Aplia
Encyclopedia
Aplia Inc. is an educational technology
company founded in 2000 by Stanford University
professor Paul Romer
that offers online homework products geared toward college-level courses. In March 2007 Cengage Learning
(formerly Thomson Learning) acquired Aplia Inc. Aplia is based in Belmont, California
.
so his students would come to class better prepared and become more engaged with the course material. After other professors expressed interest in his approach, Romer decided to turn this system into the basis for a new company. He raised $10 million in venture capital to start Aplia, an online learning system. Since 2000, it has been used by over 4,300 professors, 1,200,000 students, at 1,300 colleges and universities worldwide. http://www.aplia.com/company.
Aplia support representatives set up and edit courses per the professor's schedule. http://aplia.com/support/troubleshooting/menu.jsp?tested=t&a=t&b=t&j=t&c=t&r=t&w=1680&h=1050&f=t&v=10&rv=12&i=10|0|12|36
Assignment types include problem sets, news analyses, tutorials, and (for economics) interactive market experiments.
Aplia is often integrated with textbooks from different publishers. Aplia's questions are written by content experts in their respective fields and the problem sets match the tone, difficulty level, style, of the textbook. Aplia works with publishers, authors, and contributors, and many users believe the quality is unmatched. http://aplia.com/community/testimonials.jsp http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/07/AR2009050704299_pf.html
In terms of pricing, many of Aplia's products have a low-cost digital textbook as well as Aplia. In the Friday, May 9 issue of The Washington Post, author Steven Pearlstein writes: "Aplia also paves the way for the textbook industry to ditch a lousy business model in which it has to charge ridiculously high prices for new books because it cannot collect anything from the students who buy them on the used-book market. Instead, publishers could move to a more sustainable model in which the textbook is priced close to the cost of printing and shipping (say, $20), while all students are charged a reasonable fee (say, $60) for what really matters, which is the content of the textbook, the labs and homework exercises." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/07/AR2009050704299_pf.html
Research has also shown Aplia to be effective in the classroom, especially with keeping students on track with their assignments and increasing enagagement and participation in the classroom. http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a786622037~db=all http://www.aplia.com/company/press/ael_010107.jsp
To date, Aplia has developed poducts for the following disciplines: Accounting, Biology, Business Communication, Business Law, Decision Sciences, Developmental English, Economics, Finance, History, Management, Marketing, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, Statistics, Taxation.
Students are charged (per course) additional registration fees on top of their home institutions tuition or per unit fees, sometimes amounting to more than the parent institutions total cost for the entire course plus materials fees. Students are given no warning of these fees when registering for this product and there exists a movement to make such private online courses illegal in conjunction with public learning institutions.
Chapter Assignments/Problem Sets
Chapter assignments (or problem sets)--groups of questions based on each chapter of a textbook—are automatically graded and provide students with detailed explanations for every question. All problems are highly randomized and written by a team of subject matter experts. Most assignments use "Grade It Now" technology. Students are given three attempts on each problem; if they don’t like their score after their first attempt, they may try a second time; if they don’t like their score after two, they may try a third; they don’t have to use all three attempts. Scores are averaged.
Tutorials
In most subjects, Aplia offers tutorials in prerequisite material, like math and graphing, so professors and students spend less time playing catch-up and review.
News Analyses
In economics and finance, Aplia regularly features economics and finance articles from top new sources. Each story includes a summary and follow-up questions.
Experiments
For economics, Aplia offers real-time, online market experiments to help students understand what the real market environment is like. Each experiment is supported by assignments that prepare students for this and help them analyze their results. These experiments have had proven success in the classroom as well—according to research, Aplia's methods provide college students with means to truly learn the material. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=708841
Multimedia
All of Aplia's courses use multimedia to pique students' interest. Developmental Reading, for instance, uses audio so students can hear how vocabulary words are pronounced; Logic uses interactive Venn diagrams, truth tables, and natural deduction proofs so students keep learning the material hands-on. http://www.aplia.com/developmentalreading http://www.aplia.com/philosophy
Assessment and Grading
Aplia keeps instructors loosely informed about student participation, progress, and real-time graphical reports. What this essentially means is that instructors have no real obligation to either instruct, assign work or grade assignments. The instructor is free to entirely ignore the progress of the class and focus on other classes or their private life. Participation in the classes assignments plays out much like a video game with predetermined outcomes. Instructors can download, save, manipulate, print, import, and export student grades. Gradebook Analytics allow instructors to monitor and address performance on a student-by-student and topic-by-topic basis.
Course Management System
Instructors can post announcements, upload course materials, host student discussions, e-mail students, and manage their gradebook with Aplia’s course management system. Aplia works independently or in conjunction with other course management systems.
Customer Support
Aplia has an in-house customer support team that’s known for being quick, knowledgeable, and friendly. http://aplia.com/community/testimonials.jsp Aplia’s support team also works with instructors to customize assignments for their course schedules. http://www.aplia.com
Educational technology
Educational technology is the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using and managing appropriate technological processes and resources." The term educational technology is often associated with, and encompasses, instructional theory and...
company founded in 2000 by Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
professor Paul Romer
Paul Romer
Paul Michael Romer is an American economist, entrepreneur, and activist. He is currently the Henry Kaufman Visiting Professor at New York University Stern School of Business and will be joining NYU as a full time professor beginning in 2011...
that offers online homework products geared toward college-level courses. In March 2007 Cengage Learning
Cengage Learning
Cengage Learning is a publisher of print and digital information services for the academic, professional and library markets, and delivers customized learning solutions for colleges, universities, professors, students, libraries, government agencies, corporations and professionals around the...
(formerly Thomson Learning) acquired Aplia Inc. Aplia is based in Belmont, California
Belmont, California
Belmont is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States. It is in the San Francisco Bay Area, located half-way down the San Francisco Peninsula between San Mateo and San Carlos. It was originally part of the Rancho de las Pulgas, for which one of its main roads, the Alameda de las Pulgas,...
.
History
In 1998, Romer created an online experiment system for use in his economics courses at Stanford UniversityStanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
so his students would come to class better prepared and become more engaged with the course material. After other professors expressed interest in his approach, Romer decided to turn this system into the basis for a new company. He raised $10 million in venture capital to start Aplia, an online learning system. Since 2000, it has been used by over 4,300 professors, 1,200,000 students, at 1,300 colleges and universities worldwide. http://www.aplia.com/company.
Product
Aplia’s basic product includes online homework assignments that professors can assign to students in accounting, business communication, business law, developmental reading, economics, finance, marketing, philosophy, statistics, and taxation. While the basic premise behind each course is the same, course materials vary; in many cases, Aplia problem sets are designed to complement specific textbook from a variety of the leading publishers. http://www.aplia.comAplia support representatives set up and edit courses per the professor's schedule. http://aplia.com/support/troubleshooting/menu.jsp?tested=t&a=t&b=t&j=t&c=t&r=t&w=1680&h=1050&f=t&v=10&rv=12&i=10|0|12|36
Assignment types include problem sets, news analyses, tutorials, and (for economics) interactive market experiments.
Aplia is often integrated with textbooks from different publishers. Aplia's questions are written by content experts in their respective fields and the problem sets match the tone, difficulty level, style, of the textbook. Aplia works with publishers, authors, and contributors, and many users believe the quality is unmatched. http://aplia.com/community/testimonials.jsp http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/07/AR2009050704299_pf.html
In terms of pricing, many of Aplia's products have a low-cost digital textbook as well as Aplia. In the Friday, May 9 issue of The Washington Post, author Steven Pearlstein writes: "Aplia also paves the way for the textbook industry to ditch a lousy business model in which it has to charge ridiculously high prices for new books because it cannot collect anything from the students who buy them on the used-book market. Instead, publishers could move to a more sustainable model in which the textbook is priced close to the cost of printing and shipping (say, $20), while all students are charged a reasonable fee (say, $60) for what really matters, which is the content of the textbook, the labs and homework exercises." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/07/AR2009050704299_pf.html
Research has also shown Aplia to be effective in the classroom, especially with keeping students on track with their assignments and increasing enagagement and participation in the classroom. http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a786622037~db=all http://www.aplia.com/company/press/ael_010107.jsp
To date, Aplia has developed poducts for the following disciplines: Accounting, Biology, Business Communication, Business Law, Decision Sciences, Developmental English, Economics, Finance, History, Management, Marketing, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, Statistics, Taxation.
Aplia Features
Additional course fees/Registration feesStudents are charged (per course) additional registration fees on top of their home institutions tuition or per unit fees, sometimes amounting to more than the parent institutions total cost for the entire course plus materials fees. Students are given no warning of these fees when registering for this product and there exists a movement to make such private online courses illegal in conjunction with public learning institutions.
Chapter Assignments/Problem Sets
Chapter assignments (or problem sets)--groups of questions based on each chapter of a textbook—are automatically graded and provide students with detailed explanations for every question. All problems are highly randomized and written by a team of subject matter experts. Most assignments use "Grade It Now" technology. Students are given three attempts on each problem; if they don’t like their score after their first attempt, they may try a second time; if they don’t like their score after two, they may try a third; they don’t have to use all three attempts. Scores are averaged.
Tutorials
In most subjects, Aplia offers tutorials in prerequisite material, like math and graphing, so professors and students spend less time playing catch-up and review.
News Analyses
In economics and finance, Aplia regularly features economics and finance articles from top new sources. Each story includes a summary and follow-up questions.
Experiments
For economics, Aplia offers real-time, online market experiments to help students understand what the real market environment is like. Each experiment is supported by assignments that prepare students for this and help them analyze their results. These experiments have had proven success in the classroom as well—according to research, Aplia's methods provide college students with means to truly learn the material. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=708841
Multimedia
All of Aplia's courses use multimedia to pique students' interest. Developmental Reading, for instance, uses audio so students can hear how vocabulary words are pronounced; Logic uses interactive Venn diagrams, truth tables, and natural deduction proofs so students keep learning the material hands-on. http://www.aplia.com/developmentalreading http://www.aplia.com/philosophy
Assessment and Grading
Aplia keeps instructors loosely informed about student participation, progress, and real-time graphical reports. What this essentially means is that instructors have no real obligation to either instruct, assign work or grade assignments. The instructor is free to entirely ignore the progress of the class and focus on other classes or their private life. Participation in the classes assignments plays out much like a video game with predetermined outcomes. Instructors can download, save, manipulate, print, import, and export student grades. Gradebook Analytics allow instructors to monitor and address performance on a student-by-student and topic-by-topic basis.
Course Management System
Instructors can post announcements, upload course materials, host student discussions, e-mail students, and manage their gradebook with Aplia’s course management system. Aplia works independently or in conjunction with other course management systems.
Customer Support
Aplia has an in-house customer support team that’s known for being quick, knowledgeable, and friendly. http://aplia.com/community/testimonials.jsp Aplia’s support team also works with instructors to customize assignments for their course schedules. http://www.aplia.com
Criticism
Aplia, like other online homework grading applications adds extra cost to courses in addition to the price of the text book and tuition. Aplia also eliminates the secondary market of used textbooks, preventing students from paying any less than the full price, especially in classes where aplia is required to submit assignments. This can be a disadvantage to low income students who rely on the significantly cheaper used books.Other e-learning platforms
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