Distance Education
Faculty FAQ
My Courses FAQ
Overview FAQ
- Where can I find My Courses?
My Courses is found on the Faculty Tab in My Solano for faculty and on the Student Tab for students. - Why should I use My Courses?
This new tool will help students and faculty communicate and share information such as syllabi, homework, tests and general course questions. Every class offered here at SCC will have a My Courses shell. Although it is not required to use My Courses, it is encouraged, since posting documents online will help keep SCC green and reduce printing costs. - Do I have to use My Courses?
No, My Courses is available for faculty to use as a resource to post class information, it is not required. - Who will see the My Courses channel?
Students will see the My Courses Channel on the Student Tab, and faculty will see it on the Faculty Tab. - Can I access eCollege from My Courses?
No. In the My Courses Channel, there is a SolanOnline or eCollege notice which explains that online classes are not yet accessible from MyCourses. Please let students know that they must use the SolanOnline link to access their Online Class. - What is the My Courses Schedule page?
The My Courses Schedule page will list all classes that students are enrolled in and all classes which an instructor is teaching. It will list prior semesters as an archive for materials that might be needed for current terms. - Why are past terms listed on the My Courses Schedule page?
Prior semesters are listed as an archive for materials that may be needed for current terms. - What is the Course Homepage?
When clicking on a course the link will take you to the Course Homepage. This is where class information and materials may be posted. To the left you will see Course Tools, Content Tools, and Configuration Tools; on the right is Course Information. - What are Course Tools?
Course Tools are mainly for the students to use. Here is where they may upload course information and related items. Students may upload material, but it will require your approval before being posted. - What are Content Tools?
The Content Tools are for faculty to upload course information and related items. Here you will manage the various sections that comprise the Course Homepage. - Configuration and Personal Tools
Please do not use these Tools at this time.
Communications FAQ
- What are the communication tools?
There are three different communication tools within My Courses: Email, Announcements, and News. Everyone is familiar with Email. Announcements are an internal communication tool within My Solano and News is used to communicate solely within My Courses. We encourage using these Standards when communicating with your students to minimize over communication via email and to ensure students receive important notices in a timely manner. - Email
We must emphasize that Email should be used only for immediate communications that students must receive in a timely manner. The reason for this is we do not want to fill up students email boxes, and instead use either Announcement or News to relay non-critical messages to them. Examples for using email are, Class Cancelations, Emergencies, etc. - How do I send an Email?
- To send an email to the entire class, click the check box at the top of the list next to Member Name. To send to a single student or more, click on the check box next to that students name or multiple students if needed, and then click the Send Email button.
- In the To: field it will say Undisclosed-recipients, and that is to conceal the students email address for safety.
- Enter Subject, then enter Message.
- Common text editing tools are available at the top and common email tools, like attachments and spell check are at the bottom.
- Hit send and the email will be sent.
- What are Announcements?
Announcements are special because they show up in two different locations within My Solano. They show up on your Course Homepage and also in the Personal Announcement channel on the MySolano tab. We encourage using the Announcements for events and activities that are related to the course. Please do not use Announcements for Emergencies as Students must login to see it and email is a more immediate tool for emergencies. - How do I send an Announcement?
- To send an announcement, go into Manage Announcements and click on New Announcement.
- Create a Title and the Announcement.
- Select the number of days the announcement will be active. The limit is 14 days.
- Hit send.
You should see your announcement appear on your course homepage and in the Personal Announcement channel on the MySolano tab. You will need to logout and log back in to see the Personal Announcement.
- What is the News tool?
The News tool is used to help direct students to new content that you have posted within your Course Shell. News should be used for directing the student to new files, links, or other course related materials that you have recently uploaded. All news entries will appear on your course homepage. - How do I use the News tool?
- Go into Manage News, and select Post a new Article.
- Change Status to Active, create a Title, and type in or paste your news message.
- Hit post and the news article will appear on your course homepage.
Accessibility FAQ
- I have a student with a disability in my class, will My Courses content be accessible?
In short, probably. All of the PDF’s will be accessible if they have been uploaded according to the stated procedure, namely if the PDF was made from a word document. However, a SCANNED PDF WILL NOT BE ACCESIBLE, please avoid uploading scanned PDF’s whenever possible. All images will be accessible if you create a descriptive caption for the image when it is uploaded, and in fact the system requires you to do this before an image will be uploaded. All uploaded video content MUST BE CAPTIONED. If you have a scanned PDF or an uncaptioned video please contact the Alternate Media Specialist at altmedia@xinglongmaofang.com before you upload the content so that he can help you make your content accessible. - I have student with a disability in my class, I followed all the procedures and still he/she says my content is not accessible, what do I do?
Please fill out the following form so that DSP can better understand the nature of the problem:
My Courses Accommodation Request Form. Someone from the DSP office will contact both you and the student and together we will develop a strategy to make sure that all course material is as accessible as possible. Please keep in mind that DSP is a voluntary program and we cannot force students to join our program or take advantage of our services.