Welcome Contents This conference is your source for ideas and help with FirstClass ED. It discusses how you can use FirstClass ED to manage your classroom, and provides subsections for students and parents to learn how to use FirstClass ED. This conference will show you how to develop your lesson plan and class rosters, communicate with students, parents, and peers, share lesson plans with other teachers, administer tests, and monitor and evaluate student work. It outlines the tools you have at your disposal, including a class calendar, separate message and assignment inboxes, rich media documents, course content area, discussion area, resource area, online whiteboard, classroom journals area, project management area, and testing tools. Further, every step is supported by examples and graphics, so you need only to look at the example to get ideas for how you may wish to structure your own course. How to use this conference You can access the material here in a couple of ways: •       follow the order Refer to the Contents if you prefer a structured order. It allows you to progress through the material linearly, similar to a book. •       dive in. Start at one of the sections listed below and follow the links from one document to the next. This conference is broken down into two major sections: FirstClass ED for Teachers This conference contains four subconferences: 1       The Teacher's Classroom Discusses the different tasks involved in classroom and student management. 2       Classroom Tools Outlines the teaching aids you have at your disposal, such as a class calendar, discussion area, and inboxes. 3       FirstClass ED Considerations Contains discussions of interest, such as whether to deliver a self-paced or global course. 4       A Sample Classroom Showcases how one fictional teacher created his FirstClass ED classroom environment. FirstClass ED for Students This conference contains two subconferences: 1       The Student's Classroom Discusses the different tasks involved in taking a class. 2       Student Tools Outlines the organization aids students have at their disposal, such as a student calendar, instant messaging, student portfolios, and a personal web page. If you are new to using FirstClass, read Introduction before proceeding.