Online SIRS Begins Nov. 18

The online version of the Student Instructional Rating Survey (SIRS) is set to start on November 18 at 12:01 A.M., for most courses. Students will have until December 10th to complete the survey and will receive up to 4 email reminders.

Faculty and instructors who have not received an email notification from us concerning an online survey will still conduct their surveys using the paper forms. Currently all of FAS Newark, the Rutgers Business School, College of Nursing, Mario College of Pharmacy, and School of Engineering are using the online system, as well as courses in departments in New Brunswick and Camden that have made earlier arrangements with us.

For more information, refer to our frequently asked questions about the online SIRS and the procedures for the online survey.

Converting Files from Students - Zamzar

When you accept papers from students via digital upload, email, or other electronic means instead of paper, you will inevitably come across a student file that you cannot open. The problem is that some students do not use Microsoft Word and have no knowledge of how to save in a Word-compatible or PDF format.

Ideally you would send the file back to the student with instructions on how to convert the file (it's a simple as clicking "File --> Save as..." then choosing from the list of options in the "format" section). Once the student knows how to do it, the probably goes away until the next student comes along.

But for expediency, Zamzar.com offers a free service that will convert files into useful formats. You give it a ".wps" or ".wpd" file, and it sends you back a Word ".doc" file - you don't even need to know what the original file is, Zamzar will figure it out for you. It works with word processing, spreadsheet, video, audio and other types of files.

There are some limits to the service, but for a monthly fee you can upgrade to their more extensive offerings.

Dec 4 - DCEO eCollege Conference on Online and Hybrid courses

The Division of Continuous Education and Outreach (DCEO) is sponsoring a conference on courses that are fully online or "hybrid" (mixed between online and in-person coursework).

From the DCEO announcement:

The conference will be held on Friday, December 4, 2009 and will take place on the Rutgers New Brunswick campus at the Douglass Campus Center, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

The conference will focus on Best Practices and Creative Design for Effective Teaching and Engaged Learning in Hybrid and Fully Online Courses.

We have a terrific program planned, beginning with a keynote address by nationally recognized e-learning expert, Jeff Borden, and a wide variety of concurrent workshops.

There is no fee but registration is required. Lunch is provided and space is limited.

To review the details for the conference and to register, please visit:
http://ecollegeconference.rutgers.edu

Any questions about the conference should be directed to Richard Novak, Associate Vice President for Continuous Education and Distance Learning, 732-932-0613 rnovak@brokenemail.rutgers.edu please replace "brokenemail" with rutgers.edu

Sakai secret "stealth" tools

Sakai has some hidden features that for one reason or another have been put into "stealth" mode. When a Sakai tool is in stealth mode, it does not appear in the list of tools that you can add to a site, however it remains available for use provided you get an administrator to add it to your site. Sometimes these are "beta" tools that still need some testing or minor bug fixes. Other times these tools duplicate existing features. Often, they may be useful to people who are trying to do something new in Sakai, or who do not like the way an existing tool works.

Some of the stealth tools that are worth looking at, if you want to try something different, are:

• Forums: An alternative to the "Discussion and Private Messages" tool, this is a discussion tool that allows you to structure the conversation into forums, topics and threads. People who used Sakai three years ago may recognize it as the original discussion tool that "Discussion and Private Messages" replaced. Back then it was not well liked, but it has seen major improvements since then and is worth a second look. It may be a more suitable tool if you intend to grade class participation based on student contributions to the discussion board.
  
• Messages: An alternative to the "Mailtool" for sending individual or group emails. However "Messages" works more like a traditional web mail system, where you can read messages within Sakai and choose whether messages you send go to the students' Sakai account or their external email address.
  
• Tasks, Tests & Surveys: An alternative to the "Tests & Quizzes" tool that was under consideration (and ultimately rejected) as a possible replacement. It is somewhat easier to use, however the original "Tests & Quizzes" tool has more features and flexibility, and has solved most of the problems that it had in the past. This tool may disappear from future versions of Sakai, but is still available for use in the time-being.
  
• Glossary: intended for use in the portfolio system that co-exists within Sakai, this tool has practical uses for course and project sites as well. It allows the construction of a glossary of terms and definitions.
  
• Presentations: a rudimentary tool for synchronized slideshows - you upload images, and can control which ones the students see in real time in remote locations. This has been part of Sakai from the start, but was "stealthed" because it was somewhat misleading and confusing to use.
  

To use any of the above tools, write to sakai@brokenmail.rutgers.edu please replace "brokenmail.rutgers.edu" with "rutgers.edu with the name of your Sakai site.

New Faculty Resources

Instructional Technology Resources at Rutgers

REGIS (Rosters and Electronic Grading Information System): The most important site for new faculty and instructors. REGIS allows you to view your roster, send academic warning notices, and submit final grades. Access to rosters in REGIS is also the key to using other web tools such as Sakai and RAMS. Your department chair or administrative assistant can provide you with access to REGIS. See the REGIS documentation for more information. https://sims.rutgers.edu/rosters/

Course Management Systems

The following systems provide an encompassing set of features to facilitate communication and coursework, while requiring very little technical knowledge. Features include:

• Online quizzes and assignments
• Gradebook for reporting individual assignment grades
• Announcements and mailing lists
• Document sharing for course materials
• Discussion board and chat room
• Automatic roster integration (requires access to REGIS)

Sakai: Available to all faculty on all campuses, Sakai is a highly flexible service that is useful for course web sites as well as committee work and other projects. Sakai has numerous options for enabling group work, including a built in "wiki" (collaborative writing space). Sakai is created and maintained by a consortium of universities and colleges. http://sakai.rutgers.edu/

eCollege: Available to all faculty on all campuses, eCollege is supported by the Office of Continuous Education and Outreach. eCollege has a much more structured approach to course sites than Sakai does, and is well suited for courses that are fully online. http://ecollege.rutgers.edu

Blackboard: Only available to faculty teaching on the Rutgers Newark campus, Blackboard is the most prevalent course management system in the United States. http://blackboard.rutgers.edu/

Single Purpose Tools

For faculty who do not need or want a full course site, the following provide specific services for communicating with students, or for supplementing existing course sites.

SAS Gradebook: An easy-to-use, simple site for recording assignment grades and feedback for students. Students who log in to the site can only see their own grades. The use of SAS Gradebook or a similar feature in one of the course management systems is the only acceptable method of posting course grades on the web or other public space. http://gradebook.rutgers.edu

RAMS (Rutgers Automated Mailing System): RAMS will create a mailing list of your students (based on roster access in REGIS), allowing faculty to send email to a single address that reaches all of their students. Faculty do not need to collect or maintain student addresses, RAMS automatically uses any address that the student lists in the Rutgers Directory. http://rams.rutgers.edu/

Refworks: a web-based bibliographic management tool, integrated with the Rutgers Library system so that searches in the catalog or indices can be saved and organized, with proper references and often links to the full text of articles. Refworks allows sharing of bibliographies; an instructor can create a bibliography for students to use, or use Refworks to review bibliographies created by students. Refworks includes a tool for use when writing papers that formats references and bibliographies appropriately according to several style guides. http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/refworks/refworks.shtml

iTunes U: Audio and video materials can be distributed to students by using iTunes U, a service that allows students to review the material on their computers or by automatically loading the material onto their iPods or other devices. Faculty can restrict the material to the students in their course, or optionally make anything on iTunes U available to the public at large, accessible to anyone who uses iTunes. http://itunes.rutgers.edu/ Rutgers also has a Youtube channel - http://www.youtube.com/user/Rutgers

Academic Integrity Conference

This year the NB Faculty Council Teaching Conference is co-sponsored by the University Senate. It will kick off the University-wide discussion of the Draft Academic Integrity Policy. Speakers will include Martha Cotter, Chair of the Academic Integrity committee, guests from Penn State and University of Maryland will present academic integrity policies and procedures from their academic institutions, followed by an open discussion of the draft policy led by a panel of faculty, students, and staff from all Rutgers campuses. All faculty, students and staff are invited.

October 2, 2009
To Register click: http://ctaar.rutgers.edu/council/

SIRS Summer Session Results

The Student Instructional Rating Survey results for Summer 2009 are complete and have been distributed to all instructors, faculty and departments.

All summer session surveys were conducted using the new online survey system. Results were emailed to faculty and instructors on August 20th. Departments can find a copy of all the results for their department in a Sakai dropbox. Please refer to the instructions on how to retrieve the survey files.

If you have not received your survey results or there are any issues you would like to address, please contact us at info@brokenemail.rutgers.edu please replace "brokenemail" with ctaar.rutgers.edu.