Assuring quality, assuring success

Quality Assurance Engineer. That is my official title here at Advanced Academics. When I tell friends and family what I do, the first response usually is “I didn’t know you were an engineer!” Well, I’m not. I actually graduated from college with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Information Systems, no engineering involved. However, after I explain WHAT I do, the reason for my title becomes much clearer.

As a QA Engineer my job is to test all applications within our proprietary online learning management system, ROADS. I test to make sure everything is working as it should, when it should. While I test the system from the perspective of all our users I feel the most important perspective is that of the student. As a student, I’ll access our platform at work and also from home using my practically extinct HP computer and Cox DSL. Many times I log in late at night and on weekends, like many of our students might do. I read the course content, complete homework assignments, take the tests and view the videos. I chat with our teachers and support staff using Instant Help. I’ll ask them to diagram things for me using the whiteboard, and talk with me using audio chat. I also send teachers ClassMail messages and post discussions threads in their classes. I do everything a typical student might do. Consider me the mystery shopper of online learning.

Of course, all of this is done to assure quality for all users: administrators, teachers, school proctors and of course students. After all, what good is a system if it doesn’t work or if it doesn’t make sense? Online learning at its core should be about enabling and enhancing the learning experience for all students, not the albatross that holds them back. Putting me in the shoes of our students is the best way to ensure that it is indeed "Online learning simplified."


Posted By:
Som Carman
Quality Assurance Engineer
Advanced Academics, Inc.