Getting started with the OLI Probability and Statistics course

Good class today. I'm looking forward to our work together this year :)

The following guidelines will help you get set up with the OLI Probability and Statistics course and get your "statistical software" figured out. Let me know if you have trouble with any of these steps:

• OLI Probability and Statistics course: As I mentioned today, there is both a free version that you can use independently, or you can pay $25 to be in my OLI "class". The only advantage of being in my class is that I can see your work and may notice when you need help. 
• Free version: Go to the OLI Probability and Statistics page, click "Enter Course", and then click "Sign up" to make an account. You will then be on the "My Courses" page and you can get started with the course.
• Paid version: To register to be a student in my OLI "class", go to the Open Learning Initiatives website, enter the admit code "snieck-12" and follow the instructions to register for the course. You will need to use the online payment system to pay the $25 fee. (There is a note that the method of registering will be changing; let me know if you have any trouble.)
• Statistical Software: Exercises in the online course are designed for use with a number of different software packages. I suggest any of the following:
• R, a free software environment for statistical computing and graphics (If you need help, I suggest asking Margaret or Ben as they both have experience with getting this set up.)
• Microsoft Excel, spreadsheet software which comes installed on many pc computers (I recommend this option if you have Excel and would like to become more proficient with spreadsheets.)
• LibreOffice Calc (or OpenOffice Calc), free open source spreadsheet software (I can provide instructions for the exercises using Calc if anyone decides to use this; the instructions are not directly available in the OLI Statistics course.)
• If you are choosing to use spreadsheet software to do the statistics work I suggest spending some time learning about spreadsheets, as a first step, in particular working with cells, formulas and functions, and creating charts:
• Basic Excel tutorial - covers the basics, except pivot table (which won't be needed right away).
• Calc Guide Working with Spreadsheets - chapters 1-3, 7 and 8

Let me know if you have any questions.

Alison