<p>to post 159-
Not according to the OP! EPtr tells us this, in post 27:
“The glitch has been that the program hasn’t been recognizing immediately that two accts are open on the same computer and allows the second acct to open.”</p>
<p>So it wasn’t system-wide. It had everything to do with students’s computer. Had the borrower of the computer been late, for example, the student might have gone to the library to use a school computer. In that example, her quiz would not have been interrupted. I don’t give that example to indicate the student should have gone to the library; but to demonstrate according to the Op the problem only occurred on the student’s computer.The student could have successfully logged in from any other computer. Op tells us the problem was 2 logged in on the same computer.</p>
<p>Yes, it is true the student was working on it during the time frame. Remember, the quiz had not been completed by 6:45.</p>
<p>I agree witht he student. If the school can’t provide an adequate platform, the professors should be required to provide a paper quiz option. A deadline is a deadline and the professor should not be permitted to shorten it by 15 minutes because of IT issues.</p>
It really depends on how IT implemented their security system. One way to do it is by locking the account, so even if the student had gone to the library to use another computer it would still not worked. Most bugs are not system-wide, it only happens under very specific circumstance, that’s why it is hard to catch. I don’t think the intend was ever to allow someone to log on for 45 minutes then arbitrary kick the user off. The system should never have allowed D to log on and a proper error message should have appeared.</p>
<p>The Op has told us 2 accounts cannot log onto the same computer(for long). That is their security system. I agree it could be improved upon.
But, as it is now, had the borrower been logged off, or had the student used a different computer, the quiz would have been uninterrupted.</p>
<p>We do not know if there was an error, or other message. A pop-up might have come up that said: Do you want to log off user? But we can’t assume it did, or it didn’t based on what Op has told us.</p>
<p>OP is the mother, there is no way she could know how the security system is implemented. All she knows is what her D told her, and all her D knows is what the IT person told her. Sometimes IT doesn’t even know for sure until they start to do some investigation themselves. But none of that matters, all it matters is that the system failed.</p>
<p>Someone said that maybe there would be some record of what D has done up to when she was logged off. That also depends on how the system was designed. If it doesn’t save every key stroke and only takes the data when someone hits submit then there wouldn’t be any history.</p>
<p>We sure agree on something! Op is the mother, so she doesn’t know all the facts. But we can only base opinions here on what Op tells us, plus perhaps some of our own experiences. It may be the problem is different than what the OP told us. But what she’s told us indicates that a different computer would not have been interrupted.</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s “logon to the same computer.” Ie, D’s laptop. I highly suspect it’s “access the server on the same open channel.” So D hopped onto a channel active with a user (borrower) and after the borrower’s logon expired due to inactivity, the connection got dumped. I’d think this is “port maintenance.” The software should have sent D an immediate message that she is already logged on, as a different user. Not her laptop.</p>
<p>younghoss:a deadline is just that …when it is due, I don’t think you should be penalized because the computer program goes down prior to that deadline. My daughter took the OCT ACT, which was the last test for Bama Scholarships, ie the “deadline” had the power been out at the test center should she have been penalized for not taking the test sooner? I understand proper planning, I lecture it often but there are just some occurrences that can not be planned for therefore there needs to be some flexibility. What if the Op’s student had prioritized properly by due date and this was the last assignment on her plan, so she was working her tail off all week not just hanging out…would that matter?</p>
<p>longsx3- re post 154. Not the last minute? seriously? The student had a week to submit the quiz. Approaching the last hour on the last day, the student started the quiz at 6, and was still working on it at 6:45!</p>
<p>Yea, I think it’s unfair - but those are just the breaks sometimes. The prof is within his/her rights. I think it’s crappy that there was not some provision made - but some profs are just like that. Lesson learned.</p>
<p>I would try some of the suggestions here - but if she’s unsuccessful, just move on and consider it a lesson learned.</p>
<p>My D had to learn a similar lesson this past year. Some profs are just really unyielding. She crossed that prof off her list - and fortunately, the prof isn’t there anymore.</p>
<p>I can see both sides. However, technology does always seem to crap out, so this would then put it on the teacher to chase down every possible technical difficulty, which results in lots of work for the teacher. However, she should def try to argue it. I tell my kids that if something is due to be turned in electronically, then they need to turn it in 1-2 days in advance in case of tech difficulties, including the common app (whether they follow this instruction varies). </p>
<p>In HS, S turned in an assignment to the wrong email address: used the tracher’s address instead of the special email address set up for the assignment. Got a 0 on this assignment. The 0 didn’t really teach him anything, tho, and will likely do a similar thing in the future.</p>
<p>When D2 was in high school, D2 submitted an assignment online, but her teacher never received it (at least that’s what the teacher claimed). She got a 0 for the assignment which brought her grade way down. Luckily, she was able to show her teacher that it was sent out from her mail box on time.</p>
<p>longsx3, your first paragraph(post 169) has been thoroughly discussed on many pages before. I did not address the validity of a strict deadline when I quoted you. </p>
<p>The part I disagreed with you on, was that you said student wasn’t trying to do the quiz at the last minute. I say that if a quiz deadline is 7, and the student is still working on the quiz at 6.45, then yes, it is the last minute.</p>
<p>I’m just going to address the “bug” issue . It is a bug if the program is supposed to prevent multiple log ins on the same computer and it did not do that. Even if my D knowingly let a friend use her computer to check her own grades, she did not know that the friend hadn’t logged off. Her experience and expectation was that the system would work properly and let her know if their was another account open. It didn’t.</p>
<p>Was she taking the test at the last minute? YES!!! Lol. But if everything was working as it should the last minute is as good as the first minute.</p>
<p>I think what some are confusing here is the difference between good judgement and rule following. She followed the rules but used bad judgement in her planning.</p>
<p>Again, she is taking her lumps, hopefully learning from this and, if the worst that happens is that she gets all A’s and one B rather than straight A’s, we will all survive.</p>
<p>Here’s my analogy: if the prof said that papers must be dropped through the mail slot in his office no later than 6:00 p.m., and the student goes to the building and finds it locked up and inaccessible at 5:00 p.m., the prof would wrong to refuse an extension. As I understand the facts, this case is pretty much like that. Yes, it would have been more prudent for the student to do it sooner–but this isn’t like the car breaking down, or anything like that. This was a system glitch (and one known by IT).</p>
<p>But it is a useful life lesson to understand that some people are just unreasonable. When dealing with such people, you ultimately have to decide if it’s worth your while to go over their heads to try to find somebody more reasonable.</p>
<p>It’s also useful to note who the unreasonable people are so they can be avoided, wherever possible, in the future. And if they cannot be avoided, at least have realistic expectations going into the situation of how any negotiations are likely to play out!</p>
<p>I wrote a very long post about the length of this thread and the comments getting off track but decided better and erased it all before posting- just a little amazed at reaching 176 posts on this topic.</p>
<p>To the people asking about online exams and formats.
You can turn in essays online. You can be given exams that require essays, short answers, multiple choice and all of the above.
Obviously some courses are not taught online, they usually have certain online courses.
They do have some science courses online but also involve other programs in order to submit answers that are more complex.
It’s not all multiple choice. Online courses have come along way. You can get entire degrees online. Where professors have video lectures that are live. You can have live chats w professors and submit papers and HW via online. </p>
<p>Threeofthree,
I’m amazed too but that is the beauty of a forum. When I started the thread, I thought I would get a few responses with some good advice about advising my D. It has certainly been thought provoking reading the responses. While I agree that online testing has been around for a while, I still think it is new enough to sit in a gray area in regard to personal responsibility. Maybe that’s the basis of the debate. Truly, I can see the issue from all of the points of view expressed here.</p>
<p>I am sure the OP’s D did not do this, but what prevents a student, aware of the multiple login issue, from using this technique to try to “postpone” their test since they are unprepared to take the test at the given time? </p>
<p>How is the professor supposed to “investigate” whether or not these so called system failures are true failures or someone trying to exploit a known problem?</p>