The Nature of the Course	Computer Needs and Skills	The Operation of the Course
Student Profile Form (complete online)	R305O Class List	Orientation

About the Nature of the Course: 

• Religion 305O is the online version of Religion 305, which is a survey of the New Testament.
• The course will be conducted over the internet enabling each student to work in a flexible schedule at home using a home computer connected to the internet through an internet service provider either national such as AOL, Earthlink etc. or a local service provider such as Shelby Net, BellSouth etc.
• The course requirements are similar to the onground classroom versions of Religion 102 (Day school version) and Religion 305 (GOAL version) including the Analysis Paper. The exception will be for the online aspects. The standard requirements for all three forms of the New Testament survey course can be examined through accessing my homepage Cranfordville at http://cranfordville.com. Once at Cranfordville, click on the GWU classes link by my photo, then in the list of courses click on R305O (Some of the details for the online version are still being determined, so check the page periodically for updates).
• The modified structure of the online version includes the following:
• The class will be divided into small groups to work closely together on a weekly basis using e-mail based forums and group chat rooms. The weekly grade given to each student for participation in the forums and chat rooms will take the place of the weekly quizzes given in the regular term onground classroom version of the course. Each group chat room will be structured by the group leader at a convenient time for each member of the group.
• Each group will report to the entire class the results of their weekly analysis via an e-mail based forum.
• The three major exams (including the final exam) of the course will be taken as proctored essay exams. These will be administered at the nearest extension campus site to the student's home address. The exam questions will be taken from the pool of "Take-Home Questions" (Exam 3 option in the Course Instruction page) that have been the basis of the forum and chat room learning activities. See the Assignment Schedule page for the dates of the exams.
• The Pre-Test will be taken at the time of the Orientation session; the Post-Test will be taken at the time of the final exam at the extension center.
• An mandatory Orientation Session will be scheduled during the registration week at the beginning of the semester both at the GWU main campus and as needed at the GOAL extension centers. Those who register for the course will be notified of the times and places for the Orientation session. A letter to everyone enrolled in the course went out the week of December 20th; if you are enrolled and haven't received this letter by Dec. 24, send me an e-mail note to that effect.

About Computer Needs and Skills:

• The following represent minimum technology hardware needs for successfully completing the course:
• Personal Computer (at least a 486 level processor, but a Pentium based PC is far better) or a Mac Computer with OS8 or above system.
• A computer modem (the faster the better, preferably V90 56K level), connected to an internet service provider.
• Either Internet Explorer (5.0 or above) or Netscape Communicator (4.5 or above) software that can send and receive e-mail in both MIME and HTML formats. Earlier versions of either of these can be upgraded free over the internet. The Netscape Communicator is preferred.
• A sound card installed on the computer is highly desired, but not essential for certain aspects of the course.
• Microsoft Word, Lotus Word Pro, or Corel Word Perfect word processing software install on computer. The assignments will be done using this software and then sent in as an e-mail attachment. One of these three software programs is essential to have. The academic version of these -- or the suite packages that they are a component of -- can be purchased very economically, usually for under $100 for the suite package. For details contact either the GWU Campus Shop (704 406-4273 or 406-4329 fax) or one of the web based companies who sell academic version software to faculty and students, such as JourneyEd or Software Express.
• The Adobe Acrobat Reader (version 4.0 or later) needs to be installed on the computer. Many of the files in the course are formatted in the Adobe PDF form, rather than in HTML, because of formatting requirements and other reasons. This software can be downloaded free from Adobe's internet site. Click  in order to access the software for downloading.
• The following represent minimum computer skills needed for successfully completing the course:
• Knowledge of a computer beyond knowing where the on/off switch is located.
• Basic skills of creating and sending e-mail.
• Basic skills for creating documents using one of the above listed word processing software.
• A willingness to expand computer skills to new levels of expertise.

• Things to Expect from the Course:
• A minimum of 6 hours each week will need to be scheduled in order to stay up with the demands of the course, during the regular semester in the fall and spring. This is calculated on the basis of 150 minutes of weekly required class time plus 1 hour of work outside of class for every hour of class time in a traditional class setting.
• For the 10 week summer term, 9 hours of time per week will need to be set aside.
• At the beginning of the semester more time will need to be allotted while you're getting accustomed to this learning environment.
• Unless your schedule permits you to spend the above amounts of time, you shouldn't sign up for this online course!
• You need to be able to work well in a group setting with others. The Virtual Classroom created online is small groups working very closely together on assignments with each member of the group faithfully pulling his/her share of the load. The Lone Ranger kind of student shouldn't sign up for this online course!
• An online course is not an electronic correspondence course! The interaction with class members and with your professor in an online course will be significantly greater than in a traditional on-ground class room.
• You will do a much greater amount of writing in an online course. The grading process etc. mandates that every student submit a significant amount of written assignment materials. One by-product of an online course is the development of writing skills to express yourself.
• You will come to know your fellow students in a much closer connection than would ever be possible in an on-ground class room. Friendships growing out of an online course will impact your life for years to come.
• You will learn substantially more of the course content in an online course. The peer interaction, the study involving reading primary source materials on the internet, the writing reflecting ideas and assessments of them -- all of this combined will bring you to a much greater knowledge of the New Testament, early Christian formation, and substantive procedures for interpreting the text of the New Testament.
• The regular sections of the online course:
1. Check out Flow Chart of weekly pattern of activities.
2. Determine the list of topics for your group from the Assignments Page for that week.
3. In the scheduled group chat room session, divide up the Study Questions (those identified by the  icon = Exam 3) to be answered for your group. The group chairperson is exempted from answered questions because of administrative responsibilies.
4. In the scheduled group chat room session, discuss issues not clear in the range of questions assigned to the group for that week.
5. Answer the questions that you have agreed to answer as a part of the group assignment. This should be completed by the middle of the week.
6. Send an e-mail containing both the questions and your answer to all the members of the group. This can be in the Text of the e-mail or as an e-mail attachment. If an attachment is used, then the file MUST be saved in Microsoft Word 7.0 file format for it to be accessible to everyone. To send the e-mail to the group, set up a Group listing in your browser Address Book and simply click it on when creating the e-mail message.
7. Read through everyone's questions and answers in the group to see whether you agree with the answers and understand them. If not, then create a Reply To All e-mail message with your observations and concerns and send it to the group.
8. By Sunday evening the Group Chairperson will bring together into a single e-mail (or document file) everyone's answers etc. to the assigned questions for the group for that week. She/He will then send this document file via e-mail to the members of the entire class.
9. The Group Chairperson will also compile a Participation Report on each member of the group and this will then be sent via e-mail to Dr. Cranford.
10. The three Major Exams will be completed in a traditional on-campus site (either the GWU campus, or the nearest extension campus) in the regular terms. The summer term will have only a mid-term and a final exam. The exams will be comprised of essay questions drawing upon the insights from the Study Questions in the pool of questions covered since the previous major exam. See the Assignments Page for the exact range of topics for each major exam.
11. The various segments of the Analysis Paper assignment will come due during
12. The Pre-Test will be administered during the manditory Orientation session at the beginning of the fall or spring semester; the Post-test will be taken at the same time as Exam 4 (=the Final Exam). Both Pre-Test and Post-Test can be taken online.
• The Independent Study section of the online course:
1. The individual study of the materials will follow the above guidelines, except for the chat room involvement.
2. The weekly Chat Room responsibility will be replaced by e-mail contact with Dr. Cranford.

• An online orientation session will be made available during the week prior to the beginning of the summer term or regular semester. Students will have the option of completing it online or completing an onground orientation session to be scheduled at the GWU campus in Boiling Springs during that same week.
• The orientation session MUST BE completed prior to the beginning of the term. Otherwise, the student will be dropped from the course.
• Once the student is enrolled, notice of the scheduled onground orientation session will be sent via e-mail as well as be posted in the class Announcement Board.
• Check the Orientation Schedule for dates and instructions.