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Deliver courses to your constituents and target audiences, no matter how diverse and geographically dispersed. Share courses with other affiliates. License your proprietary course content. Take advantage of MacroVOLT’s advantages.
- How much can an Affiliate charge for a course?
- How much does Macro International charge for people to take courses?
- Computer-mediated course development and delivery systems are expensive and require a large upfront investment. Why is MacroVOLT™ different?
- What is the charge for the extensive computer storage space necessary for each Affiliate’s materials and data?
- Are there license fees for the software?
- If MacroVOLT™ collects funds for us, do you deduct any fees for the service?
- What Web address do our students and staff members use to reach our courses on MacroVOLT™?
- Can we use our own servers to present MacroVOLT™ courses?
- How is the confidentiality of our courses and student data maintained on the MacroVOLT™ Central Servers?
- How will our MacroVOLT™ course be physically protected from accidental deletion or other mishaps?
- We have course content, but we do not have the time or staff members to convert the course to MacroVOLT™. Does Macro International provide course development services?
- We wish to incorporate recorded audio or video presentations into our MacroVOLT™ courses. However, we do not have professional audio or video capability, and buying that service is very expensive. Does MacroVOLT™ have a solution for us?
- We have a good deal of video footage of educational presentation material, but it needs to be edited. Does MacroVOLT™ offer video editing facilities to Affiliates?
- Can we use MacroVOLT™ technical assistance to have our draft courses reviewed and edited?
- We want to use professional voices for our audio introductions and transitions. However, professional voice talent is expensive, and we do not have enough work to hire these individuals for a full day or half a day. Is there a solution?
- Our instructors are new to distance learning and multimedia instruction, and we need more in-depth assistance. Can you provide training in distance learning and in the use of MacroVOLT™?
- What obligations does a MacroVOLT™ Affiliate have?
How much can an Affiliate charge for a course?
You may decide how much to charge. MacroVOLT™ implements your educational program and policies; it does not make or limit them.
How much does Macro International charge for people to take courses?
MacroVOLT™ charges are incurred at the time students are registered for each course.
Computer-mediated course development and delivery systems are expensive and require a large upfront investment. Why is MacroVOLT™ different?
A tremendous effort was required to create MacroVOLT™—millions of dollars worth of development and testing alone. However, whereas other organizations recover their investment from a relatively small number of schools, companies, and other institutional users, we have adopted the Microsoft approach of spreading the cost over a large number of users—the millions of students who will use the system. If $10 million were divided among 1,000 institutions, it would cost them $10,000 each. But if the same cost is divided among 1 million student course deliveries, the cost is only $10 each.
What is the charge for the extensive computer storage space necessary for each Affiliate’s materials and data?
None. All storage costs are absorbed as part of the per student, per course fee. Use as much storage space as you need.
Are there license fees for the software?
There are no separate license fees. All costs are embedded in the per student, per course charges, plus charges for any additional support services that you desire. Each MacroVOLT™ Affiliate receives a royalty-free license for its staff members and students to use the MacroVOLT™ software. This license is valid as long as the organization maintains its Affiliate status.
If MacroVOLT™ collects funds for us, do you deduct any fees for the service?
We pass on to you all bank charges on credit card transactions. Other than that, we take no percentage or fee for the collection of funds for you. Each month, we pay you the money we collect on your behalf, less any bank charges. Generally, we send you an invoice for our other fees rather than deducting them from these collections. We send you a check or make an electronic deposit on your behalf for the collection, and you send us a check or make an electronic deposit for our fees. This helps us in keeping track of the funds and in completing our audits.
What Web address do our students and staff members use to reach our courses on MacroVOLT™?
Each MacroVOLT™ Affiliate is given a unique URL (Web address) by Macro International. These addresses take the form of [yourname].macrovolt.com where [yourname] can be anything you choose.
If your organization is Adams College, your URL might be: AdamsCollege.macrovolt.com
If your company is the Creative Corporation, you might choose: CreativeCorporation.macrovolt.com
Or, you could use an acronym like CC.macrovolt.com.
Can we use our own servers to present MacroVOLT™ courses?
Not at this time. MacroVOLT™ is an incredibly complex system that requires five servers (the main application server, a media server, a search engine server, a database server, and a secure payment server). We would be unable to provide the technical assistance necessary to guide your Web staff in setting up these servers because we charge no upfront fees. In addition, extensive bandwidth is required to run the system, and use of your own servers could slow down your regular Internet accessibility and network functioning.
Further, because MacroVOLT™ uses audio and video media as well as live operation, enormous bandwidth is necessary, which few organizations have unless they have special needs such as ours. Last, although the software has been developed by Macro International staff, we also use licensed (and expensive) software packages and middleware from others. Organizations that want to use their own servers would have to negotiate and pay for their own licenses—an expensive and time-consuming process.
How is the confidentiality of our courses and student data maintained on the MacroVOLT™ Central Servers?
A large proportion of Macro International's work is for the Federal Government, which has very strict confidentiality standards. We are required to conform to the Federal Privacy Act, which states that breaches of privacy are Federal felonies. We have processed records for more than 3 million individuals in the past few years. Not only have we never had a breach of privacy of our systems, we have never had a complaint. All of our staff members with access to our computer systems must complete a specialized training program in privacy and security and also must sign an agreement acknowledging that a privacy breach may be a Federal crime.
All of our servers and storage equipment run in access-controlled locations that are protected 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services performs a security and privacy audit on our computer infrastructure and facilities each year. Their experts not only review our systems, but also try to hack into them to uncover vulnerabilities. There have been no successful break-ins.
Each Affiliate's stored courses, administrative records, and student records are isolated from all other Affiliates' materials. However, the Affiliate is responsible for ensuring privacy and security as a result of actions of the administrator as well as those to whom the administrator gives access.
How will our MacroVOLT™ course be physically protected from accidental deletion or other mishaps?
We maintain a state-of-the-art backup system for all courses and student records. This includes the finished courses and courses in various stages of development. Digital material is backed up onto archived digital tape every day. At the end of each week, a set of tapes is transferred to another physical location and stored in a fireproof safe. Should there be a fire or disaster at the main MacroVOLT™ Server Center in Rockville, MD, we would go to our offsite fireproof safe, where we have complete course records that are, at most, 1 week old.
Some Affiliates may want to maintain their own records of their courses as a backup to our archival system. For those Affiliates, we make monthly DVD copies of their courses and send them to the Affiliate or the Affiliate’s archive designee. There is a small charge to produce each DVD to cover the materials, labor, and shipping and handling.
We have course content, but we do not have the time or staff members to convert the course to MacroVOLT™. Does Macro International provide course development services?
Yes, we do this for many of our Affiliates. Macro International also can develop the testing or certification part of your course since our staff members include nationally renowned experts in evaluation and assessment. Contact your MacroVOLT™ Affiliate Advisor for more details and a cost estimate. In some cases, Macro International can develop an Affiliate’s course at a much lower cost than the Affiliate itself.
We wish to incorporate recorded audio or video presentations into our MacroVOLT™ courses. However, we do not have professional audio or video capability, and buying that service is very expensive. Does MacroVOLT™ have a solution for us?
Yes. Many organizations that are new to distance learning and computerized presentations face this challenge. There are a number of options.
- You can give us a course, in whatever form you have it, and let us review it. We will give you a price quotation to transform your materials into an online course.
- If you can organize your own course but cannot create, edit, and electronically prepare your audio or video materials, we have an award-winning production team that can either create your audiovisual materials or work with your staff in doing so. (See our awards page for more information.) We also can provide training to your staff members so that you can develop your own audiovisual materials. Consult your MacroVOLT™ Affiliate Advisor for details.
- We can send a small crew to your location and record video footage of your finest instructors—usually in front of a class.
- Other Affiliates have staff or students who have basic video skills but do not have the recording and editing equipment. We have seven portable video equipment packages, including cameras, audio equipment, lighting, and utilities, that we can lease to Affiliates at a fraction of the market rates for rental of such equipment.
We have a good deal of video footage of educational presentation material, but it needs to be edited. Does MacroVOLT™ offer video editing facilities to Affiliates?
We have a state-of-the-art digital video studio in Rockville, MD, with a complete digital editing suite. This includes full special effects, sound sweetening, and other capabilities as well as all the hardware and software tools of modern audiovisual production. Affiliates may send their staff to the Rockville, MD, facility by appointment, and we will provide them with the editing suite and the tools required to produce the final product. MacroVOLT™ videographers and video editors are available to provide technical assistance.
The cost of using the digital editing suite for Affiliates represents a more than 80 percent discount from our normal editing suite rentals for general video production.
If our audiovisual studio staff works with your staff person, there is a charge for professional labor. However, if you use our staff, then our licenses can be used for your production, including thousands of musical bridges, sound effects, backgrounds, and interludes; tens of thousands of royalty-free graphics; and our entire b-roll (stock footage) library. Commercial video studios typically charge every time you use their licensed items; however, we can provide them to you for free if we work on that part of the production. (Our licenses do not allow us to simply turn them over to you to use.)
Can we use MacroVOLT™ technical assistance to have our draft courses reviewed and edited?
Yes. MacroVOLT™ Affiliates can use the services of our award-winning editorial department. (See our awards page for more information.) Consult your MacroVOLT™ Affiliate Advisor for technical assistance rates. Call toll free: 1-866-MAC-VOLT.
We want to use professional voices for our audio introductions and transitions. However, professional voice talent is expensive, and we do not have enough work to hire these individuals for a full day or half a day. Is there a solution?
Yes. Macro International has professional voice talent and narrators on our staff, some of whom have had their own commercial radio shows. We have both female and male voice talent. You can employ them for as little as 1 hour if you wish. If you complete all of your recording at one time, even a large course can be finished in a few hours.
Our instructors are new to distance learning and multimedia instruction, and we need more in-depth assistance. Can you provide training in distance learning and in the use of MacroVOLT™?
We can and do frequently. As a matter of fact, we use MacroVOLT™ to conduct such trainings. This way, we can save travel time and costs as neither your faculty nor our staff have to travel. We design the curriculum specifically for your staff based on their level of experience, what they would like to learn, and what kinds of courses they will develop. Typical courses of this kind cost less than $1,200 for 8 hours of instruction in four 2-hour blocks.
What obligations does a MacroVOLT™ Affiliate have?
The obligations of all MacroVOLT™ Affiliates are spelled out in the MacroVOLT™ Affiliate agreement between Macro International and the Affiliate. The most important obligations are:
- Ensuring that you have full rights to use the materials in your courses and that you are not violating copyrights or other property rights.
- Ensuring that your course materials do not invade anyone’s privacy and are not slanderous.
- Managing your staff in the development of courses.
- Providing instructors where they are required.
- Administering your courses and student registration (unless the course is open to all and you authorize us to administer the online registration process).
- Setting your registration and other fees for courses.
- Responding to students’ educational and pedagogical inquiries. If you use the “Ask-an-Instructor” capability of MacroVOLT™, you must provide staff members or consultants to answer questions in a timely manner.
- Conducting your own marketing and promotion. (The Macro International marketing department can provide these services upon Affiliate request.)
- Keeping your administrator passwords secure and granting access only to staff members you select for this purpose.
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