You may wonder what the computer conferencing skills are that you will need to work with others online throughout the course. At the most basic level, you will need to be able to:

• read messages and postings in the conference areas as required
• read responses to others' messages and contributions to the discussions
• add new messages and contribute your own ideas to the online discussions
• post messages in forums that all can read and send personal email messages to others.

These are the entry skills that you will need to complete this course successfully. Throughout the course, you will be extending these basic skills as you learn to communicate and accomplish intellectual work with others using new online tools and learning environments. You will learn to not only use the capabilities of these new online collaborative systems, but will be able to set up your own online meetings, conferences, and learning activities using the full functionality of each new tool.

Some of the online collaborative learning environments may require that you learn other skills for collaborative planning, management, and coordination of the learning team's tasks.