Technology
for
Professors
A Users Guide
for
By
William (Bill) Junkin
Director of Instructional Technology
July 11, 2011
Introduction
I hope you find this Users Guide helpful when using technology in your courses. It is designed so that you can quickly jump to the section that will provide help in doing what you want to do at a particular time, so it is not necessarily written for people who want to read a document from start to finish. I hope the “Table of Contents” is useful, but the following outline may be helpful as well.
Part I -- The ARC Web Site:
We have created an on-line site, the Academic Resource Center (ARC) web site to duplicate much of the help offered in this document and provide much more help as well. The first section gives a little information about this site. You get to this site by going to MyEckerd (http://my.eckerd.edu) and clicking on the “Information Technology for Professors” link in the “Information Technology” section. (This will take you to http://www.eckerd.edu/its/arc/)
Part II – The Online Course Materials Website (Moodle):
The College requires that you post materials or links to materials in the Online Course Materials website each year and require students to access these materials. The Moodle program runs the Course Materials website and there are excellent help resources as part of this program. There are separate documents that explain how to get started, provide help with some of the utilities that professors use the most, and provide answers to the questions that have been asked by professors. This section describes why this is important, what parts of this site will update automatically, what topics are covered, and where these separate documents are located.
Part III – There are a few things that you may want to do that are not provided by the Moodle program which runs the Course Materials site. Part III describes why you might want to use these resources and how to use them. This section explains how to:
· Use Google Docs and Google Apps
· Use FTP (File Transfer Protocol) to Post Materials
· Restrict access to posted materials
· Use Warmup or Pre-Class Questions
· Use the Eckerd AcademicWiki
· Use In-class Polling
· Use the Ubiquitous Presenter program
Part IV – Using Technology in the classroom. This section describes
how to use the data projector, the instructor’s computer, the DVD/VHS player,
and your own laptop in the classroom.
Part V – Changes and information for co-location. If the campus is
closed due to an emergency, the
Appendix – Features about the MyEckerd web site.
If anything is confusing, not clear, or left out of this document, please give me feedback so I can revise this document and make it more useful for you and others.
Bill Junkin, Director of
Instructional Technology,
Nick
Shaffer, Steve Weppner, Reggie Hudson, and others
helped prepare many of the resources mentioned in this document.
Diana
Fuguitt spent many hours proof-reading this document,
suggesting ways to improve the clarity, and making many other valuable
suggestions.
However,
I am the sole person responsible for any mistakes or errors or lack of clarity.
Table of Contents
Part I: The Academic Resource Center
(ARC) Web Site -- A Help Site for Faculty
I. A. How to get to the Academic Resource Center (ARC)
web site?
I. B Of what value is the Academic Resource Center
(ARC) web site?
I. C. Why did we create this site?
Part II: The Online Course Material
website (Moodle):
II. A. Overview of the Online Course Material website.
· What is the Online Course Materials web site
· What is new in Moodle for 2011?
· How do I and my students get to the Course Materials
site?
II.B Course Materials program (Moodle) Help and Users
Guide
Posting documents, managing files and folders, making
files and folders available to students.
Controlling access to my course
Activities, Resources, Settings
· What Kind of Documents should be Posted?
· Why post more than a syllabus, i.e., class notes,
handouts, assignments, etc.?
II. D. Why Use the Online Course Materials web site?
II. E. Are some of the Online Course Materials links
controlled automatically?
III. A. Google Docs and Google Groups
· Why Use Google Docs or Google Groups?
· How do I get to Google Docs?
· Who are in Google groups and what are they?
· Who can send email messages to Google Groups?
· What kind of Documents can be used in Google Docs?
· What other resources does Google make available?
· Is Google a safe place to keep documents?
· Where do I find out more about Google docs?
III. B. The FTP (File Transfer Protocol) Program
· Why Use a Regular FTP Program?
· How do I FTP from my own computer?
· How do I set up an FTP account on
academics.eckerd.edu?
· Can I use FireFTP (or other FTP programs) with the
home.eckerd.edu server if the campus is closed?
· How can I FTP from a public computer? (The Web-Based
FTP program)
· How do I FTP (post) a document?
· How can I FTP from a public computer using
drag-and-drop? (Windows ftp.)
· How do I Find the Posted Documents with a Browser?
· What is the Difference Between ftp:// and http://?
· Can Students Change or Edit What I have Posted?
· Can I put Folders on the Server?
· Can I Delete and/or Edit Posted Materials?
III. C. Restricting Access to Posted Materials
· Who can see Posted Materials?
· Can I Restrict Access to Material I Post on the
academics.eckerd.edu Server?
III. D. Using Warmup or Pre-Class Questions -- Why and
How?
· Why use Warmup or Pre-Class Questions?
· How do I Post Warmup or Pre-Class questions using the Moodle
utilities?
· How do I Post Warmup or Pre-Class Questions in the
BQ-JiTT (Warmup) program?
III. E. Using the Eckerd Academic Wiki – Why and How?
· What are some wiki benefits?
· Why is a wiki more open (by default) than the Course
Materials site (Moodle)?
· What assignments are suitable for a wiki? For other
Moodle activities?
· So this is just like Wikipedia?
· Can I contribute to the Academic Wiki?
· Can my course be added to the Academic Wiki site?
· Can I add users and students to my Academic Wiki
course page?
· What permissions do professors, students, and
outsiders have?
· Why is “student editing” the default setting for the
Academic Wiki?
· Is there a faculty-only wiki site in the Academic Wiki
site?
· Can you put formulas, equations, pictures, graphs,
etc., into wiki pages?
III. F. Using
In-class polling – Why and How?.
· What programs are available for in-class polling?
· Where are Users Manuals for these Programs?
· Who are using these programs?
· Why Use the Ubiquitous Presenter program?
· How do I use the same presentation with several
sections of the same class?
· If my computer is not a tablet laptop computer, how do
I add ink?
Part IV: Technology in the Classroom
IV. D. To Display classroom computer
IV. E. To Display laptop computer
V. B. What is unchanged during co-location?
V. C. What will be available but changed during
co-location?
V. D. What will be unavailable during co-location?
Appendix: Using the myEckerd web site
1. How do I use MyPage feature on myEckerd?
2. How is the content organized on MyEckerd?
Part I: The Academic Resource
Center
I. A. How
to get to the Academic Resource
Center
You can get to this site from your
main
I. B Of what value is the Academic Resource
Center
On this web site we have tried to create one starting place where you can find links to every technology resource Eckerd professors might want to use and directions for using most of these resources. If you don’t find something there, please let us know.
Do you have trouble remembering different web addresses for doing different things with technology?
Do you have directions for using various programs or resources written down on bits of paper that are located in many different places?
We do too. So we have tried to create one place where you can always go to do anything that involves technology and/or answer your technology questions. We plan to have all the answers here or else direct you to a site that does have the answers. You may want to add this as one of the links on the “MyPage” part of the MyEckerd site. Additional information about customizing and using MyEckerd is given in the Appendix – “Using MyEckerd.”
I. C. Why did we create this site?
We created this site to support faculty in providing Eckerd students with all the advantage of an on-line course while also having the much bigger advantage of meeting together as a group of learners, classmates and professors. Many professors have found technologies that enhance a student’s educational experience. We invite you to try some of these.
But, we don’t want you to spend time learning the details about how-to-do-it (unless you want to). You have more important use for your time – preparing materials, teaching, mentoring, research, etc. If anything mentioned here is difficult or time-consuming, let us know. We probably can make it easier and quicker for you.
Part II: The Online Course Material website (Moodle):
The site where students access posted materials and other online
resources
II. A. Overview of the Online Course Material website.
· What is the Online Course Materials web site
We have created the Online Course Materials (Moodle) web site, (http://academics.eckerd.edu/moodle/ or http://my.eckerd.edu/ and click on the Course Materials link), as the one place for students to go to get access to the material that you have posted or participate in the activities that you have specified. It provides a one-stop location where students can go to easily access any electronic information related to any Eckerd course.
You should post most of your
documents (syllabi, handouts, schedules, electronic notices, photos, etc.)
here. You should post links to on-line resources here. Most of the electronic
activities that students do (electronic chats, discussions, collaborate in
wikis, turn in assignments electronically, take on-line quizzes, etc.) will be
done at this site. If you want to post
resources somewhere else or want to use resources that are provided somewhere
else, please provide links to these resources at this site. This is a good
place to have your class materials stored, backed up, and archived for several
years. However, it is not required that you store materials at this site or use
the utilities here; however, if you have material or utilities that students
should access at other sites, you must provide links to those sites here.
.
· What is new in Moodle for 2011?
The way to post documents has
changed slightly. This is explained in the Moodle documentation below. The look
has changed so that the default color scheme matches the new Eckerd College web
site look. The link that allows you to view a course as a student would view it
has been moved from the upper right corner to the lower left. Some of you add
people as auditing students in your course. The link to “Assign Roles” that
used to be in the lower left (Administration) box is now gone, but there is a
link to “Users,” and the “Enrolled Users” link under “Users” that provides the
same utility. The program that I wrote, “Easy Course Duplication,” no longer
works (I hope to re-write it soon) but the Moodle utility allows you to copy or
duplicate a course pretty easily. (If you have trouble, please let me know and
I can help you or do it for you.)
.
· How do I and my students get to the Course Materials site?
You and your students should go to the MyEckerd
page (http://my.eckerd.edu) and click on the
Course Materials link in the orange bar at the top of the page. That link will
take you to the site for the courses taught in the current term. If you want to
access courses from Prior Terms, click on the “Prior Term” link at the top left
of the page. You may have to log in to the site and this will require your
When you or your students enter the site, the first page displays the courses in which you or they are participants. If you click on a course title, you will get to the course site.
II.B Course Materials program (Moodle) Help and Users Guide
Within the Course Materials program (Moodle) there are excellent help resources. In addition, I have created a site and some documents, “Tech4Profs – A Users Guide to the Moodle program.”
The entire document is available at the following locations in the following formats:
Web page version (this loads fastest): Moodle_for_Professors.html
MS Word version: Moodle_for_Professors.doc
PDF version: Moodle_for_Professors.pdf
In addition I have created a site that provides all of this information in individual blocks dealing with each topic. This site is at: http://academics.eckerd.edu/moodle_perm/course/view.php?id=4&username=guest
and the subtopics are:
Basic Information
- How do I get started?
- What do the icons mean?
- How do I get HELP !!!!?
- How do I use the Easy Posting Program?
- How do I Duplicate a Course?
- How do I navigate around my course site?
Posting documents, managing files and folders, making files and folders available to students.
- How do I post documents or files?
- How do I change (edit, delete, update) a posted document?
- Can I post copyrighted material?
- How can I post photos to my course page?
- Do things have to be posted multiple times for different section?
- Should I use a meta course?
- How can I change the name of a file I have already posted?
- Can I save time and organize posted files with folders?
- Can I post multiple files at the same time?
Controlling access to my course
- How can prospective students see course materials?
- What can others see?
- How can I add student helpers, discussant colleagues, visitors, and other students to my course?
- How can I allow guests to access my course?
Activities, Resources, Settings
- How do I make links in my course to resources on the Internet?
- Can I post a movie or audio clip in the Moodle program?
- What is the difference between a resource and an activity?
- How do I change the look or the language for my course?
- When I click on a different term, why do I have to log in again?
- Why can’t I see my courses for the next term?
- Which should I use, a blog, forum, discussion, chat, wiki, assignment, or quiz?
- Should I use Moodle messaging or the Eckerd email system to email students?
- Is the Firefox, Internet Explorer, or Chrome browser better for Moodle?
- Why don't the start and end dates in the site correspond to the actual course dates?
- How do I set up an on-line quiz?
- How do I have students submit written assignments in Moodle?
Grades
- Should I use the Moodle grade book?
- What are grade book categories and items?
- How are averages calculated in the grade book?
- Can one student see another student's grades?
- How do I hide grade averages from student view?
- Some squares in my grade book are brown. What does this mean?
- Will the grades in my course site transfer automatically into the official grades?
- Can I export grades to a spreadsheet?
- Can I upload grades from a spreadsheet into the Moodle grade book?
- How can I display letter rather than number grades?
II. C. Why Post Materials?
People get information from the Internet. By posting materials for students – syllabi, class notes, handouts, assignments, electronic documents, web resources, etc. – you can use the Internet to provide the information and allow more time for discussion and interaction in class. These posted materials can be deleted, updated, and/or augmented at any time from any geographical location. Students can access these materials from any place (even if the campus is closed due to a hurricane).
The Course Materials site (Moodle) also allows you and your students to interact through the posted materials as you require them to submit assignments electronically, answer on-line quizzes, participate in chat or discussions, or work collaboratively in Wikis.
You can post material for your current classes by using the “Easy Posting” link at the top of each of your course pages or you can use the Moodle utility to post material. Directions for posting files are given at How do I post documents or files?
http://academics.eckerd.edu/moodle_perm/mod/wiki/view.php?id=145&username=guest
· What Kind of Documents should be Posted?
You can post any kind of document and people can see that the document is
posted. However, for people to see what is in the document, they must have a
program on their computer that can “read” the document. Usually this is no
problem with web pages or pictures and most people have a free program on their
computer that allows them to read PDF files. However, if you post a PowerPoint,
Word, Excel, WordPerfect, etc. document, some students will not be able to read
the posted document. Most students have a program that can read MSWord
documents, but few students will be able to read WordPerfect and other word
processing documents unless they are saved as MSWord or text documents.
· Why post more than a syllabus, i.e., class notes, handouts, assignments, etc.?
Professors often post notes from class or other handouts. These may provide students with valuable resources for preparing for class or lab, for reviewing what happened in class, for giving access to work by peers, etc.
- What about posting
materials that are only used when the campus is closed?
When the campus is closed it is especially important
that you post materials so that you can continue to deliver your courses. Some
professors prepare materials that will only be used in such an emergency and
they don’t want students to see these materials. The Course Materials site
(Moodle) allows you to hide posted material, and you will need to remember to
“unhide” these materials if you want these materials used when the campus is
closed.
- How about posting
material in the Academic Wiki, the Warm-up program, and/or the Ubiquitous
Presenter program.
You or your students can post almost anything in the Eckerd AcademicWiki program (Section III. E.). However, its primary function is to provide a place where people can work on documents collaboratively.
The Warmup program (Section III. D.) does not allow you to post documents, but is designed for you to post questions that students answer and only the instructor can see the response. It is usually used to ask questions on the assignment before students come to class.
The Ubiquitous Presenter program (Section III. G.) allows you to post PowerPoint slides and/or Whiteboard slides that you plan to use in class. During class you can add “ink” (annotations, writing, or diagrams) to the slides and receive responses from students. Students with computers can access these resources before class, view them while class is going on as you talk about and annotate the slides, and use them after class as they study the material that was covered in class,
II. D. Why Use the Online Course Materials web site?
Once you have posted something, students can find it at the Online Course Materials web site by going to the MyEckerd web site (http://my.eckerd.edu/ ) and click on the Course Materials link (or click on the Online Course Materials link in the “Courses & Materials” section). This can be done from anywhere in the world.
You can also go there to verify what students will see and/or to examine material posted by other professors. Material from prior semesters can be accessed also.
II. E. Are some of the Online Course Materials links controlled automatically?
Yes.
If you post materials using the Eckerd AcademicWiki (described in Section III. E.) or the Warmup program (described in Section III. D.), a program runs (every day or two) that will automatically put a link to these materials in the Online Course Materials (Moodle) web site for your course.
Part III Other Programs
Or Different Things for Different People
III. A. Google Docs and Google Groups
· Why Use Google Docs or Google Groups?
Every member of the Eckerd College community now has access to these Google resources through their email account at Eckerd. These resources allow people to store documents securely and share and collaborate with others. Documents stored here do not take up space on our server and are available, without interruption, if the campus needs to be closed. The Google sites and utilities offer so many resources that only a few can be mentioned here.
· How do I get to Google Docs?
Go to the Eckerd College Gmail site (http://gmail.eckerd.edu) and log in. At the top there will be links to Mail, Calendar, Documents, Sites, Video, more. If you click on Documents the list of documents that you have created and posted in Google will appear along with all the documents that have been shared with you. You can click on any document to view it. These documents are not on your computer but are on the Google site and you can access them from any computer anywhere as long as you remember your user name and password. You can save documents to your computer if you wish, and you have several options for doing this. One handy thing: If the document is a PDF document (which is a document that you can’t edit without a special program) you can save it to your computer as a text file and you will be able to read the text in the file. Google does a pretty good job at reading (it is called OCP=optical character recognition) and converting what is scanned.
· Who can see my documents?
The default setting is to allow you and only you to see the documents. However, you change this by letting your mouse hover over the name of the document and then selecting “Share” from the drop-down “Action” menu that appears to the right of the name. You can share allowing others to view only or to both view and edit. You can share with the entire Eckerd community, with only specific people, and/or with groups of people.
· Who are in Google groups and what are they?
You are in several Google groups if you teach classes. You can create your own Google groups which you can manage. You can add and remove people from any group that you manage. Every class in the current term is a Google group and each instructor in the class is the manager for that group. If you are in Google Mail or Google Documents, you can click on the “more” drop down menu at the top left of the page and select “groups.” You will see all the groups to which you currently belong. Each group has an email alias and a message can be sent to every member of the group by sending the message to the alias. However, the person sending the message doesn’t receive a copy of the message, although the copy will be in her or his “Sent” folder. If you click on a group you will see all the email messages that have been sent to the group. If you click on the “Members” link on the right side you will see the list of members in the group. If you are the manager of the group, in this view you will be able to add or remove members. Click on the link “Invite new members.” You will then have the option to “Invite members by email” or to “Add Members directly.” If you invite members they can accept or decline the invitation, but if you add them directly, they become members immediately. If you want to work on a Google Document collaboratively, it is good to create a group and share the document with the group, allowing all members to edit the document.
· Who can send email messages to Google Groups?
By default, only people using an Eckerd College email account can send messages to Eckerd College group aliases. For example, if you have an Eckerd College email account and an AOL email account, if you use your AOL account you can’t send email messages to an Eckerd College email alias. Some of the aliases are moderated (for example, faculty-official@lists.eckerd.edu). Messages sent to a moderated alias will receive a reply letting you know that it is waiting for approval. Course aliases by default are not moderated. You are the owner/manager of the course aliases for courses that you teach, which means you can change the settings on those course aliases so that they are moderated. As owner/manager of your course alias you can also change the setting so that people with non-Eckerd College email accounts can send messages to your course alias.
· What kind of Documents can be used in Google Docs?
You can upload (post) from your computer or create directly the following types of “Google Documents.” In most cases the Google version of the document doesn’t have as many features as the program in parentheses. Document (MSWord), Presentation (MSPowerPoint), Spreadsheet (MSExcel), Form (Web site where you put information into fields), Drawing (Paint program), Collection (folder for organizing documents). You can also post any type of document (picture, PDF, etc.) into your Google Docs area. The Google form can collect the data that is received and put it directly into a Google spreadsheet. While most of these Google programs don’t have all of the features offered by other programs, they do have two important features: 1) They can be shared with others who can collaborate in real time with you. For example, in a Google spreadsheet, I can be entering data into one cell while someone else (if I allow this) can be entering data into another cell, all at the same time. 2) They are not on your computer but are on the Google servers where they are backed up regularly and where you can access them from any computer at any time, even if your computer gets a virus or gets dropped down a well.
· What other resources does Google make available?
You can have several Google calendars, sharing them with different people. You can choose which calendars get displayed simultaneously when you view your calendar. You can have Google sites, which are web sites where you can create and post the content you want to display to the world. You can post movies in Google at the Google video site. Each of these resources requires more space for a good explanation than is available here.
· Is Google a safe place to keep documents?
Any computer or server can be hacked. Both Eckerd College and Google work hard to make sure this doesn’t happen. Google is a bigger target for hackers, but also has much greater resources to protect what you post. According to our contract with Google, they will not look at or pass on to others documents that you post through your Eckerd College account. However, if Eckerd College is involved in a lawsuit it is possible that the courts might force Eckerd to turn over documents created by Eckerd employees. If you have your own personal Gmail account in addition to the account that Eckerd provides, Eckerd might have to turn over some of the documents posted in your Eckerd account, but the documents posted in your personal account could not be obtained through a court order to Eckerd College.
· Where do I find out more about Google docs?
The utilities and features available in Google docs are constantly being expanded and improved. Google maintains excellent help and information sites. Here are links to two of them:
Docs Help
https://docs.google.com/support/?hl=en
Getting Started with Google Docs
https://docs.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1107581&ctx=cbo
III. B. The FTP (File Transfer Protocol) Program
· Why Use a Regular FTP Program?
If you need to post something that is not related to a current course, or if you need to post something that is bigger than 2M, you probably need to use a regular FTP program.
· How do I FTP from my own computer?
There are a number of good FTP programs. Firefox is the recommended browser for the Eckerd community. We also recommend the Firefox FTP program, called FireFTP, that is available for Mac, Windows, and Linux. There is an excellent set of instructions for installing FireFTP at
http://fireftp.mozdev.org/help.html#installation
Because the material is copyrighted material we cannot reproduce the material in this document, but you are free to make your own copy of these instructions for installing the FireFTP program.
· How do I set up FireFTP?
Once you have installed FireFTP, your Firefox browser will have an additional feature under the “Tools” drop-down menu. This option with be “FireFTP.” If you click on this option, two windows will open up. The window on the left is your computer. You will use this window to find files on your computer. (The “Browse” button may be handy in helping you locate a folder.) The window on the right will be your area on the server. Again, we recommend you use the server whose Internet name is academics.eckerd.edu. You will need to create an account in FireFTP for this server (and separate accounts for other servers if you wish to use them).
· How do I set up an FTP account on academics.eckerd.edu?
To create an account for this server, click on “Create an account” in the “Manage accounts” area and fill in the requested information. I suggest you use “academics” as the account name. The host is “academics.eckerd.edu”. The username is your email user name and the password is your email password. I have included an image where I have filled in the information for me to FTP to academics and I have marked the “Browse”, “Create an account”, and “Manage accounts” areas on the image. The image also shows how I have filled in the requested information.
Once
you have created the account (and clicked OK) you can then click on the
“Connect” button to connect to the server. At this point, you will be connected
to the server. If the campus is open, you will end up in your space on the
server.
· Can I use FireFTP (or other FTP programs) with the academic.eckerd.edu server if the campus is closed?
Yes, but you must make one small change after you start the program.
If the campus is closed, you will end up at the
location of
/home/acasun/faculty/<your
discipline>/<your email username>
as will be indicated by the information right above the right hand window. (For example, when the campus is closed and I FTP to the academics.eckerd.edu server, I end up at the location of /home/acasun/faculty/physics/junkinwf.) You will need to change that information to /www/academics/instructor/<your username>/ and click “Enter.” Then you may need to click on the highlighted folder in the left part of the right hand window, i.e., click on the following sequence of folders to get to your space: “www”, “academics”, “instructor”, and “<your email username (mine is junkinwf>”. In either case, the bar above the right window will say /www/academics/instructor/<your username>/
In summary, if you use FTP and connect to academics.eckerd.edu when the campus is open you will end up in your space on that server and you can add and remove documents and folders in this space and others can see these documents from anywhere in the world unless you restrict access. If you need help restricting access, I (Bill Junkin) or people in the IT area will be glad to help you. However, if the campus is closed the material from the server will be co-located. With the FireFTP program and other FTP programs, you will need to go to the following folder to access your materials:
/www/academics/instructor/<your username>
or instead you can use the web-based ftp program (described in the next section) that will always put you in the correct location.
· Can I use FireFTP (or other FTP programs) with the home.eckerd.edu server if the campus is closed?
Doing FTP to the home.eckerd.edu server will remain unchanged and be the same both when the campus is open and when it is closed. However, you will need to click on the public_html folder and place documents there if you want for other people to be able to see the documents (whether the campus is open or closed).
· How can I FTP from a public computer? (The Web-Based FTP program)
On a public computer or a computer
belonging to someone else you may not be able to install the FireFTP program or any other FTP program or you may prefer
to use a web-based FTP program. If you go to MyEckerd
-- > Instructional Technology for Professors - > Posting Documents (FTP)
and click on the “Alternate Post” (or go directly to http://academics.eckerd.edu/cyberlyceum/ftp/ftp.php)
the link will take you to a web-based FTP program. It can run from any browser
and will always take you to your
space on academics.eckerd.edu, both when the campus is open and when it is
closed. The size of documents is limited to 2M, but it will work with any
browser from anywhere in the world. Once again, you log in using your
· How do I FTP (post) a document?
Once you have an FTP program running, you find the document in the left panel (your computer), select the document, find the place you want it to end up in the right panel (an Eckerd College server, such as academics.eckerd.edu), and click the arrow to the right to transfer (post) the document.
To do the reverse, to bring a document from the server to your computer, find the place on your computer where you want the document to end up, find and select the document on the server, and click the arrow to the left to bring the document to your own computer.
Some people try to post a document by opening it and then trying to save it to the server. For most documents, this won’t work. For example, if you want to post an MSWord document, opening it in MSWord won’t help. You need to know where you saved the document on your computer (this will usually be on your desktop or in a folder in My Documents) so that you can find it in the left hand panel of the FTP program.
· How can I FTP from a public computer using drag-and-drop? (Windows ftp.)
Please note: This method of doing FTP works on some computers and sometimes only with one or the other of the Eckerd College servers. Unfortunately, whether or not this will work depends on several variables, such as which version of Internet Explorer you are using, what Microsoft patches you have installed, etc. Here are the instructions:
On a Windows computer you can double click on “My Computer” (or use some open folder). This probably brings up a folder whose top corner looks like this:
Replace the words “My Computer” (or whatever words are in the Address line) with ftp://academics.eckerd.edu or ftp://home.eckerd.edu to FTP to one of these servers. A box will appear asking you to log in with your email user name (mine is junkinwf) and the corresponding password. After you successfully log in, you will see an FTP folder that contains your folders and documents on that server. You can drag-and-drop documents and folders from your computer into the server FTP folder and this will create a copy on that server. You can create folders (by using the “File” -- > “new” -- > folder option from the top menu on this FTP folder). You can delete folders and documents by clicking once on the folder or document to select it and then choosing the “Delete” option. This FTP folder acts just like other folders on your computer except for two differences: (1) You can’t move documents from one folder to another within the FTP folder. (2) When you drag-and-drop a document from your computer, it is copied, not moved.
If the main Eckerd campus is closed, this method of doing FTP to the academics server has to be modified slightly. FTP to the server at home.eckerd.edu will remain unchanged. FTP to the server at academics.eckerd.edu will require that you type in the following message:
ftp://home.eckerd.edu/../../../../../www/academics/instructor/<your_user_name>/ where you need to replace <your_user_name> with your email user name (mine is junkinwf). Doing this will allow you to do FTP to the academics.eckerd.edu server in exactly the same way that you normally do this. However, this way will not work while the main campus servers are operating.
· How do I Find the Posted Documents with a Browser?
If you have posted the material in Moodle, you and students find the
material by going to the Moodle site (http://academics.eckerd.edu/moodle or clicking on Course Materials from the MyEckerd page) logging in, and clicking
on the appropriate course. Unless you have changed the settings, only people
registered in your course can see these posted materials.
If you have posted material using FTP, you and others use a browser and
type in the web address (location) of the posted document.
The address will begin, not with ftp://, but
with http://, but most browsers will fill this in if you forget. As mentioned
above, the web address for your area of the server is the address of the server
and the address of your folder on the server. For the academics.eckerd.edu
server, this is
http://academics.eckerd.edu/instructor/<your_email_username>
If I put a document called Reading_Assignment1.doc inside a folder called
QFM (for my Quest for Meaning course) in my area of the server, its web address
would be
http://academics.eckerd.edu/instructor/junkinwf/QFM/Reading_Assignment1.doc
But for students, it is preferable to create a link in Online Course
Materials (Moodle) so students can go to that one place to find links to posted
materials for all of their courses.
· What is the Difference Between ftp:// and http://?
Perhaps an analogy will help. When you are using a tape recorder for
music or voice, you can either have the tape recorder in “Record” or “Play”
mode. In “Record” mode you can’t hear things the way another person would
listen to them. In “Play” mode, you can’t change anything, you can only listen.
ftp:// is “Record” mode for posted materials. Only you can change the posted
materials, but you probably won’t see them the way that others will see them.
http:// is “Play” mode for posted materials. You can see what has been
posted but you cannot change it.
· Can Students Change or Edit What I have Posted?
No. They cannot change what has been posted. However, they can copy what has been posted and save it to their computer. They can then edit or change in other ways the copy that is on their computer if they have the appropriate program. Thus, you can post an assignment, have the student open the document and change it as directed and then send the changed document back to you (possibly as an email attachment). Many students will be able to edit or change most posted documents once they save these documents to their computer. PDF documents are the exception. All students can read PDF documents, using a PDF reading program they can download for free. Unless they have bought an expensive program to edit PDF documents they will not be able to edit the PDF document that they have saved to their computer. However, it is easy for them to make a text copy of the PDF document and then edit that copy.
· Can I put Folders on the Server?
Yes.
On servers, folders are usually called “Directories.” If you are using the Web-Based FTP program described above, there is a button to create a directory. If you are using FireFTP (also described above) you can “right-click” in the box listing the folders and create new directories.
Warning: It is important to
name posted documents and folders correctly. Using symbols such as ?, /, #, @, !, *, etc. will probably cause lots of
problems and usually won’t work at all. It is strongly recommended that you use
only letters, numbers, and/or one of these three symbols, .
- _ (a period,
a hyphen, and/or an underscore), to name documents and folders. Please try to
remember to avoid using the “/” mark in dates and spaces in names of documents
or folders. Macintosh users – be sure MSWord documents end in .docx, PowerPoint
documents end in .pptx, etc. For Windows users, these endings are put in
automatically.
· Can I Delete and/or Edit Posted Materials?
Yes.
If you are using FireFTP, just right-click on
a document or folder and choose the option to delete or rename the document or
folder.
You can also edit the material. But, you can only edit a document that is
on your own computer. To edit a document on the server, you must find a copy of
it on your own computer or bring a copy to your computer and edit the document.
Once you have finished editing the document, you will need to get the edited
version back up on the server so that others accessing the document will see
the new version. You have two choices.
(A) You can delete the material
that is on the server and post the revised material or
(B) You can post the revised material on the server without first
deleting the old version, since if it has exactly the same name as the document
on the server, it will replace that document.
III. C. Restricting Access to Posted Materials
· Who can see Posted Materials?
The default setting for the Course Materials site (Moodle) only allows students in your course to see the materials that you post. However, the Admissions Office encourages you to make posted materials available to prospective students if this suits the purpose and structure of your course and there is no question about copyrighted materials. If you use the “Easy Posting” program you may choose to allow others to see posted documents. Another option is to allow guest access to your course. These options are discussed at “How can prospective students see course materials?” (http://academics.eckerd.edu/moodle_perm/mod/wiki/view.php?id=48&username=guest)
You can view what prospective students can see by going to http://www.eckerd.edu/academics/coursematerial
· Can I Restrict Access to Material I Post on the academics.eckerd.edu Server?
Yes.
There are several options available to restrict access.
We will be happy to provide any level of restriction to any or all the posted material. If you want to restrict access to certain documents and/or folders but not restrict access to others, we can do this. If you want to restrict access so that only those that know a certain password can access the material under any situation, we can do this. If you contact us we will be happy to provide any level of security and restricted access that you desire. Since this will be done on an individual case-by-case basis, no attempt will be made here to describe any of the details.
III. D. Using Warmup or Pre-Class Questions -- Why and How?
· Why use Warmup or Pre-Class Questions?
Research shows that many students learn better if the professor poses questions on the reading assignment that they have to answer before coming to class. This also helps the professor modify what will be emphasized in class so that more help is provided where it is needed most. This can be done through Warmup questions or Questions posed through the Course Materials site (the Moodle quiz utility). If this suits your teaching style and the goals of the course, you can ask Pre-Class or Warmup questions using either the Moodle program or the BQ-JiTT program.
· How do I Post Warmup or Pre-Class questions using the Moodle utilities?
The Moodle program offers two options. One popular format is for a question to be posed and as students respond to the question they can see the responses of other students who answered the question earlier. A Discussion is probably most appropriate for this. (The Moodle program calls Discussions “Forums”.) However, if you want to use the Course Materials site (Moodle) but don’t want one student to see responses from another student, it is recommended that you use the second option, the Moodle Quiz tool.
You can find help on these two options at:
Which should I use, a blog, forum, discussion, chat, wiki, assignment, or quiz?
http://academics.eckerd.edu/moodle_perm/mod/wiki/view.php?id=119&username=guest
and at
How do I set up an on-line quiz?
http://academics.eckerd.edu/moodle_perm/mod/wiki/view.php?id=133&username=guest
· How do I Post Warmup or Pre-Class Questions in the BQ-JiTT (Warmup) program?
With the BQ-JiTT (Warmup) program no student can view the response from any other student. The professor for the course is the only one who can see the responses.
The BQ-JiTT program is available for use, by going to the MyEckerd page (http://my.eckerd.edu/) and clicking on “more” under the “Courses & Materials” category and then selecting the “Course Warmups for Professors” link. If you contact me (junkinwf@eckerd.edu or (727) 864-8239) I will be glad to set up your class in the Warmup program and I will create a link to the Warmup program that will appear as an icon on the Online Course Materials site. (Students can also click on the “Course Warmups” link to access this resource.)
III. E. Using the Eckerd Academic Wiki – Why and How?
You can create as many wikis as you desire in each course at the Course Materials site (Moodle). However, some professors prefer to have the online component of the entire course be one wiki. The Eckerd College Academics Wiki has been created for this purpose. The general information below about wikis applies to both the Academic Wiki and to individual wikis within the Course Materials site.
(Most of the material from this site is taken from material on the Eckerd Academic Wiki web site (http://academics.eckerd.edu/facultywiki/help.php) where Professor Reggie Hudson, along with Professor Steve Weppner and others, have prepared a great help site. You are strongly encouraged to go to this site for updated information.)
· What is a wiki?
A wiki is a special type of web site consisting of a collection of pages that visitors can easily modify. Some wikis are open for modification by any visitor; others are more restricted, like the Eckerd Academic Wiki.
· What are some wiki benefits?
o Zero software costs. (The software, called WikiMedia, is free.)
o The software is "open source" so it can be modified without patent infringement.
o Wiki pages load quickly.
o Users’ results are immediately posted.
o The wiki lay-out (interface) is reasonably familiar to students.
o The wiki learning curve is nearly flat for everyone.
o Wiki results can be seen by the outside world, unlike most EC academic web materials.
o Wiki usage can engender public confidence by showing that we are sufficiently tech-savvy to use this and other technology in an evacuation scenario.
· Why is a wiki more open (by default) than the Course Materials site (Moodle)?
The general spirit of WikiMedia is openness (the programming code is free and transparent as is the product it creates). This is supposed to lead to stronger community spirit in the "user world" and, hopefully, in classrooms. Many Eckerd professors have tried to emphasize "peer learning", "community pedagogy", "active learning", and so forth. WikiMedia is a tool to help facilitate those practices.
The Wikipedia page that describes the "Open Source Movement" is here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source).
· What assignments are suitable for a wiki? For other Moodle activities?
Envision an assignment where students work together (e.g., a class journal, a group presentation, a group paper, a class summary sheet), and are required to submit one community product for a grade. A wiki can help the professor evaluate individual contributions since each one is "stamped" by the software with a date and time, the contributor’s name, and the changes made. Professors can monitor the progress of a student, or student group, by simply viewing the relevant history pages.
A wiki is also good as a "blog", as an informal discussion area, or as a picture and article repository. It can be a class community pad, which is shaped or molded by the students under the professor's direction. It is a "work in progress".
Much of the Course Materials site is a more-structured discussion/assignment medium. It is designed specifically for the classroom, with features like grade storage, email options, chat, and so forth. It is well suited for most traditional assignments.
· So this is just like Wikipedia?
No. Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page) is both an on-line encyclopedia and the world's largest wiki, with over a million articles in English alone. It is a free-edit encyclopedia, with the associated pros and cons that that carries. Wikipedia has detractors among some academics as there is no uniform system of peer review of articles by experts. Also, Wikipedia and other wikis can suffer from vandalism. Wikipedia can, however, serve as a good initial resource on a subject. The next time you search on the web for a person, place, or thing, add "Wiki" to your search request. There probably will be a Wikipedia article already written to get you started.
The Eckerd College Academic Wiki is not an encyclopedia and, because of its controls, should have no anonymous vandalism. It is hoped that all users will monitor this wiki as we strive for the highest ideals of an academic community, where ideas are freely discussed and reflected upon.
What the Eckerd Faculty Wiki has in common with Wikipedia is the software, called MediaWiki, that is used to run both sites.
· Can I contribute to the Academic Wiki?
Yes, you can edit any page on this site and create new pages if you are a professor. If you have taught a course at Eckerd recently, you should already be listed as a user. If you can't log in, email Steve Weppner (weppnesp@eckerd.edu) to get a user account.
· Can my course be added to the Academic Wiki site?
Your course can certainly be added to this wiki (set of web pages). Just email Steve Weppner (weppnesp@eckerd.edu) with the course(s) you want included. Please use the course catalog format (e.g., WH181-003). A link for your course will be created and students on your official roster will be granted "student users" access. Each student's Eckerd email username and password will get him/her into the system.
· Can I add users and students to my Academic Wiki course page?
Yes. A professor can add anybody to a page by using Special:Userlogin. If you add someone remember that you also must give them Special:Userrights to edit your course page(s). You must enter the username and add your class to their user account. It is recommended that user accounts be given to only the Eckerd circle (students, faculty, PEL, ASPEC) and the occasional outside emissary. Remember that all "outsiders" can read this wiki, they just cannot edit it. Professor Steve Weppner or I (Bill Junkin) will be glad to provide help as needed if you have any trouble adding users or students to your course.
· What permissions do professors, students, and outsiders have?
Outside access to the Eckerd Academic Wiki site is a bit more restricted than for most WikiMedia pages. Everyone can read pages on this site, and students can edit their course pages and the help page, as well as add pictures. Professors can do much more. They can contribute to the page (corect mi mispelings), add to the help page, and even edit other faculty members’ pages. Every change is logged with the name of the person who made the change. This tracking of changes can contribute to a sense of personal responsibility for the wiki and can also help with the grading of projects.
By default, students can edit your wiki pages, even your office hours and grading policies. However, each of your pages has a "protect" tab at the top to prevent student editing. Just log in, hit the "protect" tab, click on "professors only", and then click on the "confirm" button. After that, only devious professors can change that particular page.
It is worth remembering that the author and content of every change is recorded, and that professors have the ability to instantly "roll back" a page to its previous version using the "history" tab. This means that if you do not turn on the protect feature, then you can still quickly find and undo undesirable changes.
· Why is “student editing” the default setting for the Academic Wiki?
The strength of a wiki lies in community publishing. The Course Materials site already has provided places to store syllabi and post assignments (read-only documents). It's great to have those documents linked or copied into the Academic Wiki, but to use a wiki at its best is to design assignments where a team effort is tested and utilized. That's why student editing of course pages is turned on by default. However, this default setting can be changed easily.
· Is there a faculty-only wiki site in the Academic Wiki site?
Yes, there are pages that only faculty, staff, or certain groups can access and share information. Some professors have found this to be useful even if they are not using this wiki for their courses.
· Can you put formulas, equations, pictures, graphs, etc., into wiki pages?
Yes. There is help on the wiki site for posting formulas and equations. Most other things can be copied and pasted right into a wiki page.
III. F. Using In-class polling – Why and How?
· Why Use In-class Polling?
Every student’s thoughts and feelings in class are important contributions. Some students never speak up; others might have little chance if extraverts dominate the responses. Almost all students feel embarrassed if they respond poorly when a question is directed to them. However, all students learn better when they are actively involved. Some professors have found that in-class polling can be useful in obtaining responses from everyone, in giving immediate feedback to determine if more time needs to be spent on a concept, and involving all students as active rather than passive learners.
Asking an initial polling question and obtaining a response from all students can facilitate discussion. If verbal discussion is encouraged after everyone has responded to the initial poll, research shows that the discussion is usually more focused on the topic and a greater number of students enter into the discussion. Many professors find this is a good way to keep their students actively engaged in the learning process without embarrassing anyone. It also allows the professor to know when the topic has been mastered to the desired level and when more review is needed because the entire class is lost.
· What programs are available for in-class polling?
Four programs are available, the Participate
program, BQ-polling program, the Ubiquitous Presenter program, and a fourth
in-class polling program, the iPAL (In-class Polling for All Learners) program,
will be ready for use by September, 2011 . The Participate program and the
BQ-polling program were written by W. Junkin and B. Smith, while the Ubiquitous
Presenter program was developed at the
With both the Participate and BQ programs, responses can be made from students using desktop computers, laptop computers, IR clickers, and RF clickers. The iPAL program will allow students to respond with these devices as well as with cell phones. In-class polling with the Ubiquitous Presenter program requires student access to a computer or other web-based device. If you are in a classroom where students have access to computers, the entire program can be run from browsers on those computers. If some or all of the students do not have access to computers, the students will need to use some form of clickers.
The Participate Program works beautifully with PowerPoint presentations. You don’t have to do anything to your presentation and it knows which slide is being shown, how many slides are in the presentation, the text on the slides, and which answers came from which students as a particular slide was being viewed. The Participate program has to be added to the instructor’s computer.
The BQ program is used primarily when questions are not in a PowerPoint presentation. The instructor’s computer only needs to have a browser.
The Ubiquitous Presenter program (please see Section III. G.) allows students to view PowerPoint or WhiteBoard slides before, during, and after class. It can display to the students the professor’s slide and the professor’s ink annotations in real time. At the discretion of the professor, students can submit text responses, responses to multiple choice questions, and the ink annotations. The professor has the option of displaying student submissions in real time to the class as well. Two Ubiquitous Presenter Add-ins have to be added to the instructor’s computer.
· Where are Users Manuals for these Programs?
Each program has a Users Manual. These manuals are not included in this document.
The Users Manual for Participate is a Flash document and can be obtained here: http://home.eckerd.edu/~junkinwf/WeppnerBQ/parttrain.exe
The Users manual for the BQ polling program can be obtained here: http://academics.eckerd.edu/instructor/junkinwf/BQ/PollingManual/BQ-ILT_Users_Manual2006_07_23.doc
The Instructions for using the Ubiquitous Presenter program can be obtained at http://up.eckerd.edu/UP.
The Participate and the Ubiquitous Presenter programs require installing software on the instructor’s computer. I will be glad to help with this.
· Who are using these programs?
Eckerd College received one of the Next Generation Learning Challenge (NGLC) grants funded by the Gates Foundation and others and administered by Educause for the iPAL—“In-class Polling for All Learners” project. This project will provide a free, open-source polling program to be used by numerous schools. Many schools will use this as a module in Moodle. The program will receive input from student “clickers,” laptops, iPads, cell phones, etc. It will provide sets of questions that professors can use in some subjects and professors can create their own questions in any subject. It will also analyze student responses to identify students who may be at risk for quitting a course or dropping out of school. The program will be ready for use by September, 2011.
A number of schools are using these polling programs. Harvard University is using the current BQ program combined with a program that does other things, including getting content from a database of questions at Harvard. These and other questions will be available in the new iPAL program.
Several Eckerd professors use the Participate program extensively in their courses.
The Eckerd Professors using the Ubiquitous Presenter include David Hastings, Steve Weppner, Anne Cox, Holger Mauch, Shannon Gowans, Jeannine Lessmann, and Bill Junkin.
If you want to use a polling program in one or more of your courses, please let me know so I (Bill Junkin) can be sure we have the necessary hardware and/or software for you to use.
III. G. Ubiquitous Presenter
· Why Use the Ubiquitous Presenter program?
The Ubiquitous
Presenter program adds interactivity to PowerPoint presentations,
provides for the use of Whiteboard slides with or without PowerPoint slides,
allows for in-class polling, and increases student involvement and student
learning during presentations. (The Ubiquitous Presenter program was developed
at the
· How do I use this program?
You must use a Windows computer. (The Mac version has not yet been written.) You will need to run a special program on your computer. The program is especially effective if students also have access to computers during presentations. The student computers can be Windows or Mac computers and only need a modern browser and access to the Internet.
Overview: If you want to use slides from a PowerPoint presentation, you will need to use Ubiquitous Presenter program which is a PowerPoint Add-in to change the PowerPoint slides into images and send a copy of these images to the server running the main program. Then, as the presentation is going on you can add ink to the slides, insert Whiteboard slides, poll the students, show student responses to the class, etc. If some or all of the students have access to computers, they can see the slides on their computers and move from slide to slide with you. If you add ink to a slide, it will appear on the slides on their computers as well. If you allow student submissions, you can poll them and, if you wish, display their responses back to the rest of the class. After class, the set of slides is all ready for students to access as they review the presentation.
Getting started (You only need to do this once):
Please go to the MyEckerd site and click on the link to the Ubiquitous Presenter program (a link in the Courses & Materials section) to get to the Main Page for the Ubiquitous Presenter program. The direct link is http://up.eckerd.edu/UP Once at that site, please click on the link at the top right to Download Tablet Software. (It can be used with regular Windows computers, but adding ink is easier with a tablet laptop.) Download the most recent version of the UP Installer and PowerPoint Add-in and install both of these. If this has been successful you will have the two Ubiquitous Presenter programs available from the Programs Menu from the Start button and also, when you run PowerPoint you will have the option of exporting the presentation as a deck of images both to your computer and to the server.
You also need to register in the
Ubiquitous Presenter program. Please go to the program’s Main Page and click on
the “Instructor Sign-up” link and register. Be sure and use your
Setting up a class:
You will need to set up a class. I suggest that you use the catalog number, section number, and the title (abbreviated if necessary) for the name of the class. You will need to select a password that students will use to access the class.
Posting PowerPoint slides for a lecture:
When you have completed your PowerPoint presentation and saved it as usual, you need to do one more step. Under the “File” menu choose the “Export to CSD and Web” option. The program will request that you save the set of images generated from the PowerPoint presentation. I recommend that you give this set of images the title of the lecture where you plan to use this presentation and save the slides (a CSD file) in a place where you can find them.
As you run the program you will need to put in the following information for the server:
http://up.eckerd.edu/up/
The username and password that you
will need are your
The program will then ask you to select one of your courses and give the lecture a name. I recommend that you give the name of the lecture the same name as the set of slides. When you click on the “OK” button, the images of your presentation will be transferred to the server, ready for you to use and your students to access as a resource.
The Lecture Presentation:
When you go to class, you will start the presentation by clicking on the set of slides (the CSD file) that you previously sent to that course and lecture. (Hopefully, you saved the CSD file in a place where you can find it.) Next, select or enter the server (http://up.eckerd.edu/up/)
and enter your username and password and then select the class and the lecture. You are now ready to run the Ubiquitous Presenter program. You can
- add ink to PowerPoint slides or WhiteBoard slides,
- require the students to be on the same slide that you are displaying or allow them to go to different slides
- allow (or require) student submissions of answers to multiple choice questions (this produces a histogram)
- allow (or require) students to submit text answers
- allow (or require) students to submit slides with ink
- insert Whiteboard slides, draw on them, display them to the students
- display submissions from students
As you make changes on slides, the students will see the changes on their own computer screens. When you finish class, the changes in the set of images (along with any Whiteboard slides that you produced) are automatically saved on the server so that students can access them later for review.
· How do I use the same presentation with several sections of the same class?
If you have several sections of the same class you may want to use the same set of PowerPoint slides with each class. After you export the slides to one class (using the “Export to CSD and Web” function in PowerPoint), you should then export the slides to each of your other class sections in exactly the same manner. The simplest way is to create a different name for the CSD file for each lecture. For example, you can include the class section number in the name of each CSD file that you save and export. (There are ways to create just one CSD file and export it to different class sections, but so far all my explanations have been confusing. I will be glad to explain the procedure to you, or you can follow the obvious route of making multiple copies of the CSD file, each with a different name for each of the different class sections.)
The ink and the Whiteboard slides that may have been inserted in the first section cannot be seen by students in the second, third, etc. class. Even though the slides are the same, each section has its own set of ink and whiteboard additions as well as student submissions. Furthermore, the set of slides on your own computer will not have any ink on them.
· I didn’t finish a set of slides before the bell rang. Can I continue the next class period where I stopped?
Yes, you can use the slides a second time with the same class and lecture. If you saved changes (when the bell rang) before closing the program, all ink annotations will be there when you start class next time with the same CSD file. However, if you failed to save changes before quitting the program, the set of slides on your computer will not have any ink annotations, while the set of slides on the server will have the ink annotations. This may cause confusion for any slides that are shown both times.
· If my computer is not a tablet laptop computer, how do I add ink?
Tablet laptop computers have special screens and pens that allow the user to write directly on the screen, adding electronic ink to the slide, highlighting material, deleting these ink annotations or drawings, etc. This ink can be used with PowerPoint slides, Word documents, the Ubiquitous Presenter program, and other programs.
If you don’t have a tablet laptop computer you can still add ink to PowerPoint slides or slides in the Ubiquitous Presenter program. It can be more difficult than using a regular pen (with a Tablet), but on a non-Tablet laptop, you can use a regular mouse. As you click and drag the mouse around the screen, the track of the mouse will draw on the screen.
.
Part IV: Technology in the Classroom
All classrooms at Eckerd College are equipped with a data projector, an instructor’s computer, a laptop video cable and a switch box to connect a laptop computer to the data projector, connections to the network via Ethernet cables and WiFi, and most classrooms have equipment to play CD and DVD disks and VHS tapes.
To provide help using these resources and answer questions, a set of instructions have been laminated and attached to the stand holding the instructor’s computer. These instructions are copied here. (Since the auditorium in Sheen A Building (SHA 100A) has two projectors and two screens, the directions for that system are different. from the directions given here.)
IV. A. General Information
Please report anything that doesn’t seem to be working correctly to Information Technology Services, 864-8318. If you are unable to contact someone at 864-8318, please call Anthony Regan at 864-8293 or call his cell phone at 631-2969. Failure to report a problem will delay getting the problem fixed. Also, please use these telephone numbers to get assistance or answers to questions as you use the technology in the classroom.
When you are finished or leave a classroom,
Please turn the data projector off but leave the
computer, the video switch, and the monitor on.
The bulbs for the data projectors are expensive! They must be replaced after being on for a certain number of hours.
The computer’s “Green” settings effectively allow it to be remotely managed for maintenance, installs, and updates on a 24/7 basis.
IV. B. To Play DVD disc:
1. Combo Player
- Power ON (button)
- Choose DVD (VHS/DVD button)
2. Projector
- Press source button (Remote) [composite video]
3. Speaker
- Power ON (switch on back)
- Volume (knob on front)
IV. C. To Play VHS tape
1. Combo Player
- Power ON (button)
- Choose VHS (VHS/DVD button)
2. Projector
- On (remote)
- Press source button (remote) [composite video]
3. Speaker
- Power ON (switch on back)
- Volume (knob on front)
IV. D. To Display classroom computer
1. Computer
- Monitor
2. Video Switch
- Press # 1 button - - - # 1 light on
3. Projector
- Press source button (remote) [VGA]
4. Speaker
- Power ON (switch on back)
- Volume (knob on front)
5. If the computer doesn’t project, be sure the DVD and VHS players are turned off.
IV. E. To Display laptop computer
1. Laptop
- Resolution 1024x768
- Connect [laptop video cable]
- Macintosh - use dongle to adapt to [laptop video cable]
- Connect [laptop audio cable] into laptop headphone jack
2. Video switch
·
· Press #2 button - - - #2 light on
3. Projector
- Press source button (remote) [VGA]
4. Speaker
- Power ON (switch on back)
- Volume (knob on front)
5. If the computer doesn’t project, be sure the DVD and VHS players are turned off.
Part V: Co-location
If the campus closes because of a hurricane or other emergency, the resources mentioned in this document are still available, although a small change has to be made in a special case or two as mentioned below.
V. A. What is co-location?
Under ordinary conditions the
computers (usually called servers) on the main
V. B. What is unchanged during co-location?
You can obtain complete, current information as to which technologies and websites are co-located at http://www.eckerd.edu/bcdr/services.php Here is a brief summary.
As far as you, your students, or anyone else is concerned, there will be no difference in the way you use any of the following resources:
- MyEckerd (http://my.eckerd.edu)
- The Eckerd email system (http://gmail.eckerd.edu), Google Docs, groups, email aliases, Google calendar, and all other resources provided by the Google program,
- The
main
- ECWeb
- The Online Course Materials Site (Moodle)
- The “Easy Posting” program
- The Ubiquitous Presenter program
- The Eckerd AcademicWiki
- The Warmup program
- Library Electronic Reserves
- Library Databases
- Class Aliases
Also functioning normally will be any other information obtained from links from the MyEckerd site, including Residential and Student Information, class rosters, on-line posting of grades, class schedules, etc., as well as any information posted at web addresses given by http://www.eckerd.edu, http://academics.eckerd.edu, http://home.eckerd.edu, http://cgi.eckerd.edu, and http://my.eckerd.edu.
V. C. What will be available but changed during co-location?
- FTP access to the academics.eckerd.edu server using a regular FTP program will be available but one of the starting steps will be different. (See Section III. B.)
- Access to Novell (where you can store, back up, and retrieve your documents) will be available but only through a web-based program. Normally, you can access Novell directly when you are on campus and access it via a web browser when you are off campus. During co-location, only the web-based access will be available. You can find the web-based program by going to the MyEckerd page (http://my.eckerd.edu) -- >Manage your Accounts -- > Novell NetStorage Remote Access or by going directly to https://novell.eckerd.edu/NetStorage/ Remember to log in using your Novell password which probably is different from your email password. Currently you need to include your context along with your user name when you log in to the co-located version of Novell, but IT is working on this with the goal of only requiring your user name and Novell password.
- The main MyEckerd page will change. It will display information after you log in giving your emergency contact information that you submitted earlier and inviting you to update this information as needed. Contact information for Bill Junkin and Nick Shaffer will also be displayed prominently on this page.
- If you have hidden materials in Moodle that are to be used when the campus is closed, be sure to go to Moodle and “unhide” these materials.
- Material that is already posted in the CMS system will be available but no one will be able to change this information while the campus is closed.
V. D. What will be unavailable during co-location?
- Access to prior terms in the Online Course Materials site (Moodle). During co-location, access is only provided for the Online Course Materials site (Moodle) for the current term.
- The Calendar at http://calendar.eckerd.edu
- Anti-virus updates will not be done automatically from the central Eckerd ITS system. We recommend that you have the Sophos anti-virus software on your computer. (It should already be installed on any Eckerd computer.) If it is properly installed, it will continue to protect you from current viruses. In an extended outage, we will try to provide updates so that the program will provide up-to-date protection.
- Some technologies not mentioned in this document, such as on-campus printing, will not be available. If the electricity to Brown (where the campus phone switch is located) is off, access to office telephone service (to obtain voice messages, etc.) is expected to be unavailable.
- Other technologies that impact other groups, such as alumni email, will not be available. For a complete list please go to http://www.eckerd.edu/bcdr/services.php
Appendix: Using
the myEckerd web site
(This appendix was written by Casey Paquet.)
1. How do I use MyPage feature on myEckerd?
There’s a “my” in myEckerd for a reason. There is a great deal of content here, and while we have done our best to organize and filter it in a way useful to the majority of the Eckerd community, even the best organizing principles may not fit well with how you search for content. Toward that end, myEckerd has a feature called “My Page” that allows you to quickly collect and manage your favorite links in a central, prominent place on myEckerd, giving you greater control over how content is organized. Here’s how to add and manage links on your “My Page” section.
· ADDING LINKS TO YOUR PAGE
The methodical way.
- Click the link to “My Page” in the main, orange navigation bar at the top of the page.
- Click “add link” in the purple bar at the top of your page.
- In the title field, enter a description for this link. Often, the name of the site or resource is a good thing to enter here (e.g., Google, CNN, or Campus Directory).
- In the URL field, enter the full URL to the page, site or resource (e.g., http://www.google.com/).
- Click “Save.”
If the operation was successful, you’ll see a confirmation message telling you as much, and you will see the link you just added in the section on that page entitled “Your links.” Any links you’ve added will now also appear in the “My Page” section on the home page. To add more links, simply repeat the process outlined above.
The dynamic way.
There is an even quicker way to add links to often-used content. Each link on myEckerd, whether it points at in internal or external resource is part of a larger section. To see the links grouped under a section, simply click a section name in the green section box to the left of the main content column. You’ll note that each link has a “+ My Page” button next to it. This allows you to add a link to the described content to your page with ease. Here’s how:
- Navigate to a section.
- Find a link that you’d like to add to your page.
- Click the “+ My Page” button next to the link.
- Make any changes to the pre-populated fields (for example, you might wish to change the link title to something more meaningful to you).
- Click “Save.”
The link will be added to your list of favorites.
There is a similar way to add links to your page in the event that you are already viewing a page within myEckerd. There is an “+ Add Link” option in the main navigation bar that you can use to quickly add a link to any page you might happen to be on within myEckerd. Here’s how to do that:
- Click “+ Add Link” while viewing a page you’d like to save to your page on myEckerd.
- Make any changes to the pre-populated fields (for example, you might wish to change the link title to something more meaningful to you).
- Click “Save.”
The link will be added to your list of favorites.
The adventurous way.*
There is also a very convenient way to add links to external content directly to your myEckerd favorites. To do this, you will first need to add a special widget to your browser’s list of bookmarks.
Adding the bookmarking widget.
- Click the link to “My Page” in the main, orange navigation bar at the top of the page (alternately, you can click the “My Page” link that appears at the top of the My Page block on the myEckerd home page).
- Click and drag the button that says “Save to myEckerd” to your favorites/bookmarks toolbar in your browser or right click on the button and choose to bookmark the link or add to your favorites.
- Open your favorites/bookmarks and confirm the presence of a new bookmark that says “Save to myEckerd.”
If you see the “Save to myEckerd” label in your bookmarks, then you have successfully added the widget.
Using the bookmarking widget.
The myEckerd bookmarking widget allows you to quickly save links to internal and external content within your myEckerd favorites. Here’s how to do that.
- Navigate to a page, any page.
- Access your browser’s favorites/bookmarks menu.
- Click “Save to myEckerd.”
- If you are currently logged in to myEckerd, you will be taken to the Add new link page. Otherwise, log in, and then you will be taken there.
- Modify the link title if you want.
- Click “Save”.
That’s it; your link will be added to your myEckerd favorites. This is most convenient when you are browsing outside of myEckerd but see a page to which you’d like to save a link.
*Note: This method only works in modern browsers. Firefox, Opera and IE7 (for example) will work just fine.
· MANAGING LINKS ON YOUR PAGE
You have the ability to modify or delete any of the links you have added to your page on myEckerd. Here’s how to do that.
- Go to “My Page” by clicking “My Page” either in the main navigation bar, the orange bar atop your collection of links, or, the “edit the links on your page” link that appears under your links after you’ve added some.
- To modify an existing link, click “edit link” next to the link you wish to change.
- Make your changes in the fields that appear.
- Click “Save”.
- To delete a link, simply click “delete link” next to the link you wish to delete.
- Click “ok” on the confirmation box. Your link has been deleted.
Link management is really just the first step in allowing for greater user control over how content is filtered, ranked and displayed on myEckerd. Look for more improvements in this area as myEckerd develops.
2. How is the content organized on MyEckerd?
All content in myEckerd is organized into one of nine sections. Below is a brief description of each section and examples of the types of links found in each section.
· Academic Resources
This section contains links to common informational and instructional resources used by residential and PEL students in the course of their daily academic life at Eckerd. In addition to being a central location from which to access general information about term deadlines, schedules, registration information and grades, this section also serves as a place to find links to places on campus that aid a student's research and overall academic development.
Sample Links
ECWeb
Class Schedules
Academic Calendar
· Campus Services
Here you can find links to the various internal vendors on campus. They are vendors in the sense that they provide services to the campus that are meant to facilitate and maintain the campus' operations and the general well being of students and staff. If you are in need of a specific product or service offered on campus, you can find it here.
Sample Links
Eckerd College Bookstore
Human Resources
Business Office
· Courses & Materials
This section contains links to general course information as well access to the various online homes of specific courses and programs. If you are a student looking to access a syllabus, a lesson and/or a PDF of an article for a class, this is where you would look. Conversely, this section also contains links for professors to be able to administer such content.
Sample Links
Moodle
Eckerd Academic Wiki
Course Catalog
· Document Center
The Document Center contains links to substantial college communications pieces - both internal and external. In addition to student and faculty handbooks, the Document Center houses reports generated in response the colleges various administrative and developmental actions.
Sample Links
EC-Book
Faculty Handbook
Committee Reports
· Information Technology Help
This section contains links to frequently accessed ITS information and resources. If you are wondering about the college's acceptable use policies or simply want a quick link to the ITS home page, you should look no further than the IT help section.
Sample Links
Information Technology for Professors
Content Management System
Calendar Express
· Manage your Accounts
This is meant to give faculty, students and staff a central place to go to perform administrative and financially-based tasks, the Manage your Accounts section provides access to student e-bill, Banner, as well as other areas that allow students, faculty and staff to modify public or private information, and to initiate transactions.
Sample Links
Novell
Banner
· News & Events
This is your campus news center. If it's news from Eckerd, about Eckerd, or may potentially affect Eckerd, you'll find a link to it here. This section contains links to campus news, public news about Eckerd, Eckerd events and faculty news. It is worth noting that this section provides a quick link to the college's Tropical Weather Update - a valuable resource during storm season.
Sample Links
Campus News
Events @ Eckerd
Tropical Weather Update
· People & Places
This section is a collection of links that allow students, faculty and staff to find people and to retrieve various types of information about them - ranging from basic contact information, to course enrollment and administrative information. Campus maps, directions and building information can also be found here.
Sample Links
Campus Directories
Student Information
· Policies & Procedures
Here students, faculty and staff can find links to frequently accessed guidelines and rules relevant to campus life, intellectual property, academics, ITS issues and a variety of other areas related to life at Eckerd.
Sample Links
EC-Book
Disability Support Services: Suggested Syllabi Language Regarding Accommodations
ITS Policies