Student Orientation Guide

1
Student Orientation Guide

• American Bar Association
• Division for Public Education

2
Welcome

• The American Bar Association (ABA) Division for
  Public
• Education is pleased to welcome you as a
  participant in the 2010
• National Online Youth Summit (NOYS).
• We trust this years (NOYS) topic, Its Nothing
  to LOL About
• How the First Amendment Affects You in the 21st
  Century will
• be of interest to you and engage you in vigorous
  debate with
• your peers.

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What is NOYS?

• A national, web-based civic engagement program
  designed by the ABA Division for Public Education
• The opportunity to learn about and critically
  evaluate a different timely, law-related topic
  with a virtual community of your peers
• The 2010 topic will provide the opportunity to
  study, research, and analyze the First Amendment,
  and engage in civil online discourse
• An ongoing, online discussion with students in
  your class as well as with students from around
  the country that are part of your school cluster

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2010 NOYS Participants

• This years summit
• 40 schools
• 21 states
• Participants hail from Pennsylvania, New York,
  Virginia, South Carolina, Nebraska, Mississippi,
  New Hampshire, Ohio, Michigan, California, West
  Virginia, Nevada, Louisiana, Connecticut,
  Florida, Minnesota, Georgia, Illinois, Colorado,
  Arizona, and the state of Washington.

5
Orientation Overview

• The Student Orientation will assist you in
  becoming familiar with
• NOYS, specifically
• Summit Terms
• Navigating FuseTalk
• Effective Communication
• Online Conduct Student Responsibilities

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Summit Terms

• Asynchronous
• Asynchronous means happening at different
  times. Classroom discussion is synchronous
  discussion, occurring at the same time. With
  asynchronous discussion, participants contribute
  to the discussion over periods of hours, days, or
  weeks, at different times.
• FuseTalk
• FuseTalk is the web conferencing software.
  Registered users are able to enter a FuseTalk
  discussion board only with assigned login names
  and passwords. Users are then able to read
  messages posted by other registered users and
  respond to the messages.
• Discussion Board
• Student participants will communicate with one
  another via an online Student Discussion Board.

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Navigating FuseTalk
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Accessing FuseTalk and Logging In

1. The Student Discussion Board can be accessed on
   the ABA NOYS website at http//www.abanet.org/publ
   iced/noys/.
2. Click on Student Login in the Registered Users
   Login section. The following log-in page will
   appear.

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Accessing FuseTalk and Logging In

1. Enter your login name (in the Username field)
   and the password (in the Password field)
   assigned to you by your teacher, and click Log
   In.
2. When you log in for the first time you will be
   presented with a standard discussion board terms
   of service agreement. Scroll down to the bottom
   of the page and click I Accept. You will not
   be allowed to proceed if you do not accept the
   terms of service.
3. Note Your teacher will provide you your login
   information on February 5!

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Three Levels of Organization in FuseTalk

• Categories
• After you log in, you will see a list of
  Categories on the left-hand side of your screen.
  Your class has been assigned to a Cluster Group.
  Each activity that takes place on the discussion
  board will be given a unique Category name. Your
  teacher will direct you to the correct category
  for each activity. Categories are at the highest
  level of the folder structure and can only be
  created by a discussion board administrator.
• Topics
• Topics are discussions created within a category.
  Multiple topics can exist within one category.
  For some activities, you may be asked to create
  Topics within your cluster group Category by your
  teacher.
• Messages
• A message or many messages are found within a
  topic and are related to one subject matter. For
  some activities you will post your work as
  Messages within Topics. You will be posting
  messages, reading messages, and replying to
  messages.

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Posting Instructions

• It is very important to post as instructed by
  your teacher. Doing so ensures that
• Your message appears as part of the appropriate
  discussion thread.
• Your teacher and other students can find your
  message and reply to it.

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Getting Started

• Step 1 Click on the appropriate Cluster Group
  Category

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Replying to a Topic

• There are two ways to reply to a Topic.

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Method One Using the Reply Key

• Click on Reply at the lower right-hand corner
  (indicated by green arrow on previous slide)
• Type your reply in the window that appears
• Sign your message according to the following
  format first name, first initial of
  last name, and school name (e.g., Mark K.
  Middletown High School).
• Click Reply to Topic. (see Figure 3, next slide)

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Figure 3 Reply to Topic button indicated by
the red arrow
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Method Two Using the Quote Key

• Click on Quote at the lower right-hand corner
  (yellow arrow)
• Type your message and sign it.
• Click on Reply to Topic.
• If you use the quote key, the original message
  will appear in a box below your reply (see Figure
  4)

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Figure 4 This screen shot shows what happens if
you reply to a message using the Quote button.

• The original message appears at the top, followed
  by the reply to the original message, which
  includes a boxed quote of the original message.

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Reply v. Quote

• In many of your discussions you will use Reply
  to respond to others postings.
• When replying to some messages it may be more
  efficient to use Quote.
• Your teacher will provide you with posting
  instructions.

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Replying to Messages

• Reply to a message using exactly the same steps
  used to reply to a Topic.
• To reply to a message
• Click on the message you want to reply to.
• Click on Reply or Quote and follow the same
  steps as outlined above.

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FuseTalk Tip Use the Threading View

• In the Threading view
• All messages and replies are grouped together.
• A list of all posts, including the name of the
  person who posted and the date and time of the
  posting, is visible.
• The messages will be arranged in order of message
  and replies.
• If someone has replied to your message, you will
  see their message under your post. An example is
  provided on the next slide.
• To change conference view
• Click on Profile.
• Click on Personal Options.
• Change the setting from a linear view to a
  threading view.

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Threading View

• Threading view of all posts within the topic
  Welcome Summit Applicants. Arrow shows position
  of Linear Threading view function.

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Posting New Topics

• In some activities students will post New
  Topics.
• Your teacher will provide you with the name of
  the category in which you will work and post your
  New Topic. Once you click onto the category the
  screen below will appear. Click on New Topic as
  indicated by the black arrow.

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Posting a New Topic contd

• After you click on New Topic, this screen
  appears.
• Enter the topic name in the message title
  field. Directions will be provided by your
  teacher.
• Type in your message or question.
• Sign your message. Remember to sign using your
  first name, first initial of your last name, and
  your school name.
• When you have completed your message, click Post
  Message.
• Your Topic will post immediately.

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Logging Off FuseTalk

• When you are finished using FuseTalk, be sure to
  log off.
• To log off FuseTalk, click Logout on the menu
  bar.
• You will be automatically logged off if you
• Go to another site on the Web, or
• Close your browser window.
• A different user will then be able to log on to
  the same computer using his or her own login name
  and password.

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Glossary of FuseTalk Icons
Icon Description
Represents a category with no associated topics.
Represents a category with one or more topics associated under it.
Represents a locked category. For access contact the board administrator
Represents a new topic
Represents a previously viewed topic
Represents the print message function
Represents the trash can.
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10 Tips for Effective Communication

1. Follow directions for the summit activities
   Discussions will center on a particular activity
   with a prescribed beginning and end. Your
   teacher will provide you with the activity,
   homework due dates, and the discussion board
   category you will work in.
2. Stay on topic.
3. Construct well thought-out statements.
4. Include facts to support your opinions.
5. Paragraphs should be short no more than 3-4
   sentences per paragraph related to an idea.

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10 Tips for Effective Communication

1. Use a new paragraph to express each idea.
2. The discussion board is a civil discussion forum.
   Do not use all CAPS when typing.
3. Insert double-spaces between paragraphs for the
   ease of the reader.
4. Prior to posting a message, complete your work in
   a word processing program to perfect your draft,
   correct your spelling, and check for complete
   sentences. When you have a final draft, cut and
   paste your post into a Message and post it into
   the appropriate Topic. Your teacher may require
   you to print out your posts to keep in a
   portfolio to hand in upon request.
5. Be respectful of others, their points of view,
   and their skills.

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Whos Who on the Board?

• Three distinct signatures
• Teachers
• Example John Smith (T) Brentwood High School
• Students
• Example Mark K. Middletown High School
• Again, for security reasons students are to
  use only the first initial of their last name
  when posting a message.
• ABA Staff
• Example Atticus Finch, ABA staff

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Online Conduct and Responsibilities

• The ABA FuseTalk forum site is a private site.
  ONLY individuals who have been issued login names
  and passwords may access it.
• The rules and reminders that follow
• are for your safety!

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Rules Reminders

• The discussion board is an educational
  environment.
• Participation in this program is a privilege. Do
  not share your FuseTalk password with anyone
  other than your teacher.
• No personal information is to be exchanged in an
  online discussion.
• Participate in your assigned Categories. Your
  teacher will know the names of your assigned
  Category.
• Photographs of you or other students are not to
  be transmitted through the discussion board.
• Rules and behavior that apply to your conduct
  when you are in your classrooms in school also
  apply to you when you are in a discussion board.

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Conclusion

• This concludes the Student Orientation.
• Again, welcome to the
• National Online Youth Summit!