DEVAP and the Internet

DEVAP is primarily a "low-tech" distance education program. However, students participating in the program must have Internet access. In order to facilitate communication and learning between themselves and their instructors as well as between themselves and their fellow classmates, students will use the BlackBoard course information system through the Dallas County Community College District’s eCampus.  The Internet is not used as a primary delivery method for course materials.  Instead, it is used to facilitate communication by requiring students to participate in discussion groups, chat sessions, and e-mail.  Research and other assignments utilizing the Internet will also be assigned as well as completion of some course assignments.  Students without Internet access at home or in their workplace should seek this access at their local library or other public or private organizations offering this service.

Submitting Assignments via the Internet

Students can submit assignments in the traditional methods of either mailing them or sending them by fax.  In addition, students can send assignments as attachments to e-mail.  In order to avoid incompatibility, students should submit documents only in the following formats.

Suitable file formats for text files

·         MSWord (.doc)

·         WordPerfect (.wpd)

·         Rich text files (.rtf)

·         Adobe Acrobat files (.pdf)

·         Text files (.txt) 

Suitable formats for graphics files

·         JPEG files (.jpg)

·         GIF files (.gif)

·         TIFF files (.tif)

Students can complete their assignments using a word-processing program if they choose.  Alternatively, assignments can be completed on the workbook pages and then scanned.  These files can then be attached to an e-mail and submitted to the course instructor.  It is imperative that scanned pages be legible.