Frequently Asked Questions

This document provides the help for the Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance site in the form of a list of frequently asked questions and answers. If you have other questions about this site please email postmaster@localhost.

About Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance OCW

1. What is the Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance?
2. Why is the Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance doing this?
3. How does the Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance differ from other types of Web-based education, including distance learning?
4. What are the long-term goals of the Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance initiative?

Using Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance OCW Materials

1. Do I need to register to use Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance course materials?
2. Where are the course materials?
3. How do I find what courses are available?
4. How can I use the Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance course materials?
5. Does the Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance offer discounts on textbooks or software applications utilized in the course materials?
6. Can I link to the Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance Web site from my Web site?

Usability

1. What are the technical requirements for viewing the Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance course materials?
2. What is metadata and why is it important to the Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance?
3. How do I change the font-size on the Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance Web site?
4. Why does this PDF not open correctly in my copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader?

Privacy and Data Collection

1. What information does the Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance collect from visitors to the Web site?
2. What are "cookies," and does the Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance make use of cookies on its Web site?
3. Does the Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance share the information it receives?

Technology

1. What technology is used to publish the Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance Web site?
2. Is Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance an open source project?
3. What is RSS?

Other Questions

1. How can I support Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance with a financial donation?
2. How do I apply for admission to the Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance as a student?

About Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance OCW

1. What is the Utah OCW Alliance?

   The idea behind the Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance is to serve as a portal to each of the Utah schools participating in OpenCourseWare. The purpose of OpenCourseWare is to make course materials that are used in the teaching of undergraduate and graduate subjects available on the Web, free of charge, to any user anywhere in the world. The Utah OCW Alliance will advance technology-enhanced education at participating schools, and will serve as a model for university dissemination of knowledge in the Internet age.

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2. Why is the Utah OCW Alliance doing this?

   Because technology makes it possible for us to increase the reach of educational opportunity, we have a moral obligation to do so. The Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance serves the public through learning, discovery, and engagement, and is true to the guiding principle that academics come first. As Utah enters the 21st century, services like OpenCourseWare enable it to more fully share education material with members of the state, and people around the world. The Utah OCWAlliance contributes to the "shared intellectual commons" in academia, which fosters collaboration across Alliance members and among other scholars across disciplines and around the world.

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3. How does the Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance differ from other types of Web-based education, including distance learning?

   The Utah OCW Alliance differs from other Web-based education offerings in that it is free and open, does not provide university credit, and grants no access to university faculty. The Utah OCW Alliance is not a distance-learning initiative. Distance learning involves the active exchange of information between faculty and students, with the goal of obtaining some form of a credential. Increasingly, distance learning is also limited to those willing and able to pay for materials or course delivery. The Utah OCW Alliance is not meant to replace degree-granting higher education or for-credit courses. Rather, the goal is to provide the content that supports an education.

   Many individual faculty members at Utah universities already use the Web extensively to make standard course materials available to their students. Some colleges and universities now require a Web site for every class. But, to a large extent, these Web sites are designed for, and access is only provided to, the students enrolled at these institutions. The Utah OCW Alliance is an unprecedented effort of a much broader magnitude, as the goal is to provide the course materials free and open to the world.

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4. What are the long-term goals of the Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance OCW initiative?

   We expect the Utah OCW Alliance to grow to encompass the course materials of all faculty who are willing to participate. Over time, the goal is for most of the courses offered at Utah schools to be represented in the collection. Another goal of the Utah OCW Alliance is to catalyze the development of groups or communities around the course materials. Individuals participating in these informal groups will coach, mentor, and support each other in their learning, adding significant value to the materials themselves. Finally, we strongly desire to extend the reach and impact of the "opencourseware" concept.

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Using the Utah OCW Alliance Materials

1. Do I need to register to use Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance course materials?

   Because the Utah OCW Alliance is not a distance-learning, or a degree-granting, initiative, there is no registration process required for users to view course materials. The Utah OCW Alliance is a publication of the course materials that support dynamic classroom interactions at Utah Schools. These courses are available on the Web, free of charge, to any user anywhere in the world.

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2. Where are the course materials?

   To find what courses are available at this time, navigate to the school's site, and view the complete course list. Once you have accessed a particular course site, the left-hand navigation bar of each course homepage will detail what materials are available for that individual course.

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3. How do I find what courses are available?

   You can, utilize the Search function that can be found in the right-hand corner of every page on the school's OCW site. You can search for specific text, such as certain academic discipline area, across all courses or within just one course. Or to perform a detailed search, use the  Advanced Search function.

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4. How can I use the Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance course materials?

   Utah OCW Alliance can be considered a large-scale, Web-based publication of the course materials that support an university's education. Educators are encouraged to utilize the materials for curriculum development, students can augment their current learning by making use of the materials offered, and self-learners are encouraged to draw upon the material for self-study or supplementary use. Course materials offered on this site may be used within the license associated with the content, course or overall Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance site as applicable.

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5. Does The Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance offer discounts on textbooks or software applications utilized in the course materials?

   The Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance OCW does not sell, offer vendor discounts for, or represent any vendor who may sell the software, books, or other materials that users may require to understand the course materials offered on the this site.

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6. Can I link to the Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance OCW Web site from my Web site?

   Links to the Utah OCW Alliance site, or to courses or pages within the paricipating school's site, are permitted so long as the use of the materials associated with the link is permitted under the terms of the license associated with the course materials or particlar content. Typically course materials are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license 2.5, however individual course materials may have a separate license. Please check the bottom of the page to view the applicable license for any particular item.

   In addition to meeting the terms of the license, links to the Utah OCW Alliance are permitted as long as the link is freely accessible (e.g., no restrictions or fee for access); and there is no claim, appearance, or implication of an affiliation with or endorsement by the Utah OCW Alliance. The Utah OCW Alliance cannot guarantee the persistence of any specific link other than those to the Utah OCW Alliance homepage.

   [See also Intellectual Property]

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Usability

1. What are the technical requirements for viewing the Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance course materials?

   The majority of Utah OCW Alliance course sites work in modern Web browsers on both the Macintosh and Windows platforms. Although higher-speed connections are preferable, slower connections, such as modems, should allow users to view most materials on the sites (however, downloading or accessing materials may take somewhat longer).

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2. What is metadata and why is it important to Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance OCW?

   Metadata is, literally, "data about data." Metadata can be better understood as information that describes other information. For example, this Web page of FAQs has an author, a title, a date of creation, and a unique Internet address; this information constitutes the metadata about this page. Metadata enables sophisticated, powerful, and accurate searches across Utah OCW Alliance course materials.

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3. How do I change the font-size on the Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance OCW Web site?

   The fonts and style of the Utah OCW Web site have been specifically selected to meet certain design and accessibility standards. The Utah OCW Alliance Team has tested the site and these standards across a wide variety of browsers and platform. However, some users may still find that their browser configurations continue to display the text too small. You can change the displayed font size using your browser's View menu. In Netscape 7, there is a "VIEW - Text-Zoom" selection (try 120%). In Netscape 4.x, there is a "VIEW - Increase Font" selection. In Internet Explorer, you can select "VIEW - Text-Size - Larger or Largest." We hope this helps you to more comfortably view the Utah OCW Alliance course materials.

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4. Why does this PDF not open correctly in copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader?

   A small percentage of the PDF documents offered on the Utah OCW's sites may be compatible only with newer versions of Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you would like to view such a file, we recommend downloading the latest version of the Acrobat Reader from the Adobe Web site at http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/main.html.

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Privacy and Data Collection

1. What information does the Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance collect from visitors to the Web site?

   The information we learn from visitors helps us improve the Utah OCW Alliance site, and assists our foundation sponsors in evaluation of usage, access, and impact of Utah OCW Alliance on the worldwide educational community. Participating schools may or may not collect the following information from visitors:

   • Information You Provide: We receive and store any information you enter on our Web site or give us in any other way. You provide most such information when you submit feedback on the site, contact us by email, or agree to participate in a visitor survey. This information may include your name and email address, your academic status, your institution, your geographic region, how you are using the site , and what you think of the Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance. In all cases, any information you provide is strictly optional and voluntary and you may choose to use the Utah OCW Alliance site without ever providing this information. If you voluntarily provide your email address or other contact information, we will not share personal information with anyone without first requesting your explicit permission to do so.
   • Automatic Information: We receive and store certain types of information whenever you interact with the Utah OCW Alliance Web site. Examples of the information we collect and analyze include the Internet protocol (IP) address used to connect your computer to the Utah OCW Alliance site; computer and connection information such as browser type and version, operating system, and platform, and; content you viewed or searched for during your visit to our site. During some visits we may use software tools to measure and collect session information, including page response times, download errors, and length of visits to certain pages. However, none of this information is personally identifiable or linked back to you individually.

   [See Also Privacy Policy]

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2. What are "cookies," and does the Utah OCW Alliance make use of cookies on its Web site?

   The Utah OCW Alliance uses "cookies" in a limited way. Cookies are alphanumeric identifiers that this Web site transfers to your computer's hard drive through your Web browser to enable our systems to recognize your browser when you make return trips to the site. This allows us to track your use of the site (anonymously), and to analyze patterns in site use, such as repeat visits, length of visits, and breadth of content used, for example). Cookies also allow us to conduct periodic, online, voluntary user surveys where we can gain more insight into what type of people are actually using the site, how they are using the site, and what the educational impact of the site is on these users.

   The Utah OCW Alliance's use of cookies is designed to be unobtrusive, and we do not collect personally identifiable information through their use. However, if you do not wish to accept cookies, the "Help" portion of the toolbar on most Web browsers will tell you how to prevent your browser from accepting new cookies, how to have the browser notify you when you receive a new cookie, or how to disable cookies altogether. Disabling cookies will in no way affect your access to content on the Utah OCW Alliance site. If you leave cookies enabled on your Web browser, you may be asked to complete a brief questionnaire that will help us gain a better understanding of the use and impact of our site.

   [See Also Privacy Policy]

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3. Does Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance OCW share the information it receives?

   Information about our site visitors is an important part of understanding and extending the impact of the Utah OCW Alliance in the worldwide academic community. Individual personally identifiable information about users (name, email address, etc) will not be made available to third parties except as outlined below, nor will it ever be used for commercial purposes. We share user information only as described below.

   • Agents: We employ companies and individuals to perform functions on our behalf. Examples include compiling and categorizing user feedback, analyzing survey data or data about your use of the site, and providing customer support. These agents have access to user information needed to perform their functions, for example, but may not use this information for any other purposes. These agents are bound by non-disclosure agreements.
   • Utah OCW Alliance Sponsors: We work closely with philanthropic and government organizations that provide the funding that makes the Utah OCW Alliance possible. These sponsors are interested in evaluating access, use, and impact the site in order to determine if the Utah OCW Alliance is achieving its objectives. We will provide information on a regular basis to these sponsors for evaluation purposes. We will not share any personally identifiable information such as name or email address unless you have given us explicit permission to do so.
   • Institutions interested in the "opencourseware movement": Part of the Utah OCW Alliance's mission as an organization is to encourage other educational institutions to openly share their course materials with the world. In order to accomplish this objective, we are committed to sharing what we learn in public forums, at educational conferences, and with other educational institutions. This may include aggregate data about usage of the site, feedback we have received, and the impact of Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance OCW on people throughout the world. However, in no case will we share any personally identifiable information, such as name or email address, unless you have given us explicit permission to do so.

   [See Also Privacy Policy]

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Technology

1. What technology is used to publish the Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance Web site?

   The Utah OCW Alliance runs on the open source eduCommons software. The current technical solution has been in use since January 2005 with a small technical team managing all aspects of this infrastructure at the Center for Open and Sustainable Learning (http://cosl.usu.edu/) at Utah State University.

   The planning tools used by the Utah OCW Alliance team to assist faculty in publishing their course materials include a portion of the workflow in eduCommons, and several checklists and documents. For creating and managing content, we use several desktop tools (file conversion tools) as well as eduCommons, that together fully support our publishing process. Our content delivery infrastructure includes a production cluster and a content staging cluster.

   For more information on eduCommons, please contact The Center for Open and Sustainable Learning (http://cosl.usu.edu/).

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2. Is the Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance an open source project?

   The Utah OCW Alliance is firmly committed to open systems and will share its approach and the open source eduCommons software with those who may want to launch similar efforts. eduCommons has a dedicated team of developers focused on extending the platform, features and functions to meet other institution's needs.

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3. What is RSS?

   RSS (Really Simple Syndication) and an aggregator allow you to subscribe to discussion forums, blogs and other websites in order to receive timely, organized updates of posts, news, and other information you care about.

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Other Questions

1. How can I support Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance OCW with a financial donation?

   It is particularly generous of you to offer a financial contribution to support the Utah OCW Alliance. This is a wonderful endorsement of what we hope to achieve. If you wish to make such a donation, please make your check payable to "Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance" and enclose a note indicating that the contribution is for the Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance OCW Fund. You can mail your check to:
   Utah OCW Alliance
   1750 N Research Park Way
   North Logan, UT, 84341
   

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2. How do I apply for admission to Utah OpenCourseWare Alliance as a student?

   The Utah OCW Alliance is not a degree-granting or certificate-granting program. Course materials are available for free on the Web for the use of educators and self-learners. Those interested in applying to be full-time students at any of the Utah universities are encouraged to contact the desired university's admissions office:
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