the five counties surrounding it, then that student should contact the Distance Office for help in getting registered for classes. You can email Ann Russell, Dean of Distance Learning at arussell@bladencc.edu for help in registering.

After registering, students should attend distance orientation, meet with their instructor to receive information about the course, attend a Moodle and BCC student email training session, purchase their books and begin their course. Purchasing books and getting an ID and a library card are all part of being a student regardless of the delivery method of a class.

Distance Orientation is mandatory for all students taking distance classes of any kind. If a student cannot attend the school wide orientation, then that student should make contact with his/her instructors within three days of the date of distance orientation.

You must have a computer, an Internet service provider, an e-mail account, and software that may be required by your instructor.

Recommended Operating Systems and Hardware

• Below is a list of System Requirements and Recommendations.
  
  

  Component	Required	Recommended
  Operating System:	Windows 98, 98SE, ME, 2000, 2003, XP, Vista, 7 Mac OS X (up to 10.5)*	Windows XP Service Pack 3 Mac OS X (up to 10.5)
  Video:	SVGA monitor Minimum resolution of 800 x 600	Resolution of 1024 x 768 or greater
  Internet Speed:	56K modem	56K, DSL or Cable modem

  
  *Note: Moodle issupported on Intel-based Macs.
  
  

  Recommended Browsers

  Most browsers will handle the Moodle pages without problem. Some individual modules may require special software or plugins.

  OS	Compatible Browsers	Recommended Browser
  Windows	Firefox 3.x Internet Explorer 7.0/8.0 Use of IE 8 may cause problems with file downloads and online assignment completion.	Firefox 3.x
  Mac OS X	Firefox 3.x Safari 4.0.3 (text editor not available for all instances)	Firefox 3.x

  
  

  Recommended Settings

• Make sure that the browser is set to accept cookies (from both 1st party and 3rd party). See Web Browsers - Cookies FAQ for details (use the "managing cookies" links on the bottom of the page).
• Javascript must be enabled. See Web Browsers - Enabling Javascript

Recommended Software

The following software should be installed for full functionality within the Moodle site:

Sun Java Runtime Environment (JRE). JRE v.1.4.2.x, JRE 1.5.x, JRE 1.6.x (recommended) are supported . SeeWindows - Installing Sun Java.

Students who are taking classes with Internet components need a basic knowledge of word processing, email including file attachments, and of navigating in an online environment. If a student has not taken CIS 113- Computer Basics, or CIS 110 Introduction to Computers, or has not acquired computer skills in another setting, the challenges of online learning might become a barrier to student success.

Distance students usually purchase textbooks from the BCC bookstore. If a student is truly distant (out of the six county service area), the student can contact the BCC bookstore by telephone or email and order books. Payment must be made by credit card and a shipping and handling fee is charged.

The student must have a computer, and Internet service provider and any software that may be required by the instructor. It is highly recommended that the student also have a word processing program, preferably Microsoft Word as well. Open Office is a free open source suite of applications which contains a word processor.

Students in online classes receive the same credit for successful completion of the course work as students in classes in any other delivery format.

Email is the preferred method of instructor contact for students in distance classes. Instructors adhere to the BCC policy of replying to student emails within 48 hours, thus making email the most reliable means of contact. Of course, students are free to make appointments for face-to-face meetings, or to telephone instructors in their offices.

Students can access Moodle from Bladen Community College's website (www.bladencc.edu). You will find a label for Moodle at the top right of the screen. Click on Moodle and you will be brought to the Moodle login screen.

USERNAME: (first initial) + (middle initial) + (whole last name) + (birthday month and day)
PASSWORD: 7 digit student ID number

Example: John Q. Student with an ID number of 0123456 and whose birthday is January 4th, has the following username and password:
USERNAME: jqstudent0104 PASSWORD: 0123456

No. Do not open emails from students external email addresses. If you accidentally open the email, you can respond but ONLY to inform the student that all emails to instructors, the Distance Learning staff and the Moodle Administrator must be done from their BCC email account. Emails from other accounts will not be opened. All distance learning students have a BCC email account created for them.

You will find a label for Student email at the top right of the screen. Click on Student email and you will be brought to the Student email login screen. The student's username and password for Student email and Moodle are the same.

USERNAME: (first initial) + (middle initial) + (whole last name) + (birthday month and day)
PASSWORD: 7 digit student ID number

Example: John Q. Student with an ID number of 0123456 and whose birthday is January 4th, has the following username and password:
USERNAME: jqstudent0104 PASSWORD: 0123456

Before instructors can enroll a student in a Moodle course, the instructor needs to receive an email from the student stating their name, the course and section number the student is registered for. Some instructors will request additional information. When the student attends the Distance Learning Orientation, all this will be explained to the student. Once the student emails their instructor with the requested information, the instructor should add the student into the course within 24 hours.

The instructors at BCC all have Microsoft Office products to receive assignments. This includes Word, Excel and PowerPoint. If the student is using a word processing software other than the ones listed above (such as WordPerfect or Notepad) the document will need to be saved in a Word Document 97-2003 (.doc) format if available or a Text format (.txt) before it is submitted to the instructor.

Contact your instructor or the Moodle Help Desk: 866-833-2954

Contact your instructor or the Moodle Help Desk: 866-833-2954

Background

All guidelines for Internet-based instruction that have been previously outlined (online and Teleweb) apply to the online portion of a hybrid class. All services and resources available to online course students are available to hybrid course students for the online portion of their class.

State guidelines mandate that students have a schedule of face-to-face sessions given to them at the beginning of the class. The percentage of the class that will occur in a distance based venue and the percentage that is face-to-face must be decided in advance and built into the course.

Background

All Bladen Community College online courses are offered via Moodle, a program that allows students to access their course online at their convenience in the location of their choice. The online courses offered and the supplemental instructional materials should parallel traditional courses. Templates of courses that can be downloaded into Moodle are available through the Virtual Learning Community (VLC). Bladen Community College instructors also evaluate the materials prior to agreeing to teach the course. The decision to offer an online course is made by the Department Chair, applicable Dean(s) and the Vice-President for Instruction and Student Services.

Interactive Television classes are conducted on-site and are basically face-to-face traditional classes. An instructor may require online testing or discussion for an I-TV class. Students must be on-campus to attend I-TV classes. The class is conducted between two or more sites via interactive television.
Instructors who desire to teach I-TV classes need to have minimal training in operating the equipment and in providing a camera friendly environment.

Guidelines for I-TV Students