Message-ID: <7975449.1182489422947.JavaMail.joeescobar@joe-escobars-computer.local> Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2006 00:08:42 -0800 (PST) From: cunninghama Reply-To: Online.MC_PO3.LCC-Mail@lanecc.edu Subject: Re: website Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="----=_Part_1752_6170521.1182489422946" GWItemID: 4559F81A.LCC-Mail.MC_PO3.100.1346735.1.22E0.1 ------=_Part_1752_6170521.1182489422946 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sorry, I wasn't clear. My groups are created. (Actually, you told me how to do that earlier in the quarter, so thanks!!) I have been using the separate groups and entering my grades in through "Grades" all quarter, which has been nice. As I'm entering in more and more grades, though, it's getting harder for my eyes to trace WHOSE grade I'm entering in. You had suggested going to the "view submitted assignments" page and checking quickgrade to submit one assignment at a time. The only problem with entering the grades in this way is that I don't see an option in the "view submitted assignments" page to only view one group at a time. I've never been very good at just playing with computer programs. I get impatient. Thank you, though, for YOUR patience! Allison >>> Online 11/14/06 10:23 AM >>> Have you actually "created" your groups in Moodle? (Groups don't happen automatically). Click Groups in your Admin block to create groups and assign students to them. Once done, you WILL see a groups option in your gradebook. Joe ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Use the work order form at: http://teach.lanecc.edu OR email online@lanecc.edu for all future webmaster requests. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ >>> Allison Cunningham 11/14/06 9:32 AM >>> Hi Joe, I didn't know I could enter in grades that way. I always just used the "Grades" option. I still have one problem with the "view submitted assignments"/quickgrade method though, and that is that I don't see a way to separate my groups. In gradebook, I can view my sections separately. Thanks again for all your help! Allison >>> Online 11/09/06 8:59 am >>> Thanks so much for your feedback. I hope you know this is the place (online@lanecc.edu) to ask your Moodle questions. As for the student complaint on quizzes, the instructor is using a "fill in the blank" type of question. It's a computer and of course the letters have to match exactly. I know how poorly students spell, so I never use this type of question. I'd using matching or multiple choice instead... problem solved. Also, Moodle can be as busy or "un-busy" as you want. Remove unused blocks, like the calendar. If you only use forums, change the format from 10 weeks to 1 topic. Many possibilities here. Now for your questions: Use your announcements forum to announce when a homework is due. Put your actual assignment within a Moodle assignment activity. Then, you only have to have a single assignment activity. (I can TELL you are a Blackboard user, separating the two, when they should be all in one. ;-) With quickgrade checked on your view submitted assignments page, you can see just a single assignment and enter grades. And you are correct on the group feature.. what a strange default. We should be able to make the change to at least show the list by last name. I'm looking into it. Joe >>> Allison Cunningham 11/08/06 11:09 pm >>> Thank you for setting that up so quickly. I didn't expect that! As for Moodle, I'll take a poll next week. I haven't heard much complaints about the way I'm using it, but I've heard that some instructors that are using it for quizzes are running into troubles. For example, one student told me that an instructor gave a quiz where the students typed in the answers. If they used different capitalization or wrote a plural noun instead of the singular noun, they were marked wrong. Now, this may be a user error on behalf of the instructor. Also, this is hearsay, so I may be off a bit. Another student said the Moodle page wasn't laid out very well, that it was "too busy". That may be my fault, though. I personally like the weekly format, but others aren't responding as well. As for my use of Moodle, I don't do any online assignments, but I do like to post grades. I like to post a forum to announce that homework is due, but then I ALSO have to post it as an assignment so I can record it in the gradebook. Having two posts for one assignment can be a bit tedious, and I sometimes forget to do both!! Another characteristic of the gradebook that I would like to have different would be the "edit grade" page. I would like to be able select one assignment and have only the students' names and that assignment show up on the screen. As I'm entering in more grades, my eyes are having a hard time following across the rows. I must be honest, I haven't spent much time trying to figure out if I can do this. I did try just selecting the assignment while I was in the Edit Grades tab, but it didn't seem to do what I was hoping. Another aspect that was a bit cumbersome was that I had to separate my classes into groups when I created a metacourse for my two sections. This wouldn't have been so bad except that the names were alphabetized by first name, not last name as my class lists were. Again, there probably is some setting that would allow me to change this, but I didn't see it. Most of my difficulties probably just come from being a new user. I got a bit attached to Blackboard at my last university, and haven't quite adjusted to Moodle yet. It'll come with time, but right now I type up MATH lectures so I can post them on Moodle, so you can imagine how long that takes!! Thanks again for getting back to me so soon! Allison >>> Online 11/08/06 4:14 PM >>> I'd be interested in what exactly your students hate about Moodle, if you could share. I've set up your new web account AND have installed the EASY faculty website I promoted at the inservice workshop. Your new web address is: http://teach.lanecc.edu/cunninghama It shouldn't ever change, so, if appropriate, feel free to include it on all of the literature that you pass out to students, such as syllabi. Your login name is your LastNameFirstInitial. (all lower case, just as it appears in your web address above). When you go to this webpage, you will have to click INSTRUCTOR LOGIN For the VERY FIRST LOGIN ONLY, enter your login name AND LEAVE THE PASSWORD FIELD BLANK. THEN, you will see a warning that you must enter some information. YOUR FIRST IMPORTANT TASK is to enter your information in the provided fields and click SAVE. *Your real name, First and Last *Your department *Your easy instructor WEBSITE password (YOU pick what that is) *That same password again (just to be sure you typed it correctly the first time *Your email address Once you've completed that step, you are ready to use your website. Whenever you want to RETURN to edit your website, you will use your login name and password. (the same one you entered twice in the step ABOVE) That's it for your easy web site. Enjoy If you need to read the "manual", find it online at: http://teach.lanecc.edu/inservice/handouts/2006/ Joe >>> Allison Cunningham 11/08/06 4:11 pm >>> Hmmm...I think anything with the word "Easy" in it would probably be best. What I have seen are sites that have links to a handouts, the syllabus , and a grades page that the students use their L #s to log into. David Van Slyke has one that I'm talking about. That's all I really need. Moodle has some good features, but for me it's like "rabbit hunting with a Howitzer", as one of my profs used to say. Also, some of my students absolutely hate Moodle, and I'm having trouble getting them to use their resources. Thanks for your help! Allison >>> Online 11/08/06 11:18 AM >>> Of course there is. What would you like, a simple web account with FTP access or an Easy Website (for Instructors), the click and paste version? Joe >>> Allison Cunningham 11/08/06 10:44 am >>> Hi there, I'm a new instructor this quarter and was hoping to set up a website. I have been using Moodle, but there are some characteristics of the good ol' websites that I see some of the senior instructors using that I really like. I'm hoping this option is still available. Thank you for your time. Allison Cunningham ------=_Part_1752_6170521.1182489422946--