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 quarter's title in your My Courses listing.
The News listing on the My Home page will include announcements and information, including any current bugs or issues. If you are experiencing technical problems with myCourses, check the News listing for possible resolutions. Following the News listing is the Resources listing which include myCourses documentation as provided by the vendor, tutorial movies to walk you through some of the tools, as well as answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs).
After clicking on a course title from the My Home page, under the My Courses listing, you will be on the entry page for you course. This is called the Course Home page. At the top of the page are two dark grey navigation bars on the top and bottom of the myCourses logo. These links are how you will access the tools instructors have chosen to use in the course.
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 News listing. This is a place where some instructors take the time to introduce themselves, or post important messages for the class.
In the bottom dark grey navigation bar, you will see a default listing of all the tools available to courses. Content is the best place to look for materials, like a syllabus or handouts, will be found there.
This area 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 next tool in the navigation bar is the Calendar tool. This 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 quarter you are in (ie Week 6 out of 10).
Email in myCourses is sent through the Classlist tool. Simply 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 or bottom 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
Some instructors choose to assign groups of students to work on projects. You may click on the Groups tab to determine which group you are in. Here you will also find Group Lockers, a space for students to keep and share their collaborative works.
