Frequently Asked Questions
Course Overview
Q. I just enrolled but I see that the course began on September 26th. Am I too late?
A. New participants are welcome at any time!
Q. When is work due? Are there deadlines?
A. The course schedule is flexible for participants. Simply work at your own pace to complete the materials. The last day to complete work for the certificate is March 25, 2018.
Course Certificates
Q. How do I earn a certificate?
A. This course is freely accessible to all. Learners can choose to audit the course for free or earn a Verified Certificate. (Learn more about edX Verified Certificates.) The price for the Verified Certificate is $99. You must get a grade of 70% or higher by completing the course materials and assignments to earn a certificate. The experience in the course is the same, regardless of whether you audit or pursue a Verified Certificate: you can watch all the videos, participate in all the discussions, do all the self assessments, access all the resources, and view a page that shows progress toward passing the course. Students who cannot complete all of the course materials and assignments are welcome and encouraged to audit this class by engaging with the course materials to the extent that they can.
Q. Can I get a certificate without paying?
A. If you are interested in a Verified Certificate, but cannot afford the fee, there is financial assistance available. You can learn more here and you can apply for financial assistance from edX here.
Q. I have signed up for a Verified Certificate. When will I receive my certificate?
A. Once you have received a high enough score (70%), you can generate your own certificate. To find out if you are eligible for a certificate, click on the "Progress" tab. Once you have earned a certificate, you can get a copy of the certificate by going to your edX dashboard and click on the blue button “View Certificate.” You can then share and print the certificate. For more information, please read the edX Learner’s Guide here.
Multiple Choice Questions
Q. How do I submit an answer?
A. Click on your selected answer. Then press "check." If it's correct, a green check will appear. If it's incorrect, a red X will appear.
Q. How can I learn why an answer is correct or incorrect?
A. After you are done submitting your response, you can click on "Show Answer" to get an explanation of the possible answers.
Discussion Board
Q. How can I follow a thread in the Discussion Board?
A. Click on the grey star icon in the top right hand corner of the post.
Q. I only want to view the threads I'm following. Is that possible?
A. In the Discussion Board, click on “Show all Discussions” at the top of the list of threads. From the drop-down menu select “Posts I'm Following”. When you are ready to see all posts again, click on “Posts I'm Following”. From the drop-down menu select “Show All Discussions”.
Q. How can I follow a particular person in the Discussion Board?
A. The edX platform does not currently offer this function. But there is a way for you to see threads with contributions by a specific participant. Just click on that person's username near the top of a post or reply. That link opens a page where you can view recent activity by the participant. You can use your browser to bookmark this page.
Q. I posted a question in the Discussion Board. How will I know if someone responds?
A. When you start a new thread, it will automatically be marked as a discussion to follow. You can get updates about all the threads you follow by going to the Discussion Board Home and clicking on the check box for “receive update”. You only need to do this once. After that, you will receive a daily email digest about activity from posts you are following.
Q. I found a post that I think is inappropriate. What should I do?
A. You can “flag” the post. A Course Staff member will review these flagged posts.
edX Platform
Q. Who can I contact if I have a question or problem?
A. For questions regarding the edX platform, you can contact them through the help tab on the left side of the page. For questions about the course, go to the Logistics Discussion Forum.
Q. How do I watch the videos?
A. You can access all the videos for each Unit in the Course section.
Q. For technical reasons, I can't watch the videos in Course. Can I download them?
A. If you look directly below the video frame, you will see a link for downloading the file.
Q. I'm experiencing technical problems that appear to be related to the platform (new posts won't appear in the Discussion Board, I'm getting 404 errors, etc.). What should I do?
A. Please use the Support tab on the left hand side of the screen to report this problem directly to the edX team.
Q. I'm experiencing a problem related to content in the project (I found an error in the transcript, I'm having a problem with a self-assessment, video, text, etc.) What should I do?
A. Please take a screen shot and notify the Course Staff by posting in the Course Logistics Board.
Q. How do I know how well I'm performing in the course?
A. Then you can click on 'Progress' and you will see how much of the course you have completed. Completing 70% of the course content will earn you a certificate of completion.
Q. What is UTC? And can I specify my preferred time zone?
A. The edX platform uses Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) as a default. However, you can change this by going to Account Settings and selecting your time zone.