Academic Tech Tips

ITRS is proud to announce a series of trainings on Top Hat, a web-based platform that allows students to use their smartphone, tablet, or other mobile devices to participate in and engage with in-class activities.

Top Hat’s student-centric experience engages and motivates learners with captivating virtual classroom features, interactive course content, and built-in assessment capabilities. Instructors can choose between seven different poll question types for instant feedback, create an online discussion board, explore a fun tournaments option, and access an enhanced gradebook.

To learn more about Top Hat, register for a training session or visit the ITRS Top Hat Page.

We smell the coffee. We see the library rush. It’s that time of year again: finals.

Source: Freeimages.com/andreajaccarino

For instructors, we’d like to make your Sakai grading process as easy as possible so you can focus on what matters most: your students. Follow the ten steps below to make sure your Sakai gradebook is good to go at the end of the semester:

1. Verify your gradebook is set up correctly.
   • Check the gradebook settings to make sure your gradebook is set up with your teaching goals. While you may have already set-up your gradebook at the beginning of the semester, it’s a good idea to check your settings and make sure they match your syllabus. This section is particularly helpful for instructors with categories or weights to make sure all categories are entered with a weight associated.
2. Enter grades in Sakai.
   • Grade within a Sakai tool. For items coming from other tools, like Assignments or Tests & Quizzes, you can grade them first in the tool.
   • Add gradebook column items, and enter scores manually into the gradebook.
   • Import grades into the gradebook.
3. Make sure all applicable gradebook items are included and visible in the gradebook.
   • Instructors can edit gradebook item details to make sure columns are included in final grade calculations and released to students. Make sure all gradebook items are shown in the gradebook using the Show/Hide Items feature.
4. Delete gradebook column items, or set ungraded items to zero.
   • Did you add a gradebook item you didn’t end up using? Instructors can delete a gradebook item.
   • For any grades instructors would like to set to zero, instructors can mass enter zero grades by setting all ungraded items to zero in the gradebook. (Note that this action cannot be undone.)
5. Add any comments to individual student grades.
6. Override a course grade for individual students if necessary.
7. Review your settings once more.
   • After you’ve entered your grades, make sure your grade release rules display students’ final course grades to them in the way you’d like.
8. Verify how an individual student views their grades.
   • You can also review individual student grades via the Student Review Mode. This feature is especially helpful if you need to review an individual student grade in person and do not want the student to see their peers’ grades.
9. Export final grades.
   • It’s great practice to save a copy of the final grades in a secure location.
10. Whew! Take a breather. You deserve it!

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Import, Design, Publish

The Fall Term is just around the corner. Here are a few tips to help with any last-minute course items you might want to implement, before (or after) you click the Publish Now button.

Do you have some course content you would like to use from a previous term?

Check out the “How do I copy my content from one site to another?” article and other content guides on our Sakai Faculty Resources Page. These and the other useful guides on the page are at your disposal to assist with your course designs.

If at any point during the preparation of your course you should find yourself with a question, feel free to stop by one of our ITRS Drop-in sessions. Conveniently located in IC 204, CLC 732 or even online via Zoom! Please visit our website for a schedule of hours: http://luc.edu/itrs/resources/Dropin.shtml

Lastly, remember that your students won’t be able to see your course until you publish it. Thankfully, it’s as simple as clicking the  button at the top of your Sakai course.

Thanks for reading and have a great semester!

Import, Design, Publish

The Spring Term is just around the corner. Here are a few tips to help with any last minute course items you might want to implement, before (or after) you click the Publish Now button.

Do you have some course content you would like to use from a previous term?

Check out the “Import from Site” and other content guides on our Sakai Faculty Resources Page at: http://luc.edu/itrs/teachingwithtechnology/sakai/sakai-fac-tutorials.shtml#add_content. These and the other useful guides on the page are at your disposal to assist with your course designs.

If at any point during the preparation of your course you should find yourself with a question, feel free to stop by one of our ITRS Drop-in sessions. Conveniently located in IC 204, CLC 732 or even online via Adobe Connect! Please visit our website for a schedule of hours: http://luc.edu/itrs/resources/Dropin.shtml

Lastly, remember that your students won’t be able to see your course until you publish it. Thankfully, it’s as simple as clicking the Publish Now button in the upper left portion of your Sakai course.

Thanks for reading and have a great semester!

We have changed the format of our weekly “ITS Technology Tips” from a Web page listing of PDFs to a blog. The real advantage of presenting Tech Tips in a blog format is that readers have an opportunity to comment and share their own tips and experiences. We will continue to bring you timely information about technology here at Loyola and keep you up to date with useful Web tools each week. Remember to visit our Technology Tips Archive, to find all Tech Tips in PDF format, categorized for easy access.