Tips for a Successful Spring 2022 Semester

Three smiling students wearing floral print shirts and making hang-loose symbols with their hands.

A new semester means it’s time for acquiring new knowledge and making exciting discoveries – it also means ASSIGNMENTS! Assignments are more than just homework; they are an opportunity to put into practice what you learned and receive meaningful feedback from your instructors. Speaking of discoveries, did you know TAMU-CC students have various technologies to help with these assignments? In this blog post, Digital Learning and Academic Innovations would like to share some tips on how to make the most of university resources available to you!

Office 365 Logo

FREE OFFICE 365 AND ONEDRIVE STORAGE – All students, faculty, and staff have free access to Office 365 with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Publisher. You can store all your schoolwork on OneDrive as an efficient way to access it from where you are located and work on collaborative projects.

RESOURCES GALORE – Access the Graduate or Undergraduate Resources centers on Blackboard to get information on software, technology, and services available for TAMU-CC students, learn how to navigate Blackboard or about exam proctoring.

Turn It In Logo

CHECK YOUR WORK’S ORIGINALITY – Your instructors may ask you to submit your work via an originality checking tool in Blackboard, such as Turnitin or SafeAssign. These tools check your submitted work to ensure that the work is an “original work”, or work that is not received from others, nor one copied from or based upon the work of others (e.g., plagiarism). Several free tools will help you ensure that you are not intentionally plagiarizing somebody’s work. You can use the Similarity Check function of the Office 365 Editor and check your document for similarity to online sources (microsoft.com) before submitting.  The Office 365 Editor is available when using Office tools online or OneDrive. Or you can use a free Turnitin submission link in the Graduate or Undergraduate Resources centers to self-check your submissions. These are unofficial submissions for your use only and are not forwarded to your instructor.

Blackboard Logo

KEEP RECEIPTS – And be sure to check on and keep the email receipts that Blackboard generates each time you submit an assignment. Keep track of your grades using the My Grades link in Blackboard. And if you have technology questions or issues, contact the IT Service Desk at 361-825-2692.

We wish you a successful semester!

Digital Learning & Academic Innovations