Metropolitan College now offers courses in a new e-Live format. E-Live courses are offered on campus with reduced face-to-face time and ongoing student/faculty collaboration and interaction through various technologies. They combine best elements of classroom and online teaching, and leverage the latest research related to cognitive learning and educational technologies. In addition to flexibility that suites well busy professional lifestyle, e-Live courses also strive to combine solid academic foundation with important practical skills and critical business competencies, helping students to succeed in 21st century workplace.
Online learning components of e-Live courses are typically supported by one of the most popular course management systems – Blackboard Vista. Ongoing collaboration between students and faculty leverages the latest video collaboration technologies that combine online meeting and videoconferencing functionality. To complete online portions of e-Live courses, students will use their computers; participation in real-time collaboration sessions will require standard webcams and headsets. Metropolitan College also offers state of the art laboratories which are equipped with everything that is necessary for successful completion of e-Live courses. Students will be provided with detailed technical requirements and installation instructions, and offered training and support with all technologies used in a particular course before the course starts. Some of the technologies used in e-Live courses are described below.
Blackboard Vista is a course management system that provides access to online course content and support various learning activities like assignment and quiz management, discussion boards, gradebook, etc. Technical requirements and support information are listed at vista.bu.edu. All students will be enrolled in Vista orientation course prior to semester start date, and will have an opportunity to get familiar with the system. Students will be also able to attend a Vista training session during their first on-campus week. Vista Students Manual can be found here.
IOCOM is a system that supports multipoint videoconferencing and online meeting capabilities. This is a recommended video collaboration option for e-Live courses. IOCOM requires Windows Vista, XP, or 2000, minimum 2.4 GHz P4 (Core Duo Recommended) processor, 512 MB RAM, headset with a microphone (or other audio input device with echo cancellation), USB WebCam, and a high-bandwidth Internet connection.
Live Classroom is an online meeting capability that can be used for real-time collaboration activities that do not require multipoint videoconferencing. Live Classroom does not require webcams; students can use computer headsets or conventional phones (toll charges apply) for voice communications.
Virtual PC Images will be used in some courses to provide pre-installed lab environment as an alternative to installing course lab software on your PC. To use virtual images your PC will need minimum of 1 GB memory and a DVD drive.
Other technologies will be introduced in some courses; students will always be provided with necessary support, as well as with physical or virtual access to MET Labs for those who want to use MET computing recourses.
For additional information, please contact your instructors or program coordinators.
New courses are being developed for the eLive format every semester. Current offerings include requirements for graduate certificates in Digital Forensics, Information Technology Project Management, and Interactive Multimedia and Game Engineering as well as several others. eLive classes can also be taken to satisfy requirements for master degrees in Computer Science, Computer Information Systems, and Telecommunications. Register today on the Student Link to reserve your seat.
eLive Fall 2009 – Boston Campus Schedule
Saturday face to face meetings: 9/12/2009, 10/17/2009, 11/7/2009 and 12/5/2009
9:00 AM – 12:00 PM
1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
eLive Spring 2010 – Boston Campus Schedule
Saturday face to face meetings:
1/23/2010, 2/20/2010, 3/20/2010 and 4/24/2010
9:00 AM – 12:00 PM
1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Read the Student Manual, Learning Online with Vista (pdf)
(Last updated 08/27/09)
