[kscarrol]

We used blackboard but switched to canvas several years ago. Found it useful but never used it’s full capabilities.

Edit: canvas has very good zoom capabilities built in so pretty seamless. Had no need for zoom back when we had blackboard so can’t help there...

[Mosaud1998]

Originally Posted by M_Six

I haven't used it, but we use a part of it called Collaborate Ultra (formerly Blackboard Collaborate). It's their version of Zoom, more or less. That alone is clunky enough to make me think Blackboard itself might be a pain. But I don't know enough about it to say it sucks or doesn't.

I’m used to D2L.

Super easy to use and navigate

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by kscarrol

I teach at Tulane and with COVID have taught in person and online since last March. In person is easily better for students and faculty, no question. We did online like most because we had to and it got us through but it is far from ideal. Faculty are challenged to keep students engaged while they lay in bed or on a sofa listening to a disembodied voice on a computer.

As for lock down browsers, they are Orwellian and I don’t use them. Students are bothered by them and it does not stop cheating, which is rampant in online courses. I deal with it by making tests very hard and too long for the allotted time. The good students struggle but the cream rises to the top. Students who are not prepared or try to cheat spend too much time texting friends, looking up answers on a tablet etc and finish even less of the test so scoring lower than the honest/prepared students.

Do employers care about online versus in person classes, not from what I can tell. If we are talking about a school with a good reputation, not an issue for now as employers recognize the challenges everyone, ibluding themselves, have faced.

Tulane has a very active testing program with students being tested twice a week and faculty tested every two weeks... cases are very low and have been for some time.

My $0.02

Many of our business profs do likewise. You get 1.5-2 minutes at most to answer a question. There is no time to look stuff up. You either know the answer because you studied or you don't know the answer because you didn't study.

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by Mosaud1998

I’m used to D2L.

Super easy to use and navigate

Agreed. D2L isn't tough. There are some quirks here and there, but for the most part, it's very easy to use.

[kscarrol]

Lockdown browsers might be useful tests that multiple choice or essay type questions but I teach finance and the students must work the problems on paper which requires looking away from the computer screen which sets off alerts in the lockdown browser. A real pain and students are creative enough to find ways to cheat...

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by kscarrol

We used blackboard but switched to canvas several years ago. Found it useful but never used it’s full capabilities.

Edit: canvas has very good zoom capabilities built in so pretty seamless. Had no need for zoom back when we had blackboard so can’t help there...

D2L has Zoom capabilities now. It has Teams integration as well, but that costs a pretty penny (from D2L), so our university doesn't have it. We just have profs who want to use Teams link out to Teams meetings, which I think works better anyway.

[Mosaud1998]

Originally Posted by kscarrol

Lockdown browsers might be useful tests that multiple choice or essay type questions but I teach finance and the students must work the problems on paper which requires looking away from the computer screen which sets off alerts in the lockdown browser. A real pain and students are creative enough to find ways to cheat...

A student that wants to cheat will find out millions of ways to cheat regardless.

At the end of the day, it affects the student because he/she didn’t learn anything.

Idk, that’s how I think of it.

I just don’t like lockdown browser and such because while I’ll be taking the test, all I’ll be focused on is the stupid lockdown browser instead of the test.

I’m not a good at test-taking, to begin with.

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by kscarrol

Lockdown browsers might be useful tests that multiple choice or essay type questions but I teach finance and the students must work the problems on paper which requires looking away from the computer screen which sets off alerts in the lockdown browser. A real pain and students are creative enough to find ways to cheat...

Yep. I deal with that a lot. You can set Respondus Monitor to just check for student ID and initial facial image. That doesn't guarantee that the person answering your questions is really the student, but it's as close as you can get. We try to advocate for formative assessments where you know if your students are learning as they progress through your course without having to rely on a couple of exams.

I find that upper level course professors have it easier than the profs who are saddled with multiple sections of Gen Ed courses filled with freshmen. The upper level students are more likely to be a known entity, so the profs already know their skill level and know if they're punching above their weight. The (mostly adjunct) profs who have 35-40 freshmen in a section or two don't know their students as well and have a harder time weeding out the cheaters.

[M_Six]

I saw one example of cheating with a LockDown Browser (LDB) where the student wrote notes on a clear sheet of plastic and then taped it to a large monitor, like a 27" iMac. Even with LDB, the student had all his notes right there and never had to look away from the monitor.

[Mosaud1998]

Originally Posted by M_Six

I saw one example of cheating with a LockDown Browser (LDB) where the student wrote notes on a clear sheet of plastic and then taped it to a large monitor, like a 27" iMac. Even with LDB, the student had all his notes right there and never had to look away from the monitor.

wild

I just hope I can get this degree and start my OWN life.

Basically, without this degree I can’t start shit.

Can’t do much without a degree now a days.

[Mosaud1998]

I emailed my Managerial Accounting teacher and this was his response.

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by Mosaud1998

wild

I just hope I can get this degree and start my OWN life.

Basically, without this degree I can’t start shit.

Can’t do much without a degree now a days.

I know that feeling. I learned *Jack Shit* from my Masters degree program. But the paper got me my current job, which oddly enough, has nothing to do with what my Masters degree program covered. When a job requirement is a Masters degree in some discipline or "equivalent," the degree is all that matters. This, of course, doesn't apply to specialized fields like engineering or accounting or medicine. In those fields, you either know your shit or you're exposed as a fraud in short order. But in fields like technology management, you might have more than enough knowledge without the Masters degree to do the job, but without the paper, you're not going to get it.

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by Mosaud1998

I emailed my Managerial Accounting teacher and this was his response.

This teacher obviously can't put together a decent online course, so he trashes all of them. Take his advice with a big grain of salt. I work with several accounting profs who have excellent online courses.

[Mosaud1998]

Originally Posted by M_Six

I know that feeling. I learned *Jack Shit* from my Masters degree program. But the paper got me my current job, which oddly enough, has nothing to do with what my Masters degree program covered. When a job requirement is a Masters degree in some discipline or "equivalent," the degree is all that matters. This, of course, doesn't apply to specialized fields like engineering or accounting, or medicine. In those fields, you either know your shit or you're exposed as a fraud in short order. But in fields like technology management, you might have more than enough knowledge without the Masters degree to do the job, but without the paper, you're not going to get it.

I hope I don’t have to get a master's.

I’m already tired of school. Seems like half your life you spend in school then the other have paying bills

[Mosaud1998]

Originally Posted by M_Six

This teacher obviously can't put together a decent online course, so he trashes all of them. Take his advice with a big grain of salt.

His online classes did suck.

He used a proctoring add-on that would “record” your computer's screen.

I was in a group chat with a bunch of students from his class and a lot of them said the proctoring add-on was a fraud. It was basically created to scare the students into thinking the professor can catch you cheating.

I still wouldn’t risk it

[vreihen16]

Originally Posted by Mosaud1998

I doubt everyone will be vaccinated by Aug-Sept.

FWIW, Rutgers announced yesterday that they are requiring *all* students to be vaccinated for the fall 2021 semester.....

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

FWIW, Rutgers announced yesterday that they are requiring *all* students to be vaccinated for the fall 2021 semester.....

When I took my first online course for my Masters, I had to supply a copy of my vaccination record even though I wouldn't be setting a foot on campus at that point. So if they can require that you have been vaccinated for xyz disease, they should be able to require vaccination for COVID.

[e90335e36m3]

Come to think of it while I did go to grad school in person and definitely believe that it is way more than beneficial in person for the reasons stated by me and others, I did get a certificate in government contracts management from UCLA's extension program. It was a joke, not saying it's like a masters program, but I got no value from it. Could've read the FAR/DFARS online myself.
Their idea of collaboration was trying to force you to post at least one original post and respond to someone else on a message board.
On the other hand during intro week at the Executive MBA program at UNC, they randomly selected me to stand up in front of the class with another student and sell flying Ryanair, while the other guy had to sell British Airways. Now that was fun, exciting, scary all at the same time. Fast forward 10 years, if you have to present to an executive, they will ask all sorts of tough questions because they don't want to allocate funds to a nonsensical project. An online message board won't help prepare you for that kind of pressure.

[Mosaud1998]

Originally Posted by e90335e36m3

Come to think of it while I did go to grad school in person and definitely believe that it is way more than beneficial in person for the reasons stated by me and others, I did get a certificate in government contracts management from UCLA's extension program. It was a joke, not saying it's like a masters program, but I got no value from it. Could've read the FAR/DFARS online myself.
Their idea of collaboration was trying to force you to post at least one original post and respond to someone else on a message board.
On the other hand during intro week at the Executive MBA program at UNC, they randomly selected me to stand up in front of the class with another student and sell flying Ryanair, while the other guy had to sell British Airways. Now that was fun, exciting, scary all at the same time. Fast forward 10 years, if you have to present to an executive, they will ask all sorts of tough questions because they don't want to allocate funds to a nonsensical project. An online message board won't help prepare you for that kind of pressure.

Grad school would be different than getting a bachelor's imo.

[vreihen16]

Originally Posted by M_Six

So if they can require that you have been vaccinated for xyz disease, they should be able to require vaccination for COVID.

I'm just pointing it out for their timeline, because I believe they are the first larger school to require mandatory COVID vaccinations by fall for everyone.....

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

I'm just pointing it out for their timeline, because I believe they are the first larger school to require mandatory COVID vaccinations by fall for everyone.....

I just hope all schools jump on board with this.

[Nickco43]

This is my final semester at PSU and I have learned jack shit from my online classes. None of my classes require a lockdown browser and I feel like the online cheating is devaluing my degree.

I would take the in person classes.