Category: Dear TLT

Dear TLT
Dear TLT

Dear TLT: How Do I Release Final Grades in OAKS?

Chris Meshanko

Dear TLT,

This is my first semester at CofC, and a few of my students have told me that they cannot see their final grades in OAKS. How do I release their final grades? Thank you for your help.

Sincerely,

“The Professor” Roy Hinkley
Botany

Dear Professor Hinkley,

To release final calculated/adjusted grades in OAKS, follow these eight steps:

1.  Open your course homepage and click the down arrow next to Grades.

2.  Click Grades.

output_fra8JO

3.  From the Manage Grades page, click Enter Grades.

Grades_List_-_10_3_ChrisMeshanko_-_College_of_Charleston

4.  Under Final Grades, click the down arrow next to Final Calculated Grade and select Grade All.

output_AUQZpZ

5.  Click the empty checkbox, next to Grade (upper left), to select all students.

6.  Click Release/Unrelease, next to Email, to allow final grades to be released to all students. (Note: If you selected release Final Adjusted Grade in the Setup Wizard, the column will display Final Adjusted Grade, not Final Calculated Grade. The default setting is Final Calculated Grade.)

7.  Click Save.

8.  Click Yes to confirm the changes and exit.

Please contact your instructional technologist, if you have additional questions or concerns, and check out our upcoming training sessions at http://tlt.eventbrite.com.

Best regards,

TLT

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Dear TLT
Dear TLT

Dear TLT: What Happens to a Student’s Work in OAKS if She Drops and Later Re-Enrolls?

Chris Meshanko

Dear TLT,

Two weeks ago, a student dropped one of my courses, and as expected, she was removed from my OAKS course–including all of her Dropbox submissions. Yesterday, I was notified that she would be re-enrolling in my course. Were her work and grades permanently deleted or will they be restored when she is re-enrolled in my OAKS course? Thanks for your help!

Sincerely,

Professor Ross Geller
Paleontology

Dear Professor Geller,

This is a great question! OAKS archives all students’ work and grades, even if they drop or withdraw, so in a situation like yours, both will be fully restored.

Please contact your instructional technologist, if you have additional questions or concerns, and check out our upcoming training sessions at http://tlt.eventbrite.com.

Best regards,

TLT

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Dear TLT
Assessment, Dear TLT, TLT

Can I grade one OAKS Dropbox Assignment using two rubrics?

Mendi Benigni

DEAR TLTDear TLT,

I have an assignment that has two components but produces one grade.  I’d like to use a different OAKS rubric to evaluate each component.  Is it possible to do this within one OAKS Dropbox so that there is only one grade in the grade book?  I really want to keep them as one assignment.

Sincerely,

Karen HB
Health and Human Performance

 

Dear Karen,

The answer is yes and no.  The OAKS Dropbox allows the instructor to attach multiple OAKS rubrics to one assignment and use both of them to interactively grade the work.  However, it will only automatically load the calculated score from the first rubric.  As you can see from the screenshot below, only Rubric 1’s score has been entered into the Score area for the assignment.

Two graded rubrics with the score from the first one transferred
Two rubrics added and graded. Notice only the first rubric score transferred automatically to the assignment score.

 

 

You will just need to manually enter the appropriate grade into the Score area, based on the outcome of the two rubrics.

The other option to consider would be to create only one rubric in OAKS that has two Criteria Groups.  Group 1 is for the first component of the assignment and Group 2 is for the second part.  The benefit of using the groups is the you can use different scoring levels per section.  Note: this may not produce the same outcome as the two rubrics so be sure to test this before applying it to a live assignment.

Multipgroup rubric

Sincerely,

TLT

Dear TLT
Dear TLT, Productivity

Dear TLT: How do I Save a Webpage as a PDF?

Chris Meshanko

Dear TLT,

A student told me that it’s possible to save a webpage as a PDF in Google Chrome; is that true?  I don’t have Adobe Acrobat on my personal computer, and this would be extremely useful.  Thanks for your help!

Sincerely,

Professor Vivian Banks
African American Studies

Dear Professor Banks,

Your student is right!  It is possible to save a webpage as a PDF using Google Chrome’s Print… option.  To do this, go to the webpage that you want to save and press CTRL + P (Windows) or ⌘ + P (Mac) to open Chrome’s print dialog.  Next, under Destination, click Change and select Save as PDF.  To save the page, as it appears on your screen*, make sure you select Background graphics under Options and click Save.

*Please note that this works for most HTML webpages.  If the print preview doesn’t look right, try adjusting the layout, paper size and/or margins.

ChrometoPDF

Please contact your instructional technologist, if you have additional questions or concerns, and check out our upcoming training sessions at http://tlt.eventbrite.com.

Best regards,

TLT

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Submit the following form to see it featured on our blog: http://goo.gl/n1N2tq.  And, don’t worry, we’ll change your name to a fictional professor in our response!

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Dear TLT
Dear TLT, Web 2.0

Dear TLT: How do I Capture a Long Distance Recording of a Guest Speaker?

Chris Meshanko

Dear TLT,

I would like my colleague, in Ohio, to speak to my class about his research on wormholes. Unfortunately, he’s not very tech savvy. Is there a way to record him without him having to use a computer or camcorder–perhaps over the phone? Thanks in advance.

Sincerely,

Professor Richard “Dick” Solomon
Physics

Dear Professor Solomon,

Welcome to CofC! Rumor has it that you and your family traveled a great distance to join us 🙂 To record your colleague, over the phone, we recommend VoiceThread–a web-based, content delivery application that allows users to assemble and narrate media-rich presentations that can be easily shared with others. What sets VoiceThread apart, from other online content delivery tools, is that it permits viewers to comment on the content being shared–perfect for confirming understanding and encouraging discussion. And, not only do we have a site license for faculty and students, but VoiceThread is also integrated into OAKS.

To get started, view our detailed tutorial and contact your colleague to arrange a date and time to record him, preferably on his office landline. Next, Create a new VoiceThread presentation–be sure to add a Title and upload an image via Add Media (e.g., a wormhole). To initiate the call, Edit the VoiceThread and click on Comment. Open the commenting options (above the timeline) and click on Phone Comment (see image below).

Enter your colleague’s ten-digit phone number and click Call Me (see image below). VoiceThread will call him, within thirty seconds, and invite him to comment. When your colleague hangs up, his comments will be processed and automatically added to the slide.

Add a few discussion slides/prompts after your colleague’s comments and share the VoiceThread with your students.

Please contact your instructional technologist, if you have additional questions or concerns, and check out our upcoming training sessions at http://tlt.eventbrite.com.

Best regards,

TLT

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Professor Solomon is from what late 90’s television series? The first faculty member to email tlt@cofc.edu, with the correct answer, will receive a TLT (BPA-free) water bottle!

Dear TLT
Accessibility, Dear TLT, Productivity

Dear TLT: How do I convert a file into something I can open in Word?

Mendi Benigni

DEAR TLTDear TLT,

I have a student that submitted a paper created in Apple’s Pages and I can’t read it using Word.  What can I do?

Sincerely,

Professor H. Higgins
Phoneticist

 

 

Dear Professor Higgins,

Check out Online-Convert.com.  This website allows you to upload files and it will convert them into a format that you can view.  It’s all done online and is free so no software is needed on your computer.

  • Just go to http://www.online-convert.com
  • choose the proper converter (Audio, Video, Image, Document, Ebook, or Archive)
  • then choose the format you want to convert TO, example “Convert to DOC,”
  • then click GO.

Scroll down and click Choose File to upload our file then click Convert File.  It’s just that easy.

This is also a great site to allow you to convert all those old research files and papers into a format that you can view.  I’ve used it for converting Pages to Word and old AppleWorks to Word.

FERPA REMINDER:  since this is a third-party site do not upload any files with secure information such as passwords, social security numbers, or grades. Make sure to always read the Privacy Policy.

Regards,

TLT

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Professor Henry Higgins is from what play? The first faculty member to email tlt@cofc.edu, with the correct answer, will receive a TLT prize!

Dear TLT
Dear TLT, Productivity, Research

Dear TLT: How do I Combine Text from Two Columns into One (in Excel)?

Chris Meshanko

Dear TLT,

I’m working with a rather complex data set, and I need to combine text from two separate columns into one.  Is that possible?

Sincerely,

Professor James Moriarty
Mathematics

Dear Professor Moriarty,

While it is not “elementary,” as some might say, it is definitely possible!  To get started, click on the first (empty) cell in the new column (C2 in the example below).

Screenshot_12_17_15__2_40_PM

Click on Formulas > Insert > Text > CONCATENATE.

Screenshot_12_17_15__3_09_PM

Click on cell A2 then type [, “space“,].  Click on cell B2 and press enter.

Screenshot_12_17_15__3_11_PM

Cell C2 should now include text from cells A2 and B2, but not R2D2 🙂

Screenshot_12_17_15__3_13_PM

Use the fill handle to copy the formula to the rest of the cells in the new column.

Screenshot_12_17_15__3_14_PM

Please contact your instructional technologist, if you have additional questions or concerns, and check out our upcoming training sessions at http://tlt.eventbrite.com.

Best regards,

TLT

 

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Dear TLT
3D Printing, Dear TLT

Dear TLT: How do I Print a 3D Model for Class?

Chris Meshanko

Dear TLT,

I found an amazing model of the Taung Child’s skull, on Thingiverse.com, and I heard you have a 3D printer for faculty use. How do I request a print?

Sincerely,

Professor Henry Jones, Jr.
Anthropology

[hr]

Dear Professor Jones,

We would love to help you print your model for class! Please take a look at the steps below to get started. For more information on our printer, policy, and additional resources, visit our 3D Printing for Instruction page. We look forward to receiving your 3D Print Request Form!

Please contact your instructional technologist, if you have additional questions or concerns, and check out our upcoming training sessions at http://tlt.eventbrite.com.

Best regards,

TLT

 

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Dear TLT
Dear TLT

Dear TLT: How do I Normalize the Volume of an Audio Recording?

Chris Meshanko

Dear TLT,

I recently recorded an (audio) interview and noticed that my voice is much louder than my subject’s. Is there any way to amplify his voice so the volume levels are consistent?

Sincerely,

Professor J. Barnhardt
Physics

[hr]

Dear Professor Barnhardt,

Excellent question! It sounds like you need to apply Dynamic Range Compression which will increase the volume of your subject’s voice without distorting yours. To do this, you will first need to download the free audio editing program, Audacity. Audacity is a powerful tool, and may be intimating for new users, but they provide several great tutorials on their Wiki.

Audacity__Free_Audio_Editor_and_Recorder

Next, you will need to download and install Chris Capel’s dynamic compressor plug-in. If you have any trouble with installation, please contact your instructional technologist. Once you restart Audacity, open your audio file and click Effect > Compress Dynamics 1.2.6.

Effect_and_Menubar

We recommend that you enter Daniel J. Lewis’ “best” settings (see image below) as detailed in his (The Audacity to Podcast) blog post.

Compress__dynamics_1_2_6____and_702_0039

After you apply the dynamic compression, click File > Export to save the changes to a new file.

Please contact your instructional technologist, if you have additional questions or concerns, and check out our upcoming training sessions at http://tlt.eventbrite.com.

Best regards,

TLT

 

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Dear TLT
Best Practices, Dear TLT, TLT

Dear TLT: Can I Embed a VoiceThread Lecture in OAKS Content?

Chris Meshanko

Dear TLT,

Is it possible to embed a VoiceThread lecture in OAKS content? I know my students access VoiceThread via the Multimedia Resources widget, to make comments, but what if my lecture is view only?

Sincerely,

Professor C. Connors
Genetic Biology

[hr]

Dear Professor Connors,

Great question! Yes, you can. To embed view-only VoiceThread lectures in OAKS content, follow these eight steps:

1.  Log into OAKS and open your course homepage. Click Access VoiceThread for this Course under the Multimedia Resources widget (on the right).

Homepage_-_10_3_ChrisMeshanko

2.  Hover over the VoiceThread that you want to embed and click Share.

3.  Click on the Basic tab and select Embed.

4.  Uncheck the Comment box, leaving and allow anyone to: View checked. Click Copy Embed Code.

5. Go back to OAKS, open Content, and select a module to store your lecture. Click Create a File.

6.  Enter a Title to name the file and click on the Insert Stuff icon.

7.  Click Enter Embed Code. Paste the embed code from VoiceThread and click Next.

8.  Make sure your VoiceThread displays properly and click Insert. Click Publish and exit.

Please contact your instructional technologist, if you have additional questions or concerns, and check out our upcoming training sessions at http://tlt.eventbrite.com.

Best regards,

TLT

 

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