News
Date: 2020-03-16

SDSU Georgia Operating on Virtual Learning Platforms Since March 2, 2020

SDSU Georgia’s spring semester started on January 20, 2020. After last month’s announcement that our partner university (TSU, ISU and GTU) facilities would not be available for instruction due to COVID-19 related sanitization operations, on March 2, 2020, SDSU Georgia moved to virtual learning. The transition has been seamless.

The cornerstones of SDSU Georgia’s virtual learning are the site-licensed software provided to the faculty and students for online learning. These include:

  • Blackboard Learn is a virtual learning environment and learning management system that is used for instruction at SDSU. This is a web-based server software that allows integration with student information systems and authentication protocols. Blackboard is generally utilized for communication with the students, sharing course content, assignments, and grading. Blackboard learning modules and a media library are now actively used by the professors to post online lectures for students to access.
  • Zoom is another tool that is actively used for online learning by SDSU Georgia. Zoom allows students to ask questions using chat, use reactions to engage with the audience, and utilize the “raise your hand” feature in order to ask questions during the lectures.
  • SDSU Georgia continues to Turnitin for submitting assignments, which is used in general instruction as well.
  • Respondus Test Software, Respondus LockDown Browser, and Respondus Monitor are used for conducting exams and tests online. It is designed to help prevent online test-takers from accessing applications and websites on their computers, as well as printing and copying the test while it is running. 
  • MATLAB is a desktop programming environment for algorithm development, data analysis, visualization and numerical computation that is also actively used by SDSU Georgia.
  • YouTube videos are also used as a non-interactive resource.

SDSU Georgia students are able to utilize all campus applications using their active SDSUid that gives them access to SDSU’s Office 365 Portal, provided by Microsoft Office.  SDSU Georgia students are also eligible to install other Microsoft software applications like Project Professional, Visio Professional, Visual Studio Enterprise, Windows 10, SQL Server 2019 Developer. More information can be found at the SDSU Student Resources for Virtual Learning website.

SDSU Georgia’s administration and faculty are working hard to ensure the uninterrupted delivery of online classes while SDSU Georgia students are advised to stay home to help preserve their safety, health, well-being, and success.

After two weeks of virtual learning, we are glad to report that our professors are effectively using virtual learning platforms to conduct their classes on-line, and feedback from SDSU-G students is very positive. On March 16, 2020, SDSU’s San Diego campus also paused Face-to-Face classes (including labs) and moved to virtual learning as well.