Welcome!

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COURSE INFO. DOCUMENT by: Ron Kovac
Subject: Welcome!

Click here to view my multimedia welcome message.

Welcome

Welcome to Empire State College, the

Voice Communication

Course and the wide world of communication. You are about to embark on a journey, a journey through and into the world of "

convergence

". The field is growing and changing dramatically, and the industries of this field employ 1 in every 7 people of the United States. As participants in this course we will look at the current legacy systems (Voice, Video and Data), and we will attempt to understand what convergence can do to assist the user and customer in their business, personal and professional lives. We stand in a very unique time in history where we, as consumers and users, can drastically affect our future destiny with these technologies.

As your course instructor, I am here to assist in your learning. But, do not be mistaken, it is your learning that is important. As your tutor I am here to assist you in getting through the course by listening, helping, and sometimes prodding. The course will be challenging, but also fun. Through the use of the case study approach we will get hands-on experience and make the theory of the text come alive. If this is your first experience with on-line education, welcome to what I hope will be an interesting, challenging and rewarding experience. If you have taken on-line courses before, welcome back. On-line education is certainly different from F2F education (face to face, the traditional variation of teaching and learning) and offers unique opportunities for the users. Flexibility, and increased cognitive stimulation are the first two that come to mind. I truly believe that this form of instruction will become the dominant form of education for the nontraditional learner (those who are not 5 to 19 years of age). My experience in teaching on-line dates back to 1987 when I taught my first course in a synchronous based manner. Although on-line instruction is not for everyone, if you are diligent and have faith in your ability, you will be surprised how quickly you become comfortable and confident in this web environment.

You will find your syllabus, the document you usually get the first day of a course, in a number of documents below in the "Course Information" section. I strongly suggest you read all the documents in this section in order and ask any questions that you may have by clicking on the "Ask a Question" box at the bottom of each document. You may also want to print some of the documents if you take comfort from hard copies.

This course is also "migrating".... Migrating from an old course on just voice communication into this new course on "convergence". Convergence is the mantra of the IT field and basically means combining older "legacy" systems into a newer converged system (for example: converging the voice and data field into one.) How much room is there for convergence? A lot! Currently there are separate systems that deliver your voice (the telephone network), data (the Internet) and video (cable TV or the broadcast airwaves). Why converge? To save money. For each of these legacy systems there are highly trained people who know their stuff, but fail to see the big picture. By converging, corporations can save money while also delivering to you, the consumer, better and more robust services.

Because convergence is a new topic, we will use the Web as a key resource to capture new things that are occurring and to keep you abreast of the latest and greatest convergence theories, practices and implementations. Certainly VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is the most robust convergence theme today, but during this course you will see many other themes that are emerging.

Our Textbooks do a fairly good job or presenting the course content in a clear and straightforward manner. I expect you to read the assigned chapters with understanding, but I also expect you to actively participate in intelligent, on-going discussions of the course content. If you have any questions, please ask them. If you think something is especially interesting or important, or even stupid, please say so.

I have a brief "lecture" for each chapter in which I have attempted to highlight the especially interesting , important and difficult material. I have also asked a question or two to jump start your thinking and get the discussions rolling . Once we get going, I hope to function as an equal among many intelligent people involved in an interesting experience.

So, what should you do to start the course?

First, read through the "Course Information" section here on the web. Print out any important pages.
Second, complete the Student Orientation found in the COMMONS.
Third, complete a section for YOU in "Meet your Fellow Classmates". Please provide personal and professional background and a picture of yourself.
Fourth, be sure to read the material found on the Center for Distance Learning Policies for Distance Learners Page.
Finally, if you're new to the SUNY Learning Network, and haven't completed the SLN Orientation or on-line tutorial, please do so now. This will provide you with the mechanics (workings) of SLN on-line courses; particularly how to respond to discussions or post your written assignments.

I welcome you and wish you luck. I am here for you,

Dr. Ron

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