GENERAL QUESTIONS ABOUT ONLINE COURSES

Q: What are the course terms? How long are they?

A: Check the Calendar page for specific dates. Each semester is about 18 weeks.

Q: What about vacations and breaks?

A: There is a one week Fall Break over Thanksgiving week, a Christmas break of 2 weeks, and a one-week Spring Break that corresponds with Holy Week. Please note that the way the course is structured, if you have a break that does not correspond with our course calendar, you can take these breaks whenever you like as long as the course work is completed by the end of the term.

Q: What day of the week and what time will the online chat sessions be held? Also, how long will each session last?

A: Each class chat session lasts from 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes. The sessions will be held in the afternoons and evenings. Since most courses will have several classes, there should be several available chat times. It is likely that one of these will fit your schedule. Your student may attend any of these chats on any given week. You are eligible for a full refund if you sign up for a course and the chat time is not suitable to you.

Q: Will the instructor be available outside of the chat time?

A: Yes. The instructor will be available during the chat, through the question and discussion forum, and during office hours at least once a week. The instructor will also be available by e-mail at any time.

Q: How much time per day/week will need to be devoted for the student to do well in this course?

A: The time necessary for the online course will be the about the same as doing it out of the book, with the addition of time needed to complete the online quizzes and to participate in the weekly chat. You should allow 2-5 hours a week, depending on the course. As a general rule, courses for younger students should take less time than those for older students, and work is lighter at the beginning of a course. Of course, the amount of time spent on a course also depends on each student.

Q: When should we order the course materials?

A: The course materials should be ordered during the summer, at least 3 weeks before the beginning of the course. Not having the materials at hand when the course begins will disrupt the student's learning.

Q: Do students need the DVD's in addition to the online course, or would that be too redundant?

A: DVDs are available and required for some courses. The DVDs are a visual part of the course and include quite a number of Powerpoint visuals to assist in the learning process.

Q: How many students will be in a class?

A: Classes vary greatly in the number of students enrolled. Students will only be directly interacting with the 8-20 students who are in the particular class chat they attend on a regular basis every week. But this "class" will, in the case of larger classes, be a part of a larger class "community" that in some cases can have up to 70-80 students. The student can interact with these other students who are in other class chats less directly through the question and discussion forums. This is possible by virtue of the fact that in these larger class communities there are several chat classes available during the week, any one of which a student may attend on any given week, allowing for flexibility in the students schedule. Normally the same students attend the same chat every week, and so these students get to know each other in a class environment.

Q: How does a student "attend class"?

A: A "class" is either a text chat room where the teacher and 15-20 students meet in a real time text environment, in which the instructor converses with students, or an audio/text environment where the student can hear the voice of the instructor, students respond using a text chat, and students can be called on by the instructor to respond orally. The method used depends on the course, and there are advantages to both kinds of technology.

Q: What happens in a class chat?

A: The primary purpose of the class chat is accountability and motivation, not primarily for the introduction of new material, or for extended questions and answers, although this is done as needed. Other class resources are directed to this purpose, such as self-instructive course materials or question and discussion forums. The instructor will answer questions, but students are encouraged to ask their questions outside of class, whenever possible, to allow the instructor to review class material. Here is a common structure for a typical class chat:

• Free discussion (5 minutes)
• General questions from the instructor about the previous week's assignment (10-15 minutes)
• Questions from instructor to individual students over the previous week's assignment (20-25 minutes)
• Game or competition over the previous week's assignment, testing knowledge and application of principles (20-30 minutes)
• Instructor answers questions from students (5 minutes)

Q: Will the online tests for the courses be different than the tests in the quiz packet for this program?

A: Online tests are more comprehensive than the quiz packet that Memoria Press sells.

Q: When would it be appropriate for a child to begin the Henle program?

A: We recommend that students be at about the 7th grade level in their studies before they attempt Henle Latin. However, younger students who have completed Latina Christiana I and II would also be well-prepared for the Henle course.

Q: What is the difference between the Middle School Henle courses and the High School Henle courses?

A: Memoria Press Classical Online Academy has two Henle "tracks," The first is a middle school track, in which students proceed at about half the speed of the high school course. This allows younger students to spend more time with the material and advance in their Latin studies without being overwhelmed. Because of the way the course is structured, there are several ways for students to jump from the middle school track to the high school track.

Q: Which Latin course is right for my student?

A: Since many people use programs other than Memoria Press programs, where your student left off in his or her Latin study may not exactly correspond with where any one of our courses begins. But with the number and variety of our courses, there is likely to be a good place for the student to take up his studies. This is best determined by contacting us. We can do a simple question and answer session over the phone and quickly determine which course your student should be placed in.

Q: How does a student access the quizzes?

A: He simply gets on the course page and clicks on the link for each quiz that is in the middle column of the page for the appropriate week.

Q: What do the quizzes cover?

A: The quizzes cover a selection of the material covered in the homework. In Latin, for example, all vocabulary, grammar rules, and forms are tested, and anywhere from 1/4 to 1/3 of the sentence translations. The quiz for any given week will cover the material from the current week, as well as some review material from previous weeks.

Q: What is the purpose of the online quizzes?

A: The timed online quizzes serve several purposes in the course:

• They are the primary basis for the student's course grade
• They are a way to test the student's knowledge of course material
• They are a way to help the student check the accuracy of his course work
• They are a way to help the student learn the course material

Q: How are the quizzes structured?

A: There are five kinds of quizzes:

• Fill in the Blank quizzes require the student to fill in the appropriate missing word
• Multiple Choice quizzes require the student to select one or more correct answers to a question
• Crossword quizzes require the student to fill in the spaces on a crossword puzzle on the basis of a clue
• Matching quizzes require the student to match one term with another term or with a definition that corresponds to it
• Word Mix quizzes require a student to find a term in a mix of letters on the basis of a clue

Q: How are the quizzes graded?

A: The grade is calculated on the basis of how many questions the student answered correctly. Every time a question is answered incorrectly, points are taken off based on how many questions are on the quiz. If there are only four questions, for example, and the student gets only three correct, his grade would be 75%. Points are added back, however, when the student goes back and corrects the answer. He can do this as long as there is still time left for the test. When the quiz is completed (when the student has corrected all his answers or the timer has expired, whichever happens first), the student's score is logged to the gradebook. Except for certain exams, such as midterms and finals, the student can take the tests as many times as he wishes. The system will keep the students highest score for each test. This process helps the student master the material by learning from his mistakes.

Q: Why is my quiz grade not recording?

A: Remember that one of either two things must happen before the system records your score:

• The student clicks on the "Check" button and gets all the answers right; or
• The timer runs out

If the student clicks on the "Check" button, but the system indicates that he is missing one or more answers, or got them incorrect, he must complete all of them correctly, or the timer must run out in order for the system to log the grade. If your score still does not record, then there is likely a problem with the settings on the user's browser. The best solution is to either check your settings (Is there a pop-up blocker on? Are your cookies enabled?) or simply switch to another browser. This solves 90 percent of problems when a student has a problem with the quiz.

Q: Can I keep a hard copy of the graded quiz?

A: Yes. In fact, we recommend you do this. As soon as the system displays your grade, print the page and keep it in your course records. But your student must remember to print the page of the completed, grades quiz before he leaves the page. Once you have left the page, you cannot return to the graded page.

Q: How do I keep track of my student's grades?

A: Each quiz is immediately graded and logged in the gradebook. All you need to do to keep track of the grades on the quizzes is to access the online course page with your student's login name and password and click on the "Grades" link at the left-hand side of the page.

Q: How many times can the quizzes be taken?

A: The quizzes can be taken as many times as your student needs. The system automatically keeps the student's highest grade. This may seem counterintuitive, but remember, one of the purposes of the quizzes is to help the student learn the course material. When a student gets an answer wrong, the system flags that answer and requires the student to correct it. This serves the purpose of making sure that the student is learning from his mistakes. Many of the quiz questions are directly from the homework, which allows the student to verify that he has done a sampling of exercises from his homework correctly.

Q: What is the student allowed to have with him when he takes the tests?

A: In most cases, the student is allowed—and even encouraged—to have his book and his homework in front of him when he takes a quiz. This allows him to correct any mistakes he has made on his homework. Again, this may seem counterintuitive, but the point is not to play "gotcha" on a test, but to help the student learn. If he has done his homework correctly, he should be rewarded for that. There are some quizzes, however, such as Latin vocabulary matching and grammar fill-in-the-blank quizzes, where the student is expected to know the material from memory, and to complete from memory. The quiz itself will indicate whether the student is allowed to use his book and homework or not.

Q: How long do the quizzes last?

A: The quizzes are timed and last anywhere from 2 minutes to 45 minutes depending on the material being covered. In most cases, even with long quizzes, the student will finish before the allotted time. More material will be covered in the quizzes as the course progresses, so the allotted time will increase. However, because the student will be expected to acclimate himself to the quiz format as the course progresses, the amount of time allotted for the same amount of material will decrease over the course of the class.

Q: What about homework?

A: All homework should be completed before the student takes the online quizzes. Even though the quizzes form the basis for the student's grade in the course, this does not mean the student does not have to do the homework. If the homework is not completed before taking the quizzes, the student will either not do well on them or will have to spend an inordinate amount of time retaking them. It will take less time for a student to complete the homework and take the quizzes than it would to sit in front of the computer not having done his homework, and take the quizzes over and over again until he gets a decent grade.

Q: What do I do if I want to transfer my child from one course to another?

A: If you wish to transfer from one course to another before the beginning of the class, please contact us and we will take care of it. Please do not enroll in the other course and then request a refund of the course the student was originally enrolled in. We can do this (and have), but it creates additional administrative work for us. It is much easier to simply transfer your student. The only exception to this is if the price of the course you want to transfer into is different from the one you are transferring out of. In that case, call us and we will let you know the best way to proceed.

Q: What do I do if I'm unable to take a course once I've already enrolled?

A: Because of busy schedules and potential conflicts with the class times, some people may find that they have to drop a class. You may drop a class up to 30 days before the beginning of a term with no drop fee. There will be a $50 fee to drop a class if you drop it less than 30 days before the first day of the term. Students who drop a class after the 2nd week of the class term will owe the entire fee for the course.