Springboard! – Page 8 – The official Springboard blog.

The many facets of Discussion – general information.

Post author By phipps
Post date April 21, 2010

Whenever you create a Discussion Forum or Topic, you should provide instructions as to what type of postings are to be made in that specific area of the tool. This is also an opportunity to model the type of communication you consider acceptable within your online classroom. Or, even spell out your expectations and netiquette guidelines if desired. I usually start with a general statement that explains the basics.
About Discussion

For information on the “how to” of creating Discussion Forums and Topics, click here.

Regards, Dr. Jill

Jonnie “Jill” Phipps, Ph.D.

Curriculum Designer

Tags Discussion, Netiquette

Announcements

Instructors, here’s a tip on how to get some informal feedback from your students.

Post author By phipps
Post date April 16, 2010

Before students are overwhelmed with project deadlines and final exams, take a few minutes to ask for their input. This is a great time in the semester to query your students with a survey regarding your online classroom. Solicit feedback about the various aspects of the course and tools you have implemented:

How was the pace? (on a scale from too slow to too fast)
Were there adequate materials provided within the various modules?
Did the Discussions add to the learning process?
Suggestions for Improvement. (Essay)

The Survey tool shares the Question Library with the Quizzes tool, thus providing several options for types of questions that can be asked. This includes the traditional True/False, Multiple Choice and Essays type questions. However, you can also include Ordering, Multiple Select, and Likert questions as well. In fact, the Survey tool is the only place you can use the Likert question type. It allows you to select the scale from the following options:

Likert scale

Results can be set so they are anonymous, and you can use the feedback when refining your online materials for the next semester.

For information on the “how to” of creating Likert questions and Surveys, click here.

For information on the “how to” of creating other types of questions, click here.

Good Luck and Happy Surveying, Dr. Jill

Jonnie “Jill” Phipps, Ph.D.

Curriculum Designer

Tags Likert, Survey

Announcements

New Instructor Guide Available

Post author By ajb40
Post date March 11, 2010

Information Icon Tired of seeing tools on your Course Navigation bar that you don’t use? Interested in adding new tools to that Navbar? Look no further than our new guide for instructors on How to Edit the Course Navigation Bar: http://www.uakron.edu/dotAsset/984229.pdf.

Additional instructor and student guides can be found on the Springboard Resources page: http://www.uakron.edu/it/instructional_services/dds/springboard/springboard-resource.dot.

Tags Instructor_Resources

Announcements

Update: Combined Courses Displaying Individually

Post author By ajb40
Post date March 5, 2010

After working extensively with Desire2Learn, we have identified and corrected the issue with combined courses also appearing individually. The cause of the problem was a setting in the PeopleSoft integration process that was configured incorrectly.

If you continue to see any of your combined courses listed individually on your Springboard homepage, please contact the ZipSupport Center at 330.972.6888 or by email at support@uakron.edu. Thank you for your patience!

Announcements

Combined Courses Displaying Individually

Post author By ajb40
Post date March 1, 2010

Several instructors have reported that combined courses in Springboard are now also displaying individually on their Springboard homepage. We are currently working with Desire2Learn to determine the cause of the issue and correct it. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Please note: If the individual course sections were active before they were combined, they are now active and visible to students. We strongly recommend that you deactivate the individual sections to prevent confusion.

Announcements

Update: Issues Importing Grades

Post author By ajb40
Post date February 16, 2010

Desire2Learn has installed the necessary fix to correct the errors experienced while attempting to import Grades. If any instructors continue to experience issues while importing Grades, please notify the ZipSupport Center at 330.972.6888 or by email at support@uakron.edu. Thank you for your patience, and a big thank you to the instructors who were able to help us identify the problem.

Announcements

University Network Maintenance 7:00 am on Sunday

Post author By Wendy Lampner
Post date February 12, 2010

The networking group needs to take down a piece of equipment for maintenance on Sunday morning during the downtime window at 7:00 AM.

This will temporarily disable access to the internet. Traffic between networks and servers on campus should not be impacted. Users from home may not be able to access Springboard during this time. The outage is expected to last about 15 minutes.

Announcements

Issues with Importing Grades

Post author By ajb40
Post date February 11, 2010

Warning Icon We have received reports from many instructors who are receiving an Internal 500 error when attempting to import Grades into their Springboard courses. We are actively working with Desire2Learn to determine the cause of the problem and implement a solution. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Announcements

Springboard Training Available

Post author By ajb40
Post date February 2, 2010

Are you new to teaching with Springboard? We can help!

Software Training Services offers training on many aspects of Springboard, including uploading Content, creating Dropbox, managing Grades, and more! To sign up for a training session, navigate to http://www.uakron.edu/seminars. If you have any questions, please contact Al Herbert (herbert@uakron.edu).

Announcements

Quality Matters Workshop – January 26, 2010

Post author By Wendy Lampner
Post date January 20, 2010

UA is a member of the Ohio Quality Matters Consortium ( http://www.oln.org/QM/quality_matters.php) and is hosting at no cost a one day professional development workshop for experienced online instructors on Applying the QM rubric. This invitation is extended to all consortium member institutions, however the first 15 seats are reserved for UA faculty. Please register for this limited seating event by visiting the QM pages on the Instructional Services website: ( http://www.uakron.edu/it/instructional_services/dds/qm/). A wait list will be maintained and five days before the workshop any open seats will be assigned to UA faculty.

Tags Quality_Matters