Summarizing 13 weeks of teaching an Online Class

We have finally reached week 13 and Thanksgiving Break. This blog will report on what it was like to teach 723 students in an online course with tools that were (to put lightly) not mature. During the course of thirteen weeks my high hopes and expectations were crushed. No wonder I was MIA as far as reporting progress. I will divide my report on what transpired during these 13 weeks into three categories: Aplia, SAM 2010, and iLearn (customized version of Moodle).

Aplia

Aplia is a separate software application that is being used for testing & homework focusing on Stair & Reynolds:  Fundamentals of Information Systems: 6th Edition.  An electronic copy of the book is included within Aplia. Students access Aplia with the following link – http://www.aplia.com. Aplia requires purchase of an access code, an Internet connection and a browser.   

On paper everything sounded great. Well not quite! All that the Aplia people had to do was convert the text so it can be read with a Flash reader and prepare assignments for each chapter. They got the first part right, and as for the second part, well they had previously created questions for another Stair & Reynolds textbook so why not copy them over, even though the questions don’t pertain to the textbook being used. After 4 weeks of chaos and frustration, the Aplia people finally reviewed all the questions and made sure they were correct.

SAM 2010

SAM 2010 is a separate software application that is being used for training, testing & homework using Excel 2010.  Students can access SAM 2010 with the following link – http://sam2010.course.com. Each student is required to purchase their own individual copy of SAM 2010.  

SAM 2010 Assignments: Are included with the version of SAM 2010 used for this course.  Students submit their  Excel 2010 assignments for grading.  Grading is automated with feedback provided by the program. 

SAM 2010 Projects: Are included with the version of SAM 2010 used for this class.  Students upload their completed Excel 2010 projects for grading.  Grading is automated with feedback provided by the program. 

Quizzes and a final are also given in SAM 2010.

SAM 2010 requires a high-speed Internet connection, Adobe Flash Player and a browser.

Here is a list of problems that we encountered:

1.      The wrong text was included in the package.

2.      Although SAM 2010 runs on Macintosh computers, it is not supported 100% and should NOT be used. Student projects will not receive full credit.

3.      Scheduling of exams was not being correctly setup by the system.

4.      Students would complete their assignments, only to find out they were not being recorded in the grade book.

5.      Flash had problems simulating keystroke for the spreadsheet (e.g., right click).

None of the problems were addressed and we had to find workarounds for all of them.

iLearn

iLearn is the “learning management system” that is being used for the course.   iLearn provided the following capabilities for the students:

Calendar:  The calendar in iLearn provides students with the due dates and times of their assignments and quizzes.

Course Materials: iLearn was used to distribute the syllabus, additional course materials (such as PowerPoint slides) and general directions.  Students must have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on their computer to view most documents.

News Forum:  The “News” forum in iLearn was used for communication and general information / updates to the course.

Student Forum: This forum was setup for students to help each other out with assignments, projects, and general information.

Course Forums:  Course forums have been created in iLearn. Students must contribute to each forum by the assigned date.  The contributions were graded.

Grades:  Grades and general feedback were posted into iLearn for student review of their progress. Grades for all SAM 2010 and Aplia assignments had to be manually transferred into iLearn by the instructor.

Quizzes:  Quizzes and the final were given in iLearn focusing on the course textbook.

iLearn the homegrown version of Moodle was the only component of the system that operated as expected.

We had originally planned on conducting surveys and creating videos of presentations for students. These plans were put on hold because of all the problems with the Aplia and SAM 2010 components.

The good news is that by week 13, we (the students and the instructor) had worked through all the problems and students were doing well in all their assignments and had learned to stay on top of their weekly assignments and submit them as early as possible in order to avoid last minute failures.

In future posts, I will discuss what I have learnt from my online experience and what suggestions I have for the future.