1. How do I access my E-mail?
2. What is a URL and what is mine?
3. Do I have to use the college server for my web page?
4. How much space do I have for my web page on the college server?
5. What is a public_html folder?
6. How do I create a public_html folder?
7. Why do I have to name a page index.html?
8. How do I upload my webpage?
9. What does FTP mean?
10. What is my login and password?
11. How do I change my password?
12. If I want to change something on my webpage, how do I do it?
13. Why, after I upload my new pages don't I see the changes on the web?
14. Why can't I use my own, non-college, E-mail account?
15. How do I dial up to the college server from home?
16. What does a webfolio or initial web page ( also called index.html ) look like?.
17. Why do we have to create web pages anyhow?

Course Specific (EG20) FAQs:

1. Where do I start this course?
2. How do I do research on the web?
3. What are gifs and jpgs and do I have to use them?
4. What is Course Support all about?
5. Am I graded on my threaded discussions on SLN?
6. How will my final grade be determined?
7. I've never designed a web page before. How can I be expected to create one now?
8. Where do I go to learn how to design a web page?
9. What do you mean by Learned Helplessness?
10. Please explain the acronyms; picnic and rtfo

General FAQs

1. How do I access my E-mail?

There are several ways of accessing your e-mail at Suffolk. The first is through your browser: Netscape or Internet Explorer. Each browser is different but essentially you can configure the browser by putting in your host (osprey.sunysuffolk.edu), login and password. The browser will automatically go to the host and retrieve your mail.

A second approach to access your e-mail is through the web. Click on or type in your browser window the following url: http://www.sunysuffolk.edu/Users. A window will appear and you will arrive at a menu with an option for Pony Espresso, the college's student web access e-mail program. It's slow but effective.

2. What is a URL and what is mine?

Technically, URL stands for Universal Resource Locator. You need to know that it is an address for a web site and one that you would either type or copy into your browser's address window. Copying is usually better as the address has to be exact. Miss a period, a slash or capitalize a letter that should be small and you are in trouble.

A student's url is composed of the student's login name, preceded by a tilde (~):

http://www.sunysuffolk.edu/~your login here.

Thus, if I were a student my url would look like this:

http://www.sunysuffolk.edu/~ocong91

• 3. Do I have to use the college server for my web page?
  Yes.
• However, if you already have your own web page or want to establish your own web page on your very own server ( free of advertising) and are willing to pay for this service you are welcome to do so.
• Following is a list of commercial hosting services ( I have no vested interest in any of them and prices do vary according to size and length of time desired. Your site must remain active until the end of last month of class.) :
• These services provide losts of technical support and will get you through most problems.

http://www.siteground.com
http://lunarpages.com
http://www.site5.com/hosting/
http://www.hostway.com/
http://networksolutions.com
http://www.dotster.com/webhosting/webhosting_pkg_standard.php
http://www.fatcow.com/fatcow/index.bml
https://www.godaddy.com/
http://www.register.com/retail/index.rcmx
http://www.phpwebhosting.com/
http://www.ifroggy.com/
http://www.e3servers.com/linux-web-hosting.htm

4. How much space do I have for my web page on the college server?

As I write this the College offers each registered student 2 megs of web space on the server. I'm hoping to increase that allocation. Until then, if you run out of space, we will either negotiate for more space for on-line students or authorize moving to a free provider.

5. What is a public_html folder

When a student registers for a course at the college, space is automatically set aside for the student's E-mail account and web page. A folder will be created in that space for the web page. That folder is called public_html. Once created, all web pages must be uploaded to the public_html folder for anyone to see your web page. We will automatically set up this folder for you.

6. How do I create a public_html folder?

You don't have to. Just prior to the first week of the semester all duly registered students will have a public_html folder inderted into their account. If you register after the first week you will have to notify me and I will see that one is created for you.

7. Why do I have to name a page..... index.html or index.htm?

Your URL is geared to go to one page in your account on the server. All other navigation is controlled from that page. This first page uses a file name of index.html or index.htm. Thus we usually consider this the first page of your webfolio. From here you control, through links, how folks get around your site. Think of index.html as your table of contents page which uses a file name of index.html. Now to add to the confusion, a PC generally uses htm and the Mac platform uses html. It really doesn't matter which one you use just be sure you are consistent.

8. How do I upload my webpage?

If you have never downloaded a file before, files are compressed (packaged) for easier and faster transmission; this enables a shorter download time. To unpackage the downloadable files you download, you need a program called winzip (for the PC). If you don't have this or another program like it on your machine, you should download this from the same site as below and before you download the WSFTP program

Assuming you have named your first page index.html or index htm ( see #7) and are going to upload to your public_html folder, you must use one of several possible programs. Those on the PC side can use an FTP program called WSFTP for the PC downloadable from http://www.sunysuffolk.edu/FTP.

I

The Mac platform uses a number of ftp programs. One that I am familiar with is Fetch 3.0 It's available free on the web. Do a search through any one of your search engines and you should be able to locate it.

Instructions for downloading, utilizing and configuring the PC WSFTP program can be found by going to http://www.sunysuffolk.edu. Then > Distance Education ,> Help > Student > Web-Based resources and then click on Publish Webpages. This will give you specific directions on how to configure your system and use either the FTP program or a system built within your browser (Netscape or Internet Explorer)

I have created additional instructions for creating and uploading.

To configure your ftp program you need the following:

• your domain name = osprey.sunysuffolk.edu
• your login (see below)
• your password (see below)

9. What does FTP mean?

This is an acronym for File Transfer Protocol. It's a program that allows you to transfer files from your computer to another computer. In most cases it allows you to upload and download to and from the college server.

10. What is my login, password and e-mail address?

Your login consists of the first four letters of your last name, the first letter of your first name and the last two digits of your social security number.

Your initial or default password is your date of birth by monthdayyear. notice that there are no spaces or slashes between the numbers.

If your name were Mary Winter with a social security number of 106 89 6653 and you were born on January 4th 1928 your login and initial or default password and e-mail address would look like this:

• login = wintm53
• password = 010428
• E-mail = wintm53@students.sunysuffolk.edu

11. How do I change my password?

If you use a telnet program to put the public_html folder on the college server, you will be asked to change your password from the default (your date of birth) to something else of your choosing the first time you access your account. There are restrictions as to what you can use. Those can be found at http://www.sunysuffolk.edu/Users.

If you want to change the password yourself, you can go to http://www.sunysuffolk.edu/Users and click on the change password link and follow the directions.

12. If I want to change something on my webpage, how do I do it?

Again, there are multiple approaches. Use the ftp program you used to upload your pages to download those same pages to your hard drive, modify them and upload. If you are adding a new page, be sure to link it to the index.html page or no one will know it's up.

Or, assuming you keep all you uploaded pages in one folder on your hard drive or disk, simply modify the documents or files as you choose and upload those documents to the server. The old files will simply be overwritten.

See also Creating and Modifying Existing Files

13. Why, after I upload my new pages, don't I see the changes on the web?

Your computer has a memory bank where it stores recently visited sites. If you go to a page that you had just uploaded, but recently visited, the computer will be reading the older version from its memory bank. To see what you just uploaded go to the link and hit the Refresh or Reload button on your browser. The new page with your modifications should come up.

14. Why can't I use my own, non-college, E-mail account?

You can, but it's easier for me to keep track of who is who with a Suffolk account. It's also easier for me to maintain the class mailing list if we are all using the same configuration. Students will often send me e-mail from something like 67ami@aol.com and not sign it or even tell me what course they are in. They ask, "When is my next chapter due?" Thus I don't have a clue who it is and don't know how to respond. If the sender uses Suffolk's e-mail and forgets to sign it, I can always figure out who it is.

If, however, you are married to your existing e-mail account ( and who isn't), and promise to always sign your e-mail, you are welcome to fire away using it. If your private e-mail account changes any time during the semester I must be notified immediately. If you fail to notify me and miss important information, I cannot be held accountable for your missing valuable information.

15. How do I dial up to the college server from home?

Professor Russo has spent oodles of time preparing the following site for just such a question. He explains it all with clarity and............ pictures: http://www.sunysuffolk.edu/Web/Central/CoordAcaComp/StudentDialup/

I've taken the liberty of creating a sample page. To see what former students did visit the link for a "look see" and to look at pages of former students who have already been through this process.

This is probably the most frequently asked question. It can also be, for some, the most troubling part of the course. I received the same question years ago when I asked that all submitted essays be typed. Then I often heard, "If I wanted to learn how to type I would have taken a typing course." Now you need only substitute the words "build a web page" for type and "web design" for typing. Like learning how to drive to get to school and typing for the 20th century assignments building web pages is a means to an end. This is, first and foremost, an English/writing course not a web design course. Web pages are simply the way in which we maximize the technology thereby enabling us to easily share our work with our peers and the world. Web pages facilitate peer and anonymous reviews. The course focus is always on content and yoru research.Your web pages can be plain or elaborate.

Again, this is not a web design course (though some get bogged down in this process). It's more like learning how to ride a bike without training wheels, drive a car, bake a cake or how to type; it goes with the territory. Once learned, basic web pages become second nature and an avenue to new adventures - a means to an end. Do you think about the process of driving or the process of typing? It's to your benefit to learn how to function in this technological age. It can be initially stressful for some, but I'll do everything to help ease the pain.

Course Specific FAQs

1. Where do I start this course?

With the exception of the first assignment and concluding Collaborative Connections chapter, the course is non-sequential. That means that after the first assignment you can select any chapter in any order you want. Books and TV are sequential but the way we learn doesn't have to be. The web allows us to go wherever we want to.

2. How do I do research on the web?

There are several sites located on my site under Utilities For All Courses where information of this sort is located.

3. What are gifs and jpgs and do I have to use them?

Gifs are generally small images consisting mostly of clip art with solid but limited colors. Jpgs are generally pictures ( with lots more colors and grades of color) taken with digital or traditional film cameras. You have to always find a balance between using and not using them. They may take a page longer to load and, as you know, we are not a patient lot.

Never before have we, the average person, been able to put text and images together. With the coming of desktop publishing those who had the software and expertise could publish papers with excellent layout design. With the advent of the web and this new technology, even you can publish pictures and include animation, jpgs and gifs on your page. We are becoming much more conscious of our text presentation.

4. What is Course Support all about?

The Course Support section is designed to give you some background into the ideas of writing and the connections between technology, society and literacy. The Illuminated Manuscript page is an outline of the type of content that should be covered in your chapters.

5. Am I graded on my threaded discussions on SLN?

Technically, yes. I will not, however, be assigning a point value to each response. I'll be lurking and watching your participation. To make the discussion meaningful I want more than one word responses. Failure to participate will adversely impact your final grade.

6. How will my final grade be determined?

Your final grade will be determined by an overall evaluation of the quality of your work. Quality prose and research is essential. It is expected that you will meet the minimum requirements: weekly completion of all chapters, weekly participation in all 13 threaded discussions, quality presentation of your content and, lastly, total collaboration on the Collaborative Connections chapter. This is not a web design course, but you are expected to be conscious of design and the impact of same on your audience.

7. I've never designed a web page before. How can I be expected to create one now?

Many of you never knew how to drive before coming to SCCC. You learned the technology because you had to and wanted to get around without depending upon your parents (heaven forbid) or friends. Computer literacy is now part of surviving in the 21st century. Computer Literacy is more than simply owning a computer. To survive in this course you have to be an independent learner: willing to take on difficult problems, investigate new areas of knowledge and tolerate frustration without crashing. Web page creation is simply part of this process. It gives you an opportunity to display your abilities and demonstrate your competence with the new technology.

8. Where do I go to learn how to design a web page?

The amount of information on web design is seemingly endless; it's on the web ( see links in All I Know section) in the bookstores and all around us. It's really up to you to work it out. I will help once your have exhausted all available sources.

9. What do you mean by Learned Helplessness?

Once we entered grammar school, the disease began. We learned early on to become helpless in the classroom. It was indeed easier to play dumb and let someone else show us or resolve the problem for us. Look around in your traditional classroom. What happens when the instructor asks a question about the required reading? Eyes divert to the ground, frowns develop and pages are turned as if the answer is in the book. Most wait patiently until the instructor answers the question. The sounds of silence are deafening. Ultimately, by default, the instructor answers the question. Smiles return and eye contact is restored.....until the next question or problem needing a solution. We've learned to become helpless in the face of a problem. Let someone else do the dirty work, eh? If we wait long enough or simply play dumb, someone else will do it for us. This is a learned response from years of home training and formal schooling; however, this strategy is a liability here. If you shrink from the problem, assume someone else will do it for you or crash in frustration, you will not survive.

10. Please explain the acronyms; picnic and rtfo

Picnic = problem in chair not in computer
Rtfo = read the ......outline

We are primarily an oral culture learning to function in a print or text medium. We have difficulty reading and absorbing knowledge without visual and aural clues: the teachers tone of voice, hand gestures and facial expressions. Text alone has none of these. We have to work at giving text a closer reading.......or suffer the acronym.