The Instructional Development Center (IDC) is a division of Teaching & Learning Technologies (ITaP)

Upcoming Training
To see a description and to register, click one of the dates below.

This Month's Links

Signals Web Site

Training Calendar

What's New in ITaP Instructional Labs

BoilerCast Web Page

Undergraduate Training at Purdue (UTaP)

How do I use Software Remote?

SafeAssign at Purdue

Signals: Early Intervention for Student Success

A new web-based application, developed at Purdue, for use in Blackboard

This Fall, 12 large-enrollment classes -- about 10,000 students at Purdue University - West Lafayette, will use Signals, a new web-based application developed at Purdue.

Helping students succeed academically is the goal of every instructor, advisor, and staff member at Purdue University.  Signals provides a way for instructors to find and reach out to students who may be struggling in their classes.   Signals detects warning signs in student performance and allows instructors to intervene when a student is not performing well in class, alerting and directing the student to help resources.  Most importantly, Signals allows intervention early in the semester, when students have the most opportunity to improve their performance and their grades.

How Does Signals Work?

To identify students who are at risk academically, Signals combines “predictive modeling” with data-mining from Blackboard Vista, Purdue University’s course management system.  When an instructor runs a Signals intervention, each student is assigned to a “risk group”, denoted by one of three stoplight ratings -- corresponding to green (not at-risk), yellow (may be at-risk) or red (at-risk) stoplight icons – which are released to the student’s Blackboard course page.   When students see the stoplight icon, they get an immediate, clear and effective indicator of how they are doing in the class, with accompanying information on what the rating means and what they may do to improve their performance.

In addition, instructors can use Signals to customize and release personal intervention emails to their class, informing students of their at-risk status and directing them to available resources on campus – such as office hours, study materials, or help centers.

How is it Beneficial?

Students report that they value the individualized feedback and contact from their instructor that Signals provides, particularly in large enrollment classes.  They also appreciate knowing how they are doing in the class early in the semester, in time to get assistance that will help raise their grades.  Instructors who use Signals benefit from its ability to provide real-time feedback to students -- as frequently as needed and fully customized for each class situation.  Providing feedback to students early in their academic careers gives them the opportunity to learn good help-seeking behaviors, which they may use to increase their chances for success in subsequent classes.

How do I find out more?

Instructors who are interested Signals will find more information on the Signals web site, or they may want to attend one of the upcoming scheduled demonstrations of Signals (click on a date in the "Upcoming Training" panel at the left to see a description and register).

5 Things to Know About... Signals: stoplights for student success
To use Signals, instructors must have an active Blackboard class, have grades in the Blackboard grade book, and be teaching in the West Lafayette Academic Campus. Signals is not available for instructors using the West Lafayette Open Campus or Purdue Non-Academic Campus.
To identify students at risk academically, Signals combines predictive modeling with data-mining from Blackboard Vista. Each student is assigned a “risk group” determined by a predictive student success algorithm.
Instructor 'interventions' in Signals can take the form of a customized email sent to students, or a stoplight icon (green, yellow, or red) appearing on the student's Blackboard course home page. The icon tells the student how s/he is doing and links to specific directions on how to get help.
Students who participated in the pilot program for Signals reported that they valued the individualized feedback and contact from their instructor, and appreciated knowing how they were doing early in the semester
You can find information about Signals - with links to KB articles and an upcoming demonstrations schedule - at the Signals Web page.

Improvements for Software Remote
Many more applications are being added for remote use

Users of Purdue's popular Software Remote service will find a more expanded offering of applications available for this semester.

Software Remote (formerly DACS) provides free access to software from any computer with an internet connection and a web browser, for all Purdue - West Lafayette students, staff, and faculty. Many software programs are available, including Adobe products, SAS, Microsoft Office, SPSS, and many more. The software programs appear to run on your desktop, but are actually running on the Software Remote servers. Keyboard strokes, mouse clicks, and screen updates are transmitted between your computer and the server.

According to Byron Reed, Director of Learning Spaces in TLT, Software Remote will greatly expand its offerings in Fall 2009, beginning to host nearly all of the standard software and many of the classroom software applications that are currently available in the ITaP Instructional Computing Labs.

Log in to Software Remote to see the list of currently available software. (First-time users will be prompted to download a small Citrix ICA client application to their computer.)

Faculty Participants Sought for Possible Pilot

We are looking for faculty interested in experimenting with an instructional tool that promotes communication and collaboration through the use of short audio and, if applicable, video files.

These interactions would occur between faculty and students or between students and students online. Instructors would be able to use this tool to provide audio and/or video feedback or assignments to students. Students will be able to use this tool to submit audio or perhaps video assignments or post audio/video questions or comments to others in the course. The tool should be able to used inside or outside of Blackboard.

A number of technologies are currently being reviewed and a pilot of at least one of these technologies will be conducted during the Spring 2010 semester. If you are interested in participating in this investigation, please contact tlt-etech@lists.purdue.edu.

Purdue Moving from Turnitin to SafeAssign
for Plagiarism Checking
Turnitin still available until May 12, 2010

Beginning this semester, SafeAssign is available for use in Blackboard by instructors wishing to use a plagiarism-checking service in their Blackboard courses.

Turnitin, the plagiarism-checking service used by Purdue University for the past few years, will continue to be available throughout the 2009-2010 year, but users should make plans to move to SafeAssign before May 12, 2010. At that time, the Turnitin service will be discontinued.

If you would like assistance in changing to SafeAssign in your class, please contact a TLT Educational Consultant to talk or set up a private consultation. For more information on SafeAssign, see the Purdue SafeAssign Web site.

Do Your Students Need Software Training?

Undergraduate Training @ Purdue (UT@P) is a free resource on campus that can help you by teaching technical computer software skills to your students, both graduate and undergraduate! UT@P is comprised of undergraduate trainers who provide workshops in order to train students on using various types of computer software. These sessions (up to 2 per course) can take place during your specified class period, or another convenient time. UT@P will work with you to find the best fit for your course.

To learn more about the workshops UT@P provides, other UT@P services, and request a workshop go to our website at http://www.itap.purdue.edu/tlt/utap.