Sung to the tune of Jungle Bells:
Dashing through the term
with a computer and ipod
O'er the chapters we go
passing all the way
Servers begin to crash and ring
making log-ons tight!
Course shells crash and burn
as students' stomachs churn tonight
Oh D2L, D2L
rescuing us today!
Oh what fun it is to be
In the online way!
Monday, December 21, 2009
Happy Holidays!
Friday, December 18, 2009
D2L Maintenance
Just in case you were planning to work in D2L next week, please note the following planned maintenance information:
Maintenance Dec. 23 from 6 AM to 10:30 AM Users will not be able to access D2L courses during the maintenance. The offline period will be used to upgrade software version and add hardware for the Spring term that begins in January.
DO NOT REPLY TO THIS POST. If you have questions, please email me directly at donna.welschmeyer@cccs.edu
Webinar Archives
In January of 2010, the Mentors and Training and Professional will be here to support you and answer questions, and we will also run D2L Q&A webinars and another one on getting your courses ready. After we are underway in the spring, we look forward to exploring new tools and methods with you in webinars and workshops.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Webinars Today!
Also the NROC webinar that I mentioned earlier this week is actually at noon mountain time, or 2 eastern. If you can’t make that webinar, you might be interested in the archive and those of other NROC sessions at http://www.nrocnetwork.org/nroc_commons?go=2155387.
If I don’t e-see you today at the webinar, have a wonderful holiday season!
Karen Kaemmerling Karen.kaemmerling@cccs.edu
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
D2L Spring Prep Webinar and more!
Also you might be interested in an NROC webinar that is the same day and close to the same time…on establishing "Presence" in the Online Classroom:Drawing in Students with Web 2.0" Thursday, December 17, at 2pm ETPresented by: Jay Bennett, Instruction and Course Coordinator for the Michigan Virtual School Join us for this free webinar offering. Seating is limited, so please email:membership@montereyinstitute.org <mailto:membership@montereyinstitute.org> Let them know you are from CCCOnline.
If you have any questions, email me directly at karen.kaemmerling@cccs.edu
Friday, December 11, 2009
D2L Tip and New Faculty Wiki!
First a D2L tip: The Groups tool is a great example of how this LMS has different pedagogy in mind with their tools. I believe these exciting differences are going to help us make stronger assignments and courses. Also, the Groups tool cannot be removed by instructors from the Course Navigation Bar. Since even if the designers remove the tool, it reappears on the course navigation bar with each dupe, we recommend that if you aren’t using groups in your courses to let students know that is a tool they don’t have to worry about. After more research and testing, we plan to release a webinar and workshop this spring on this “cool” tool. If you are eager to experiment, check out the D2L PDF resources in the CCCOnline Community, consider joining the D2L Community, and check out the D2L resources posted in the NEW FACULTY WIKI.
After listening to your suggestions, we’ve been working for almost a year to develop a more user-friendly, easily navigated WIKI with all the great information we had before. While it is still a work in progress, we thought you might particularly find the information about D2L handy during the next couple of weeks. Check out the our NEW Wiki today! https://at.ccconline.org/faculty/wiki/
I hope your final grading is going smoothly! Your mentors and I remain eager to provide you support. Please contact me directly with your questions about this post at Karen.kaemmerling@cccs.edu
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Gradebook URL
https://at.ccconline.org/faculty/login.php
I apologize for any inconvenience.
Thanks!
John
BB Vista is back up
Lisa Cheney-Steen
Vista update
There appears to be a Datacenter event that is causing a problem for many Vista clients. This is not specific to your site but rather a more widespread infrastructure issue. Our engineers are currently working on the problem as fast as possible. I will provide additional details as they are released.We'll let you know when we have more information.
Lisa Cheney-Steen
Up again
Lisa Cheney-Steen
BB Vista is down
It looks like BB Vista is currently down or at best very, very slow. David Chatham is contacting BB for additional information.
Lisa Cheney-Steen
Fall Grades Due December 17
It's that time of the semester, Fall grades are due no later than Thursday, December 17, 2009.
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).
Once you have submitted your grades, we will pull a daily report listing the grades and they will be entered into Banner for the students. Grades will not be viewable by the students until the day after they are entered.
If you have any students needing their grades earlier, or any students not listed on the grade roster, please contact John Schmahl, john.schmahl@cccs.edu or Roxanne Manske, roxanne.manske@cccs.edu.
To submit final grades:
Login at the Faculty Gateway here, https://at.ccconline.org/faculty/login.php/
- You can use your Blackboard login credentials
Click on the Online Gradebook
Select the appropriate section
If you are missing any section(s) or have extra section(s) listed, please contact John Schmahl, john.schmahl@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 on the grade roster must be given a grade, even if they have not participated in the course**
Enter a Last Date of Attendance for any students receiving a grade of “F”
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)
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)
Friday, December 04, 2009
Digital Content Survey
If you have questions about the survey, please do not reply to this email. Instead, contact Cheryl.Comstock@cccs.edu. Thanks!
Still have D2L Questions?
Another resource for understanding D2L are the PDFs provided by D2L and housed in the CCCOnline Community. These may come in especially useful as you are preparing your courses for spring. Learn how to use the Find, Search, Bookmarks, Pages, and Scrolling features of a PDF from the tutorial at: http://at.ccconline.org/faculty/wiki/Tech_Tools_-_Other_Tools_-_PDFs
Thursday, December 03, 2009
BB Vista is back up
As a result of the problems yesterday, your students may have had difficult attaching documents, posting announcements or sending class email. Their ability to login was impacted, especially yesterday afternoon. Please take all that under consideration as you and your students complete these last two weeks of classes.
Thanks for all of your patience!
Lisa Cheney-Steen
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
BB Continues to Troubleshoot
Hey Everyone-
Blackboard is continuing to troubleshoot the Vista issues, but the latency and stability issues are still occurring. BB is now performing a complete audit on our database. Our AT staff is spending the evening monitoring the situation. If you attempt to work in Blackboard this evening please be careful about saving work.
Best,
Lisa Cheney-Steen
Vista continues unstable
Vista has continued to be unstable throughout the afternoon. We received our first alerts around 1:00 pm. Blackboard briefly thought they had the problems solved around 2:45, but unfortunately the system continues to be up and down. Internal email is generally not working, so not a good choice for communicating with students.
We appreciate everyone's patience with your students, Vista, and CCCOnline in general. Please be assured we didn't plan this just to make everyone feel really good about the move to Desire2Learn. :^)
best,
Lisa Cheney-Steen
Blackboard Mail Problem
We will keep you posted.
Thanks!
John
Posts from this Blog
If you see this "facultyresponse@ccconline.org" in any of the address lines of the email you receive, EVEN THOUGH you may see an individual's name also listed, please don't reply to the message. Instead, compose a new message and send it to the individual to whom you need to speak. This will speed up our responses to you. If you are unsure who to contact, please visit this wiki page: http://at.ccconline.org/faculty/wiki/Policies_%26_Procedures_-_Who_to_Contact Thanks!
If you have questions about this process, please email me directly at donna.welschmeyer@cccs.edu
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
D2L and Image Editing Tip
Don't know how to resize an image for your course? If you don’t have an image editor on your computer that is easy to use, try this find by Lisa Marie Johnson, Picnik. It is a web based program, thus no download is required, and as she says is a “snap to use.”
Check out this demonstration Lisa Marie created at
http://at.ccconline.org/faculty/wiki/Tech_Tools_-_Other_Tools_-_Picnik_Image_Editor
Blackboard Back Up
Thanks!
John
Blackboard Issues Continue
We apologize for any inconvenience.
Thanks!
John
Blackboard Back Up
Thanks!
John
BlackBoard Stability Issues
Thanks!
John
Monday, November 30, 2009
D2L Face to Face Training This Week Changed!
I will be available at the CCCOnline Office from 10-2pm on Wednesday Dec 2. Lisa Marie Johnson will be available at the CCCOnline Office from 12-4 on Thursday Dec 3. To stop by and visit with us about D2L in person, here is a map of the Lowry Campus. We are in building 967, room 116. Additionally if these hours are not convenient for you, please schedule an appointment by contacting me at Karen.kaemmerling@cccs.edu for either time here at the office or over the phone.
Also, join us for a Questions and Answer Webinar on Friday Dec 4th from 1-3 by logging in at http://elm.elluminate.com/FRONTRANGE/
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Student Survey Now Open!
Donna Welschmeyer
CCCOnline Associate Academic Dean
9026 E. Severn Place
Denver, CO 80230
720-858-2734
donna.welschmeyer@cccs.edu
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
D2L Face to Face Training Opportunities in December
If you need more hands on experience with D2L before the spring semester courses are duped and you start teaching this spring, we have a few more training opportunities left this year.
Join us for face to face training at the Lowry Campus on December 2 from 10 am -2pm or on December 3 from 12pm-4pm. Register at https://www.rsvpbook.com/event.php?402726
Additionally, we will offer two more D2L Webinars in December. On Friday, December 4th from 1-3, join us for a General D2L Discussion and Question and Answer session. On Friday, December 17 from 1-3 join us for a Spring D2L Course Readiness Webinar. No registration is required for these sessions.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Now What?
In our efforts to provide continual support, we will offer a D2L QA webinar on Friday, December 4th at 1pm and a Spring Course Readiness Webinar on Thursday, December 17th at 1pm. We are also happy to schedule an appointment with you one on one either at the office or over the phone. Please contact me directly at Karen.kaemmerling@cccs.edu to arrange an appointment.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Last D2L Webinar this Fall!
Join us at Log in at http://elm.elluminate.com/FRONTRANGE/
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
D2L Schedule Tip
While finishing up the Conversion Checklist for your master courses, I want to clear up some confusion on the Schedule. For the spring semester, you are required to have an updated course schedule page in your syllabus. You can save yourself time in January by updating this page now. To update this page:
-Click on Content
-Find the page in your Syllabus module
-Click the pencil to the right of the topic
-Edit the page
-Save it
-You may have to clear your cache in the browser to see your edits.
This is different from the D2L Schedule Tool that appears on the very top navigation bar. You are not required at this time to use or update that schedule tool as it is private to individual users. Nor are you required to use the Calendar widget that appears on your course’s home page.
If you have Conversion or any other D2L questions, please join us for the D2L QA webinar scheduled for this evening at 7pm. To access the webinar, log in at http://elm.elluminate.com/FRONTRANGE/
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Counting down. . . .
Keep these things in mind as you finish up:
Designers are getting to all the courses as quickly as possible, but they may not have made it through your class yet. Focus on the instructor tasks found on the conversion checklist in the D2L Community.
(Please note that the original checklist asked faculty to move and update the Instructor Widget. Designers have been adding and moving that Widget, so you may find that it is already place. If so, you can simply edit it to contain your information. If it’s not in place, you may either follow the instructions provided in training to add and edit it, or you can wait for the designers to add the Widget.)
Also, as you move through your courses checking links and images, fix those that you can fix (for example, links to outside web pages), and provide your mentor with the specific location of those things you are unable to fix.
Please continue to read the D2L info that appears regularly in your inbox and contact your mentors with D2L related questions.
We’re almost there! If you have questions, please remember to email me directly at donna.welschmeyer@cccs.edu instead of replying to this message.
Sunday, November 08, 2009
Cruch Time!
General discussion and Conversion Questions Webinar
· When: Wednesday, November 11, 7-8 PM
· Facilitator: T&PD Staff and D-Team
· No RSVP
· Log in at http://elm.elluminate.com/FRONTRANGE/
General discussion and Conversion Questions Webinar
· When: Friday, November 13, 1-3 PM
· Facilitator: Aaron Leonard
· No RSVP
· Log in at http://elm.elluminate.com/FRONTRANGE/
Face to Face Training, November 10th from 12-4 at Lowry. If you are interested in attending this session, please contact me directly at karen.kaemmerling@cccs.edu
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Our Time is almost Up to have our courses ready!
We still have seats available in our Tuesday, November 10th Face To Face Training at the Lowry Campus from 12-4. If you are interested in attending this training, contact me directly at Karen.kaemmerling@cccs.edu. If you need face to face time but are unable to come to the training sessions, you may also contact me to arrange an appointment at the office.
Finally, next week is the LAST week before our November 14th deadline for Conversion Clean up. We will have two webinars next week just for your last minute questions and support needs: Wednesday November 11 from 7-8pm and Friday, November 13 from 1-3. Log in at http://elm.elluminate.com/FRONTRANGE/
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
November 14 Approaches Quickly!
Sunday, November 01, 2009
Face to Face Training for D2L
We still have openings for the D2L Face to Face Training, Thursday Nov 5 from 12-4pm at the Lowry Campus. Please send me a direct email if you are interested in attending the Nov 5th training this week.
We also have another Face to Face training available on Tuesday, November 10 with several openings. If you are interested in attending a face to face session, please register at https://www.rsvpbook.com/event.php?402726
D2L Grading Discussions Tip
Here is another tip from D2L mentor, Diane Van Os, on grading Discussion posts in D2L
1. Open discussions
2. Select the ruler next to the discussion you want to grade
3. Select Assessments tab
4. Click the student’s name in the list
5. Only posts that student made are listed in the new window
6. You can grade from here, but remember to click the “graded” box
Friday, October 30, 2009
Session II Payroll Information
Regular contracts for Fall 2 will begin paying out on the Nov. 6th paydate and will be paid every other week until Dec. 31st.
Overload contracts for Fall 2 will begin payment on Nov. 20th (every other week through Dec. 31st).
If you have questions, please do not reply to this message. Instead, contact Eileen directly at eileen.clymo@cccs.edu.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
D2L Face To Face Training
We also added another Face to Face D2L training session Thursday, Nov 5 from 12-4 at the Lowry Campus. Register today at https://www.rsvpbook.com/event.php?402726 .
Next Friday join us for the D2L Special Release Conditions and Intelligent Agents webinar with Debra Warren on Friday Nov 6 at 1pm. No registration is required and the session will be recorded if you can’t attend it live.
Remember your department's mentor is eager to help answer your conversion and clean up questions, so please contact them as needed. A list of mentors and contact information can be found in the D2L CCCOnline Community course and when you go to profhelp in the Faculty Gateway.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
A Message from the Design Team
As you are going through your Master courses for the November 14th deadline, please know that the Design Team is working right along with you.
In addition to the 35 new courses under development for Spring, supporting the current Blackboard courses, and troubleshooting Blackboard and Desire2Learn issues, each designer has more than 100 Master courses to go through. When the migration process is complete, at least one designer will have worked in each of the almost 500 Master courses.
In each Master course, designers are changing all wording from Bb Vista terminology to D2L terminology, making sure the style sheet is attached and working properly in all files, deleting duplicate content caused by the migration, and adding a course banner to the course homepage among other tasks. Designers will also be making sure that all images are working in the content of each Master course. You may also find that a designer has taken the information that was in the footer of your Vista course and placed it as a news item, updated the Links widget, and added an eBook widget (if applicable).
So next time you see a designer, give ‘em a hug, as they are working very long hours to help ensure all courses will be ready for the spring semester. [Because of the H1N1 fears, dark chocolate will be accepted in place of a hug. ;-)]
Something Funny to Watch on a Snowy Snowy Day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtPb8g8Jl6I
(Sorry embedding is disabled on this video.)
Tip from Alice Bedard-Voorhees.
Stay Warm,
Lisa Cheney-Steen
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Second Life Webinar
Hello Everyone,
It’s hard to believe the CCCOnline fall conference is over, and we are just days away from Halloween. A week after our conference we had an Open House on the new CCC Colorado EduIsland. Thanks to all of you, who were able to attend the open house event on October 9th. We had some 50+ new visitors that we can account for, who visited the island and joined us for the event, which we feel this was an excellent turnout for our first event!This is an extremely exciting time for all of us, especially with our new adoption to D2L. Out of my respect for all of you and our our trainers and designers, and everyone’s busy schedules, I have decided to post-pone our up and coming Second Life (SL) webinar for Colorado EduIsland. Originally, the webinar was scheduled for this week, Thursday, October 29th, which will now be held sometime after November 14th (date to be determined), after things slow down a bit for everyone.At our future SL webinar, we will present more on the Colorado Community Colleges focus in SL, and specifically related to:
- Where to get started and up and running quickly
- How to get your students up and running quickly
- Visiting Colorado EduIsland’s teaching spaces
- Using SL in your classes for specific assessment driven activities and meeting course outcomes
- Showing educational values that others have already found using virtual worlds for teaching their classes.
- Alternative concepts and uses of how we may want to teach with virtual worlds for the future
I look forward too seeing all of you at our future Colorado EduIsland events! If you have questions about the event change, or just want to discuss SL or Colorado EduIsland, please email me directly at, cheryl.comstock@cccs.edu. Best of luck with all your course migration!
Best regards,
Cheryl Comstock CCCOnline,
Director Online Program Development
303.595.1689
Vista Email Tool
It may be helpful for you to post a discussion message or announcement in your Vista courses to let students know that if they have sent you an email to which you have not responded, you are not ignoring them! Encourage them to contact you via your external emergency email address if they have urgent issues. Thanks!
Monday, October 26, 2009
D2L Email Tool Tip
When you log into D2L courses and click the email icon you might see a bunch of emails.
This is because the email system is global, which means all your D2L email appears in one place.
-Click the drop down arrow that says “filter by” and select one class section only. Now your emails for that course are the only ones you see.
-Do this for each class you teach.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Upcoming D2L Training
PDF instructions on logging in http://media.ccconline.cccs.edu/ccco/Training/Elluminate/AccessingElluminateTraining.pdf
Also, we’ve added more face to face sessions. Join us either Thursday, November 5th from 12-4 or Tuesday, November 10th from 12-4 at the Lowry Campus. Register for the face to face training at https://www.rsvpbook.com/event.php?402726
Can’t make any of the face to face sessions, but want to meet with someone? Schedule an appointment at the office with the Training and Professional Development department. Contact me directly at Karen.kaemmerling@cccs.edu.
Friday, October 23, 2009
D2L Assessments Webinar on Monday
Haven't logged in yet? Not sure where to start or confused about what is expected? Visit this online object or contact me directly at karen.kaemmerling@cccs.edu. I am happy to answer your questions, and we can talk on the phone or make an appointment at the office to get you going too.
The first hour of our D2L webinars are intended to cover a few tools, the second hour is an open QA session for any of your conversion clean-up and training questions. Come to the webinars with your questions or ask them in the CCCOnline Community where Lisa Marie Johnson and I are monitoring daily.
Our next webinar covers the Assessments tool with Aaron Leonard on Monday Oct 26th at 9am.
· Access the Webinars from the following link: http://elm.elluminate.com/FRONTRANGE/
· PDF instructions on logging in http://media.ccconline.cccs.edu/ccco/Training/Elluminate/AccessingElluminateTraining.pdf
Can’t make it to the live webinar… that’s ok, visit the webinar archive at http://faculty.ccconline.org/index.php?title=TPD_Webinar_Archive
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
D2L Classlist Tip
Today’s tip comes from D2L mentor and CRJ Chair Diane Van Os…
Use the Classlist tool to quickly email your whole class or individuals.
1. Go to the Classlist Tool on the course navigation bar.
2. Select the drop down to show maximum students on one page.
3. Check the top box which should place checks in all boxes and select “email all on this tab”.
4. Or to email an individual just check next to that person’s name and select the email icon at the top left of the list of stuents.
5. Send away!
Assessments D2L Webinar
What’s next? Learn more about the Assessments tool with Aaron Leonard on Monday Oct 26th at 9am.
· Access the Webinars from the following link: http://elm.elluminate.com/FRONTRANGE/
· PDF instructions on logging in http://media.ccconline.cccs.edu/ccco/Training/Elluminate/AccessingElluminateTraining.pdf
Based on your requests we are also adding more webinars and face to face sessions. Be looking for information on that soon!
See you there!
Friday, October 16, 2009
One month to go before D2L training and conversion deadline!
Our next webinar is Oct 19th at 9am with Donna Hall on the Gradebook and Dropbox.
To Join us Login on Monday Oct 19th at 8:30 am from: http://elm.elluminate.com/FRONTRANGEPDF
Instructions for accessing webinars: http://media.ccconline.cccs.edu/ccco/Training/Elluminate/AccessingElluminateTraining.pdf
Monday, October 12, 2009
Face to Face D2L Training Reminder
If you have already registered for the training, I will be sending information to you soon. Please try to log in to D2L using your S number and password.
How is your D2L training and Conversion clean up going so far?
This week CCCOnline Course Designer, Debra Warren, will facilitate the D2L Content and Manage Files webinar on Friday Oct 16th at 1pm. On Monday October 19th Donna Hall, Instructional Design Team Coordinator, will facilitate the D2L Grades and Dropbox Webinar at 9am. We hope to see you there, but if you can’t attend, these are being recorded for you to view later at your convenience.
Login to Friday Oct 16th webinar at 12:30 PM from: http://elm.elluminate.com/FRONTRANGE
PDF Instructions for accessing webinars:http://media.ccconline.cccs.edu/ccco/Training/Elluminate/AccessingElluminateTraining.pdf <http://media.ccconline.cccs.edu/ccco/Training/Elluminate/AccessingElluminateTraining.pdf>
If you miss it, access the recording at the Webinar Archive:http://faculty.ccconline.org/index.php?title=TPD_Webinar_Archive
Friday, October 09, 2009
CCCOnline Webinar with correct links.
Login to the webinar at 11:30 AM today from: http://elm.elluminate.com/FRONTRANGE
PDF Instructions for accessing webinars:
http://media.ccconline.cccs.edu/ccco/Training/Elluminate/AccessingElluminateTraining.pdf <http://media.ccconline.cccs.edu/ccco/Training/Elluminate/AccessingElluminateTraining.pdf>
If you miss a webinar, access the recording at the Webinar Archive:
http://faculty.ccconline.org/index.php?title=TPD_Webinar_Archive
The next webinar is on October 16 from 1:00 - 3:00 PM and will cover the D2L Content and Manage Files tools. We hope to see you then too!
CCCOnline Webinar!
Login to the webinar at 11:30 AM today from: http://elm.elluminate.com/FRONTRANGE
PDF Instructions for accessing webinars:
http://media.ccconline.cccs.edu/ccco/Training/Elluminate/AccessingElluminateTraining.pdf <http://media.ccconline.cccs.edu/ccco/Training/Elluminate/AccessingElluminateTraining.pdf>
If you miss a webinar, access the recording at the Webinar Archive:
http://faculty.ccconline.org/index.php?title=TPD_Webinar_Archive
The next webinar is on October 16 from 1:00 - 3:00 PM and will cover the D2L Content and Manage Files tools. We hope to see you then too!
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Second Life Open House - October 9th (Lisa's Error)
October 9th, 2009
The following events and times are listed below for all users. We hope you can join in the fun and come for a tour of our new island!
****************************************************
Avatar Appearance - Be Who You Want to Be!
moderated by Cyrus Hush
Start Time: 2:00 PM SLT / 3:00 PM MDT (Sessions begin every 30 minutes)
Length: 30 minutes
Location: Campus Store
****************************************************
The Maze - Learning Your Way Around Second Life
moderated by Grand Jestyr
Start Time: 2:00 PM SLT / 3:00 PM MDT(Sessions begin every hour)
Length: 1 hour
Location: The Maze
****************************************************
Holodeck Tours
moderated by Maelthra Spiritor
Start Time: 2:00 PM SLT / 3:00 PM MDT (Sessions begin every 30 minutes)
Length: 30 minutes
Location: Starts the Spanish Peaks Building
****************************************************
Fireside Chat - Teaching in Second Life
moderated by Kool Oberlander, Ababus Capalini, Shutter Allen
Start Time: 2:00 PM SLT / 3:00 PM MDT(Sessions begin every 15 minutes)
Length: 15 minutes
Location: Campfire near the Welcome Center
****************************************************
Teacher Tools for Your Second Life
moderated by MustangQuimby Mesmer
Start Time: 2:00 PM SLT / 3:00 PM MDT (Sessions begin every 15 minutes)
Length: 15 minutes
Location: Seven Falls Discussion Area
****************************************************
Teaching In Second Life
presentation by Miranda Minjou
Start Time: 2:00 PM SLT / 3:00 PM MDT
Length: 45 minutes
Location: Sand Dunes Discussion Area
****************************************************
It's A Snap! - Photo Booth
moderated by Luva Ragu
Start Time: 2:00 PM SLT / 3:00 PM MDT
Length: Continuous
Location: Student Recreation Center
****************************************************
Yes, You Can Dance!
moderated by ProfCO Clarity
Guest DJ: Gagtfl Darwin
Start Time: 3:00 PM SLT / 4:00 PM MDT
Length: 2 hours
Location: Amphitheater
****************************************************
GOLD NUGGET CHALLENGE!
moderated by ProfCO Clarity
Start Time: 3:00 PM SLT / 4:00 PM MDT
Length: 2 hour
Location: Region Wide
Can you find all the gold nuggets? There are 10 gold nuggets hidden around the island, find them and enjoy cash and prizes. Be the first to find all 10 and bring them to ProfCO Clarity for a big cash prize!
*******************
You may also contact Cheryl at Cheryl.Comstock@cccs.edu or search on Ize Mesmer in SL for questions.
Thanks,
Cheryl
Cheryl Comstock
CCCOnline, Director Online Program Development
cheryl.comstock@cccs.edu
http://www.ccconline.org/
More on Colorado EduIsland and Upcoming Events
Hi everyone! SecondLife is a virtual/simulated web experience where we are researching teaching and education. The first part of the original blog message was omitted, leaving it somewhat confusing.
Several discipline areas from a variety of colleges are looking at the educational potential of Second Life while also being quite successful in teaching in that virtual enviroment and exposing students to concepts and curriculum in disciplines they may not be able to introduce in a traditional or online classroom.
We have secured this Second Life space to help you explore potential uses; we will then build our island up to support your ideas and your students' needs in fulfilling learning outcomes.
The event is this coming Friday, October 9. At this session, you can learn how to set up an account and discover what is available to both you and our students on Colorado EduIsland (which is supported by Colorado's Community Colleges).
You can login directly to the SL website to check out how to create a free account and then teleport to Colorado EduIsland for the time specified.
What: Colorado EduIsland Open House
When: October 9th, 2009Times: 2PM - 5 PM SLT (Second Life Time) or 3 - 6 PM MDT (Mountain Daylight Time)
Where:* New Second Life (SL) Users, visit this URL to get started in SL: http://faculty.ccconline.org/index.php?title=SecondLife:Getting_Started#Getting_started_In_Second_Life_.28SL.29:
* Current Users, visit this SLURL to land directly on Colorado EduIsland: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Colorado%20EduIsland/133/110/22
Let me know (cheryl.comstock@cccs.edu) if you have questions. I can provide better support for you if we set up a time to meet and discuss it. I will also be hosting a webinar later this month on the topic.
Monday, October 05, 2009
Second Life Open House - October 9th
October 9th, 2009
The following events and times are listed below for all users. We hope you can join in the fun and come for a tour of our new island!
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Avatar Appearance - Be Who You Want to Be!
moderated by Cyrus Hush
Start Time: 2:00 PM SLT / 3:00 PM MDT (Sessions begin every 30 minutes)
Length: 30 minutes
Location: Campus Store
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The Maze - Learning Your Way Around Second Life
moderated by Grand Jestyr
Start Time: 2:00 PM SLT / 3:00 PM MDT(Sessions begin every hour)
Length: 1 hour
Location: The Maze
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Holodeck Tours
moderated by Maelthra Spiritor
Start Time: 2:00 PM SLT / 3:00 PM MDT (Sessions begin every 30 minutes)
Length: 30 minutes
Location: Starts the Spanish Peaks Building
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Fireside Chat - Teaching in Second Life
moderated by Kool Oberlander, Ababus Capalini, Shutter Allen
Start Time: 2:00 PM SLT / 3:00 PM MDT(Sessions begin every 15 minutes)
Length: 15 minutes
Location: Campfire near the Welcome Center
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Teacher Tools for Your Second Life
moderated by MustangQuimby Mesmer
Start Time: 2:00 PM SLT / 3:00 PM MDT (Sessions begin every 15 minutes)
Length: 15 minutes
Location: Seven Falls Discussion Area
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Teaching In Second Life
presentation by Miranda Minjou
Start Time: 2:00 PM SLT / 3:00 PM MDT
Length: 45 minutes
Location: Sand Dunes Discussion Area
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It's A Snap! - Photo Booth
moderated by Luva Ragu
Start Time: 2:00 PM SLT / 3:00 PM MDT
Length: Continuous
Location: Student Recreation Center
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Yes, You Can Dance!
moderated by ProfCO Clarity
Guest DJ: Gagtfl Darwin
Start Time: 3:00 PM SLT / 4:00 PM MDT
Length: 2 hours
Location: Amphitheater
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GOLD NUGGET CHALLENGE!
moderated by ProfCO Clarity
Start Time: 3:00 PM SLT / 4:00 PM MDT
Length: 2 hour
Location: Region Wide
Can you find all the gold nuggets? There are 10 gold nuggets hidden around the island, find them and enjoy cash and prizes. Be the first to find all 10 and bring them to ProfCO Clarity for a big cash prize!
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You may also contact Cheryl at Cheryl.Comstock@cccs.edu or search on Ize Mesmer in SL for questions.
Thanks,
Cheryl
Cheryl Comstock
CCCOnline, Director Online Program Development
cheryl.comstock@cccs.edu
http://www.ccconline.org/
Professional Development Opportunity
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Mark your calendar for an exciting FREE professional development event
sponsored by the e-Learning Consortium of Colorado (eLCC).
What: "Web 2.0 Buffet – FREE tools to enhance teaching and learning"
When: Friday, October 30, 2009 - 9:30-3:00
Where: University of Denver
More details and registration information coming soon!!!
http://elcc.pbworks.com/
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Best,
Lisa Cheney-Steen
Friday, October 02, 2009
Fall Session 2 Rosters Available
Please go here, https://at.ccconline.org/roster
Login using your SID and Vista Password.
You can find student e-mail addresses on the roster. Please remember that most colleges have moved to the system e-mail address for students, so we are dependent on students remembering to check their system e-mail account or forward that account to another external e-mail address.
Please contact myself or Frank Vazquez, frank.vazquez@cccs.edu, if you have any trouble accessing your roster.
Thanks!
John
D2L News, HTML Editor, and Homepages - Webinar Today!
Please join us for Today's Webinar on the D2L News, HTML Editor, and Homepages tools starting at 1:00 PM and ending around 3:00 PM. The facilitator is Mary Cash!
No registration is required to attend and no password is needed to login. Please login as a Guest using your First and Last Name.
Login to the webinar starting at 12:30 PM today from the link on the schedule at http://elm.elluminate.com/FRONTRANGE/
If you miss the webinar, access the recording to be available later today at the Webinar Archive: http://faculty.ccconline.org/index.php?title=TPD_Webinar_Archive
The next webinar is on October 9 from 12:00 -2:00 PM and will cover the Email, Discussion, and Classlist tools in D2L. We hope to see you then too!
Fall 2 Begins Monday!
Hi Everyone-
I 'm sure fall is flying by for all of you as quickly as it is for me. Our fall 2 session is already here - and man is it here! Enrollment is up just over 30% from this time last year and would have been up more but we are experiencing a pretty severe faculty shortage in many areas. We are running classes with more students than we typically do. We expect to get back down to our historical average (19) by next summer, so please bear with us and recommend your friends with master's degrees to your program chair.
We expanded our D2L pilot program slightly by adding a few fall 2 sections to D2L. For fall 1 the Academic Technology guys manually loaded students into D2L. They are using fall 2 to test the automated process we will use from spring. That seemed to be important enough that it was worth adding a few more D2L sections. If you haven't had a chance yet, please do log into the new faculty community course in D2L. (https://ccco.desire2learn.com/). Donna Welschmeyer also headed up a group making changes to the Faculty Gateway. She would like to know if that area is now more useful to you and easier to navigate. Donna can be reached at Donna.Welschmeyer@cccs.edu.
Good Luck and have fun this term!
best,
Lisa Cheney-Steen
(For you horsey folks, that is Dr. Beeman running the hounds for the Arapahoe Hunt.)
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Courses Verified/Ready
November 14th, faculty conversion clean-up and training deadline, will be here before we know it. Check out your responsibilities for conversion clean up in the D2L CCCOnline Community Course under Instructional Design. Log in to D2L today at
To Log in go to https://ccco.desire2learn.com/
User Name: S Number
Password: Current password
Vist this learning object to understand our unique training design for D2L and get a brief tour of the CCCOnline Community Course where training and your conversion clean up checklist are housed.
Our First Webinar is this Friday at 1pm with Mary Cash on D2L HTML Editor, Homepage, and News. No registration is required… join us at http://elm.elluminate.com/FRONTRANGE/
Mark your calendar for Upcoming Webinar dates:
Oct 9 12pm-2 D2L Email and Discussions
Oct 16 1pm-3 D2L Content and Manage Files
Oct 19 9am-11 D2L Grades and Dropbox
Oct 26 9am-11 D2L Assessments
Nov 2 1pm-3 D2L Intelligent Agents and Release Conditions
Nov 13 1pm-3pm Final D2L Q&A
Visit this page for a list of webinars. http://faculty.ccconline.org/index.php?title=TPD_Upcoming_Webinars
Monday, September 28, 2009
Time to Log in to D2L Training
Many of you were able to log in to Desire to Learn for the first time at the conference on Friday, but I know many of you were not able to attend the event and are ready to get started!
The first task is to log in (Log In info below). When you log in, Click the CCCOnline Community course where D2L Essentials training is housed. If you have several courses, your community course is under the student tab. After opening the Community course, Read the news message in the middle of the screen, and then click on content (top left). There you will find your department's faculty lounge, a Design team section with information about conversion of your courses, and then the Training and Professional Development section. Begin to explore the D2L Essentials training with Start Here. (If you do not see the CCCOnline Community Course, please contact Lisa Marie Johnson lisamarie.johnson@ccc.edu .)
If your sandbox and master courses are available, they will be located under the instructor tab. (If you don’t see them yet, be patient as they are still working on them). Eventually, you may have one or more master courses that you will clean up for duping for the spring semester, and you will see one sandbox course. (If you don’t see what you are expecting, please contact your chair). The sandbox is a messy copy of your course and is just a space to play, experiment and make mistakes. By November 14, you must have your master courses cleaned up and your training quiz in D2L Essentials completed.
To support your efforts and lead you through the process, we will focus on a couple tools a week including a webinar with a design team member focusing on the use of the tools, and an hour for just Q&A. The first hour will be recorded for attendees to return to and those who aren’t able to join us to listen to when convenient.
The first tools we will examine are News, HTML Editor, and the Homepage. I recommend you check out the training information in the Community D2L Essenials course before the webinar. Votes were taken at the Faculty Conference and the favorite time was Friday at 1pm. So our first webinar will be via elluminate on Friday Oct 2 at 1pm with Mary Cash. Join us at http://elm.elluminate.com/FRONTRANGE/ No registration is required. You may want to visit http://faculty.ccconline.org/index.php?title=TPD_Upcoming_Webinars for a complete list of upcoming D2L Webinars.
Unless you have received an Email with other instructions (be sure to also check your spam folder), you will log in to D2L with your S Number and current BANNER password.
To Log in go to https://ccco.desire2learn.com/
User Name: S Number
Password: Current password
Please let me know if you have questions.
Karen Kaemmerling
Director of Training and Professional Development
720-858-2765
karen.kaemmerling@cccs.edu
Conference
Thank you to all of you who were able to attend the Faculty Conference last Friday. I really appreciate that so many of you were able to fit an entire day into your very busy schedules.
I hope you all had a chance to talk with your program chair and fellow faculty. And of course I hope you were able to spend some time in D2L and get at least the first round of answers to your questions.
Thanks!
Lisa Cheney-Steen
D2L -- IE8 Hotfix applied
We had D2L apply a hot fix for the IE 8 browser on all orgs. It is not yet officially supported but this fixes all known issues, and they should be coming out with that support before long. We are taking down our warning about using it on CCCOnline.
Best,
Lisa Cheney-Steen
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Twitter at CCCOnline Faculty Conference
A big thanks to the design team for all their work before this conference helping get things ready and another big thanks to them for facilitating so many sessions at the conference tomorrow.
Here are some Twitter instructions from Aaron Leonard:
If you are planning on tweeting during the CCCOnline Faculty Conference, please consider including our conference hashtag (#cccoconf) in your tweets so that everyone can share in the wondrous things that you learn.Tweeting is easy and including a hashtag even easier.
1. If you don’t have one already, sign up for an account at http://www.twitter.com
2. Login to your twitter account.
3. In the “What are you doing?” box, type your tweet (remember you’re limited to 140 characters) and include #cccoconf in your message.
4. Click Update
5. People searching the conference will now be able to see your tweet and share in the knowledge!
To search for the hashtag and see what others are tweeting at the conference:
1. Go to http://search.twitter.com
2. Type #cccoconf in the box
3. Click Search
4. Read the results! They’re only 140 characters or less, it’s not going to take that long…
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
See you at the Conference!
I am so glad so many of you are able to join us on Friday September 25th at Arapahoe Community College. Our first session, a continental breakfast, and registration will be in the Main Building in room M1900. Please stop at the registration table to get your goodie bag and conference information. We will begin serving a continental breakfast approximately 8am. You may park free in any lot, and you may want to visit this website for more maps. http://www.arapahoe.edu/aboutacc/maps/index.htm . You may also want to visit the schedule at http://faculty.ccconline.org/index.php?title=Faculty_Conference_Schedule
We also have a Twitter tag for you to share your thoughts about sessions and the conference with us and fellow faculty who may or may not be able to attend. To set up a free Twitter account before the conference, go to http://twitter.com . Our tag line to be included in your messages is #cccoconf…all lower case.
Session capacity is based off the room fire code restrictions, so please be aware that you may not be able to join in a session you didn’t register to attend. You can bring your laptops to sessions and use them when appropriate, but wireless internet access is intermittent around the building.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Colorado EduIsland -- Second Life Event
Event: Colorado EduIsland Open House and Training; “Alive for Education, Explore the Possibilities”
When: October 9th, 2009 from 3-6 pm
Where: Colorado EduIsland http://slurl.com/secondlife/Colorado%20EduIsland/132/110/22
Synopsis: The Colorado EduIsland Virtual World Committee (CEVWC) will be hosting “Alive for Education, Explore the Possibilities,” an educational and training event to introduce new and beginner users (i.e., “newbies”) to Second Life (SL). Discussing valuable skills of operating and utilizing SL for educational purposes will be the focus of the event. New and experienced users are welcome to join in the fun as we tour the island, participate in mazes, go on treasure hunts, and have a chance to meet new folks from various community colleges around Colorado.
Activities, both structured and unstructured, will be staged around the island for educators and students to discover basic functionality, maneuvering, and broadening of proficiency skill sets. There will be door prizes and plenty of free gifts for participators!
Planned training stations activities and exercises will be available to instruct you on:
- How to maneuver, fly, and teleport your avatar
- How to access and utilize the program menus and tools that come with your account and avatar
- How to Change appearances, wear objects, and work with the inventory that comes with your account
Included , also will be fireside chats and other discussions which include topics on
- how to teach in SL,
- using various teaching tools and with other valuable educational conversations
And... We value your opinion, please if you will, fill out the following survey, so we can better serve you with your educational needs in SL.
https://coloradomtn.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_802yqLhsM1wRlFG&SVID=Prod
Please feel free to ask email ColoradoEduIsland@cccs.edu if you have any questions, and someone from CEVWC will respond to you!
We can’t wait to meet you in-world… If you are willing to come and experience the possibilities, we will be waiting to show you!
Best regards,
The Colorado EduIsland Virtual World Committee
(For additional information email Cheryl.Comstock@cccs.edu).
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
D2L Face to Face Sessions At Lowry
We have a plan! Everyone will be in our self-paced, self-assessed workshop that ends November 14th. For the six weeks following the faculty conference, we will progress through the D2L tools with a series of webinars that will be recorded. We will participate heavily in tool specific discussions in the D2L Essentials course and send D2L tips and tricks messages in the blog. No registration is required for any of this training. Days and times will vary for the webinars, so we can hopefully accommodate as many diverse schedules as possible.
Also, we've scheduled two face to face sessions at the Lowry Campus. One will be October 19th from 10 am to 2 pm and one will be November 2 from 10 am to 2 pm. Registration is required and can be done at this link https://www.rsvpbook.com/event.php?402726 . Space is limited so register today!
Karen Kaemmerling
Karen.kaemmerling@cccs.edu
Monday, September 14, 2009
Register Today!
If you haven’t registered yet for our Blast off To D2L Faculty Conference on September 25th at Arapahoe Community College, go to http://www.rsvpbook.com/event.php?402246 to register for the conference today! Seats are still available in several hands-on D2L sessions; including, HTML, ADA & D2L and D2L Email and Discussion Tools. In addition to many presentations on Desire to Learn, we also have topics that are universal no matter which learning management system we use. Look for presentations on Second Life, podcasting, mash-ups, incorporating publisher digital materials, and using groups and reengaging techniques in your courses.
Registration closes one week from today and you don’t want to miss this event!
If you have registered and you have questions about food provided, sessions, or need a map, go to http://faculty.ccconline.org/index.php?title=Faculty_Conference
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
D2L Training
Hi Everyone-
As I have mentioned previously, the Training and Professional Development department has created a CCCOnline Faculty Community online course that everyone will have access to starting the day of the Faculty Conference, September 25th. In that course, you will have access to all of the training materials.
You will also have at least two other courses beginning on the 25th. The first is a copy of one of your courses from Vista labeled "Sandbox". This shell is just that -- a place to experiment with D2L features and tools where you don't have to worry about messing anything up. You will also have "Master" shells for each individual course you teach for CCCOnline. These are the shells that will need to be cleaned up and updated for the duplication process and spring teaching.
If you can't make the conference don't worry. All of the needed information for login will come out via email and blog the week after the conference.
At the Faculty Conference on the 25th we will focus on conversion and tools with sessions by the Training and Professional Development department and the Design team. If you can’t attend the conference or can’t get into a D2L session, more opportunities are available. Following the conference, we will focus on a couple of D2L tools each week with discussion topics, blog posts, and recorded webinars.
We will also have several face to face opportunities for you to register for. (The schedule for webinars and face to face sessions will be released soon.) Some of you may be taking training at other institutions; we don't want you to have to repeat training that you have received elsewhere unless you feel that you need the additional support. We will help you progress through the tools over a period of six weeks, and by the end you should be ready to teach in D2L and have your course converted and ready to go.
We want you to be able to self-assess your learning needs and to come to as much or as little training as you need. Everyone will need to complete a short quiz in the community course that acknowledges that you feel comfortable with essential skills in Desire to Learn and also gives you a place to request additional training.
If there are tools in D2L that you struggle with, please participate in that tool’s discussion, webinar, or contact your department mentor or Karen Kaemmerling. Once we complete the initial phase of preparing you to teach in D2L this spring, we will continue training opportunities this spring on great D2L features like the groups tool and rubrics.
Best,
Lisa Cheney-Steen
(The picture is from south Park county. The speed limit sign on the left says 35 mph, on the right it's 25 mph.)
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
D2L Conversion Process
Hi Everyone-
This fall we are moving all CCCOnline courses to Desire2Learn. Over the summer the Instructional Designers and the Academic Technology groups have been working to get the first two steps of the conversion process taken care of. That included converting course shells from BB Vista and taking care of some basic clean-up of those shells. Beginning at the Faculty Conference on the 25th you will get access to those course shells in D2L. There will still be some clean-up that will need to take place as well as all of the standard changes and updates that have to be made to a shell each semester (assessment dates, etc.) The Design Team and Training and Professional Development have developed 2 check-lists, so everyone will know which updates have been taken care of by the designers and what is left to do. Just as a reference, final clean-up of my class took me less than an afternoon and that was with interruptions.)
Training for all of you will also begin at the Faculty Conference. Just before the conference everyone will be loaded into a Faculty Community Shell. All of the training materials for D2L will be in that shell as well as spaces for the Design Team and your Program Chairs. We hope this area will help us simplify the communication flow and also give you one quick place to look for any piece of information you need.
We are planning to use the Faculty Mentor model for primary faculty support again. Many of you remember the "Vista Volunteers" from the last LMS conversion process. Once again each program will have a D2L Mentor who will be your primary contact for support both this fall as you update and clean-up your master course shells and in the spring as you teach in D2L for the first time. The mentors are teaching in D2L this fall as pilot faculty and have tested the faculty training materials as well.
The critical due date for completion of both course updates and training will be November 14th. On that date we want to begin the course duplication process for the spring term.
Last, a note about student support: The student help desk (Perceptis) is already supporting students in D2L this fall in the pilot courses. Deb Michel and Kathy Miles are updating the student wiki with additional student support materials and plan to have a student orientation ready to go for spring. More about the specifics of training in the next post.
Best,
Lisa Cheney-Steen
(Photo is of Hanging Lake near Glenwood Springs)
Thursday, September 03, 2009
Summer Student Surveys
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
Net Tutor
Keep in mind that since this is for faculty exploration, it is not a "live" site. Here's what our rep from NetTutor says:
"The link below will allow teachers and help-desk personnel to investigate the features of NetTutor fully. Keep in mind that, being a freebie, it is not a tutored site. That is, tutors will only accept questions from this group if they have time, and will respond to paper submissions only as time permits. An important function is that it allows instructors to reach our amazing customer service staff (by clicking the Customer Service Request link at the bottom of the page.
I doubt that any issues raised by students can be addressed more efficiently than by submitting a Customer Service Request, so I do not encourage their use of this page other than to become familiar with NetTutor."
So go ahead and explore and let us know what you think! Remember that NetTutor folks will be available at the fall conference later this month, too, to answer your questions.
Please remember that CCCOnline funds this service for students, and students may use 10 hours of tutoring free of charge. We prefer that students determine for themselves their level of need for the tutoring service and ask that you not require students to access this site for tutoring. Thanks!
Friday, August 28, 2009
Fall Session 1 Rosters Available
Please go here, https://at.ccconline.org/roster
Login using your SID and Vista Password.
You can find student e-mail addresses on the roster. Please remember that most colleges have moved to the system e-mail address for students, so we are dependent on students remembering to check their system e-mail account or forward that account to another external e-mail address.
Please contact myself or Frank Vazquez, frank.vazquez@cccs.edu, if you have any trouble accessing your roster.
Thanks!
John
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Student Tutorial Services
Just moments ago I received the URL for our NetTutor account. Students should use this link to register for and access tutorial services. As we did with SmarThinking, we have services for World Languages, Science, Math, English, Social Sciences, and Business/Accounting. In addition, we have the student writing services mentioned above for all disciplines. NetTutor will send student registration/login and navigation instructions to me shortly. As soon as I receive that information, we will make sure it appears in the student wiki, etc.
Please replace any references to SmarThinking to NetTutor and include this new link as appropriate:
http://www.nettutor.com/nt/login.cgi?acode=3028264197
If you have questions about the services provided, please let me know. A NetTutor representative will attend our fall conference on September 25th, so you can also ask questions of them at that time.
If you would like to explore the NetTutor site, please email me and we can ask NetTutor to set up a specific login for faculty so that your explorations aren't counted as billable time for CCCOnline. Thanks!