Product Questions
  1. What makes up an Aplia course? How does Aplia work with my textbook?
  2. What disciplines do your products cover?
  3. What sets Aplia apart from other textbook publishers' online materials?
  4. Can I modify the content in a course?
  5. Can I use this as my course management system (CMS)? How well is Aplia integrated with Blackboard or WebCT?
  6. I can't make my students buy both a textbook and Aplia. Do you have a solution?
  7. Do any print materials accompany Aplia products? If so, do the products come on CD-ROM?
  8. How do I adopt Aplia for my students?
  9. How much time will it take to incorporate Aplia into my courses?
  10. Is Aplia accessible to students with disabilities?
  11. Can instructors or students change the threshold used to determine whether or not a question is included in a review?
Technology and Support Questions
  1. What system configuration do my students and I need to use Aplia?
  2. How do I sign in for the first time?
  3. What plug-ins do my students and I need, and where do we get them?
  4. How reliable is your system? Will I experience any downtime?
  5. What if my students require technical support? What if I need help?
  6. How do I extend a due date for a student?
  7. Can I see a student's activity on aplia.com?

Product Questions

  1. What makes up an Aplia course? How does Aplia work with my textbook?
    The core elements of our courses include:
    • Interactive, automatically graded problem sets
    • An easy-to-use course management system (CMS)
    • Personalized customer support
    • A digital textbook (for most courses)
    Aplia produces content that maps directly to the textbook in a given course. Aplia's integrated textbook solution maximizes flexibility and can replace the physical textbook altogether. Let us know which text you are using, and we can help tailor an Aplia course to meet your teaching needs and style.
  2. What disciplines do your products cover?
    Aplia offers products for a variety of disciplines, such as: accounting, biology, business communication, business law, developmental English, economics, finance, history logic, statistics and taxation. For a full list of our products, please visit our home page and view the demos.
  3. What sets Aplia apart from other textbook publishers' online materials?
    Many publishers do not invest significant resources in their online materials. Textbook content is often repurposed without modification for the online world. By contrast, our content is developed from the ground up to be interactive and engaging. Because Aplia's business is focused solely on providing a quality online experience, we are committed to ensuring that our website is always accessible.
  4. Can I modify the content in a course?
    Yes. You can modify both the questions and the answers of the chapter assignments in Aplia's Assignment Library. You can also add your own questions as well as delete existing questions.
  5. Can I use this as my course management system (CMS)? How well is Aplia integrated with Blackboard or WebCT?
    While Aplia's main focus is content, Aplia also provides you with a CMS that allows you to add course materials, communicate with your students, and quickly monitor student performance. We also have single sign-on capabilities with Learning Management Systems and grade exports that can be easily imported into LMSs. Please contact your Cengage digital sales manager or sales rep for more information.
  6. I can't make my students buy both a textbook and Aplia. Do you have a solution?
    Yes. Instructors can offer their students several options for incorporating Aplia, their course materials, and their textbook into packages that fit a variety of price points and learning styles. Our solutions can be used as material that complements the textbook or even as a complete package that replaces the traditional textbook altogether. Click here for more information or contact your Cengage account manager for more details.
  7. Do any print materials accompany Aplia products? If so, do the products come on CD-ROM?
    Aplia's products are designed to run effectively on any Internet browser for use in your class, with no files to print or CD-ROMs to insert. The website allows Aplia's content to be dynamically generated. This means we can provide you with our most up-to-date content and tools for use in your class.
  8. How do I adopt Aplia for my students?
    Instructors adopt Aplia products similar to the way they adopt a textbook, and students pay for the service on a per-term subscription basis. Aplia can be purchased as a bundle with certain textbooks or as a standalone product in your school's bookstore. Your students may also purchase access to Aplia from aplia.com after your course is set up.
  9. How much time will it take to incorporate Aplia into my courses?
    Incorporating Aplia into your courses is simple and quick—you can create a course in minutes. Your Cengage digital soultions manager will help you integrate Aplia into your courses and personally ensure your success. According to a recent survey, nearly 90% of our recurring users found Aplia either somewhat easy or easy to use. Our course creation process is so easy and efficient that you can adopt Aplia at any time—even if your book order has already been placed. Contact your Cengage account manager for more details.
  10. Is Aplia accessible to students with disabilities?
    Cengage Learning and the Aplia team are committed to helping students with physical challenges and to improving the accessibility of our online products. If you are using a screen reader, you should be able to access all pages of the Aplia application except for the homework. Screen readers may be able to access to some portion of Aplia's homework, but this functionality is not fully supported.

    To learn more about how students with disabilities can use Aplia right now, please view the Aplia Accessibility Solutions, which gives detailed information on zooming, screen magnification, printing, screen readers, e-book use, videos, and other resources.

    To learn more details about Aplia's accessibility, please view the Aplia Voluntary Product Accessibility Template.
  11. Can instructors or students change the threshold used to determine whether or not a question is included in a review?
    Instructors and students can't customize the threshold. We've done some data analysis to determine the best overall threshold so that students aren't overwhelmed with questions, but at the same time, get the targeted materials they need.
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Technology and Support Questions

  1. What system configuration do my students and I need to use Aplia?
    When first registering to use Aplia, both instructors and students are prompted to run a configuration test to ensure that they have all of the necessary technology to run the Aplia site effectively. See System Requirements for a detailed listing of our platform and browser requirements.
  2. How do I sign in for the first time?
    Please follow these instructions to set up your account at Aplia for the first time:

    1. Go to www.aplia.com
    2. Click the System Configuration Test link below the Sign In and Register sections to make sure you can access all of the features on Aplia's website. This takes just a few seconds and tells you how to update your browser settings if necessary.
    3. Return to www.aplia.com
    4. To register, click Create a New Account. Then choose Instructor Account and follow the registration instructions to complete your registration.
  3. What plug-ins do my students and I need, and where do we get them?
    The most important plug-in needed is Adobe Flash Player. Most newer browsers include Flash with standard installation. If instructors and students don't have Flash or need to upgrade, they can download it free of charge from the Adobe website. It takes just minutes to download and install.
  4. How reliable is your system? Will I experience any downtime?
    Although we can't guarantee 100% uptime in the system (no one can do that), we have procedures in place to ensure that our website stays online with as little interruption as possible. Aplia schedules weekly maintenance each Saturday from 12:00 to 4:00 AM Pacific Time to optimize site performance and minimize impact on users.

    Some of the things that make our site reliable and secure include:
    • Live, on-site server administration 24/7
    • Site redundancy and load balancing
    • Security mechanisms on all components
    • Daily data backups

    We do everything in our power to make our product as dependable as possible. If you experience any technical difficulties, please e-mail us and we'll promptly look into the issue.
  5. What if my students require technical support? What if I need help?
    • Aplia has an e-mail support form that students can access from their Aplia website. They will receive help within one business day of Aplia receiving their e-mail.
    • In addition to an e-mail support form, we offer instructors dedicated phone support.
  6. How do I extend a due date for a student?
    Please follow these steps to extend the due date of a single assignment for one or more students:

    1. Log into your course.
    2. Navigate to the Administration tab.
    3. Click the Adjust button under Manual Adjustments.
    4. Next to the assignment, choose "Extend Due Date". You can extend an individual due date on any graded assignment, regardless of whether or not the due date has passed.
    5. To extend the due date for one student, click on the due date next to the student's name. To grant multiple extensions at once, use the checkboxes to the left of each student's name.
    6. Select a new due date for the student. You will see the student's extended due date in the Due Date column, along with a time stamp of the change. The student will see the extension in his or her own Aplia account, but all other student accounts will be unaffected.
    7. You can remove an extension by clicking the student's due date again. Removing an extension will set the student's individual due date back to the due date observed by the rest of the class.
  7. Can I see a student's activity on aplia.com?
    Yes. Aplia records login and logout activity as well as answer submissions on a question-by-question basis for each time that students click the Submit button.

    Aplia was developed this way so that students don't need to worry about losing their work on an entire problem set. If an error does occur when submitting an answer, students are automatically directed to an error page instead of the next question.

    You can obtain an activity report for a student from the Course Home page by clicking the Manage Students button and then the Activity Report link next to the student's name. The report will show you the time at which answers were submitted for each question. Please note that if a particular question or problem set does not appear on an activity report, it means that Aplia has no record of the student attempting the question or problem set.
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