Week # 1:

(Tuesday 12th - Monday 18th march)

Dear students Culture and Regional Economy of America course.

Note. All the activities, communications and project paper in this module are in English.

I will present some recommendations to do a successful start-up process. Today we start the academic
program, it is essential that you recognize different links in the platform and explore each of the materials
that we are going to develop. As you will realize each academic week begins on Tuesday and close on
Monday of the next week.

1. Essential link:
General features:
• Where you can in general forum socialize with the other participants of the module, doing your
initial presentation and building an academic opinion stage.
• Guideline to use the virtual hall where there is a complete tutorial of the EPIC platform, its utilities
and new functions.

Previous:
• Include a detail description of the course.
• A timeline with relevant information about America.

Academic units.
Two weeks of materials per unit. Which represent eight weeks of academic process. You will find:
Objectives and activities (per unit) - Booklet - Complementary Readings and supporting materials.

• Media:
At this moment the faculty are updating the conferences, so you will find these files in Spanish, which were
recorded by Professor Luis Armando Malo Peniche, a colleague of faculty.
• Qualifying activities:
The (5) evaluative activities are the only one that will qualify throughout the course. The other tasks or
resources that can be found are just for reinforcement but do not have qualification.

2. Recommendations
The course has specific grades for each activity, maximum score is 500 points (5.00). To approve the
module requires minimum 300 points (3.00). The objective is to reach the highest possible qualification in
each activity. Remember these tasks can be develop only on established dates in the calendar.
Keep in mind that each academic week begins on Tuesday and close on next Monday. Each qualifying
activity will be activated automatically on Friday and close on Monday, it is essential to connect with
internet trustworthy.
Let me remind you as your tutor, I do not have the control to extend the deadline of qualifying activities,
so it will be mandatory to plan your academic, job and private commitments to reach the goals. If you have
any technical issues with the platform or activities, you must create a case in supporting area with the
evidence (screenshots) and clearly inform of the fault. My recommendation is not to wait until the last
moment to present or send the activities.
In this first week is very important that you explore each link and thematic unit. Remember there are only
two individual activities (partial exam - week 4) and (final exam - week 8). To present these ones you must
have done readings and reviewed support materials. In these activities you have two attempts and it is
essential that read the recommendations before starting.

3. Communication.
You can communicate directly with me by email. Also, there is a chat room that will be activate Sunday
and Thursday from 7:00 PM. to 8:00 PM.

4. Collaborative Project.
This course has a research structure, including a collaborative project (teams). In week # 1, you will find
the link to project instructions, there are 3 stages (week 3, week 5, week 7) and in each one you must
complete some requisites.
To create your project teams, I want to emphasize the responsibility and commitment that I hope of each
one of you. Remember to be collaborative is required to comply with the deadline and internal agreements
in each team to avoid misunderstandings.
NOTE: you have the chance to create your teams project, because I believe that it should be a conviction
and not an obligation to decide with which participants you want to work.
Remember is mandatory that you work on a team (minimum 3 and maximum 5 members) not will be
allowed individual projects. In order to achieve this goal, you must create your groups finding other
participants interested. You can connect with them by email in the platform.
The purpose along this first week and until next Monday March 18th, will be stablish communication with
other participants and create teams. It is essential to be proactive and start as soon as you possible. A
team leader communication in each group must send me an email with the full names of members.
It is very important to support each other in this challenge, you should allow the admission of new
participants (certainly committed with project) to reach a maximum of 5 students per team. Finally, I
recommend you connect frequently in the course

5. Topics Week 1:
• Brief history of America.
Final issues.
In every thematic unit you will find the objectives and activities sheet. Each one holds two academic weeks.
The booklets per week are the essential reading to build the theoretical knowledge, also there are
supporting readings and secondary materials to improve the concepts learned.
In this first week there is no qualifying activity, however you must create your project team because time
is running, and you must deliver the first stage on week # 3.
If you have any concern, request or suggestion, please send me an email, with your full name, module and
topic imendivelsob@poligran.edu.co or by the tool in the platform.

Best regards.
Ignacio Mendivelso Bernal
Tutor