Monday, October 25, 2010

Having Problems Online?

Students have a number of options for help with their online courses. A good place to start is the new help portal AskCR.

The new support portal will help you ask questions of college representatives in Admissions & Records, Financial Aid, Advising, Special Programs, Distance Education, Technology Services, and Maintenance.

The support site provides two different methods for getting assistance.

1. Knowledge Base for self-service searches. It currently has over 200 articles with more being added every week. Please return frequently to see what is new. Though you can access many articles without logging in to the system, there are a number of articles that are not available to the public.

2. Request Support or Enter a Work Order for individual service. To get individualized service, you click on the Ask CR link (purple ticket with a question mark). This will take you to a log-in screen. All students log-in with their CR issued email address and the initial password is your five or six digit birthdate. Please fill out all fields to get the quickest response.

Example of Log-in:
Student: sque567@MyCR.redwoods.edu
101584 (birthdate of October 15, 1984)

If your log-in does not work, please contact our Help Desk at 707.476.4160 to verify your account settings. Having your seven digit Student ID Number and other confirming information ready will help to expedite the process.

Online Learning at CR

Online learning is a great option for a growing number of students, and learning online doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice quality for convenience while you earn your degree. College of the Redwoods is proud to offer access to education for those who need flexibility in attending classes. All of our online courses are fully accredited in the same way our traditional, face-to-face courses. They have the same student learning objectives and require you to demonstrate the same competencies as the traditional courses.

You can access your College of the Redwoods online course using any Internet connection, anytime, anywhere. Choose the time and place that works for you. Each week, participate in class discussions, post your assignments, and review faculty and peer feedback. Much of your course work can be done offline, too.

Whether you hope to take most of your degree program online, or only a few courses, you want to be sure to speak with an advisor about your plans. For those who plan to regularly take two or more classes online each term, you will be assigned to a special online program advisor who will work with you on the phone, by email, and via webconference to help you. You’ll always have access to an advisor for the one-on-one support you want.

If you have a demanding work schedule, live far from a campus, need to save money on gas, or want to spend more time at home with your family, taking classes online at College of the Redwoods makes sense.

Take classes online through our virtual campus

If you ask most students why they choose to learn online, the most common response you’ll get is, “It’s just more convenient.” While “brick and mortar” institutions will never be eliminated, it’s easy to see why a growing number of people are attending class in the cyber world. They may be reasons of accessibility, flexibility or quality, all compelling and contributing to the attractiveness of
this mode of learning.

But the benefits of online learning go beyond mere convenience. In fact, you may find the online environment is more conducive to your individual learning style. If you are a motivated self-starter who enjoys online interaction through social media sites, email, and other interactive means, you may find that online learning is the right fit for you.