UM online courses booming

Birna Maria Bjornsdottir
DM Staff writer

Most of us have at one point or another in our college career had the urge to call up our professors in the middle of the night, or during the weekend, and ask them about the results from the test that is going to make or break the final grade.

Until now, those of us who did not have the guts to actually do so have had to wait patiently until the next class period to find out our grades. For us, the gutless, as well as other students on this campus, better times are ahead.

The newly updated Course Infornation, offered by the Office of Information Technology (lT), enables students to check their grades online as soon as the teacher has graded the exams, no matter the day or the hour. CourseInfo is a system that provides a powerful and easy-to-use tools for instructors to build and manage virtual classrooms- without using HTML programming.

A microcomputer consultant at IT, Tracy Wascom, said that the system, which was first installed in November of 1998, had received phenomenonal acceptance among faculty and students. "It is a great tool to help student with classes, and for instructors to get across necessary information to their students," she said. "We started with only few courses last November, and now we have 197 courses online, and more are constantly being added."

Each instructor can customize his CourseInfo web page for each of his classes. Only students in that specific class can gain access to the page where they can check their grades, drop off files, take online quizzes, chat with others in the same class, and get updates on homework and assignments due. The system also allows faculty to track what their students are logging onto within that specific course page, so they can make sure everyone is keeping up with assignments.

Rich Carter, a professor of elementary organic chemistry, said that the system was very easy to use both for him and his students. "I was attracted to the system because the students can take exams online and I do not have to waist a class period to give an exam," he said. Carter has been working closely with the staff of IT to overcome minor problems the system has given him when giving quizzes online. "All new systems are bound to have some sort of problems with new upgrades, but Tracy (Wascom) has been really helpful, and we are close to fixing the problem."

Wascom said that the system is under close supervisi,on and constantly being improved by its makers, Blackboard Inc. "As faculty uses it more, they expect more from it, and ask for features to be added," she said. "We pass that on to Blackboard Inc. and they quickly make adjustments. The system might not yet be problem free, but usually the problems are small and can be fixed easily."

Bill Fitts, the network administrator for the Institute for Continuing Studies, spoke highly of the system, "We use the system to convert regular courses into online courses so they can be available to students wherever they are in the world," he said. "From a management point of view, the system is very easy to handle and we have had relatively few problems."

CourseInfo can be found on the Ole Miss server at www.olemiss.edu/courses.