regentrude Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 If you are a college instructor teaching online or have a kid who takes online college classes: how are colleges handling online exams? I know a common way is having students take proctored exams at some testing center, but if everything is closed because of the virus, that won't work. I am talking about large enrollment classes (500 students) in technical subjects (physics, math), which students would normally take simultaneously. Students know each other and are on a groupme, so staggering exam times would mean the first will disseminate to the rest of the class with a single text.. How are your/your kids' colleges handling that? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 I did an online degree, the university used a proctoring service. Students were issued wide angle webcams so the proctor could see the entire area around the computer. I believe exam questions were randomly selected from a test bank for each individual test. I don't know what the best way of working things would be in a situation where the class is not normally set up to be online. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted March 11, 2020 Author Share Posted March 11, 2020 1 minute ago, HeighHo said: Had to log in online during a certain time frame; questions were random from a test bank. stats for nonmajors was completely online and calc 1 was just the tests online with a multiple choice format similar to regent's exam . Calc sections were not large enrollment, but exams were common. How was that proctored? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted March 11, 2020 Author Share Posted March 11, 2020 12 minutes ago, maize said: I did an online degree, the university used a proctoring service. Students were issued wide angle webcams so the proctor could see the entire area around the computer. I believe exam questions were randomly selected from a test bank for each individual test. Multiple choice exam questions? How did proctor verify identity? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 DS15’s programming course exam at community college is online. He just need to do the exam at a certain time window. He does need to write codes during the exam. However identity is not verified. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 Online courses at our cc have testing within a specific time frame, but identity is not verified other than by entering a student ID and password. Hybrid courses have testing at the testing center, but that isn’t large numbers (10-50, not 500). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmrich Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 DD had one class where the professor realized that online classes had a lot of cheating so she made her online tests online open everything. The tests were hard; they were timed so the students really had to know the material as there was no way to look up that much material that quickly. My dd had her notes on her computer so she could use key words to search those quickly; she also made several quizlets. Only a few times did she have to go online to verify an answer. The class had other grades including essays, class discussion posts, etc... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaSprout Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 Like Imrich says, my kids that had online math and science classes had really difficult, timed, open book exams, to the extent that they avoided online classes when possible. Exams had to be taken in a narrow enough window that a single student only had time to do the exam once. Since you are likely looking at this as a temporary arrangement, could you weight these less and increase the weight of the final exam, which hopefully you will be able administer in the regular classroom? I know for some online programs, students have to show their ID to the webcam before they begin testing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bootsie Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 Some course management systems have the ability to tape the student taking the exam via webcam; I have never used one of those systems and I don't know if they really have the capacity to do that for millions of exams. And then I guess you would need to spot check and students you were concerned about. You can also record the IP address, but I do not know how you tell who is really at that IP address. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted March 11, 2020 Author Share Posted March 11, 2020 8 hours ago, Arcadia said: DS15’s programming course exam at community college is online. He just need to do the exam at a certain time window. He does need to write codes during the exam. However identity is not verified. Is he proctored by webcam? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted March 11, 2020 Author Share Posted March 11, 2020 1 hour ago, MamaSprout said: Since you are likely looking at this as a temporary arrangement, could you weight these less and increase the weight of the final exam, which hopefully you will be able administer in the regular classroom? If I could be certain that any closure would be only for two weeks or so, I could easily do that and simply drop one exam. But I want to be prepared for school closing for the rest of the term. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 @regentrudeDs is head GSI for intro physics. Everything is going online and he is assisting in the depts implementation. I will ask him how they are handling it next time he calls. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kassia Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 I would not want the final exam weighted heavier. As it is, I feel like they are already weighted too heavily in many courses. It's not uncommon for students to have 2-3 finals in one day or within 24 hours. There is no way to prepare and test well for so many exams worth so much of the final grade in the course. I think it's unfair to students to do that. My dd has taken many online courses and most exams have not been proctored (surprisingly). Some classes would require her to go to the school's testing center. The others were just timed - I don't know how they prevent cheating. I'm wondering what will happen with her physics class - exams and labs. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 9 hours ago, regentrude said: Multiple choice exam questions? How did proctor verify identity? Yes, the questions were mostly multiple choice. Identity was verified by holding a picture id in front of the webcam so a photo could be taken. There were other procedures as well--students had pick up the webcam and turn it in all directions so the proctor could see the entire room, including under the work surface; we had to authorize remote access to the computer and they initiated a program that locked down all non-authorized programs; any scrap paper had to be shown beforehand--actuallt, they required a small white board be used for scrap paper. And the student had to type out a sentence agreeing not to cheat before every exam. Phones had to be shown to the proctor and put in a place out of arm's reach. I think this was the service they used: https://www.proctoru.com/ 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 I'd almost be inclined to make the exam open book, but more challenging and with more writing than usual. And have at least a handful of different exam forms. Sort of--if you can't guarantee that students won't try to use external resources, make it so they at least have to work hard and maybe learn something through taking the exam. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 2 hours ago, regentrude said: Is he proctored by webcam? Nope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 My kids have taken several finals using Proctor U https://www.proctoru.com/. Webcams, showing ID, etc They have also had open book finals online where it is possible to do a search for part of the answer but they still have to be able to use that knowledge to answer the question. The way the question is written is what tests them. Papers are frequently the final........ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 I have two master's degrees that I got online. Neither are in technical subjects, but we did have quizzes and one big comprehensive exam. One thing they did was make all quizzes/exams open book/open note. The quizzes were tightly timed so that you had to know the material to do well. In other words, you couldn't be flipping through books or asking people the answers. But you could do the quizzes whenever you wanted. The exam was a hard core essay exam. It was also, IMO, tightly timed, given the scope, so again, you had to know your stuff. For that one, everyone had to log in at the same time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 I'm an online-only professor, and my classes take their exams at college testing centers or with ProctorU, which costs them $8/exam and requires a high-speed, always on connection and webcam and online monitoring. My college's president just emailed the faculty and staff that all face-to-face classes are cancelled after spring break (this week). All faculty and staff are expected to come to work until further notice as they work out the details. She said that they are evaluating how online exams will be given and may keep certain college functions open including the testing centers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted March 11, 2020 Author Share Posted March 11, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, G5052 said: I'm an online-only professor, and my classes take their exams at college testing centers or with ProctorU, which costs them $8/exam and requires a high-speed, always on connection and webcam and online monitoring. ...She said that they are evaluating how online exams will be given and may keep certain college functions open including the testing centers. How does keeping testing centers open make sense for colleges that send the students home? We are anticipating that there will be no way that ProctorU can satisfy the demand for proctored exams when all US colleges switch to online exams. I am also concerned about our students' internet access while at home. Edited March 11, 2020 by regentrude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daijobu Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 For the final two weeks of the winter quarter, beginning Monday, March 9, classes at Stanford will not meet in person. To the extent feasible, we will be moving classes to online formats in place of in-person instruction. Any winter quarter final exams that were scheduled to be administered in person will need to be administered in take-home format, complying with university rules for such exams. We recognize that this is a significant adjustment for many instructors. We are taking this step after thoughtful consideration, and I have been in touch today with the chair of the Faculty Senate, who concurs. We are committed to providing the support to help instructors in this effort. The teachanywhere.stanford.edu website has many resources to assist, and further guidance and tools will be provided shortly through the Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Development, Teaching and Learning. (Additional information also will be coming soon to principal investigators regarding steps they should take with regard to ensuring research continuity.) Given the timing of this announcement, we are encouraging instructors with a scheduled class on Monday, March 9, to cancel that session if needed in order to have the time to make the necessary course changes. In addition, we encourage all instructors to email students in their courses this weekend to let them know their course plans. For the balance of the quarter. To the extent feasible, instructors will be expected to make their course content, including materials used in class, available via Canvas or other online options. In some cases, when the nature of a class or exam is not suited to remote delivery, other options, including submitting grades based on work conducted to this point, may be used. However, instructors are encouraged to provide students the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge at the end of the quarter, and CTL staff are available to help instructors develop these opportunities. Faculty should consult with their department chairs in determining the most appropriate actions to take, placing student health and success first in all decision making. Where online instruction takes place, students will be expected to attend classes online at their regularly scheduled time, though we will continue to encourage instructors to be flexible with attendance and exam policies for any students who are ill. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaSprout Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 7 hours ago, maize said: I'd almost be inclined to make the exam open book, but more challenging and with more writing than usual. And have at least a handful of different exam forms. Sort of--if you can't guarantee that students won't try to use external resources, make it so they at least have to work hard and maybe learn something through taking the exam. I've done this- but I don't teach physics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom22ns Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 This thread is making me glad I teach writing, not Physics. My dd has had proctored exams using ProctorU (or something similar). I teach one online section and one seated section of the same class, so taking both online would be easy for me, but I don't give exams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 1 hour ago, regentrude said: How does keeping testing centers open make sense for colleges that send the students home? We are anticipating that there will be no way that ProctorU can satisfy the demand for proctored exams when all US colleges switch to online exams. I am also concerned about our students' internet access while at home. I don't know. There's been a flurry of emails from various administrators saying to be calm and encouraging, but that the details are still being worked out. There are campus meetings and training sessions all day Monday and Tuesday, and the V.P. of Online Learning is working on what we are going to do about testing. I have a section that ends in 2 1/2 weeks, so they will be affected. Being a community college, it's a little easier to handle than some. But of course ProctorU won't be to keep up. There's widespread internet in the metropolitan area, but of course that's not a guarantee for some students. Thankfully many of us just gave our midterms. I have been taking an online Shakespeare class from them for fun and went to the Testing Center on Saturday. They were having each student get a Clorox wipe to clean the sign-in keyboard and their area before taking an exam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 DS has been told self-timed, self-proctored exams. Given out at 9am and due by 5pm for a 1.5 hour exam. However, it looks like the entire semester for the entire university will be PNR (Pass or No Record), so no grades and no record if you fail. So I suppose this means either the kids want to learn or they don't. 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbollin Posted March 12, 2020 Share Posted March 12, 2020 Middle gal is taking online sections of community college courses using brightspace/d2l. Exams are available for certain day and amount of time, the test is timed, not proctored, open book/notes, most have been multiple choice, some have had "short answer". English Comp I "final" was a timed essay on short poem. Comp II was papers and open book quizzes. other grades came from other assignments and discussion board. not sure that helps original poster as the course sections had fewer than 30 students and weren't physics/math. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted March 12, 2020 Author Share Posted March 12, 2020 2 hours ago, lewelma said: DS has been told self-timed, self-proctored exams. Given out at 9am and due by 5pm for a 1.5 hour exam. yeah, I can see that working at MIT... not at a state school 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted March 12, 2020 Share Posted March 12, 2020 All I know is that there has to be a better system than what ds experienced in his community college class on government. Prof canceled the class half an hour before the exam. He also had never posted the promised study guide or given much guidance to the actual test format. Told the students it was online and to turn it in that evening and then posted it. Nothing about guidelines for taking it. Nada. He had previously given an open book test in class... but ds had asked him if this one would be and there was no answer. Dh and I looked at it and decided he probably didn't intend it to be open book, but we weren't sure. Ds's classmates openly told him they used the textbook. It was so frustrating. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted March 12, 2020 Share Posted March 12, 2020 The UCs (California, public) are switching to online exams or alternative assessments e.g, https://coronavirus.ucsd.edu “Effective immediately for Winter Quarter: Week 10 classes are continuing as scheduled. Awarding points for student attendance in class, whether for regular or extra credit, must cease as of week 10. There will be NO in-person, on-campus, final exams during the Winter Quarter 2020 finals week. Each instructor of record must use either an online final exam, a take-home final exam or an exam-equivalent alternative assessment. The instructor will determine the mode for their final exam that best serves the academic needs of their class. Instructors should maintain compatibility with accommodations previously approved by the Office for Students with Disabilities. Classrooms and libraries will remain open during finals week, for use in studying or working on exams.” https://www.ucdavis.edu/news/coronavirus-new-campus-directives “Instruction and final exams — Expanding on our message of March 7 to include a directive on canceling in-person final exams next week and choosing an alternative option.” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted March 12, 2020 Author Share Posted March 12, 2020 3 hours ago, Arcadia said: The UCs (California, public) are switching to online exams or alternative assessments ... There will be NO in-person, on-campus, final exams during the Winter Quarter 2020 finals week. Each instructor of record must use either an online final exam, a take-home final exam or an exam-equivalent alternative assessment. The instructor will determine the mode for their final exam that best serves the academic needs of their class. sure, everybody does - but none of that answers my question HOW they construct and administer the exams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bootsie Posted March 12, 2020 Share Posted March 12, 2020 3 hours ago, regentrude said: sure, everybody does - but none of that answers my question HOW they construct and administer the exams. My university announced yesterday that it will be moving online after an extended spring break. This announcement was made university-wide with a note that faculty should watch their email for more info. Hours later (about 10:00pm) faculty received a notice that Instructional Continuity Facilitators (ICF) were being identified by the deans and we would be assigned one. These individuals have experience with online usage, we will be put into small groups, for the ICFs to help us determine how to do all of this. There was a lot of talking around the issues and not addressing anything where the rubber meets the road. I think there is just a lot of "trust that the students won't cheat" mentality (or pretend it doesn't happen). There is some question regarding whether going "online" means that each student must be available online during the regular scheduled class time. So, exams must be taken within that timeframe. While that might alleviate some of the cheating, I do not see how it is practical. Lives will be so disrupted with students spread across time zones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted March 12, 2020 Share Posted March 12, 2020 13 hours ago, regentrude said: sure, everybody does - but none of that answers my question HOW they construct and administer the exams. My kid and my friends’ kid would know by Monday through college emails. Their finals are coming soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaSprout Posted March 12, 2020 Share Posted March 12, 2020 My school has stated they won't close unless there is a confirmed case on campus. Does your textbook have any resources? Sometimes there are pre-made modules that can be uploaded to an existing digital platform for exams and such. There might even be some that are OER? With 500 students in a course, it seems like you might need to require students to find a local proctor if they vacate campus- libraries do this all the time. It wouldn't work for student in "hot zones", but for the majority of students they could be monitored in real life and you could deal with exceptions on a case by case basis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted March 12, 2020 Share Posted March 12, 2020 On 3/12/2020 at 1:41 AM, maize said: I'd almost be inclined to make the exam open book, but more challenging and with more writing than usual. And have at least a handful of different exam forms. Sort of--if you can't guarantee that students won't try to use external resources, make it so they at least have to work hard and maybe learn something through taking the exam. One of ds's courses last year had a course with 5 take home exams. They were very very hard, took about 10 hours, and were open book. You were allowed to work with anyone you wanted, but you had to write your answers on your own. You had to name who you worked with at the top of each question's answer. The answers included both calculations and essay type explanations. So the prof could see if you were copying someone else's answers. The idea was that they would learn together, but then each student had to understand the content well enough to write the answers individually. With the requirement of the answer being *explained* not just calculated, it required more nuanced understanding. This was actually not a physics class, but a math class with page-long proofs, but I think the concept could be transferable. The main problem would be the time it takes to mark all the papers. You could perhaps select one random question from each student exam to mark the essay carefully, and then for the other 5 to 10 questions, just give credit for the correct answer. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daijobu Posted March 13, 2020 Share Posted March 13, 2020 In 2 of my dd's CS classes, she was offered the opportunity to take as her final grade, her current grade to date, and can skip the final. So the final is optional and you can take it if you want to raise your grade. That way the TAs get a break. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bootsie Posted March 13, 2020 Share Posted March 13, 2020 On 3/12/2020 at 5:31 AM, Bootsie said: My university announced yesterday that it will be moving online after an extended spring break. This announcement was made university-wide with a note that faculty should watch their email for more info. Hours later (about 10:00pm) faculty received a notice that Instructional Continuity Facilitators (ICF) were being identified by the deans and we would be assigned one. These individuals have experience with online usage, we will be put into small groups, for the ICFs to help us determine how to do all of this. There was a lot of talking around the issues and not addressing anything where the rubber meets the road. I think there is just a lot of "trust that the students won't cheat" mentality (or pretend it doesn't happen). I finally got information from my ICF. All of the undergraduates within my school are under one ICF (we have about 3000 majors--so a large number of faculty and classes in a wide range of disciplines within business). Our instructions were (1) communicate, communicate, communicate with students (the goal is to overcommunicate). (2) Be very clear of your expectations up front and what will be required of students; be specific (3) be flexible, you may have to change as this develops (4) do not expect students to have books, calculators, computers, high speed internet access, or access to libraries--only expect phones with limited data plans Not very helpful... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted March 14, 2020 Author Share Posted March 14, 2020 22 hours ago, daijobu said: In 2 of my dd's CS classes, she was offered the opportunity to take as her final grade, her current grade to date, and can skip the final. So the final is optional and you can take it if you want to raise your grade. That way the TAs get a break. I assume they are on the quarter system and almost done? We are on semesters and haven't even given the 2nd out of 4 exams 😞 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted March 14, 2020 Author Share Posted March 14, 2020 (edited) 13 hours ago, Bootsie said: do not expect students to have books, calculators, computers, high speed internet access, or access to libraries--only expect phones with limited data plans so how the heck are you supposed to teach them ??? Edited March 14, 2020 by regentrude 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daijobu Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 2 hours ago, regentrude said: I assume they are on the quarter system and almost done? We are on semesters and haven't even given the 2nd out of 4 exams 😞 Yes, that's correct. Her chemistry final is take home and open book, open internet, but it's still timed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bootsie Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 8 hours ago, regentrude said: so how the heck are you supposed to teach them ??? I did a quick survey of my students. Of those who responded only about 20% have their textbooks with them and most do not have their course notes, study materials, and calculators with them. In addition 20% responded that they do not have a computer with them. Some will be in a home where mom and dad are telecommuting and sharing a home computer with several children who are now learning remotely; these students will be doing much of their online work from a phone screen! The teaching center is doing a series of crash tutorials this coming week regarding using technologies to record and post lectures, do online discussions, etc. They sent an email to faculty with the link to sign up for these tutorials. As soon as faculty started trying to sign up the link crashed and it took about an hour for them to get everything working properly. If this is the problem that the technology people are having, as they highlight how simple all of this is, what is it going to be like the following week when we have thousands of students trying to do this? As far as your original questions, this was in the list of "Tips for Remote Teaching" my ICF sent out: 1) 1) You might not be able to assess things in the same way, so think about some possible substitutions. For example, if you have regular quizzes, it is harder to control these online (even with the respondus lockdown screen) so you might consider adjusting to something that makes it harder for students to ‘game’. f I did not find that tip very helpful No suggestions for the "something" were provided. I I T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 Yeah, I have some algebra classes where what we're teaching is "can you factor" "can you solve equations" things like that. There just isn't a lot of room for creative assessments that can't be gamed there. I have no real idea for you. What I can say is that I've added enough problems in the online homework system where you have to work in showing your steps and used them as prerequisites for other assignments that someone who isn't actually doing a fair amount of the work themselves can't get a decent homework score. In the first two exams, they were MUCH more highly correlated to homework (correlation coefficient around .6, and if I delete a couple of outliers who have great test scores but don't do homework because they already knew the material, it's more like .75) than they had been before. I might just put the exam through the homework system and require the homework assignments as prerequisites. Is it fair? Hell naw. But I don't think anyone will be able to earn a "C" who wouldn't have hit at least a 55% or so otherwise, and under the circumstances that's the best I can do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted March 14, 2020 Author Share Posted March 14, 2020 (edited) 3 hours ago, kiana said: What I can say is that I've added enough problems in the online homework system where you have to work in showing your steps and used them as prerequisites for other assignments that someone who isn't actually doing a fair amount of the work themselves can't get a decent homework score. @kianaMy problem is that we have not been using an online homework system because we want to keep things inexpensive for students (and because we have better ways of handling the homework). I am also not requiring students to purchase an expensive current edition of a textbook, so don't have any publisher created resources. Gotta get busy writing a test bank.... Edited March 14, 2020 by regentrude 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 We're in the process of working through a lot of issues. My students have an exam next week (officially moving to online for the rest of the semester). The professor of record is using Lockdown browser (our university has licensing rights, yours might)which forces students to only have that window open while testing. She is setting up the exam so that they can only see one question at a time and it will be timed. These are essay exams which would typically be written in bluebooks. Assuming students can generally type faster than hand write, she is giving them 50 minutes (generally try to get 55-60 in the classroom). Those exams typically have 1 long essay, 2 short essays, and 20 multiple choice. She's using the same format online. I have no idea if there are ways to let students do anything but type text in this format. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted March 14, 2020 Author Share Posted March 14, 2020 16 minutes ago, elegantlion said: The professor of record is using Lockdown browser (our university has licensing rights, yours might)which forces students to only have that window open while testing. Lockdown browser, LOL. That ship has sailed since most students have multiple devices. Unless the test is proctored, there is nothing to prevent them from using the browser on their phone. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 1 minute ago, regentrude said: Lockdown browser, LOL. That ship has sailed since most students have multiple devices. Unless the test is proctored, there is nothing to prevent them from using the browser on their phone. Yes, that's the big issue. It's a less than perfect solution, which sounds like what the rest of the semester is going to be, much less than perfect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted March 14, 2020 Author Share Posted March 14, 2020 1 minute ago, elegantlion said: Yes, that's the big issue. It's a less than perfect solution, which sounds like what the rest of the semester is going to be, much less than perfect. yes, absolutely less than perfect. I am trying to triage how much effort is worth to make a less than perfect solution into a slightly less less than perfect one. Point of diminishing return and all. At some point, we have to call it good enough or drive ourselves crazy. We were told Thursday night that online instruction would begin Wednesday, but Friday evening (as in, yesterday) were ordered to have classes online by Monday. The perfect is the enemy of the good enough. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bootsie Posted March 15, 2020 Share Posted March 15, 2020 11 hours ago, regentrude said: yes, absolutely less than perfect. I am trying to triage how much effort is worth to make a less than perfect solution into a slightly less less than perfect one. Point of diminishing return and all. At some point, we have to call it good enough or drive ourselves crazy. We were told Thursday night that online instruction would begin Wednesday, but Friday evening (as in, yesterday) were ordered to have classes online by Monday. The perfect is the enemy of the good enough. Uggh. How much do you have to have by Monday? Just a starting point for students to access? Or material for the rest of the semester? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted March 15, 2020 Author Share Posted March 15, 2020 2 hours ago, Bootsie said: Uggh. How much do you have to have by Monday? Just a starting point for students to access? Or material for the rest of the semester? Not the entire semester - we can create material as we go. But we need a structure and a plan for teaching and assessments. The more you think about stuff, the more things you recognize are impossible to replicate electronically - like turning in homework. Sure, 20 students can email scans, but not 400, just too much data. So, coming up with a plan how to change all assessments into a computerized format. I coordinate a team of 5 who will each need to have a plan for their recitations that, so far, are chalk on blackboard and oral discussions. Exam in my small class of 60 is scheduled for Friday; I will use that as a trial run for my big (450) class. We will get it done. There was a fantastic article that you may find helpful. It talks about the differences between designing a class intended to be taken online and the emergency online move of an in-seat class during a crisis: https://anygoodthing.com/2020/03/12/please-do-a-bad-job-of-putting-your-courses-online/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted March 15, 2020 Share Posted March 15, 2020 At this moment, a lot of publishers are offering free access until the end of the semester. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted March 15, 2020 Share Posted March 15, 2020 At this moment, a lot of publishers are offering free access until the end of the semester. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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