I know that the undergrad UoPx classes are 5 weeks and I understand the pay structure. However, how many students are in each class? Is it the same or different for other Apollo Group schools (Axia, WIU)?
I teach for Axia, however their classes are 9 weeks in length. I am currently teaching two sections of a course. One section has 18 students, the other has 15.
I've never had more than 20 students, but the average has been 14-16 or so. I've had some classes with a LOT less, but it depends on the time of year, popularity of the course, etc. You get paid the same regardless, but I actually prefer the larger classes. Grading obviously takes longer, but more students provide a much more dynamic and interesting experience, IMO.
When I first taught for UOP, the range (OTG) was 12-16. There were some larger and more thana few were smaller. Now it is at least 26 before they break the class into sections. I taught a couple of online classes WAY back, but they were relatively small, but required about 3X the work as an on-ground class. BTW, does UOP still use that archaic, threaded text messages as the total online class experience? j.
Yes and no; mandatory use of Outlook Express is gone (although you can still use it as a backup), but UoP has their own online classroom platform. It took some getting used to, but it's about 1000X better than what was used before. The new online gradebook tracks participation for you, which was the biggest pain in the ass about teaching for UoP, IMO.
I knew Outlook was gone, but understand, erroneously or not, that the system in place is STILL threaded text messages and not one of the higher tech platforms such as D2L, Blackboard, WebCT or Angel. If my understanding is correct, the technology is still at a grade-school level and what can be done with it is at that level. Having an online grading system is great, but that is not something that the student gets to utilize in their coursework except for receiving feedback. I believe that the only viable advantage that UOP offers Online is asynchronicity (others offer that) AND they offer more technologically - consequently UOP is well behind other players in the market from a technology viewpoint. Sorta like holding class in a playground sandbox versus a multimedia classroom. j.
That's true, although I used to teach for a school that used Blackboard, and I have to say I prefer the current UoP system. Maybe it's just what I'm used to. They (UoP) are actually in the process of designing a new online class platform; I believe the current OLS was just a bookmark until the new system is ready for launch. I think the problem is that UoP is a victim of its own success as well as being one of the DL pioneers; a new classroom platform is going to require training for something like 8,000 faculty members, which obviously is not an overnight thing.
I went through a portion of the teacher training and I hated the discussion application they used. That was part of why I did not do well. I hated the fact that the discussion threads moved from top to bottom. By the time I figued out what the heck was going on it was too late.
Hmmm.....I don't know what to make of that? In threaded discussions, up means old, and down means new.
If this is your at stab at comedy, don't give up your day job! In a school I teach for, the discussions are as follows: Week 1 - Assignment 1 Week 1 - Assignment 2 Week 1 - Assignment 3 They do not move as they are in date order of when they are due (1 before 2 and so on). That was in my mind so when they moved, my mind freaked out and shut down .
You missed the point. In a threaded discussion, the oprigin message is at the top. Each reply to it comes below with the first reply being immediately below and a reply to the reply is below that. Q A1 A1a A2 A2a A2b A2b1 And so on. Consequently those closest to the top are oldest and those below (at the same hierarchy) are newer. NOTE: all my formatting disappeared!!! j.
