Original Message:
The League for Innovations Conference will be held in Denver at the Adams Mark Hotel in downtown Denver 3/2-3/5 2008. Community College of Denver is hosting this event. Three thousand people are expected to attend. Although the League is adept at putting on a conference of this size, we need volunteers to help at this event.
Please get the word out that volunteers are needed to help with staffing the registration booth, being guides and go-fors, assisting with answering questions, etc. Conference registration is free for people who volunteer for six hours or more. Please ask interested people to contact our volunteer coordinator, Connie Strand connie.strand@ccd.edu .
Thanks in advance for getting the word out.
Late Work Policy
If your work is ever late, I may or may not accept the work and may or may not penalize the work, depending completely on my possibly grumpy, biased, or elated mood. If this does not seem fair to you, then do not be late with your work.
I like it because it reflects my own -- I let students turn in work as late as they want (although before the end of the semester), but I noted that I truly hate to get a mass of grading the last week of class and will probably be extremely grumpy at the sight of it. They should reflect that grumpiness to be reflected on their grade.
My high school daughter has a math class this semester which allows late work up to a point -- 5 days. She hasn't managed to turn in all of her assignments because she does tend to let them pile up for the entire 5 days, however she is learning a valuable lesson her other teachers are skipping - she is trying to figure out how to manage her own schedule -- school, work, social, etc. I appreciate the math teacher for giving her this flexibility and of course the rope with which to hang herself. :^)
It’s that time of year again, the end of the semester and time to enter grades. Please follow the directions below to enter grades for your courses. If you have any questions regarding grades, please contact me (john.schmahl@cccs.edu)
All grades are due no later than Thursday, December 13, 2007.
Once you have submitted your grades, we will pull a daily report listing the grades and they will be manually entered into Banner for the students. Grades will not be viewable by the students until the day after they are manually entered.
If you have any students needing their grades earlier, please contact John Schmahl, john.schmahl@cccs.edu or Roxanne Manske, roxanne.manske@cccs.edu.
To submit final grades:
go to the online Grade Book here, https://at.ccconline.org/gradebook/input.
Login using your Blackboard Vista login credentials
Select the appropriate section
If you are missing any section(s) or have extra section(s) listed, please contact Frank Vazquez, frank.vazquez@cccs.edu
Enter the appropriate grade for each student, accepted grades are listed below
Remember, developmental courses (those with course numbers under 100) must use the developmental grades, see below
**All students must be given a grade, even if they have not participated in the section**
Enter a Last Date of Attendance for any students receiving a grade of “F” or “W”
Click “Update” and return to the menu to select the next section if needed
Approved grades
Standard courses (course numbers 100 and above, e.g., PSY 101)
A
B
C
D
F (must include last day of attendance)
I (must include incomplete contract)
W (must include last day of attendance)
Developmental courses (course number less than 100, e.g., MAT 060)
S/A
S/B
S/C
U/D
U/F (must include last day of attendance)
I (must include incomplete contract)
W (must include last day of attendance)
Faculty who are using Grading Forms: 
The Learning Technologies Council (formerly known as the system’s Course Migration Team) is planning its first annual conference about the most effective ways to use technology in online, hybrid and traditional classes. If you would like to present, please submit the proposal form by January 18, 2008. Although a hard copy of your proposal will be considered, our preference is an on-line submission.
To submit your proposal send the requested information to Julie.Witherow@ppcc.edu and Monica.Falk@trinidadstate.edu.
These are the topics in which the Council is particularly interested, but you are not limited to them:
Presentation Description
Briefly describe the subject of the presentation including how you plan to present the information; i.e., handouts, lecture/discussion, panel, small group activities, etc.
Presentation Abstract for use in the conference program--maximum of 50 words please.
Audio Visual Request
Each classroom will include a computer and overhead projector. Hands on sessions will be in a 22-seat computer classroom. Please make any other requests here.
Circle the level of your presentation
Beginner Intermediate Advanced
Presenter(s)
Name:
Title:
Institution:
Address:
Phone Number:
Email Address:
Email Lisa.Cheney-Steen@cccs.edu if you have any questions. The date is Feb. 22nd. PPCC's Rampart Campus is on the North end of Colorado Springs at the Interquest exit and is very easy to access.
(http://faculty.ccconline.org/index.php?title=Export_%28Download%29_Grade_Book_to_Excel_Spreadsheet)
best,
Brought to you by Karen Kaemmerling, CCCOnline Program Chair
Many of us face the issue of plagiarism every semester, sometimes multiple times a semester, and sometimes multiple times by the same student. For sure it is frustrating, and what can we do . . . well being as proactive as possible is the first step.
First, be sure you have a comment about plagiarism in your syllabus, but we have to be more hands on with our students who come from all different backgrounds with a wide range of writing abilities. Include in your Introduction Discussions one on Plagiarism, what it is, how to avoid it in your course, what your expectations are for citation, and where to find resources to help them. Also, include a comment about plagiarism in your rubrics for exams, assignments, and discussion posts. We might also include a link to our writing toolkit at http://www.ccconline.org/students/rw_student_toolkit.htm.
So now you’ve done those things and you find a case of plagiarism, now what?! First document everything, and be ready to defend your case. Contacting your chair is also advisable.
Lisa Cheney-Steen, our Co-Executive Director for Learning, generally recommends the following steps:
First Offense: Option to redo assignment after discussion with instructor about offense, we do have a lot of students who don't understand plagiarism. (However, if you already had a plagiarism discussion in your introduction discussions, this step might be skipped)
Second Offense: Automatic zero on the assignment, no option to redo
Third offense: F in the class
With the first offense, we might also consider recommending or even requiring the use of the Smart Thinking Writing Lab which is free to the student. At the lab, the student should let them know she is having trouble identifying what is plagiarism. The goal here is to help students learn from this mistake, avoid it in the future, and keep them “in the learning” in this course and future ones.
Are we going to catch every plagiarized paper? No. Do we need to be plagiarism police? No. We need to try to teach our students about the problem, and remember our role as instructors.
... last chance for 2007 Training & Professional Development through CCCOnline!(No pre-registration for these sessions is necessary)CCCOnline and CMC Present: Showing What They Know
Learn about and experience classroom assessment tech tools for student-created content.Facilitators:Alice Bedard-Voorhees, Ph.D., Colorado Mountain CollegeLisa Marie Johnson, M.Ed., Colorado Community Colleges OnlineWhen & Where:Friday, November 16, 2007 2:00 - 4:00 PM (MDT)Synchronous online session via ElluminateAccess:Password:no password required, open to publicWikimania! Learn how to use and edit the CCCOnline Faculty Wiki[Learn about the Faculty Wiki, offer feedback, see a demonstration of editing and uploading files, practice during the last hour with your facilitator there to answer questions and assist!]Facilitators:Lisa Marie Johnson, M.Ed., Colorado Community Colleges Online(... and maybe more!)When & Where:Friday, November 30, 2007 2:00 - 4:00 PM (MDT)Synchronous online session via ElluminateAccess:Password:no password required, open to publicNotes:Space is limited so please plan to enter the session on time. If this is your first time using Elluminate, or using it on the machine you plan to access the session from, please arrive early to allow time for set-up!Participant resources:
User guide: http://www.elluminate.com/support/docs/8.0/Elluminate_Live_V8_Participant_Quick_Reference_Guide.pdf
Orientation: http://www.elluminate.com/support/orientation8/toc.jsp
Are you already familiar with the virtual world of Second Life? This intermediate-level session will offer a tour of some of the great educational resources within Second Life. Cheryl Comstock from Colorado Community Colleges Online will be our tour guide on Thursday, November 15 at 2:00 p.m. ET.
This could be a great opportunity to have an experienced Second Life enthusiast at your institution host a professional development event for your staff to introduce them to Second Life.
Prerequisite: Some experience navigating Second Life, including personal log-in and avatar.
Seating is limited so please email info@montereyinstitute.org by Friday, November 9 to hold your place! We will confirm with the meeting coordinates on EdTech island.
Hello faculty & staff!
In October 2007, the link for Training and Professional Development Needs survey was distributed to faculty and staff of CCCOnline via the Faculty Blog. There were a total of 79 individuals started the survey and 72 completed it. If we take the total number of faculty and staff from the current training database, this is a return rate of approximately 26%.
Summary of Results:
For the open-ended Question 9, pertaining to the Faculty Wiki, it appears many of you find it difficult to navigate and the appearance cluttered. Many of you indicated you were not aware of how it could be of use to you… so, to find out now, check it out by going to http://www.facultywiki.ccconline.org … take 10 minutes to browse the links including the “Blackboard Vista ” (guides for using the technology), “Training & Professional Development” (being updated for 2008, but contains some very useful information about policy and sessions), “Teaching Resources “ (just what the name says), and “Instructional Design” (for help understanding the design standards and assistance with those). Have suggestions for the Wiki? Feel free to send them or jump in and start editing yourself- yes! You can do it!
For the open-ended Question 10, asking about additional comments, there was a lot of valuable feedback about how the training sessions of past have helped you, how you might improve them, and how enthusiastic you are for 2008.
For questions 1-8, a summary of responses can be viewed by following the link below:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/sr.aspx?sm=nWbugkGmBZRYkPCqrNi5sbQknM3IoGxtU_2bAAkZf9Lrs_3d
Additional comments given with the questions 1-8 are not included in the summary, but very good suggestions were made. The general consensus regarding ‘new’ technologies and methods is whether or not faculty are expected to implement these and, if yes, to what extent. While Training and Professional Development with CCCOnline is meant to encourage an expansion of your skills and your confidence in new tools and techniques, there is no requirement to use them in your courses necessarily.
There were many great suggestions about the length of sessions, start dates, and why having a ‘weekend’ available during facilitated sessions is important for many. Additionally, you gave us excellent guidance on the reasoning for teaching all Vista tools and the need for a place where self-paced anytime “Just-in-Time” training is significant for your continued professional development.
Given the one week time frame and the limited distribution of the survey link this is a good response rate overall. The information is useful and I humbly thank you all for your participation and support. I hope for future surveys more faculty and staff will participate letting their voice be heard in driving the direction and scope of the training and professional development opportunities from CCCOnline!
Thank you for letting me be a part of the excellence of CCCOnline. I am enjoying serving YOU!
:) Lisa Marie Johnson
CCCOnline Training & Professional Development, Director
Video/Voice/Chat- Skype: lisamariejohnson
I have asked Blackboard to turn off the garbage collection process. It is accessing the same tables as those that a new file upload accesses, and, since Blackboard cannot yet control when the garbage collection process runs, it is best to turn it off. The problem with GC is that when Blackboard sets a time for it to run (I have requested between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m. ) the process disregards the time limits and runs all of the time, interfering with instruction. It will need until tomorrow morning to cycle through before we see any improvements.Thanks-
You do not need to send me any more lists of sections with unknown users. They have enough examples to determine the issue and are in the process of fixing tracking. Those adjustments should begin to show some time Saturday.
David Chatham
Dean of Academic Technology
CCCOnline
Dear Elluminate Customer,best,
We are pleased to inform you that we are releasing an update to Elluminate Live! on Sunday October 14, 2007, during our regular maintenance window from 2:00am – 6:00am US Eastern. This will now be reflected as Elluminate Live! V8.2. This update provides improvements to Elluminate Live! in the following areas:There will be no visible changes to the Elluminate Live! interface. In addition, this update also includes the Elluminate Live! Manager (ELM) version 2.8. This update will contain minor bug fixes and operational enhancements. There will be no visible changes to the ELM interface.
- Enhancements to the quality of audio
- Performance improvements ensuring a superior experience, especially in large meetings
We will do our best to minimize the amount of time taken during the upgrade but you should allow for the full time. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and we appreciate your patience as we strive to deliver the best in class products to you.
This note is a just reminder that you have until Thursday, October 11, 2007, to drop your CCCOnline delivered Fall session 2 course(s) with a full tuition refund.
If you do not plan to drop your course(s) or have already dropped them please disregard this reminder.
This e-mail applies ONLY to CCCOnline delivered courses. CCCOnline delivered courses are those courses with a section ID of C21.
Please note that due to the large size of CCCOnline courses, we split courses into multiple sections (C21, C22, C23, etc.), therefore, the section on your MyCCCOnline home page may not be C21, however, if you want to drop the course, you will need to drop the C21 section at your college.
Do not assume you have been dropped from a class for not attending or logging in; at many colleges you must ensure you drop a class before the above date or you will be responsible for full payment. Contact the Cashier’s Office at your
**Contacting your instructor(s) will NOT result in your being dropped or withdrawn from your course(s)**
- click on the Self-Service Banner link for your home college
- select Login and enter your Student ID and 6-digit student PIN
- click Enter
- select the Student Menu and then the Registration Menu
- select Add or Drop Courses and follow the steps to get to your Current Schedule of
courses
- on your Current Schedule, use the Drop Down box under Action and select Drop
Web
- Click Submit Changes at the bottom of the page
- check your Current Schedule to make sure the course(s) has been dropped
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us or your home college.
For any technical questions or problems with your course, please visit http://ccconline.org/support/
CCCOnline
Student Services
1.800.801.5040
http://ccconline.org/support/
The thumbtack will disappear once Vista thinks you have viewed every message. To view each message most easily try going into each topic and "expand all", then "select all". After that choose "create printable view" to see all of the messages.
The other option that seems to work is to open each thread in each unit.
I can not replicate the issue. I check the CRJ 125 course and after I read all of the discussions on my end the thumbtack and asterick in the Course Tools menu disappeared.
Maybe clear your Java Cache and be sure your browser is set to load a new page every time you visit a page. The instructions are below.
Let me know what you discover.
: Delete the Java Cache
Click on Start
- Click on Control Panel
- Double click the Java icon
- Under the General tab and near the bottom of the window is a section called "Temporary Internet Files" --> click the "Delete Files" button
- Close out of the settings window and the browser
- Re-open the browser
- Launch Internet Explorer
- Go to the Tools Menu
- Select Internet Options
- From the General Tab, in the Temporary Internet Files section, Choose Settings
- Be Sure the Every visit to the page is selected.
See you Friday!Registration will open at 8:00; the opening session begins at 9:00 in M1900 (the Main Dining area) on the first floor of ACC's main building.Parking is free in any ACC lot.All conference sessions are in the Main Building or the Annex; maps will be included in registration packets. You can also see maps of the campus and parking facilities at http://www.arapahoe.edu/aboutacc/maps/index.html.If you need driving directions, you can use Mapquest or any of the other online mapping systems. Use the destination address of 5900 South Santa Fe Drive, Littleton, Colorado.Many sessions are at or near capacity due to fire code restrictions, so "walk-in" seating in most sessions will be very limited or unavailable. Please make any registrations changes that you wish to make as soon as possible. If you need help editing your registration, email Donna.welschmeyer@cccs.edu.
I don't know if you've heard this before but Office '07 files are downloading with a zip extension. Any file created and saved with .docx or .xlsx extensions do not automatically open in Vista (like the Office '03 files did) and when downloaded, are defaulted to a .zip extension. This is not zipping the files, just throwing that extension on the file. Thus we can't open it in Office '07 programs.
I've figured out three work arounds: This might be useful for faculty to know:
- For faculty/students with Office '07 on their computer, just change that .zip extension to the .docx or .xlxs (whichever) when on the Save/download screen. The file type can stay as Winzip because there is no other choice.
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/products/HA101686761033.aspx
- Faculty can download the Compatibility patch:
- Have Office '07 students save in the '03 format.
I am told by Bb that they have a fix coming out sometime in October. I don't know when we would apply this as I don't have any information on how long it would take. The change will not be ready in time to catch the September 22 upgrade.
Attention CCC Online Faculty:I'm not sure the list of CCCOnline faculty that PPCC is using is accurate, so you may want to email your students and ask anyone who is likely to be deployed to please self-identify. That way you can make any necessary arrangements with them. Also please keep in mind that this is only the 3rd Brigade, not everyone at Fort Carson.
Soldiers of the 3rd BDE at Ft Carson, Colorado are scheduled to once again deploy sometime towards the end of the year. The US Army has requested that all coursework and requirements be completely finished by Friday, November 30th (preferred) or Monday, December 3rd at the absolute latest. Soldiers enrolled in our courses have been instructed that they need to work closely with their instructors and do everything possible to complete the requirements on time.
President Kinkel has agreed that PPCC will ensure affected soldiers are completed by the December 3rd date. Incomplete grades are not an option as soldiers will not be able to complete assignments in a reasonable time following the end of their term. As an instructor to affected soldiers, we ask you to please work with the soldier and arrange course assignments, exams, projects, etc. to ensure that the soldier is fully completed by December 3rd. Soldiers in your classes are:
List of students goes here
If this list is incorrect, please contact Cheri Arfsten at 719-502-4100. Also, if feel you cannot complete the course work with this soldier by December 3rd, please contact Cheri today. If subsequent issues arise that prohibit finishing the course on time, please contact Cheri Arfsten at 719-502-4100.
Your cooperation is extremely important to our men and women in uniform who already sacrifice so much. By doing this we can at least ensure that they have the opportunity to further their educational goals while voluntarily serving in the US Army. Thanks you for your assistance and cooperation.
Hi Everyone- 
