Thing+0+-+Preparing+for+Success

** Introduction **

 * Welcome to K12 Learning 2.0! **Here you will find your first official course "activity," organized with an **Introduction**, **Discovery Exercise** and **Task** -- a format which will quickly become familiar to you. Reading carefully is, for better or worse, a key to success in this course. You will also find lots of embedded HELP resources along the way within the Discovery Exercises and Tasks -- placed at the point of need.


 * Before you get started, it's important that you read over the site** so that you understand //exactly how the course works//. The three pages everyone should read __in their entirety__ are:
 * **Home** - a general description of the course
 * **About/FAQ** - most everything you might want to know
 * **The 23 Things** - a list of course topics which will provide links to each week's content **as it is released**.

** Discovery Exercises **
**¤ PLEASE NOTE:** You must complete **both the Discovery Exercises and Task** (below) in order to successfully complete "Thing 0" and register for the course.


 * D.E. PART 1:** For this course, you are asked to use a Gmail account (part of Google) to sign up for all of the services you explore. Using Gmail will allow you to store all of your sign-up info in one location, keep your school email uncluttered, and protect your "digital footprint" if desired (you may use any username you like for your Google account, as long as it's school-appropriate). A Google account gives you access to all sorts of Google goodies, such as Google Reader and Google Docs, both of which we will explore in later weeks. **Throughout the course, we will communicate through Gmail -- NOT YOUR SCHOOL EMAIL.** So, go and sign up for a [|Gmail account]


 * ‡ HELP Video: **[|How to sign up for Gmail]


 * D. E. PART 2:** [|Get Firefox]. Firefox is the Web browser of choice for this course, as many of the tools we will explore just seem to run more smoothly in Firefox. Firefox itself is a "Web 2.0" browser - open source (free to use and build upon), with lots of great features -- one of the **best** of which is [|TABBED browsing], which means you can open up several web pages at once INSIDE one browser window, and switch between them using tabs -- as opposed to them piling up on your taskbar. (See video below -- tabs are the greatest browser innovation EVER). Course help resources have been created in Firefox, though I have added a few IE-specific help tips where the differences are significant. Make sure you have [|Java] and [|Flash] installed for Firefox as well.

**¤ NOTE:** Woodward Academy teachers - check under (**All) Programs > Mozilla** to see if you already have Firefox on your school computer. If so, after you launch it, go to **Help > About** to check your Firefox version. If you are not running the latest version (currently, version 3.5.2), [|click here to get it.]. You should also install Firefox on your home computer, or other computer(s) where you may be completing coursework.


 * ‡ HELP Video: ** [|Installing Firefox -- plus Java and Flash]
 * ‡ HELP Video: ** [|Using Firefox: What's so great about tabs]?

** Task **

 * TASK PART 1:** After completing the Discovery exercises, complete this form to register for the course. **ON SEPTEMBER 8**, I will send you an invitation (via Gmail) to join a Google spreadsheet which you use throughout the course to track your progress. ** You MUST remember to check your new Gmail account on SEPTEMBER 8. ** I will not email you through your school email accounts! Throughout the course, we will communicate through Gmail.


 * TASK PART 2:** Send an email //from your new Gmail account// (not from your school email address) to **k12learning20 (at) gmail (dot) com **. You are writing to me, Shelley Paul. In the email, include your **full name and school name** and the **name of your course coach** (Most of you should have one. Woodward teachers, that's me) as well any questions you have about the course. Confirm for me that you have Firefox (just humor me). **I will use these emails to create a contact list for the course!**


 * ‡ HELP Video: ** [|How to access Gmail and send a message]