Selected policies

School and University policies

School and University policies

Assessment of student learning

• Grading
• English usage requirements
• Attendance and participation
• Assignments, submission of
• Guidelines for review of assigned grades (HSD)
• Deferral of course grade or academic concession

Completing distance courses internationally on a temporary basis

Electronic communications policy

Inclusive learning: accommodation statement for the School of Social Work

Policy for people with disabilities

Policy on Academic Integrity (Plagiarism)

Overview of student responsibilities and netiquette

Overview of student responsibilities and netiquette

Please ensure that you submit your assignments on time, collaborate in your group activities, and be aware of simple netiquette in communicating with your instructors and fellow learners.

• You will be required to participate in a variety of discussions and activities with your group and the larger class. The discussion area is a place where you can engage with the topic at hand, and clarify your own understanding. Others may have similar questions and discussing them will help everyone gain a better understanding. It is also a place for students to work together on team-based assignments. While you interact with the members of your class, your instructor will be seeking evidence that you have indeed met the required competency.

Online communication protocols

Because your online classmates are not close by, try to find a way to express appreciation for what you may have learned from the discussion. Take advantage of the opportunity to use "threaded discussions" on the course website. This will help you organize your group discussions and facilitate compiling. Remember these points:

• Be specific about why you found another person's ideas useful or interesting. Disagree with someone in a respectful and considerate way.
  
  
• If you don't understand someone's viewpoint, ask a cause-and-effect question - for example: "Can you explain why you think it's true that if these things are in place, such and such will occur?"

Because the subject matter in the readings may be difficult to deal with, comments from your online classmates may bring out strong reactions from you, so give yourself some time to consider their points of view before responding.

The online classroom is an excellent place to develop team-building skills you will use in your future social work practice. Engaging in a cooperative or collaborative learning team process where members support and rely on each other can help you to explore course concepts and come to a shared understanding of the complexities of these concepts. However, communicating clearly on in online courses without creating misunderstandings can be a challenge. One problem is that you lack facial expressions, body language, and tone to help you express yourself; another is that there is little "give and take" for developing meaning. Following the guidelines for good 'netiqiuette' can help with this.

Practicing "netiquette"

Netiquette is a combination of Internet/Network etiquette. Netiquette guidelines are recommended guidelines for personal conduct that apply to all online communications. Good online manners are vital to a productive and supportive online learning environment.

Here are some basic netiquette guidelines:

• Be polite and respectful. It can be tempting to "let yourself go" in an environment that feels anonymous, but remember that there are real people reading your messages.
  
  
• Be tolerant of views expressed by others. Your online classroom may well be bringing you together with people from all over Canada. Keep in mind that you probably have something to gain from exposure to views and backgrounds different than your own.
  
  
• When reacting to someone else's message, address the ideas, not the person. Again, remember that there are real people on the other end of the modem.
  
  
• Be careful when using sarcasm and humor. Don't include any obscenities in your messages. Without face-to-face communications, people may take your humor personally, and you never know who may be offended by expressions that are commonplace to you. Keep in mind that online forms of communication are absent of any emotion. Many times the instructor cannot determine how a particular comment should be taken. Be sure to word your communications carefully.
  
  
• Think carefully about your content when you write. Think carefully about what you write about others. Always assume that your electronic messages will be forwarded. Do not write anything that you do not want broadcast to the entire class.
  You can review more examples of online netiquette by conducting an Internet search on the keywords "online netiquette".
  Please note: Private mail messages should not be forwarded to another party or posted to discussion topics with out the consent of the original sender of the mail message.
  
  
• All discussants must respect the views of the team or the class as a whole. You are welcome to disagree as long as you can substantiate your disagreement based on literature that is course related or that has a sound basis. Profanities or emotional outbursts are unacceptable. While energetic debate and the free expression of opinion on the discussion boards is strongly encouraged, statements that demonstrate insensitivity to other students on the basis of their gender, race, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation will not be tolerated. It is important that we ensure that our on-line space is as free and open as possible while remaining comfortable for everyone.

Library / Infoline

To: University of Victoria distance education students in Social Work

From: Carol Gordon

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I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself as the Infoline librarian and to encourage you to make use of our library services to assist you with your studies. As a distance student, you can use Infoline to request specific books or articles from the UVic Libraries. We can also provide advice and guidance on conducting library research. To request any of these services, call us anytime at 1-800-563-9494, fax us at 250-721-6233, or email us at infoline@uvic.ca

To locate information on a course topic or research paper, you can access the Libraries’ online catalogues. The databases, including Psycinfo, Social Work Abstracts, and Academic Search Complete, can be accessed simply by clicking on the database of your choice, and logging in with your Netlink ID and password. If you do not already have a Netlink ID and password, you can apply for them online.

If you have a difficult topic which you would like to discuss with me, or if you need help conducting your search, you can contact me directly by email (cjgordon@uvic.ca) or telephone (250-721-6161), or you can contact the Infoline office at 1-800-563-9494, fax us at 250-721-6233, or email us at infoline@uvic.ca

We can help you to:

• gain remote access to the Libraries web page, including how to access the library catalogue and e-journals;
• devise tips and strategies for using any of the online databases more effectively;
• formulate a search strategy or choose appropriate key words for your topic;
• broaden or narrow the focus of your search;
• interpret the citations, and evaluate the information retrieved;
• access other resources appropriate for your topic;
• search the Web more effectively;
• and much more!

In short, we can help to make the UVic library and its resources more accessible to you.

We look forward to hearing from you!

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Infoline tutorials for social work students

Have a look at various tutorials created by Infoline staff. These short guides will quickly show you how to find books, articles for social work, and other resources via the UVic Libraries web page. You can go through all the guides, or select the one that fits what you need to find.

Learning & writing skills

APA style primer (PDF, 125 KB)

Writing skills

APA style guide

APA Guidelines - Purdue Online Writing Lab

Developing your critical analysis skills (PDF, 24 KB)

Dan Kurlan's www.criticalreading.com

Critical thinking skills

Essays and arguments: a handbook on writing argumentative and interpretative essays

Mission critical

Writing an annotated bibliography

Evaluating websites

UVic library tips central

Evaluating the quality of internet materials (PDF, 45 KB)

DE Onlinehelp

If you have any technical or connectivity problems and questions regarding Blackboard or Moodle through-out your distance education course, please contact the Distance Education Onlinehelp Desk at:

• Phone: 250-721-8476; 1-888-721-8476 (toll-free in Canada and US)
  
  
• Email: onlinehelp@uvcs.uvic.ca
  
  
• Onlinehelp website (includes Technical Tutorials)
  • Blackboard startup kit
  • Moodle startup kit
  • Elluminate startup kit
    
    
• Distance Education website Student Resources page

The Onlinehelp Desk is open during the following hours (Pacific time), except for statutory holidays:

• Monday to Thursday, 8:30am to 8pm
• Friday, 8:30am to 5pm, and
• Sunday, 8am - 12:30pm

We will try to respond to messages as soon as possible and within 24 hours, during our hours of operation.