WELCOME to the official web portal for Assured Learning Centre’s distance-learning programs. From here, you can access various online courses offered by ALC. If you are interested in doing a course here, please read the GENERAL COURSE GUIDELINES below.
Time and Place
Because courses at this academy are accessed via the internet, and offered asynchronously, a student can attend class at anytime and anywhere … as long as internet access is available (and the course is still open).
In most cases, because the students enroled in a particular course are usually preparing for an external exam, students do not need to attend at our facilities, except to pay.for a course. In those cases, they would need to leave home only to do the exam at the place where the exam is being administered.
However, in those cases where a student expects a Statement of Achievement, there are some times when he may need to attend at our facility (or some partnering school) to sit the Final Test. Apart from that, he attends anytime, anywhere at the pace he determines.
Course Duration
If the course is an open course, in which the content is offered topically, and the student is studying independently, then the duration of the course can be long or short. It all depends on the student’s involvement. Because the student is the one who determines how frequently he accesses the course material, the student sets the pace. Effectively, the student is the one who determines the duration of the course in that instance.
If the student is part of a course in which the content is being offered weekly, as in a course that is being done by a group, then the student can only complete the the entire course after a set number of weeks have elapsed. However, the amount of time the student spends on course work during each week can be long or short, depending on how frequently he accesses the course material.
Instructors
Because much of the instruction is done via recorded audo and video recordings, each course may have more than one instructor. This is not a problem for us because our focus is more on learning than teaching. The important thing is that students are learning.
Course Managers
In most cases, the course manager will be the instructor. There are times, however, when someone else may need to manage the course, depending on certain technical requirements and, in some cases, the special needs of some students.
We hope to have information about members of our faculty and staff posted soon. At the moment, that project is still a work in progress.
Course Description
In most cases, there will be a course description for each course offered. This is done so that the student will know what to expect and be better able to prepare. This is especially important when there are due dates and hard deadlines to be observed.
How to Navigate this Course
We recommend you click on the week tabs on the menu bar (on the left) and follow the roadmap for each week. Alternatively, you can click directly on the resource you want to view. Note that each week’s content will ONLY be visible starting the Monday of a given week. Please be sure to read the syllabus carefully and make note of important due dates.
Weeks and Themes:
Course Format
The format for courses will vary, again depending on the needs of teachers and students, as well as the objectives of the course. However, each course can have classes that consist of one or more of the following elements:
- Video lectures from your instructor. These will usually be available starting Monday mornings (by 8:00 a.m.). In most cases, they will be downloadable.
- Access to slides and notes from the videos.
- Announcements from the instructor or course manager.
- Discussion forums. These are designed to help students discuss what they are being taught. In many cases, this is where most of the learning in a course will take place.
- A Peer Assignment that will be graded by others doing the same course at the same time.
- Assessment Opportunity … assess the assignments of other students doing the same course.
- Regular Quizzes, usually given weekly and consisting of mostly multiple-choice questions. Each quiz may be taken more than once, but there may be a deduction from the grade for each extra attempt. The highest score will be counted and answers will be made available after each quiz.
- A FINAL TEST consisting mostly of multiple choice questions and which may be taken only twice. Again, the highest score will be counted. Because the final exam is cumulative, no points will be deducted for the second attempt.
Course Material and Resources
There is no required textbook. Each week, you will be provided with a list of resources aligned to the ideas we discuss. Quizzes will be based on material that is required. However, students are encouraged to read, watch and listen to the non-required material because it has been chosed to enhance the information in the required material. It should also prove helpful in completing the peer assignments.
Due Dates and Hard Deadlines
Students will not receive any credit for late work turned in after the hard deadline for quizzes and assignments, and for work turned in after the initial due date for each assignment that was not extended using late days. Please make note of the important due dates below.
Grading Scales will may from course to course depending on type, teacher, students, objectives, etc., but a typical grading scale may look something like this:
- Quizzes (all) …………. 50%
- Final Test …………….. 50%
In a course where there is a Peer Assignment, the grading scale may look like this:
- Quizzes (all) ………….. 40%
- Peer Assignment ….. 20% [Submitting (10); Assessing (10)]
- Final Test ……………… 40%.
To receive a Statement of Accomplishment, a student must earn a grade of 70% or more in his course. To receive a Statement of Accomplishment with Distinction, a student must achieve a grade of 90% or better in the course.