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Category listing for Staff
Using Announcements in MyECU
Use announcements to post important messages and information such as deadlines, changes, corrections, clarifications, and schedules. Here is a quick guide on how to add and modify annoucements in your MyECU site.
Problem with Random Test Questions
We have discovered an issue with tests in MyECU sites that have settings for randomised questions.
If these random question options are used Students can be locked out of a test and will be unable to get back in.
We therefore recommend that lecturers and tutors do not use these options until further notice. Blackboard support have been notified and we are waiting for a fix for this problem.
Apologies for any incovenience.
How to Create a Group Wiki
In Blackboard you can set up either a site-wide wiki and/or sets of group wikis. Here is how to set up a group wiki:
Staff Tip: Using the Digital Drop Box in MyECU
Blackboard has two tools that allow students to securely submit their work to instructors:
- Digital Dropbox
- Assignment Tool
Files submitted using either the Digital Dropbox or the Assignment Tool are stored on Blackboard and are accessible only by those with Control Panel access (Instructors, Teaching Assistants, and Graders).
Using the Assignment Tool in MyECU - Downloading Multiple Students' Assignments
When you use the assignment tool in MyECU, all the submitted assignments are available in the Gradebook. Here are instructions for downloading multiple students' work via the gradebook:
Staff Tip: Make My Grades unavailable during the marking process
During the marking and grading process you may wish to prevent students from accessing their grade information until all marks have been entered.
Using the Assignment Tool in MyECU - Clearing an assignment
Occasionally students will submit an assignment through Assignment Manager and will mistakenly upload incorrect files or choose submit rather than save when they have more than one file to send. An instructor will need to clear the student's attempt before they can resubmit their work.
Using the Assignment Tool in MyECU: Adding an assignment to a content area
Here is a step by step guide showing how to add an assignment to a content area in a MyECU Site...
Staff Tip: Use PDFs in MyECU
It is generally recommended that documents uploaded into your MyECU site(s) should be converted into a PDF format.
Converting a document to PDF in Word 2007
Follow these instructions to convert a MS Office 2007 document to a pdf (Windows)...
Saving and Sending Microsoft Office 2007 Documents
Office 2007 has introduced the Open XML Format for saving Office documents to replace their proprietary .doc, .xls and .ppt formats.
Setting up an Elluminate Live Session in MyECU
Have a look at these instructions for setting up an Elluminate Live session in a MyECU site.
Trial of Wimba Create
Wimba Create is a course authoring tool that helps you take documents in Microsoft Word format and transform them into online course material. From a single Word document you can generate a set of webpages with optional navigation buttons and interactive features such as self-test questions, popups and Flashcards.
Staff Tip: Using Turnitin's Grademark tool to mark assignments online
With the Grademark tool that comes with Turnitin, you can mark and annotate student papers online in your web browser. The grading integrates with the Blackboard Gradebook so you can avoid having to download and sort every assignment.
Training available in MyECU for MS Office 2007
IT Support Services will shortly begin a staged rollout of Microsoft Office 2007 to staff SOE computers. The installation of this new office suite onto your workstation will give you access to the latest workplace technology Microsoft has to offer, along with the enhanced productivity benefits this will provide.
Office 2007 represents a significant departure from what you have become accustomed to using with Office 2003. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Access sport an entirely different interface with which you will be unfamiliar at first.
Staff Tip: Managing Groups in MyECU with the Advanced Group Management tool
The advanced group management add in for blackboard is now available. This tool makes the management of groups within a MyECU site much easier than the default Blackboard group manager. The main improvement is with the ability to assign or remove people from groups all on one page.
MyECU Community Sites
Community sites are structured web sites set up in MyECU. They are organised separately from the unit sites set up for online unit delivery that are widely used at ECU, but have exactly the same functionality.
Anyone with a current HR contract at ECU can request and maintain two types of MyECU community site...
Mindmeister: free online mind mapping tool
Mindmeister is a free online mind mapping tool that you can use to create, manage and share mind maps online. Groups can simultaneously work on the same mind map and see each other's changes as they happen.
Using Del.icio.us for social bookmarking (and using it in MyECU)
Del.icio.us is a free social bookmarking service that is designed to allow you to store and share links on the web, instead of inside your browser.
Dimdim: free synchronous communication web tool
For anyone wanting to add some online synchronous communication to their units, this tool looks good and works well (there are a few glitches with safari but it's fine in firefox mac or pc).
Free group chat tool and how to link to it in MyECU
Campfire is a free online service designed for effective online group communication.
MERLOT Edcuational resources available in MyECU
Lists of educational resources from MERLOT (Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching) are available as modules in MyECU.
General Tip: naming files and assignment titles in MyECU
In order to avoid errors when downloading files and assignments in Blackboard, please follow (and encourage your students to follow when relevant) these guidelines:
- Use only letters, numbers and underscores (_) in file names and assignment titles.
- Don't use spaces, commas, brackets, question marks, equal signs, dashes or any other special characters in your file names or assignment titles.
- File names and assignment titles should be 60 characters or less in length.
Edit less and explain more: providing feedback for writing faults
Dr Greg Maguire, the Writing Consultant for the Faculties of Computing Health and Science and Business and Law, has developed a set of resources to help students improve the style of their academic writing and academic staff to provide more helpful feedback when they comment on student work.
MyECU Wikis upgraded today - 7 March 2008
In order to fix a fault with several unit site wikis, the MyECU wiki tool (Teams LX) has been upgraded today.
No content will have been affected but you may have to re-add a link to a site wiki to your MyECU menu if you had one there previously.
Apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused.
Staff Tip: Requesting MyECU Site Access
One of the most common staff requests is for the assignment of site access.
Recommended Browser Settings for MyECU
Information about basic browser settings to make sure MyECU functions correctly...
Staff Tip: Basic MyECU Test Question Types
The Test Manager and Add Test features of MyECU allows Lecuters or Tutors to create and add a test to any Content Area of a MyECU site.
Here's how to add the basic question types available in Test Manager.
Staff Tip: Using Groups in MyECU
The Manage Groups page allows lecturers or tutors to create study or project groups within MyECU sites.
Sending emails via MyECU
Email can be sent by students and staff who participate in a unit or community site from the Send Email page.
MyECU WYSIWYG Editor/Text Box not visible on Internet Explorer 7
The default security settings on Internet Explorer 7 block the WYSIWYG Editor/Visual Text Box editor from loading so that no text can be inserted.
Staff Tip: Working with Folders in a MyECU Site
In a MyECU site, well organised folders can help to make your leanring materials more accessible for your students.
General Tip: Error Messages and other Technical Problems
Any MyECU user problems/queries relating to logging into the system (i.e. login details like user name and password) or other technical system-based/IT problems should be directed to the IT Service Desk (6304-6000, help@ecu.edu.au).
Staff Tip: Using Adaptive Release
In MyECU there is a tool called Adaptive Release that provides a way to release content to students based on a set of rules.
General Tip: Who has Access to MyECU
Who has access to the MyECU system and how to login.
Staff Tip: My unit is not listed in MyECU
If you think a unit you are teaching should have an online component in MyECU but you can't see one listed when you login to MyECU (under the MyECU Sites tab) email or phone the MyECU Administrative Support Contact appropriate for your school.
Staff Tip: What is the UMS/MyECU Rollover exercise?
MyECU sites are NOT automatically created. For any timetabled unit, requiring MyECU resources, schools are required to request appropriate unit site(s) via the UMS (Unit Management System) as either part of the biannual UMS/MyECU Rollover exercise or as a one off request.
Staff Tip: MyECU Administrative Support
Requests for MyECU administrative support should be forwarded to the following school and/or CLT staff.
Alternatively, queries/requests can be directed to the IT Service Desk (9370-6000, help@ecu.edu.au).
General Tip: Teaching periods and site access dates
The following table contains default student site access dates for the 13 teaching periods for 2008.
Staff Tip: Using Turnitin in Blackboard
Step by step instructions for creating a Turnitin Assignment in Blackboard.
Staff Tip: Viewing Turnitin Originality Reports
Originality Reports will reveal the originality of your students' paper submissions based on the information within the extensive Turnitin database, assisting you in determining the validity of submitted assignments.
General Tip: Logging into MyECU
Login using your ECU username and password via the MyECU login page
Staff Tip: eXe: elearning XHTML Editor
The eLearning XHTML editor (eXe) is an authoring environment to assist teachers and academics in the design, development and publishing of web-based learning and teaching materials without the need to become proficient in HTML or complicated web-publishing applications.
Staff Tip: Adding a Test to your MyECU Site
The Test Manager and Add Test features of MyECU allows Lecuters or Tutors to create and add a test to any Content Area of a MyECU site.
Staff Tip: Adding content to your MyECU Site
Content can be managed in MyECU via adding "items" to content areas in your MyECU site.
Staff Tip: Using the MyECU Site Menu
The Manage Unit Menu feature allows instructors to customise their MyECU site.
General Tip: Using MyECU Discussion Boards
The Discussion Board is a communication tool that can be used to enhance a MyECU unit or community site.
Campus Pack upgraded to the lastest version
Blogs, wikis, podcasts, portfolios and search tools have all been upgraded to offer various fixes and improvements.
For example, you can now link between personal wikis and blogs within Expo and share Expo wikis and blogs with individuals or whole unit or community sites.
NB If you had a wiki, podcast or blog tool (ie the site wide version of the tool rather than one created in a content area) linked from a menu item in your MyECU site then you will need to add it again to the menu.
Staff Tip: MyECU Training Contacts
One-on-one MyECU training is available by contacting either a Flexible Learning Developer (FLD) or an Educational Designer (ED) appropriate to your faculty (please see list of possible contacts below).
Staff Tip: MyECU User Guide
The MyECU Staff User Guide (pdf) should be a handy guide to keep for reference.
Using the assignment tool in MyECU
The assignment tool is the preferred method for managing assignments via MyECU.
The tool provides an easy way for students to sumbit and integrates with the Gradebook so feedback and grades can be provided.
Here are quick step by step guides for using this tool.
Lecturers' guide to the assignment tool (pdf)
Student guide to the assignment tool (pdf)
Other Assignment Tool Guides
Instructors: Downloading Multiple Students' Assignments
Students: How to submit your completed assignment using the assignment tool in myecu
Staff Tip: How to use Podcast LX
Podcast LX is a new tool for MyECU which enables instructors to post up pre-created audio or video files to their MyECU sites and easily turn them into a podcast.
Remember to log out of MyECU
When you have completed a session on MyECU you need to logout of the system. To logout simply click the Logout icon that appears next to the Help icon at the top of the screen.
Please note. If you are using a shared computer, and do not logout after using MyECU, a student who uses the computer after you may be able to enter your MyECU session. The only way to prevent this from happening is to always logout at the end of your session.
General Tip: MyECU Orientation - The Tabs
This article provides a quick guide to the tabs in MyECU.
MyECU email address (Problem: unknown@blackboard.ecu.edu.au)
Email not working via MyECU?
Is your MyECU email address displayed as unknown@blackboard.ecu.edu.au?
What is Turnitin?
Turnitin is a plagiarism detection system that instantly identifies papers containing unoriginal material and acts as a powerful deterrent to stop student plagiarism before it starts.
What to try if pages are loading slowly in MyECU
Sometimes you might find that pages are loading more slowly than usual in MyECU. Here are a few things to try before calling the IT Service Desk.
Software and plugins you might need
A listing of the most commonly required free plugins and software.
Staff Tip: Teaching Roles in MyECU
There are five specific teaching roles associated with staff access to MyECU sites, each with a different level of authoring and teaching privilege.
What is a MyECU Unit Site Code?
When requesting MyECU support it always helps if staff and students provide the full site code (e.g. ABC1234.2008.1.ALL).
Setting up private blogs in MyECU Sites
Private Journals allow an instructor to go to one blog to review each student's work, but students are only able to see their own entries in the blog.
What are MyECU Wikis?
Wikis are easier to create and edit than regular websites, and they allow collaborative content creation.
ECU Referencing Guide
The latest revision of the ECU Referencing Guide is now available. It contains revisions asked for by eagle-eyed colleagues.
Staff Tip: Podcast LX in MyECU
The Podcast LX tool in MyECU is managed from the control panel and added via the drop down list of content area tools. When an audio file is added via this tool into a content area in a MyECU site, an RSS feed can be created for use with iTunes or other audio players.
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Quick guide for using Podcast LX in MyECU
General Tip: Access Journal Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar is a search engine that indexes the content of scholarly material published on the internet and in electronic books and journals.