English Department

Most of the English courses are structured to be completed in 6 weeks. This includes lessons, an RST, and a final exam. While most courses have both an RST and exam, some English courses have only one or the other.

Typically on a weekly basis, you will complete 3-4 lessons of your course. These lessons will involve various readings (most all of which are available online), and completing related activities. You will be working on writing, reading, oral presentation skills, and media studies. There are two types of assignments that you will complete: formative and summative.

Formative assignments are not marked, though your teacher will provide you with feedback as you develop and practice your skills. Summative assignments are marked. They are meant for you to demonstrate what you have learned throughout the lessons.
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Some of your assignments need to be presented orally. There are several ways for you to do this. You can do so in person, by telephone, or by any other digital voice recording technology you are familiar with (see the Helpful Tools page for some options). 
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If you have any questions about your specific course, do not hesitate to contact your teacher.  

** Some of the courses require students to get their own novels/plays. Students can borrow them from libraries, purchase them from new/used book stores, or search for pdf versions of them online. Please take a look at the course text list.

Very Helpful English resources

Turnitin:
Every time you submit an assignment, it automatically gets processed through Turnitin. Turnitin is an online database of essays and texts, and is used to check for plagiarism.  It is important that you always reference any sources that you use to help you with your work. Your teacher may also provide feedback on your assignments through Turnitin. ​
​Instructions:
Your work is automatically process through Turnitin when you submit it. For information on how to read feedback on assignments submitted through Turnitin, see these instructions.
Record Audio - D2L
This function allows you to record an oral assignment in the appropriate dropbox using the built in features of D2L and your computer.  

Instructions:
See the Audio and Video section of the Helpful Tools page.
YouTube
You can upload any video or audio that you record on your phone or computer to www.youtube.com.  Once the video is uploaded, you can send the link to your teacher in the appropriate dropbox. You can also set the privacy settings so that only certain people can view the video. 

​Instructions:
See the Audio and Video section of the Helpful Tools page.
​PowToon
This website allows you to create videos or presentations with an audio component. 
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​Click here for a tutorial on how to use PowToon.

additional resources

Purdue University - The Online Writing Lab (OWL):
  • This site is a great resource for grammar, sentence structure, punctuation, and MLA formatting.
University of Ottawa - Student Academic Success Service:
  • This site offers handouts on topics like structuring an essay, MLA Style, pronoun usage, etc.
University of Toronto - Advice on Academic Writing:
  • This site is a great resource for all of your questions about academic writing. 
You have finished the orientation! You can always revisit these pages later but click below to get started.