ENG 202: Online-Only Tutorials

As you may have noticed, one (and only one) of the eight tutorial sections for ENG 202 is listed as “online,” and an attached note says something like “requires the approval of the instructor to enrol in this section.” The time and day for the online tutorial should be listed at the relevant campus websites (ACORN, Timetable Builder, etc) and cannot be changed — this is the only time and day we can make the online tutorial available, so if attending is important to you, you may have to adjust your own schedule to make it happen.

Attendance at weekly tutorial sessions, during their scheduled times, is a core requirement of our class (see the main course page). I know, though, that making it in to campus on an extra day for a one-hour session can be rough on some students — be it for medical reasons, commute reasons, or other reasons.  So I have set aside one of the eight tutorial sessions as an exclusively online, remote-attendance session — at which attendance will still be required, but in that case it will be fully online attendance. All tutorial sections, except the one designated as remote, will meet exclusively in person; the one designated as remote will meet exclusively online. I expect all online tutorial attendees to follow my rules for remote attendees (click here to read them). 

Different attendance-format rules apply for our weekly full-class/lecture sessions — please consult the main course page closely on that point.

You need no documentation or special dispensation to opt into the online tutorial group, but it is a permanent decision: once you opt into the online tutorial group, you must remain in it for the duration of term. Remember that remote attendance still must be done in real time (that is, during the scheduled hours of the class) in order to earn attendance credit.

Enrolment in the Online-Only Tutorial is limited. If you are interested in signing up for online tutorials, then EMAIL ME (at sergi.utoronto@gmail.com only!) TO RESERVE A SPOT NOW.  When you email me, please include the following information:

  1. Your name

  2. Your contact email

  3. An indication of whether your choice of an online tutorial is a light preference, a strong preference, or a necessity — please use only that simple, straightforward terminology and do not share the reason behind your request.

    By light preference, I mean cases in which a student only has one course that day and doesn’t want to take the subway in for it, or a student sometimes feels a bit better able to handle small-group conversations in online format, or any similar reason.

    By strong preference, I mean cases in which attending tutorial online would have a major, significant benefit to the student, whether those benefits are medical, personal, commute-related, or whatever. If you have a strong preference, you feel that moving your tutorial online would make your life and work a lot easier.

    By necessity, I mean cases in which the student’s ability to be part of ENG 202 at all relies on access to an online tutorial. If you have a necessity, you feel that moving your tutorial online would make attending ENG 202 possible, or far more bearable.

    [Important: scheduling reasons should not be thought of as necessities here — being able to schedule two commitments in close succession (say, a job that requires you to be there immediately after the online tutorial, meaning that attending online is the only way you could get from tutorial to job on time) should be given a strong preference rating. The online tutorial should never be used, of course, to try to attend more than one commitment at once; doing that would break my rules for remote attendees and result in ejection from the tutorial and/or a serious penalty to your grade.]

Again, do not share the reason behind your request — I trust each student’s assessment of their own situation and respect their privacy and autonomy here.

About four weeks out from the first day of class, I will compile a list of students interested in attending the online tutorial. I will determine priority based first on how the student has rated their preference/need (again, light preference, strong preference, or necessity) and then on the order in which I received the requests. From there, I’ll contact the 10-14 students at the top of that list to confirm their online-only tutorial enrolment, requiring them to de-enrol from any other tutorials they are currently registered in. The remaining students will all go onto a wait-list (and should retain their other tutorial enrolments while they wait); I’ll confirm the final list a week before class begins.