Distance Learning at Hopkins

Despite the snow that graced Baltimore on Monday, summer is most definitely on its way. Hopkins has already sent our brochures advertising its plethora of Summer 2013 term courses, broken down into intense sessions either on campus or online.

Online? How can I take a Hopkins math course online? How does my homework get graded? What's going on?

All of these are good questions. Yes, it's really online. Yes, it is really a Hopkins math class, and you will get credit for it. If you are a Hopkins student, you have a Blackboard account that you can log into with your JHED. The course is structured through that interface, but also through a distance learning software that allows your instructor to write on a screen and have that information display on yours. Your homework is uploaded through Blackboard, just like lab reports and other homework assignments. In fact, it is very clean and very reliable (especially when you can go back and re-watch entire lectures before a test!).

http://www.elluminate.com/Services/Training/Elluminate_Live!/?id=418

The Elluminate Live icon. Cute, right?

The software used for distance learning courses is Elluminate Live, a service that "rents out" conference rooms and classrooms in virtual space (vSpace). It started out independent, but soon was acquired by Blackboard, Inc., which Hopkins uses. This is a very clean, easy system that allows for collaboration between large groups of people at the same time. To use Elluminate, you must be able to access the room, which is why the Blackboard site comes in handy. The instructor will post a link to the course calendar, and when a student clicks on it, it will go to the vSpace. If the instructor wants to record the lecture, the link will later become a link to the recording. Since this is all done within Blackboard, there is no confusing change from site to video, and it's easier for students to access.

What the basic screen of Elluminate Live looks like when first logging in. The instructor's notes will show up on the main screen on the right.

The mechanism of learning comes through the virtual classroom environment, which allows students to "raise" their hands, ask questions directly to the class, answer poll questions, etc. It's still a Hopkins class; the only difference is it's on your computer in your room or in the library. The instructor can speak into a microphone on his end, and so long as your audio is fixed correctly, you can hear him and respond with your own microphone. The notes for the class appear in the main screen, and it's basically like a chalkboard where the notes can be saved in a PDF format. Instructors can upload documents directly to the site, as can you (the student) when you need to submit homework. Simply scan your homework in and submit it as a PDF through the site.

The participant window shows the commands you are in control of, such as the ability to raise your hand, answer a poll, or use the microphone to ask a question. If you need to step away for a bit, just let the classroom know so they don't call on you.

As the students, you of course have to know how to participate in the class. That's why there are widgets for you to use in case you have a question, want to answer a poll, or need to step away for a minute. You can also use the chat feature privately to send messages to one or a selected few users.

This is not to be confused with the virtual classroom experience that some universities, Johns Hopkins included, are now using to offer their classes to more students. That is the next blog article. Until then, in case you were thinking of taking a math or science course online over the summer through Hopkins, this is what it would look like.

Cheers!