Vendor Documentation
myCourses is the course management system of the Rochester Institute of Technology that allows for instructors and students to interact and access course materials online. A variety of tools are available to promote interaction between students and instructors, and also to provide resources for the students taking these courses in a secure environment. You can login to myCourses (http://mycourses.rit.edu) with your RIT computer account.
Once you have logged into myCourses with your RIT computer account, you will be taken to the My Home page. Here you can access your courses through the My Courses listing by clicking on its title.
Students are granted access to courses one week before the official start of classes. Before that date, students will not see registered courses or that semester's title in your My Courses listing.
Below the My Courses listing is the Announcements listing. The Announcements listing on My Home will include key announcements and information from Academic Technology Support, including any current bugs or issues. If you are experiencing technical problems with myCourses, check the Announcements listing for possible resolutions.
Below the Announcements listing is the Resources listing. The Resources listing includes myCourses documentation as provided by the vendor as well as answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs).
After clicking on a course title from the My Home page, you will be on the entry page for your course. This is called the Course Home page. At the top of the page under the course name is a navigation bar. These links are how you will access the tools instructors have chosen to use in the course. Information about these tools is provided through the rest of this wiki page.
Instructors can customize their course in a variety of ways. If you have questions about how your course is set up, please first contact your instructors for assistance, since each course is unique.
On the Course Home page, there is a course Announcements listing. This is a place where some instructors take the time to introduce themselves, or post important messages for the class.
This Content tool is where you will find any materials necessary to completing your course. Most instructors provide a syllabus (a document to guide you through the expectations of your course) in the Content section. If instructors decide to post lectures, notes, or additional readings, they will typically be posted in this section.
The Calendar tool is where instructors may post due dates for assignments, where they can be viewed in a more visual manner. The Calendar tool is also helpful for any RIT-wide events, as well as documentation of what 'week' of the semester you are in (i.e. Week 6 out of 14).
Email in myCourses is sent through the Classlist tool. Click on a person's name, or check off the people you wish to email and click on the email action icon (a small envelope) at the top of the Classlist. If you do not see the user which you would like to email right away, scroll to the bottom to see if there are multiple pages of users. You may also use the Search feature at the top of the page. You may also email all users in your classlist at one time, but keep in mind RIT's code of conduct regarding emails.
You will not receive email in myCourses, it will go directly to your RIT email. myCourses keeps no records of sent information in myCourses, so if you need a copy of what you send out, be sure to CC yourself in on the email. If you wish for your RIT email to be forwarded to an external address, you may do so at http://start.rit.edu.
The Assignments tool is for the secure submission of assignments. Click on the assignment name in the list of folders to make a submission. Students can type in a text box and, if enabled by the instructor, add a file using the Add File button. It is important to click the Submit button to complete your submission. If you are not told on screen ** FILE SUBMISSION SUCCESSFUL **, then your assignment was not submitted successfully and your instructor has not received your assignment. A history of submissions can be found at the top of the list of Assignment folders, before you enter an assignment.
Instructors can set deadlines on Assignment availability. They may disappear from your listings without any notice, so it is important to not wait until the last minutes to submit work to the assignment submission folder! Also keep in mind that your clock time may not match the time listed on the myCourses servers, you may be too late to submit and will be locked out of the assignment submission folder.
The Discussions tool is where your instructor may post topics ranging from questions about the course to course discussions on specific topics. Some instructors require a certain number of posts per week for a participation grade, so be sure you are aware of these requirements. When there are unread posts on a discussion board, you will see a listing on the Course Home page letting you know that there are "X Unread Discussion Posts".
The Quiz tool can be used to assess students knowledge through online quizzing. Instructors have many options available to them for Quizzes, including the ability to have a specific date/time range. If you have questions about taking Quizzes, please contact your instructors. For any technical problems, please contact both your instructor and Academic Technology Support. We often work collaboratively to determine the best reconciliations in the event of technical problems.
Grading can be done very efficiently in myCourses via the Grades tool. Instructors may choose to post grades in the Grades tool so that students may keep track of their current grades for the class. If you are unsure of your grade on a particular activity, please contact your instructor directly.
Since this guide is only a small overview of the tools available in myCourses, please refer to the Documentation for FAQs on specific tools and documentation provided by the myCourses vendor, Desire2Learn (D2L). If you cannot find the answer you are looking for on the myCourses Help & Resources page, you may contact Academic Technology Support for further assistance.
