Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Thank you!

Thanks to all the faculty who have really gone the distance this summer. Our conversion is going smoothly, and courses are being loaded into fall sections. Your dedication and hard work is very much appreciated in eLearning!

Thanks, too, to Susan DeNicola, Erich Hochmeister, Ellie Bunting, Bobbie Buczyna Jackie Smith, Rona Axelrod, and Scott VanSelow for the support they've given to faculty. We couldn't have made it without this hard working team!! Best wishes to Scott as he joins the faculty ranks in Computer Science.

Mary

Online Help for CE6

Here is a great site I found - quick and easy explanations of the tools in CE6.
http://webctguide.com/index.htm

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Discussions and Blogs and Journals, Oh My!

We turned on the feature in the Discussions tool today that allows you to create a discussion thread, a blog, a journal, or a peer review topic.

When you create a new discussion thread, you will now see a screen that allows you to choose between a threaded topic, a blog or a journal.

If you know that you are only going to use the discussions, you can turn the other options off. To do so in the Build tab:
  1. Click on Manage course (the Red Toolbox)
  2. Click on Settings
  3. Click on Discussions
  4. Set Enable Blog and Journal Type topic creation to False
  5. Set Enable Peer Review option to False
  6. Click Save Values

(Thanks to Jack Cane for this great tool!)

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Feeling the Crunch?: August 1st CE6 Deadline

If you are finishing CE6 Certification Online Classes or need answers to put the finishing touches on your Fall 2008 course, we have two help sessions now available for registration:

Completing CE6 Online Classes: Confused about completing the CE6 Online Classes? During this two hour session we'll detail the requirements for each module of the Online Classes
Thursday, July 24th, 4:00 - 6:00pm - K 128
Friday, July 25th, 1:00 - 3:00pm - K 128
Monday, July 28th, 2:00pm - 4:00pm - K127


CE6 Question and Answer: If you are finishing the design/creation of your Fall 2008 Class and have questions, this session is for you! We'll be available to answer questions about your course on a first come, first serve basis. Come anytime during the allotted two hours.
Thursday, July 24th, 1:30 - 3:30pm - T 108
Friday, July 25th, 10:00am - 12:00pm - T 108
Tuesday, July 29th, 4:00 - 6;00pm - T 108
Wednesday, July 30th, 10:00am - 12:00pm - T 108


Please see the "Workshop Schedule" link at http://training.edison.edu/webct to register. Note that in the workshops schedule, only those that begin with "Edison Online" are our workshops. Many other departments use this schedule!

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Readi Assessment

There is a great, FREE tool that you can use to see if a student is ready to be an online student. If you direct the student to http://online.edison.edu/future/orientation/, they can take the READI assessment. The default login is edison, and the password is online. Once they are in, they will recieve their own unique password. There are several components: Learning Styles, Reading Comprehension, Technical Competency, Technical Knowledge, and Typing Speed and Accuracy. Students receive a report on their scores. We can also make the scores available to faculty.

Changing links in CE6

There is a question that keeps coming up in emails to the eLearnng department, and that is: How do I change the syllabus link? The answer is in two parts:

To change the syllabus from the Link on the left side of the course:

  • Click on the Build Tab

  • Click on the Syllabus link on the left

  • Select the radio button Use File (Figure 1)

  • Click Select to make the change

  • You will then see a button that says Browse (Figure 2)

  • Click on the Browse button and select your syllabus document. If you've already uploaded it, it will be in Class Files. If you need to upload it, click on Computer and upload it from your computer. It will be placed in Class Files. (Figure 3)

To Change the Syllabus Link on the Begin Here page:
You cannot change the default Syllabus link that is on the page. You have to link your syllabus yourself and then remove the default link that is there.

To link:

  • Click on Begin Here

  • Click on Add File

  • Find or upload your syllabus (same as above)

  • A link will be automatically created

  • To change the icon, select Customize Link from the Action link menu
To remove the default Syllabus link: (Figure 4)

  • Click on the action link

  • Select Remove Link



Figure 1






Figure 2





Figure 3






Figure 4

Monday, June 23, 2008

Having Trouble Opening .docx files?

If you are using Office 2003 or earlier, you may have trouble opening documents created in Office 2007. Good news! There is a small program you can download and run from Microsoft. Once installed, you can open Office 2007 files in Office 2003 or earlier.

To get it go here.