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General Questions About On-Line Classes
- What forms of payment do you accept?
U.S. students may use:
- Paypal
- Check
- U.S. Postal Service
Money Order
International Students may use Paypal only.
Choose your option on the enrollment page.
- Do I need a high-speed internet connection to participate?
I must recommend a high speed internet connection because lesson plans are usually very heavy on the graphics. Unlike text files, the graphics are not very forgiving when their size is reduced; they lose alot of quality. But, to help make your dial up connection a bit easier, the printable lessons are offered in workable sizes:
- For all students:
Files are available containing a few pages at a time, about 1.5mb or less per file. Several files may need to be downloaded/printed to complete the week's lesson.
- What is a Premier class vs. a Self-Paced class?
Stitchartz.com offers two different types of online classes.
- Premier Classes
- Self-Paced Classes
A “Premier Class” is new, has not been taught, and has a limited registration period. The lessons are presented to the registered students over a series of weeks.
Once the registration period is closed, it will not be available to new students until the class is listed as a "Self-Paced" class.
Premier students are the first to access the project design, and their evaluation comments and corrections serve a vital role in the quality of all courses available through Stitchartz.
In a “Self Paced Class” registration is open all year, and students may enter at anytime on the calendar. All materials may be downloaded at once, or any time during the enrollment period. Enrollment and access to a “Self-Paced Class” is set for a specific length of time.
Both “Premier” and “Self-Paced” classes are fully supported by the teacher in the discussion forum during the student’s enrollment period.
- Do you sell complete kits for the class project?
No, not at this time. Currently, stitchartz plans to rely on our much loved, and far too few, local needlework shops. Occasionally, if there is a Setup Kit, it may include a custom color canvas or a specialty fiber, but generally, stitchartz has no plans to assemble kits.
If there are any needlework shops who would like to be web linked as a resource for kit materials and are willing to ship to students, please submit an inquiry here.
- Will you send me a print out of all instruction pages in booklet form?
No, I am sorry to say stitchartz is not equipped at this time to send complete booklets of the instructions pages. The online classes here at stitchartz.com are designed for the students to print the majority of the instructions.
- Do I need a color printer for the instruction pages?
No, not at all. Black and white printers will do just fine. If a complex diagram requires color for extra clarity, it will be noted that color would optimize the printout, but 98% of all the instructions are designed to be clearly readable when printed from a black and white inkjet or laser printer.
- If I miss a week, how do I make it up?
In a Premier class all previous lessons are open and available through the length of the class enrollment. Just enter the classroom, download your missing lessons, and be sure to read any forum posts to find out what's been going on.
Also, some classes will have "casual" weeks. During these weeks, students are free to continue their stitching, participate in show and tell, or take advantage of the bonus modules that are presented. Questions and comments may be posted on any of the lesson subjects, at anytime. There are no restrictions to asking questions about earlier lessons.
If you are enrolled in a Self-Paced class, you have access to all files, at anytime, up to the end of your enrollment period.
- Do I need a Yahoo registration to take this class?
No, the forum discussions are held within the online classroom.
- What is Moodle and how is it different from Yahoo?
Moodle is an online interface that allows teachers to bring their lesson plans to students via the web. Stitchartz will use Moodle on a trial basis to see if this method of delivery suits the students taking a needlework class. Moodle has many features that are logical for traditional education, so stitcharts (Debbie Deem) will be adapting and experimenting to see if these features work for classes that are oriented towards hands on learning using diagrams and pictures.
Like so many other things on the web, Moodle will require a user name and password to login to the classroom and access the lessons. This will be assigned after registration is complete.
- Please explain what sponsoring an off-line student means.
Sponsoring an off-line student means that you have the opportunity to assist someone who does not have internet access, or who chooses not to use the internet for a needlework experience.
If you choose to sponsor a student, you would be responsible for printing and distributing all on-line class information for that student including forum posts that are educational in nature, and if your sponsored participant has any questions, you would post those and return with the answers.
Your spondent may register and pay with a check sent via snail mail, or you can register for them on-line. Additionally, if at any time a spondent gains access to the internet they are welcome to participate 100%.
Becoming a sponsor requires an agreement with stitchartz to be signed by both you and your spondent. Sponsors are rewarded with a Gift Certificate. View more info here.
- Do you have any classes available for groups?
Currently, stitcharts (Debbie Deem), is only offering one new class: Stitching Sudoku. This is a Premier class, and learning from my first class in 2009: Night Blossom Nugget Box; I have decided to open group enrollments only to Self-Paced Classes.
This will allow group leaders to setup their own convienent time schedules independent from my presentation schedule.
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