Most spelling and keyboard errors are easily dealt with using automated spell checkers and I'm always a bit surprised when undergraduates haven't used them. Faculty guidance suggests that at Level 1 every error in a student's written work should be pointed out but by level 3 undergraduates are expected to deal with errors independently.

Assessment takes into account the standard of written English and although the BA Learning, Technology and Research degree promotes the exploration of audio and visual media, despite all encouragement most undergraduates fall back on Word documents to present text-based reports. A few still do not use the integrated grammar and spelling check, perhaps because they have left no time to check their work before the deadline. More serious is the problem for those who have checked, but failed to recognise some commonly mis-spelt words which would not be automatically detected.

effect/affect fare/fair their/there cited/sited where/were

Looking for online advice from universities, I was surprised not to see more as its a very common problem. There's a good site called Spelling Tips from Students and others, from Middlesex University. I'm not surprised that this is a lively area, and a good example of user-generated study support.

The FirstClass client spell check options can be set via the Preferences menu.

The Working Life task asks students to select about 6 highlights of a typical working day. Looking at what you actually do on most days will help to provide a basis for future modules, as well as explaining your work role. If you choose to do a 500 word essay, rather than the suggested photo story, then the structure could be a paragraph each for:
An introduction - your job title and context
One paragraph for each of about 6 highlights
A conclusion, revisiting how the six highlights relate to your job title.

If you are drafting a photo story, keep the explanations down to captions, rather than paragraphs.

The first visit to a university library can be a challenge - perhaps even more so for an online student. In the first module it is important for students to show that they have used the university library to find a work-related article (or book). At this stage, it is acceptable to interpret this widely. The facilitators know that early visits to the library may be challenging for many reasons, and it is enough to show that you have: a) found the library b) found one work-related item Campus students have parallel experiences - I can remember my first visits to a university library (huge!), getting used to a new and complex system, locating the shelves where the most relevant books would be found, taking out my first book. The Anglia Ruskin library can be accessed at http://libweb.anglia.ac.uk/digitallibrary/digital_library.htm

It has not been clear to students that the Library barcode is available from their e-vision accounts. For any problems, there is an online query form. I had to use it last week to renew my account, and within five minutes I had a reply.

Lydia made a movie about using Google Scholar in conjunction with the university library, available at http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=PZH8NWvQ3Ig