Upcoming Training

To see a description and to register, click the links below

This Month's Links

Meeting and Greeting with a Shared Media Library

Turn It In: Copyright Sin?

Taking a Hard Line on Turnitin

Purdue Turnitin Web Site

Turnitin Documentation

FERPA (U.S. Dept. of Education Web Site)

TLT Conference 2008

Mark your Calendar
Vista Users' Group Meetings scheduled

Find out the latest on Vista, learn some new and interesting tips on using Vista, and talk to other instructors using Vista -- and there's always something good to eat! Please join us!

Drop us a Line!

Do you have questions, comments, or ideas for what we can talk about in future IDC Tips & Techniques? We'd love to hear them!

Send your ideas to
tlt-consulting@purdue.edu.

Creating Accessible Online Quizzes

More than 400 students on the Purdue West Lafayette campus have disabilities that require extended time for taking exams. These students register with the office of Disability Resource Services (formerly Adaptive Programs), which specifies the duration of the extended time in a letter that students present to instructors at the beginning of the semester.

Blackboard Vista 4 makes it easy and quick to create 'selective-release' online quizzes for students requiring additional time.

Create the selective-release quiz

1. Create the assessment for your class as you normally would. (You'll base your selective-release quiz on it.)
2. Then, from the Assessments Tool (Build > Course Tools > Assessments), select Create Assessment.
3. Enter your settings to create the new assessment:
   
   • Click the radio button next to "Base on an existing assessment," and click the arrow to open the dropdown menu.
   • In the dropdown menu, select the assessment that you previously created.
     Click Save. You're returned to the Assessments Tool.

Change the duration setting

1. In the Assessments Tool, find your selective-release quiz in the list and click on the ActionLinks icon (at the end of the quiz name) to show a dropdown menu.  Select Edit Properties.
2. In the Edit Assessment Properties, under Duration, increase the amount of time to the quiz by the amount directed in the letter from the Disability Resource Center. This will generally be 1.5 to 3 times the amount of time provided to the other students.
3. Click Save. You're returned to the Assessments Tool.

Set selective release for the quiz

Selective release will ensure that only the student(s) you specify will be able to take the selective-release quiz.

1. In the Assessments Tool, find your selective-release quiz in the list and click on the ActionLinks icon to show a dropdown menu.  Select Set Release Criteria.
2. Click Add Member Criteria.
3. In the Add Member Criteria window, select User ID “equals”, then click the checkbox next to the name of the student(s) needing extended time. Click Save, then at the confirmation, click Save again.

Make the quiz available

As with all quizzes, you need to make the new quiz "Available."  In the Assessments Tool,find your selective-release quiz in the list and click on the ActionLinks icon to show a dropdown menu.  Select Show Item.

Set selective release for the original quiz

Selective release will ensure that the student(s) taking the extended-duration quiz will NOT have access to the standard-duration (original) version of the quiz.

1. In the Assessments Tool, find your original quiz in the list and click on the ActionLinks icon to show a dropdown menu.  Select Set Release Criteria.
   Click Add Member Criteria.
2. In the Add Member Criteria window, select User ID “does not equal”, then click the checkbox next to the name of the student(s) needing extended time. Click Save, then at the confirmation, click Save again.

Inform the student(s)

Be sure to communicate the name of the extended-duration quiz you just created to the student(s) needing additional time.

5 Things To Know ... about Turnitin Online Plagiarism Checking Service

Gear up for the TLT Conference
Tuesday-Wednesday, March 4 - 5, 2008

The annual TLT Conference is only a month away, and there is an exciting slate of presentations, poster sessions, and exhibitions. This year's theme is Enhancing the Student Experience, and the conference will center on their learning experiences, social experiences, visual and interactive experiences, and online or virtual experiences.

Included will be presentations on Second Life, tablet technologies, social networking, student training programs, vodcasting, social bookmarking with Scholar in Blackboard, and much more.

Registration is free; look for a finalized conference schedule at the the TLT Conference web site soon.

We hope to see you there!

Have a FIT at Purdue
Monthly "Faculty Ideas about Technology" Fit-n-Sits continue

FIT continues its monthly meetings with its January meeting on immersive technologies, and contributors continue to build a local knowledge base of ideas about technology and pedagogy in the FIT blog at http://fit.itap.purdue.edu .

Don't miss the opportunity to "get FIT" at the upcoming TLT Conference. On the first day of the conference (Tuesday, March 4), look for the FIT track: concentrated Fit-n-Sit sessions on exciting topics such as micro blogging and immersive environments. Come ready to talk, learn, and share!

Additions to Blackboard Vista My Settings Profile

This month, the My Settings utility in Vista was changed in two ways.

Photos may be uploaded to profiles (West Lafayette Academic and Open Campuses)

A setting has been turned on to allow a user to upload images of themselves to their profiles.

Once uploaded by each individual user into their profile, student and instructor photos may be viewed through the Roster tool by section designers and instructors only. (The Roster tool can be added to the Course Menu of any Blackboard Vista class by the Vista section designer or instructor.)

"Because of the need to safeguard privacy and comply with FERPA, the setting for these profile photos has been locked as private. This means that while instructors can view the photos through the Roster tool, students cannot," explains Sangeetha Khichadia, Educational Technologist in the Instructional Development Center (IDC). FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) is a federal law that protects the privacy of student education records.

As an alternative, instructors who would like to create a version of the class roster that may be viewed by the entire class can choose to use the 'new and improved' Blackboard Vista 4 Media Library tool. Students add entries about themselves to the Media Library, including a description they write about themselves, and attach a photo if they wish - for more information, see IDC's Meeting and Greeting with a Shared Media Library.

Email address field populated (West Lafayette Academic Campus only)

On the West Lafayette Academic Campus in Blackboard, the email field in each user's profile has been automatically populated with the user's @purdue.edu email address. Blackboard forwards Mail sent within Blackboard classes to this external email address, if that option has been turned on by a user.

Users who wish to may still edit their email addresses in their profiles through the My Settings link at the My Blackboard page. To have your Blackboard Mail forwarded to your external email address, go to My Settings > My Tool Options > click the checkbox next to "Forward all mail messages to the e-mail address in my profile" > Save.