To:  All Learning System Instructors and Associates

1.  Fall Course sites to be hidden from students January 30, 2012
2.  LMS Migration -- Sites to test migrations with -- I need 5 suggestions?
3.  Export Your Gradebooks!
4.  Spotlight On:  Powerview
5.  Left Menu Tools Usage and Hiding Unused Tools
6.  Anonymous Discussion Topics -- a permanent, misleading setting
7.  Course Item Usage Reports via Teach->Tracking
8.  Update your version of JAVA now, please? 


1.  Fall Course sites to be hidden from students January 30, 2012
========
As of Monday January 30, 2012, all 2011FA course sites (Fall Half-Courses)  will be hidden from students but not from instructors or teaching assistants.   If your 2011FA site should remain visible to your students for incompletes, etc., please let us know.  The course sites will be intact but just hidden from all students as those courses are now deemed to be complete.

2.  LMS Migration -- Sites to test migrations with -- I need 5 suggestions?
========

As part of our task of moving our current learningSystem/WebCT system to "something else" by as early as this fall, we would like to have 5 volunteer course sites to test some migrations to other platforms with.  I'd like to hear from you if you have a site that is "Information rich" and "tool rich" -- using both the assignment dropbox and the quizzing/survey tool at a minimum.    Please send me some site suggestions ASAP.  Thanks!


3.  Export Your Gradebooks!
========
As you work through entries/columns in your gradebooks, please remember to export your gradebook FREQUENTLY and save these files in case they are needed for gradebook rebuilding/grades retrieval in perpetuity.  To export your gradebook, choose:

TEACH, GRADEBOOK, EXPORT TO SPREADSHEET.    Choose 'all members' and 'all columns' and the defaults for the last two items.

Rename the default filename (perhaps incorporate the date) and save these either to a network drive, or multiple copies to memory sticks and local hard drives.


4.  Spotlight on "POWERVIEW"
========
A frequent question is "how do I change the order of the documents I've posted?".  By default, the documents will be listed in the order that they were posted -- new items at the bottom.  To reorder the documents on a page quickly, check out "POWERVIEW" -- by choosing "Page Options"->Powerview.

Your graphical icon display will be repaced with a linear display of the items on the page.

To move something, click the square box beside it to select it.   Then, click on one of the funny yellow bar things in the 'move' column to POINT TO WHERE YOU WANT TO PUT THAT THING.   Clicking on the 'move' icon on the same line as the item you want to move DOES NOTHING -- point to the new location for the document.

Choose "Page options", "Go to basic view" to return the page  to the normal view.


5.  Left Menu Tools Usage & Hiding Unused Tools
=========================

"A simple site is a happy site":   M.J. Pilgrim, March 2011.

Please check out the left menu of your course site to review the learningSystem/WebCT Tools in use.   If you are not using a particular tool, please hide it!   Do so via 'manage course', 'tools'.   Clear the checkbox and 'save'.   Specifically, consider hiding the 'Calendar' tool, the 'Syllabus' tool as most people post their syllabus to the homepage, the 'Roster' tool, the 'My Progress' tool, and even the "my grades" tool if you're not posting grades.


6.  Anonymous Discussion Topics -- will remain ANONYMOUS forever to everyone!
=========================

There is an option in Discussions that will allow you to "make authors anonymous" under "Topic Behaviour" that is misleading.  The choices are:

Author Identification:

 Authors are identified by user names   OR  Authors are anonymous to Students

Note that if you choose to make authors anonymous "to students", they will actually be anonymous to EVERYONE including YOU.   Also make special note of the fact that you cannot revert this setting once chosen.   Consider yourself warned!   In Latin, "monitus es".


7.  Course Item Usage Reports via Teach->Tracking
========================

Teach->Tracking can provide you with lots of useful information regarding your course materials and the amount of time students spend viewing them now that the winter term is at the half-way mark.

Try these:

Teach->Tracking->File Usage (set the dates to January 10th to today) for a full report of how often posted files like lecture notes were looked at.  Watch for a 'Graph' button to display these results pictorally.

Teach->Tracking->Summary (set the dates to January 9th to today) for a summary of daily usage like most active hour, least active hour, etc.

Teach->Tracking->Student Tracking (set the dates to January 10th to today) for a summary (and complete detail if you select a particular student) of your students' login habits throughout the term.   You can see everything that a particular student has done "to the mouseclick".


8.  Update your version of JAVA now?
========================

If you use the CHAT facility, or are having issues logging in to the learningSystem/WebCT because it says it's "Unable to process your request" please update your version of JAVA.   Go to www.java.com and choose 'Free Java Download".   Install and then close all open browser windows and restart.

If you are using the CHAT facility and expect your students to do the same, please post a course announcement with this same information.