POL 120.66 

Distance Learning Course Interaction Plan

Instructor: Robert J. O’Meara, PhD. Political Science, M.B.A, M.A. International Affairs.

Telephone Number: 413-537-7901 (cell)

Email Address: romeara@hcc.mass.edu, robertjomeara@yahoo.com (checked constantly).

Office Hours:  Available by appointment on campus when necessary.  Telephone appointments are encouraged. We may use email to set up phone-appointments if needed.

Online Hours:  The course will be “asynchronous” (see below).  So, the course will be open 24/7, but each unit will have a specific deadline for the posting of your responses.  Just email me with questions, I’ll respond. 

This is an “Asynchronous” course.  There is NO Synchronous requirement for this course.

“Asynchronous”: This kind of distance education is characterized by an emphasis on "learning on demand" or "as needed communication" between students and faculty from multiple locations at times convenient to participants.

“Synchronous”: This form of distance education entails the use of live, two-way communication among and/or between students and faculty in a scheduled or "fixed" point(s) of time(s), much like classroom-based instruction. 

But, again, this political science course is NOT synchronous!

State and Local Government: “An introduction to the structure, function, and politics of United States government at the state, county, and municipal levels, emphasizing their roles within the federal system.” 3.00 Credit Hours

Governing States and Localities, 2nd Edition (your main textbook),

Authors: Kevin B. Smith, Alan Greenblatt, Michele Mariani.

Publisher: CQ Researcher. 2009.

ISBN: 978-0-87289-379-5 

State and Local Government, 2009-2010 Edition (your reader)

Authors: Kevin B. Smith

Publisher: CQ Researcher. 2009.

ISBN: 978-1-60426-514-9

These two are also available new as a shrink-wrapped package!
The bookstore will attempt to buy as many used editions as possible.

Plus, students will often utilize the internet and college library to find some articles and websites.

Where relevant, matters of state and local governments, as well as intergovernmental relations in the context of our federal system, will be compared to aspects of local government in other countries.  As students may originate from various towns, cities, states, countries and cultures, each student is encouraged to discuss such diverse examples in class.  This will help shed light on the book materials. 

During the course, we will be somewhat flexible with our time, discussing significant real world political concerns as they arise.  I encourage each of you to keep track of relevant news/information about some states/cities/towns that interest you.  Bring it to class.  This will help you apply concepts to the real world of state and local politics.  Students should expect to utilize the resources of the internet in seeking credible information and analysis.  Additional short articles and websites (online) may be assigned in order to complement the text.  Participation, discussion, and collaborative work will be encouraged in order to broaden perspectives and facilitate critical thinking.  Lecture will be mixed with student-centered discussion.  Brief responses will be frequently required.  Individual papers will be aimed at facilitating critical thinking.  Read, think, and get involved. 

100% Online – Distance Learning…

NO classroom meetings.  All class meetings are online.

Students are required to engage in the following interaction(s) for successful completion of this course:

Students will read text(s) and online readings, read lecture notes in each weekly “unit”, engage in weekly threaded (asynchronous) discussions in each weekly “unit”, write three short papers which you will post online, respond to several selected peers’ papers.  Quizzes will be available to be taken at anytime during each weekly unit. 

Films and short media clips may be utilized, and are available online at no cost (links will be posted in course units).

As an “Asynchronous” course, we will ONLY be meeting ONLINE during each week. 

Our weekly “units”, as I often call them, will be open for no less than three days during the week.  This means that you can log and gain full access to any current unit during the three day period during each week.  This should create a great deal of flexibility for you.  All responses for each week must be posted by the close of that period in order to receive credit.

Prior units will remain open for you to visit for the sake of follow-up when you desire to get back to some interesting topic. 

For each weekly session, or “unit”, you must finish the week’s reading and log in to access the posted outline / lecture notes and a variety of web-links.

Then, you will be required to actively engage in online discussions.  For each unit, discussion questions will be posted.  You will select from the available topics and engage in interactive discussions with your peers.  Post your responses whenever you can during the three day period, and check for responses from your peers.  So, no simultaneous interaction is required.  No live “chat” or “chat-room” is necessary.  Student-centered discussion will be the key to learning, to broadening your perspectives and facilitating your critical thinking. 

Read, think, and get involved.

• Open-minded consideration is essential for higher levels of discussion.   

• Plagiarism is not essential for anything, and will be taken seriously.  “Quotes” are fine.  You MUST be sure to cite the ideas / work of other people.  See our college’s policy.  In this age of technology, the web is an amazing way to uncover great information, cut and paste into a text document, etc.  However, most students do not realize how easy it is for the same technology to be used to discover plagiarism (yes, with certainty).  Our class policy will be for “zero tolerance”.  Plagiarize once, and you may fail the course.  People from cultures that encourage high levels of memorization and replication of accepted ideas should ask about this in class or in private.  Ask me about this if you are unsure.

• If you may be interested in receiving accommodations for disabilities, learning or otherwise, please inform me as soon as possible so that we may implement reasonable and appropriate accommodations immediately in order to ensure your success.  Let me know if you have any questions, please.

1. In-person meetings?         NO  (100% online course)

2. Telephone interactions?    YES (between 10am and 10pm)

3. Electronic interactions?     YES (email, plus threaded discussions over internet)

4. When?  Dates and times of interactions:

You will be able to access the open course 24/7.  You must post your responses for any given week’s discussion topics before the close of the last day of that unit.  However, each completed session, or unit, will remain open for you during the semester should you decide to revisit anything that we have already covered (for interest, not for grade-credit). 

1. Meaningful participation in threaded (asynchronous) discussion forums (weekly responses to available topics).

2. Three short papers which will require critical thinking and some moderate degree of online research.

3. Quizzes each week (“low risk” assignments which will be used in consideration of boosting your final grade should your participation have faltered at any point(s).  Identify your areas of strengths and weaknesses in each unit.  Attend to any areas of weakness.

4. No Exams. But, you will be doing some serious work in lieu of exams.

Emphasis will be placed on students’ participation in weekly threaded discussions.  This is critical.  The discussions serve as the place where the real learning occurs.  Learn from each other’s thinking and varied perspectives.  Do the reading, show that you are thinking about it!  Pure fun.