On Jan. 18, Min-Sun Son logged on to Telesis and made a bit of campus history. Son, a dual-degree undergraduate in biomedical and mechanical engineering, became the 1 millionth log-in on the University’s Web-based course-management system since its spring 2004 inception.
Administrative Information Systems developed Telesis for instructors and students to make available online course content, including course descriptions, meeting times, syllabi, assignments and library resources.
It also offers communication tools, such as threaded online discussion, announcements, e-mail and real-time online chat.
The system provides an electronic grade book and attendance-management tool and is integrated with course registration and student information systems to provide automatic updating of student course rosters.
Instructors can customize content through Telesis. Ruth J. Okamoto, D.Sc., assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, added topics and assignments linked to scheduled class meetings and three guest faculty included in the course community.
“She has taken full advantage of the system’s many features and in doing so, demonstrates how technology can support the interaction of faculty and students,” said Dennis J. Martin, associate vice chancellor and associate dean in Arts & Sciences, who has led the team developing the tool.
“Each semester, I’ve integrated more of Telesis’ features — including submitting assignments electronically,” Okamoto said.
Last semester, there were more than 300,000 log-ins, representing nearly all academic divisions. About 30 percent of faculty have explored Telesis, and more than 300 instructors use the system.
For more information, e-mail telesis@wustl.edu.