The Hebrew University and ETeacherBiblic

The Hebrew University & eTeacherBiblical: A Fatally Flawed Experiment
Academic Excellence vs the Profit Motive

Appendix B – Biblical Hebrew A & Biblical Greek A 2016-05-22 Semester
© 2018 Philomena M French Ph.D. Cert.Ed
“This will be on her” 1

2017-02-17 An eTeacher Group Technician Apportioning Blame To A Student
Prevented By Technical Difficulties From Connecting Successfully To An Examination
The statistics and information contained in this appendix are taken from the Biblical Hebrew
A semester for English speakers and from the Biblical Greek A semester for English, Spanish
and Portuguese speakers both of which started on 2016-05-22. Charts detailing attendance
levels are included. Additional charts showing examination results are also included for
Biblical Hebrew A students. These statistics are essential in order to assess whether the
Biblical Hebrew courses promoted and sold by the Israel Institute of Biblical Studies, as the
Institute frequently claims in its online advertising campaigns, can legitimately be classified
as “easy and effective”.
Eight Major Questions Highlighted By The Classes Under Consideration
In addition to the question of whether the eTeacher Group’s courses can legitimately be
classified as “easy and effective”, eight major issues are raised by these classes:
1) The procedures when no student attends a scheduled lesson.
2) The procedures when no student attends a scheduled lesson for three consecutive classes.
3) The procedures for making recorded lessons available to students.
4) The procedures to ensure that students are offered all 30 classes scheduled to be taught
during each semester.
5) Availability of recordings and course pages.
6) Class sizes.
7) The procedures when there is a technical difficulty which prevents a student from
connecting to an end of semester examination.
8) The location and academic qualifications of the teachers who are conducting the classes.
Each of these issues will be mentioned briefly in this supplement and considered in greater
depth in the first section of the full report.
The eTeacher Group never makes clear to students either orally or in writing, before
they pay for a course or after they have registered, any of the following procedures:
1
An eTeacher Group’s technician referring to a student who was unable to access an examination room cf Page 8 of the current appendix
1
1) The procedures when no student attends a scheduled lesson
Six Biblical Hebrew A classes were offered by teachers which were not attended by any students. 11
Biblical Greek A classes did not attract the attendance of any students. This is not an infrequent
occurrence. As an example, on 28 November 2017 across all eTeacher Group courses for which
classes were opened 16 classes were offered which no student attended. In these circumstances
teachers are told to allow 15 minutes for students to arrive. Then they must close the class. Earlier
this year on 8 January 2018 a teacher logged into an empty class with the immortal words “Shalom
there how is everyone? I hope you are all well. Oh there is nobody in class.” This teacher left a
message in the chat box which illustrates the instructions given to teachers. If no one shows up within
15 minutes “I will close the class”. The teacher’s name has been edited out of the screen shot.
When a class is closed due to non attendance teachers do not make a recording of the lesson material
contained in their Teacher Instructions nor is an alternative lesson recording made available to
students. The students assigned to the group therefore lose the class completely. This is shown by the
following groups:
BHA1111 three classes were not attended by students so only 27 classes were available. In the event
the final class was never offered and so students were only able to access a total of 26 recordings and
had only been offered a total of 29 classes.
BHA1113 three classes were not attended by students and so only 27 recordings were available.
BGA118 four classes were not attended by students so only 26 recordings were available.
BGAes62 four classes were not attended by students so only 26 recordings were available.
BGAes61 three consecutive classes were not attended by students and only 14 recordings were
available.
2
A particularly ridiculous scenario occurred during the November 2016 semester on 18 December
2016. A student assigned to BHA1176 logged into class after 20 minutes and was clearly visible on
the list of participants. As soon as the student logged in the teacher announced “I’m closing the class”
which he proceeded to do without addressing the student directly. The student, unsurprisingly, was
not impressed by this procedure.
Students are never informed at any stage that failure to log into a class within a stipulated time
period will result in the class being abandoned and no recording being made available.
2) The procedures when no student attends a scheduled lesson for three consecutive
classes
When no student attends class for three consecutive lessons the course is cancelled. Students
are not warned that this is about to happen, they are not informed when it has happened and,
unless they ask to be moved, they are left assigned to the cancelled group until the end of the
semester. This is the final course page of BGAes61 which shows 5 students still assigned to
the cancelled course. When a course is cancelled the teacher’s name is removed from the
course page. 17 classes were offered, 14 were attended, 13 were never offered. All student
names and avatars have been edited to protect their identities.
The eTeacher Group’s policy and attitude towards students can be gauged from an exchange between
a student who was assigned to BHA1176 and a customer care adviser. This group was also cancelled
due to non attendance. On 26 July 2016 the customer care adviser Sleibi (TS) Khader informed a
student who asked for recordings “We change your group to Group No 1177 – Monday 18:10 because
Group No 1176 – Sunday 18:00 was cancelled because the students did not attend to that class for 3
weeks.” Three students were left languishing in BHA1176 until the scheduled end of the course. At
that time they were sent a standard eTeacher email
3
Hello (student name),
Congratulations on successfully completing eTeacher's Biblical Hebrew A!
This is a tremendous achievement which you surely would like to share with your friends and family.
To this end, we would like to invite you to download your Certificate of Course Completion from your online learning environment. We
hope you will print out your certificate and display it prominently! We hope that you have enjoyed the course and that you will continue
studying with us in the future.
Sincerely,
eTeacherGroup.com
Students are not made aware, at any stage, of the eTeacher Group’s regulations leading
to the cancellation of ongoing courses.
3) The procedures for making recorded lessons available to students

Most of the time lesson recordings are uploaded to the course pages approximately 24 to 48
hours after the lesson has been given. However there are occasions when this does not
happen and sometimes the disruption can be significant as will be illustrated in the
forthcoming report.
BHA1075 the recording of lesson 12 was never uploaded for students.
BHA1089 a recording from a completely different course was uploaded instead of lesson 7.
A recording of lesson 30, which was a make-up lesson, was not available for students to
download as the course page had been removed from students’ lockers before the lesson was
given.
BGA119 the recording of lesson 25 was never uploaded for students.
BGAes62 the recording of lesson 21 was never uploaded for students.
BGApt50 the recording of lesson 15 was never uploaded for students.
4) The procedures to ensure that students are offered all 30 classes scheduled to be
taught during each semester.
Occasionally a teacher will not offer the full quota of 30 lessons. During the semester under
discussion, this occurred in two classes BHA 1077 and BHA 1111. In order to fulfil its
obligations to students, approximately two weeks before a semester is due to end a standard
email is sent to all teachers. For the semester under discussion the standard email read as
follows:
4
Hello (teacher’s name)
The following classes will end on February 4, 2017.

Please schedule makeup lessons as needed in the Teacher's Office in order to complete all the lessons. You can schedule makeup lessons up
to four weeks after the end of the semester.
Semester Course No. of Lessons that Took No. of Weeks Remaining

Place
2016-05-Biblical Biblical Hebrew A (class number) 28.0 of 30 2
Thank you,
Product Team
After the email is sent out no further attempt is made by administrative staff to ensure that
students receive all the lessons they have paid for. On 4 March 2016 one student assigned to
BHA1077 queried the number of lessons with customer services. The student wrote “I am
trying to get the recorded lesson 29. We never had lesson 30? Thank you if you could please
advise”. On 6 March 2016 Odeh (TS) Saher replied “You can get the recording for Lesson
#29 from the following link – the link was included in the reply. By this stage the course
page had been removed from student lockers so that students who wished to could no longer
access the recordings or check to see whether a final lesson had, in fact, been given. The
student’s question about the final lesson was ignored and no lesson 30 was ever offered.
5) Availability of recordings and course pages
This issue has been highlighted in the section above by the query sent to customer care by a
student assigned to BHA1077. The query was made approximately five weeks after the last
lesson had been given and four weeks after the scheduled end of the course. By this stage the
student was unable to access the course page as it had been removed from student lockers and
eTeacher does not operate an archive system which will allow students to access their course
pages after they have been removed from the main locker area. The same difficulty also
surfaced during BHA1089. The final lesson, which was a make-up class, was given on 10
February. By this date the course page had already been removed from student lockers and
only one student was able to attend with the assistance of a member of the technical support
staff. If students were aware that the lesson had been given and required a recording, they
would need to request the link from customer care.
5
6) Class sizes
The eTeacher Group’s online promotions consistently promise that students will be assigned
to small classes. On the Institute’s web site potential customers are reassured that they will
be able to “Join a course with intimate classes that allow the teacher to focus on each
student”.
This description is applicable to the Biblical Greek A Courses being assessed. During the
May 2016 semester class sizes did not exceed 6 and most classes were attended by no more
than 3 students. The Biblical Hebrew A groups were not as “intimate” – certainly not at the
beginning of the course although by the end they could certainly be described as “intimate”
as most students had given up by that stage. Attendance at 7 out of the 13 initial classes was
10 or over with 15 students attending BHA1077. 13 students attended the second lesson of
the BHA1076 group and 13 students attended the third lesson of the BHA1082 group.
A limit of 16 assigned students per group is allowed under the eTeacher system. This can
hardly be described as a “small” or “intimate” number of students. For the 2016-05 Biblical
Hebrew A semester initial reminder emails sent to students registered to 5 groups exceeded
that number:
A1078 – 20, A1077 – 18, A1082 – 18, A1076 – 17, A1089 – 17
7) The procedures when there is a technical difficulty which prevents a student from
connecting to an end of semester examination
Under the eTeacher system, the examination room is entered via the same link on the course
page used to access the course lessons. This can sometimes lead to confusion with students
who visit the course page noticing that a lesson is scheduled, logging in and having to be
2
https://israelbiblicalstudies.com/how-it-works/
6
shooed out of the examination room. If more than one student is scheduled to take an
examination on the same day then students have been known to enter the examination room
before the first examination has been completed.
A particularly worrying aspect is highlighted by the experience of one student assigned to
group BHA1082. The student had paid a considerable sum of money to take a course leading
to academic credits and was keen to take the examination. Technical issues prevented the
student from connecting to the examination room successfully although the student could
clearly be seen on the list of participants for over 8 minutes before the teacher ended the
session.
The teacher was sent a standard reminder email prior the end of the semester. This email
instructs teachers to schedule examinations a week after the final lesson i.e. when the course
page is still in the student lockers. Student names and IDs have been removed in order to
protect the identities of the students.
Hello ,
I would like to remind you to schedule an exam with the following academic students:
Name ID Semester Course

2016-05-Biblical Biblical Hebrew B (Fr) 55
2016-05-Biblical Biblical Hebrew A 1082
The date of the exam should be one week after the last lesson of the course.
Please remind your academic students about the test at least 2 weeks before it takes place. You can find the exams in the content server.
In order to open a class for the test, you need to use the “Substitutions and Changes” system in your Teacher's Office.
Please send me all the grades of your students up to one week after the test has been held.
If one of these students is not active, please reply to this email and let me know.
Please access the content server for additional detailed instructions regarding the exam.
Thank you,
Product Team
Four students from the group had paid to take the academic course leading to academic
credits. Only one student took, or as it turned out attempted to take, the examination. The
examination was scheduled for two weeks after the end of the semester. By this time the
course page had been removed from student lockers and so the student was unable to access
7
the examination room from the student locker. The link had to be sent to the student via
email. The teacher had scheduled the examination to take place on the very last day that the
course page was available to him in his teacher’s office. The examination room was open for
a total of just over 37 minutes. 14 minutes after the teacher opened it a technician logged in.
The teacher had already attempted to email the student with the link to the examination room.
The transcription taken from the conversation between the teacher and the technician needs
no comment as it illustrates graphically the culture that prevails within the eTeacher Group
towards the students who pay heavily for its services and the teachers who deliver them. The
fact that the teacher was concerned about ensuring that he was paid for his time and was
clearly unsure of the most effective way to proceed demonstrates clearly that teachers and
students can expect no effective support from administrative staff. No attempt was made to
re-schedule the examination so the student lost the chance to gain academic credits without
paying again and retaking the course. The conversation between the teacher and the
technician concerning “who is to blame” was particularly disturbing. No student can be
expected to be responsible for technical difficulties caused by an Internet connection. The
student had an excellent attendance record and had taken and passed the mid-term
examination.
Teacher "I sent her a link two ways, on the invite and on my own email. She didn't get the link. She didn't get
the button to click on so I sent her the link the URL................ The problem is that if I can't test her today her
class is not on my page anymore so I cannot give her a test on my own. I need help or I need to use my personal
room for it............ Can you schedule another time with me without my campus manager because tomorrow is
Friday and I don't know when she would be able to do it"
Technician “...........................I just told her she will get my email now, she will check her email. She can't do it
when she's with me on the phone. She will go to the email and try to enter the class from the link to this class so
we will wait two minutes. If she didn't get in the class I will call her back.............. OK she's in the
class................. I told her if she wanted to do the exam from the phone, she said yes”.
Teacher: “We may have to reschedule.................. if she uses the phone to connect then she won't be able to
respond when she is connecting”
Technician “Yeah I know that”
Teacher: “You see that was the problem earlier. I've been trying over half an hour. Now my co-ordinator
would say well if there's no one in the class in 15 minutes you have to close. You know it's - they don't care
about the wasted time”.
Technician “It's your decision”.
Teacher: “Do you record in your log? How would it be recorded? Because if she cannot connect - it's not the
server problem is it?”
8
Technician: “No in this case we record it as the student problem not ours because as you see here the class
working and you are available so this will be on her...............So it's your decision. What you would like to do I
will just follow you. I will check with my manager too.”
Teacher: “...... I would just like you also to include the campus director in your documentation because I am
going now to ask them to pay me for this time and they are going to say they are not going to pay because you
know there was no class and no exam.......... So maybe at least with your documentation it will be explained”
Technician: “So what would you like to do?”
Teacher: “.......she's not responding well I don't know that I take responsibility for her technical problems. All
right maybe we should just close the class.”
Technician: “OK. I will try to call her back. So what would you like to tell her? You will reschedule the exam
to later on?
Teacher: “I'll try to reschedule it. It's beyond the range but I'll try to reschedule it but she has to make sure that
she has appropriate connection because I can't waste another time. I cannot waste time like this. All right?”
Techician: “OK I'll try to call her. I'll try to explain this thing and I will document everything on her
profile......”
Teacher: “Is it possible to the campus director in the documentation?”
Technician: “................all eTeacher representatives will be able to see this.”
The student eventually succeeded in accessing the class and was present for a good 8
minutes. The teacher’s and the student’s names have been edited out of the screen shot.
The student’s disappointment was apparent during the first lesson of the Biblical Hebrew B
course which followed the A course on 30 March. The teacher assigned to the B group asked
“So you didn’t take it for credit right?” The student replied “In fact I want to take the level A
for credit but for the final exam I had computer problems so I could not go into the test web
site so I cannot get the credit”. Her expression told it all. Heartbreaking.
eTeacher instructs teachers to schedule examinations one week after the final lesson has been
given. Exams are accessed from the usual class link found on the course page. Two weeks
after the final class the course page will already have been removed from the student lockers.
Therein lies a major obstacle. The student concerned lives in a remote area and, as the
9
conversation shows, can use either the telephone or the Internet but not both at the same time.
Removing course pages from teachers and students without having an archive system in place
where these pages can be easily accessed if necessary is bound to cause difficulties if it
proves to be impossible to schedule examinations within the seven days stipulated. In
addition, students pay a great deal of money for their courses and are entitled to expect access
to their course pages in perpetuity. These pages are all online on the eTeacher web site and
there is no valid reason for withdrawing access to them from the teachers who have taught
them and the students who have paid for them. When enrolling for courses students are
not informed that this will happen, neither are they given any prior notification before
their access to a course page is removed from their student locker.
The unhelpful and doctrinaire attitude towards students is reinforced by the communication
with an academic credits student who had enrolled for the 2016-09 semester. After enrolling
the student had to go to Africa and was unable to log in due to connection difficulties. The
student wrote to customer care on 31 October “I have tried to log into class from Africa to no
avail, this is because I am in Nigeria”. On 3 November a customer care adviser replied
“there’s an opportunity to freeze the course while you’re in Africa.....it can be freezed up to
six months”. On the same day the student replied “I would like to opt to freeze till end of the
month of March 2017”. On 8 November the student received the following helpful reply
“unfortunately at this point we cannot freeze your course, it is possible to freeze the course
only after ten lessons and with the attendance of 80%”. End of discussion. At what point are
students informed about this particular stipulation and where can the information be accessed
on the eTeacher web site? The information accessible through the “Hot Topics” on the
“Customer Care and Support” page which can hardly be described as comprehensive makes
no reference at all to the possibility or the procedures of freezing a course or, indeed, any of
the other issues covered by the topics under discussion. There is even advice located under
“Study Materials” “You can also visit our Online Store”. There is no evidence that “our
Online Store” actually exists.
8) The location and academic qualifications of the teachers who are conducting the
classes
To be brutally frank this is a complete nonsense although one often repeated by eTeacher in
its promotions, on its site and by its sales representatives. Courses are promoted by the
eTeacher Group as being taught by teachers based in Israel and even by teachers from the
10
Hebrew University. These teachers are “world class experts” 3 who are highly motivated and
highly qualified. The same page also declares that the classes are “small” and “intimate”.
The following screen shots are taken from an online video presented by Sophia Katz the
Content Development Manager at the Institute and which can be accessed from the Biblical
Institute’s How it Works Page 4 and also on youtube 5
“Wait, your teachers are from Israel and students study online all around the world”
All the teachers who were assigned to the Biblical Hebrew A and Biblical Greek A courses
under consideration are listed below. A representative of the Israel Institute of Biblical
Studies is invited to identify a) which teachers are located in Israel b) which teachers are from
the Hebrew University c) the teaching qualifications and the relevant graduate and post
graduate academic qualifications in Biblical scholarship possessed by each teacher d) which
teachers qualify for the designation of “world-class expert”.
Biblical Hebrew A Biblical Greek A
Joab Eilon (3 groups) Maria Chrysovergi A117, A118, A120
Michael Bellofatto (1 group) Eirini Artemi A119
Don Peterman (1 group) Angel Narro Sanchez A61es
Richard Jude Thompson (1 group) Jordi Redondo A62es
Annie Caruso (1 group) Claudio Mendes A50pt
Curtis McCorkle (1 group)
Michal Shmuel (1 group)
Chen Tytiun (1 group)
Ilan Abecassis (1 group)
Tali Oren (1 group for lessons 1-9)
Jonathan Matt (1 group for lessons 10-30)
Merav Buch (1 group)
In truth these claims are pointless. The vast majority of students who sign up to learn
Biblical Hebrew or Greek for the first time do not require as their teachers world class
3
4
5
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=8&v=F6sZ7wc75vk
11
scholars from the Hebrew University. They require experienced and patient teachers who
will lead them through the very difficult task of learning an ancient language written in an
unfamiliar script. Whether that teacher is based in Jerusalem, Manchester or Timbuktu is
completely irrelevant. Approximately half of the Biblical Hebrew teachers are not based in
Israel and a significant percentage of them are not Jewish. It does not matter. Some teachers
do, in fact, hold very distinguished academic qualifications. Others do not and, for those
teachers who are struggling, the support systems are to all intents and purposes non-existent.
The problems really start when advanced students arrive at eTeacher expecting to be taught
by instructors who are well versed in Rabbinic literature and the medieval commentators.
Instead they are likely to find themselves assigned to basic classes entrusted to teachers who
are capable of achieving very little beyond parroting back to students the Teacher Instructions
detailing the presentation for each course unit that they are expected to deliver during an
online lesson.
A Favourite Recurring Google Ad
Israeli Consumer Protection Law, 5741-1981

2 (a) A dealer shall do nothing—by an act or an omission, in writing, by word of mouth or in any
other manner—likely to mislead a consumer as to any matter material to a transaction 6
Advertising Standards Authority (United Kingdom)
“If an ad isn’t legal, decent, honest and truthful it mustn’t run.” 7
The procedures highlighted by the points just listed are all vital elements of the delivery
of the eTeacher Group’s courses and are therefore “matter material to a transaction”.
Students are not made aware of these procedures at any stage of the signing up and post
enrolment process. To comply with Israel’s Consumer Protection Legislation, students
should be made aware of these procedures prior to signing up for the eTeacher Group’s
courses. If they are not then the eTeacher Group’s Contract with students and the Terms and
Conditions it insists on imposing, which students are only given sight of after they have made
their initial payments, are invalid. Theses legal issues will be considered in greater depth in
section one of the forthcoming report.
6
http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text.jsp?file_id=128083
7
https://www.asa.org.uk/News-resources/Media-Centre/2015/ASA-awareness-ad-campaign.aspx#.V6CnlbffNdg
12
BHA 2016-05-22 Semester Student Attendance Charts (13 classes)
Chart 1
Decline in actual student attendance as the semester progresses
Chart 2
Average student attendance in each third of the semester
Chart 3
Student attendance at classes during the final third of the semester measured against the
number of students still registered to attend
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BHA 2016-05-22 Complete Semester Tables & Figures
Class No Student Attendance Total
A A A A A A A A A A A A A
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1
7 7 7 7 7 8 8 8 8 8 1 1 1
5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 9 1 2 3
01 05 11 15 11 11 08 08 12 10 11 04 06 03 115
02 06 13 12 11 08 09 10 12 08 11 04 05 06 115
03 04 12 15 10 08 06 07 13 08 12 04 06 02 107
04 02 11 12 12 08 07 06 10 07 08 04 04 03 94
05 05 08 10 11 08 06 03 11 06 05 02 06 02 83
06 04 10 12 08 08 07 04 11 07 09 03 03 03 85
07 04 09 13 08 07 07 06 06 06 10 04 04 02 86
08 04 07 11 10 07 07 05 09 06 08 04 02 03 83
09 04 08 11 10 05 08 04 05 04 08 03 03 01 74
10 03 09 12 08 04 07 04 06 03 06 02 02 00 66
11 04 08 13 07 05 07 04 06 04 07 03 04 02 74
12 06 07 11 06 05 06 05 03 05 07 04 02 03 70
13 04 08 09 06 04 05 03 04 04 07 03 03 00 60
14 05 07 11 06 04 04 05 02 02 05 03 02 01 57
15 04 09 11 06 05 04 02 03 03 06 01 02 01 57
16 03 05 11 06 04 05 02 03 02 05 03 02 01 52
17 03 07 09 05 03 05 03 02 03 05 03 02 01 51
18 02 07 10 05 03 03 02 02 03 04 00 02 02 45
19 04 07 10 07 03 03 02 03 02 04 01 01 01 48
20 04 07 06 05 03 02 01 03 02 04 02 02 01 42
21 03 08 08 05 03 04 01 02 01 05 01 02 01 44
22 04 07 08 04 03 02 01 02 01 07 00 01 01 41
23 04 05 06 03 03 03 02 01 01 04 02 02 00 36
24 03 05 08 04 03 02 01 02 01 05 00 02 01 37
25 04 06 06 06 03 02 02 03 01 03 01 02 01 40
26 03 06 04 05 03 02 02 02 01 04 01 01 01 35
27 04 04 06 06 03 02 02 02 01 04 02 01 01 38
28 03 05 05 04 03 02 02 02 01 04 01 02 01 35
29 02 05 07 05 03 02 02 01 01 02 01 01 01 33
30 03 05 N/G 05 03 02 02 02 01 01 N/G 02 01 27
N/G = Not Given. The teacher did not offer the lesson to students and did not schedule a makeup lesson. Average attendance is calculated
from the number of lessons actually offered to students.
00 = lessons which were offered by teachers which no students attended.
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Attendance Statistics
All classes show a marked decline in attendance levels between the first and last lessons and
between the first and third part of the semester.
The greatest number of students who attended a lesson was 115 – lessons 1 and 2
The least number 27 - lesson 30
Average attendance
1st third of semester = (908 students/130 classes) 7.0
2nd third of semester = (556 students/130 classes) 4.3
3rd third of semester = (366 students/128 classes) 2.9
2 classes were not offered by teachers and are not included in the total number of classes
assessed
6 classes were not attended by students and are included in the total number of classes
assessed
Total number of classes scheduled 390
Total number of scheduled classes not offered by teachers 2
Total number of offered classes not attended by students 6
Total number of classes taught during the semester 382
Total attendance for the 388 classes offered 1830
Average attendance per lesson throughout the semester 4.7
Total number of students still registered at the end of the course 111
This represents a reduction of 1 from the number who attended the first class which was
attended by 112 students
Total number of students who attended the final class 27
Total number of reminder emails sent to students prior to the first lesson 185 8
Number of classes 13
Average number of students per class 14.2
Average Number of Students Active during the last third of course 2.9
Total number of students who abandoned or cancelled courses 47
% of students initially registered who cancelled/abandoned courses 25.4%
8
Reminder emails were sent to students 24 hours before the first class
15
Examinations
In academic institutions success is measured by examination results. The Israel Institute of

Biblical Studies is accorded enormous prestige by its affiliation with the Hebrew University
of Jerusalem which is mentioned extensively in its online promotions and on its web site.
This affiliation is also referred to during sales calls.
The results of the examinations for the Biblical Hebrew A semester being discussed are
therefore included in the figures under consideration. The examination charts show the
results achieved by students still registered at the end of the course to take an examination.
The actual results are shown for each student.
The minimum passing grade is 60%.
NC means Not Completed and the student did not receive a grade either because of non
attendance or because the teacher did not feel it appropriate to record a grade.
The Institute is aware that very many students abandon their classes prior to the examination
taking place. Nevertheless, the Institute has no effective systems in place to keep accurate
records. This is demonstrated by the standard email communication sent to teachers shortly
before the end of each course. Interestingly the communications concerning the courses and
examinations referred to on pages 5 and 7 were sent out by the “Product Team”. Courses and
examinations are regarded by the company as products. The company objectives seek to
maximise the sales and profits from these products. No central record of the status and
progress of examination candidates is kept prior to the examination. The teacher is instructed
in the examination reminder email quoted on page 7:
If one of these students is not active, please reply to this email and let me know.
Thank you,
Product Team
16
As outlined earlier, the examination room is generally entered via the usual entry to class link
situated in the student lockers. This can cause difficulties when other students inadvertently
enter the examination room. When examinations are held a week after the final lesson the
course page remains available in all the lockers of students assigned to the course. When a
student notices that the course page indicates that a class is about to take place or is already in
progress he or she has been known to enter the classroom.
On at least one occasion a separate “course page” was set up when three students enrolled in
one class were scheduled to take an Aramaic examination. The examination recordings were
uploaded to the examination course page in the same way as lesson recordings. This meant
that the second and third candidates for the examination, who took their examinations four
and five days after the first student, were given the opportunity to download and review their
colleague’s examination.
BHA 2016-05-22 Semester Examination Results
Class Identification No Number of Academic Students Results

A1075 1 1) NC
A1076 4 1) 91% 2) 85% 3) NC 4) NC
A1078 2 1) 85% 2) 29%
A1079 1 1) NC
A1080 4 1) 83% 2) 80% 3) NC 4) NC
A1082 4 1) NC 2) NC 3) NC 4) NC
A1083 2 1) 95% 2) NC
A1089 4 1) 94% 2) NC 3) NC 4) NC
8 classes had students registered for academic credits assigned to them

To pass the examination students are required to reach a grade of 60%
NC = Not Completed and no grade was awarded
17
A total of 22 students assigned to 8 classes were still registered to take examinations at the
end of the semester. 7 students were successful and received the following grades 95%, 94%,
91%, 85% (2 students), 83%, 80%. One student failed receiving a grade of 29%. 14 students
received no grade.
Total Examination Results Broken Down According To Grade
Unsuccessful Students Successful Students

29% = 1 student 95% = 1 student
Not Completed = 14 students 94% = 1 student
91% = 1 student
85% = 2 students
83% = 1 student
80% = 1 student
Unsuccessful Examinations Successful Examinations

15 = 68.18% of total 7 = 31.82% of total
18
A1075 2016-05-22 to 2017-02-12
Academic Students = 1
Results: Not Completed = 1
9 students registered end of course
12 students sent reminder emails prior to first lesson
19
Class Student Class Student Class Student
No Attendance No Attendance No Attendance
01 05 11 04 21 03
02 06 12 06 22 04
03 04 13 04 23 04
04 02 14 05 24 03
05 05 15 04 25 04
06 04 16 03 26 03
07 04 17 03 27 04
08 04 18 02 28 03
09 04 19 04 29 02
10 03 20 04 30 03
Total
10 41 10 39 10 33
Av 4.1 3.9 3.3
Average Attendance
1st third = 4.1
2nd third = 3.9
3rd third = 3.3
% of students registered at the end still active during final 3rd of course
Number of students still registered = 9
Average number still active = 3.3
% still active = 36.7%
Number of students sent reminder emails = 12
Number of students sent reminder emails who cancelled/abandoned the course = 4
% of students sent reminder emails who cancelled/abandoned the course = 33.3%
% of students sent reminder emails still active 27.5%
Students Enrolled at end of course registered for academic credits
Number of students = 1
Passed = 0
Failed = 1
20
A1076 2016-05-22 to 2017-01-29
Results: 91% = 1, 85% = 1, Not Completed = 2
17 students sent reminder emails prior to the first lesson
21
01 11 11 08 21 08
02 13 12 07 22 07
03 12 13 08 23 05
04 11 14 07 24 05
05 08 15 09 25 06
06 10 16 05 26 06
07 09 17 07 27 04
08 07 18 07 28 05
09 08 19 07 29 05
10 09 20 07 30 05
Total
10 98 10 72 10 56
Av 9.8 7.2 5.6
Average Attendance
1st third = 9.8
2nd third = 7.2
3rd third = 5.6
Passed = 2
Failed = 2
22
A1077 2016-05-22 to 2017-01-29 (29 given 1 lesson remaining)
23
01 15 11 13 21 08
02 12 12 11 22 08
03 15 13 09 23 06
04 12 14 11 24 08
05 10 15 11 25 06
06 12 16 11 26 04
07 13 17 09 27 06
08 11 18 10 28 05
09 11 19 10 29 07
10 12 20 06 30 N/G*
Total
10 123 10 101 09 58
Av 12.3 10.1 6.4
* Class not given and no makeup lesson offered
Average Attendance
1st third = 12.3
2nd third = 10.1
3rd third = 6.4 (the average of the 9 classes given)
Results: = Not Applicable
Passed = Not Applicable
Failed = Not Applicable
24
A1078 2016-05-25 to 2017-01-18
After the end of the course one student fell off the system which now shows 8 students. 9 were actually
registered on the day that the course ended.
25
01 11 11 07 21 05
02 11 12 06 22 04
03 10 13 06 23 03
04 12 14 06 24 04
05 11 15 06 25 06
06 08 16 06 26 05
07 08 17 05 27 06
08 10 18 05 28 04
09 10 19 07 29 05
10 08 20 05 30 05
Total
10 99 10 59 10 47
Av 9.9 5.9 4.7
Average Attendance
1st third = 9.9
2nd third = 5.9
3rd third = 4.7
% of students sent reminder emails who cancelled/abandoned the course = 25%
Passed = 1
Failed = 1
26
A1079 2016-05-24 to 2017-01-24
27
01 11 11 05 21 03
02 08 12 05 22 03
03 08 13 04 23 03
04 08 14 04 24 03
05 08 15 05 25 03
06 08 16 04 26 03
07 07 17 03 27 03
08 07 18 03 28 03
09 05 19 03 29 03
10 04 20 03 30 03
Total
10 74 10 39 10 30
Av 7.4 3.9 3.0
Average Attendance
1st third = 7.4
2nd third = 3.9
3rd third = 3.0
Passed = 0
Failed = 1
28
A1080 2016-05-23 to 2017-01-23
29
01 08 11 07 21 04
02 09 12 06 22 02
03 06 13 05 23 03
04 07 14 04 24 02
05 06 15 04 25 02
06 07 16 05 26 02
07 07 17 05 27 02
08 07 18 03 28 02
09 08 19 03 29 02
10 07 20 02 30 02
Total
10 72 10 44 10 23
Av 7.2 4.4 2.3
Average Attendance
1st third = 7.2
2nd third = 4.4
3rd third = 2.3
Passed = 2
Failed = 2
30
A1081 2016-05-25 to 2017-01-18
31
01 08 11 04 21 01
02 10 12 05 22 01
03 07 13 03 23 02
04 06 14 05 24 01
05 03 15 02 25 02
06 04 16 02 26 02
07 06 17 03 27 02
08 05 18 02 28 02
09 04 19 02 29 02
10 04 20 01 30 02
Total
10 57 10 29 10 17
Av 5.7 2.9 1.7
Average Attendance
1st third = 5.7
2nd third = 2.9
3rd third = 1.7
32
A1082 2016-05-26 to 2017-02-02
33
01 12 11 06 21 02
02 12 12 03 22 02
03 13 13 04 23 01
04 10 14 02 24 02
05 11 15 03 25 03
06 11 16 03 26 02
07 06 17 02 27 02
08 09 18 02 28 02
09 05 19 03 29 01
10 06 20 03 30 02
Total
10 95 10 31 10 19
Av 9.5 3.1 1.9
Average Attendance
1st third = 9.5
2nd third = 3.1
3rd third = 1.9
Passed = 0
Failed = 4
34
A1083 2016-05-23 to 2017-02-06
Results: 95% = 1, Not Completed = 1
35
01 10 11 04 21 01
02 08 12 05 22 01
03 08 13 04 23 01
04 07 14 02 24 01
05 06 15 03 25 01
06 07 16 02 26 01
07 06 17 03 27 01
08 06 18 03 28 01
09 04 19 02 29 01
10 03 20 02 30 01
Total
10 65 10 30 10 10
Av 6.5 3.0 1.0
Average Attendance
1st third = 6.5
2nd third = 3.0
3rd third = 1.0
Passed = 1
Failed = 1
36
A1089 2016-05-27 to 2017-02-10
37
01 11 11 07 21 05
02 11 12 07 22 07
03 12 13 07 23 04
04 08 14 05 24 05
05 05 15 06 25 03
06 09 16 05 26 04
07 10 17 05 27 04
08 08 18 04 28 04
09 08 19 04 29 02
10 06 20 04 30 01
Total
10 88 10 54 10 39
Av 8.8 5.4 3.9
Average Attendance
1st third = 8.8
2nd third = 5.4
3rd third = 3.9
Passed = 1
Failed = 3
38
A1111 2016-05-22 to 2017-01-29 (26 given 3 non attendance 1 lesson remaining)
39
01 04 11 03 21 01
02 04 12 04 22 00
03 04 13 03 23 02
04 04 14 03 24 00
05 02 15 01 25 01
06 03 16 03 26 01
07 04 17 03 27 02
08 04 18 00 28 01
09 03 19 01 29 01
10 02 20 02 30 N/G*
Total
10 34 10 23 9 9
Av 3.4 2.3 1
* Class not given and no makeup lesson offered
Average Attendance
1st third = 3.4
2nd third = 2.3
3rd third = 1 (the average of the 9 classes given)
40
A1112 2016-05-22 to 2017-02-05
41
01 06 11 04 21 02
02 05 12 02 22 01
03 06 13 03 23 02
04 04 14 02 24 02
05 06 15 02 25 02
06 03 16 02 26 01
07 04 17 02 27 01
08 02 18 02 28 02
09 03 19 01 29 01
10 02 20 02 30 02
Total
10 41 10 22 10 16
Av 4.1 2.2 1.6
Average Attendance
1st third = 4.1
2nd third = 2.2
3rd third = 1.6
42
A1113 2016-05-24 to 2017-01-24 (27 given 3 non attendance)
43
01 3 11 2 21 1
02 6 12 3 22 1
03 2 13 0 23 0
04 3 14 1 24 1
05 2 15 1 25 1
06 3 16 1 26 1
07 2 17 1 27 1
08 3 18 2 28 1
09 1 19 1 29 1
10 0 20 1 30 1
Total
10 25 10 13 10 9
Av 2.5 1.3 0.9
Average Attendance
1st third = 2.5
2nd third = 1.3
3rd third = 0.9
% still active = 15%
% of students sent reminder emails who cancelled/abandoned the course = 0%
% of students sent reminder emails still active 10%
44
BGA 2016-05-22 Semester
The Biblical Greek A classes were much smaller than the Biblical Hebrew A and Ulpan
Adults 1 classes. The attendance levels were, on the whole, more stable. All groups show a
reduction in attendance levels between the first and last lessons and between the first and
third part of the semester. One group collapsed completely.
The greatest number of students who attended was 22 – lesson 6
The least number 09 - lessons 20, 23, 24 and 26
Average attendance
1st third of semester = (189 students/70 classes) 2.7
2nd third of semester = (146 students/67 classes) 2.2
3rd third of semester = (103 students/60 classes) 1.7
Total number of classes scheduled 210

Total number of scheduled classes not offered 13
Total number of scheduled classes not attended by students 11
Total number of classes taught during semester 187
Total attendance for the 197 classes offered 438
Average attendance per class throughout the semester 2.2
A total of 27 students were still registered at the end of the semester. This is 6 more than the
number of students who attended the first class which was attended by 21 students. 10
students attended the final class.
During the final third of the course three courses achieved attendance levels of over 50% of
students still registered. One course was cancelled leaving 5 students still assigned to it.
BGA117 83.3% BGA119 43.3% BGAes61 0% course collapsed
BGA120 67.5% BGAes62 22.5%
BGApt50 76.7% BGA118 12%
45
BGA 2016-05-22 Complete Semester Charts (7 Classes)
Chart 1
Decline in actual student attendance as the semester progresses
Chart 2
Average student attendance in each third of the semester
Chart 3
Student attendance at classes during the final third of the semester measured against the
number of students still registered to attend
46
BGA 2016-05-22 Complete Semester Tables & Figures
Class No 117 118 119 120 61es 62es 50pt TOTAL
01 04 03 03 02 04 03 02 21
02 06 03 02 03 04 01 02 21
03 03 02 02 03 04 01 02 17
04 04 04 01 03 03 01 03 19
05 04 03 02 03 03 00 03 18
06 04 04 02 03 04 02 03 22
07 04 04 02 03 03 02 03 21
08 02 03 02 03 03 01 03 17
09 03 03 02 03 03 02 01 17
10 03 02 02 03 02 01 03 16
11 03 04 02 03 02 03 03 20
12 04 03 01 03 04 01 03 19
13 04 03 01 03 03 00 03 17
14 03 02 02 03 01 01 03 15
15 03 03 01 03 00 02 03* 15
16 04 03 02 02 00 01 03 15
17 02 01 02 03 00 01 02 11
18 02 02 02 03 N/G 01 03 13
19 03 02 02 03 N/G 00 02 12
20 02 01 01 03 N/G 01 01 09
21 02 00 02 03 N/G 01 03 11
22 02 01 02 02 N/G 01 03 11
23 02 00 01 03 N/G 01 02 09
24 03 00 01 02 N/G 01 02 09
25 03 01 01 02* N/G 01* 02 10
26 03 01 01 03 N/G 01 03 12
27 03 01 02 03 N/G 00 03 12
28 03 01 01 03 N/G 01 01 10
29 02 00 01 03 N/G 01 02 09
30 02 01 01 03 N/G 01 02 10
*file not posted to student course page
The first row columns show the identification number assigned to each class with the final
column allocated to the total number of students who actually attended all classes.
There are a total number of 30 lessons in each semester. The first column represents the
number of each lesson given. The subsequent columns represent the number of students
assigned to each class who attended the lesson. The final column records the total number of
students across every class who attended the lesson.
47
BGA117 2016-05-23 to 2017-01-02 - 3 students registered end of course

01 04 11 03 21 02
02 06 12 04 22 02
03 03 13 04 23 02
04 04 14 03 24 03
05 04 15 03 25 03
06 04 16 04 26 03
07 04 17 02 27 03
08 02 18 02 28 03
09 03 19 03 29 02
10 03 20 02 30 02
Total
10 37 10 30 10 25
Av 3.7 3.0 2.5
Average Attendance
1st third = 3.7
2nd third = 3.0
3rd third = 2.5
48

01 03 11 04 21 00
02 03 12 03 22 01
03 02 13 03 23 00
04 04 14 02 24 00
05 03 15 03 25 01
06 04 16 03 26 01
07 04 17 01 27 01
08 03 18 02 28 01
09 03 19 02 29 00
10 02 20 01 30 01
Total
10 31 10 24 10 06
Av 3.1 2.4 0.6
Average Attendance
1st third = 3.1
2nd third = 2.4
3rd third = 0.6
% still active = 12%
49

01 03 11 02 21 02
02 02 12 01 22 02
03 02 13 01 23 01
04 01 14 02 24 01
05 02 15 01 25* 01
06 02 16 02 26 01
07 02 17 02 27 02
08 02 18 02 28 01
09 02 19 02 29 01
10 02 20 01 30 01
Total
10 20 10 16 10 13
Av 2.0 1.6 1.3
*file not posted to student course page.
Average Attendance
1st third = 2.0
2nd third = 1.6
3rd third = 1.3
50

01 02 11 03 21 03
02 03 12 03 22 02
03 03 13 03 23 03
04 03 14 03 24 02
05 03 15 03 25 02
06 03 16 02 26 03
07 03 17 03 27 03
08 03 18 03 28 03
09 03 19 03 29 03
10 03 20 03 30 03
Total
10 29 10 29 10 27
Av 2.9 2.9 2.7
Average Attendance
1st third = 2.9
2nd third = 2.7
3rd third = 2.7
51
BGAes 61 2016-05-23 to 2016-12-19 - 5 students registered end of course

01 04 11 02 21 N/G
02 04 12 04 22 N/G
03 04 13 03 23 N/G
04 03 14 01 24 N/G
05 03 15 00 25 N/G
06 04 16 00 26 N/G
07 03 17 00 27 N/G
08 03 18 N/G 28 N/G
09 03 19 N/G 29 N/G
10 02 20 N/G 30 N/G
Total
10 33 07 10 00 N/G
Av 3.3 1.4 N/G
Average Attendance
1st third = 3.3
2nd third = 1.4
3rd third = N/G
Average number still active = N/A
% still active = N/A
52
BGAes 62 2016-05-24 to 2017-01-10 - 4 students registered end of course

01 03 11 03 21 01
02 01 12 01 22 01
03 01 13 00 23 01
04 01 14 01 24 01
05 00 15 02 25* 01
06 02 16 01 26 01
07 02 17 01 27 00
08 01 18 01 28 01
09 02 19 00 29 01
10 01 20 01 30 01
Total
10 14 10 11 10 9
Av 1.4 1.1 0.9
*file not posted to student course page. The course page shows a total of 26 classes were given with no student
attending 4 scheduled lessons. Recording 21 for scheduled lesson 25 was not uploaded to the course page.
Average Attendance
1st third = 1.4
2nd third = 1.1
3rd third = 0.9
53
BGApt 50 2016-05-25 to 2017-01-13 - 3 students registered end of course

01 02 11 03 21 03
02 02 12 03 22 03
03 02 13 03 23 02
04 03 14 03 24 02
05 03 15 03* 25 02
06 03 16 03 26 03
07 03 17 02 27 03
08 03 18 03 28 01
09 01 19 02 29 02
10 03 20 01 30 02
Total
10 25 10 26 10 23
Av 2.5 2.6 2.3
*file not posted to student course page.
Average Attendance
1st third = 2.5
2nd third = 2.6
3rd third = 2.3
54

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The Hebrew University & eTeacherBiblical: A Fatally Flawed Experiment

Academic Excellence vs the Profit Motive

“This will be on her” 1

3) The procedures for making recorded lessons available to students

The following classes will end on February 4, 2017.

Semester Course No. of Lessons that Took No. of Weeks Remaining

5) Availability of recordings and course pages

Name ID Semester Course

A Favourite Recurring Google Ad

Israeli Consumer Protection Law, 5741-1981

In academic institutions success is measured by examination results. The Israel Institute of

BHA 2016-05-22 Semester Examination Results

Class Identification No Number of Academic Students Results

8 classes had students registered for academic credits assigned to them

Total Examination Results Broken Down According To Grade

Unsuccessful Students Successful Students

Unsuccessful Examinations Successful Examinations

Total number of classes scheduled 210

BGA120 67.5% BGAes62 22.5%

BGApt50 76.7% BGA118 12%

*file not posted to student course page

Class Student Class Student Class Student

Class Student Class Student Class Student

Class Student Class Student Class Student

Class Student Class Student Class Student

Class Student Class Student Class Student

Class Student Class Student Class Student

Class Student Class Student Class Student

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