Web 2.0 Tool of the Week: Twitter

Twitter (http://www.twitter.com)

The world is tweeting with Twitter! Twitter, a micro blogging tool, allows users to post messages of up to 140 characters. Users can post via the web, IM, or a mobile phone. Twitter requires users to sign up for a free account.

Considerations for using Twitter:
· Users can “follow” you and you can “follow” them to receive twitter updates
· Accounts can be public or private - you grant permission to allow viewing
· If you block someone, that person won’t be able to follow you or send you any messages
· Posts can be deleted, but not changed
· Users can post and receive tweets on their mobile phone
· Twitter updates can be incorporated in your blog, website, or Facebook
· By using #hashtags you can sort, search, and filter posts. #Hashtags are commonly accepted search terms with a # sign in front. Some of our favorite hashtags relating to higher education and technology are #edtech, #highered, and #geekpoll

Possible uses of Twitter for educators include:
· Keep up with friends or colleagues
· Share updates or announcements
· Take notes that emphasize main ideas
· Send course updates or announcements
· Teach students to summarize ideas or to teach concise expression of ideas
· Share “aha” moments from conference sessions or meetings

There is a community forum available to users. On the forum you can find information on how to use Twitter, as well as contribute to the forum.

Ready to Twitter?
Sign up for an account here, check out this five step guide to getting started and follow us on Twitter

Tip # 46: Limit dropped student access to the course

When students drop a class and are not automatically removed from Blackboard, you can limit their access to the course.

Limiting access to students who drop the course mid-semester
Students who have dropped a course mid-semester will not be removed from your Blackboard course roster. This is designed to allow instructors to keep records of all students in the course. Removing a student from the Blackboard course will delete all information, including grades for that student.

Here’s how to limit access and retain student information:
Navigate to your Control Panel and click the List/Modify Users link. Type the student’s last name, or click search to list the whole class roster. Select properties next to a student’s name. Scroll down to Section 4: Role and Availability. Under Available (this course only) select No. Click Submit.

NOTE: Limiting access to students will not remove them from your grade book. However, the student will no longer be able to log into the course.

Removing Students from a Course
If a student was never enrolled in the course per your WebAdvisor roster, removal of the student may be appropriate. Keep in mind that all student data will be removed including grades, assignment submissions and course statistics.

NOTE: Blackboard roster updates occur several times a day through the twelfth class day. It is possible that during these first days of the semester, students removed from a course will be added back into the course when the roster updates occur. Removing students after the twelfth class day will be permanent.

How to permanently remove a student from the course
Navigate to your Control Panel and click the Remove Users from Course link. Type the student’s last name, or click search to list the whole class roster. Place a checkmark next to the student’s name. Type the word Yes in the box and click Submit.

NOTE: Official student rosters can be obtained from WebAdvisor and compared with Blackboard. Students who are not listed in Blackboard but listed in WebAdvisor should call the Help Desk at 940-898-3791 for assistance.


Want more information?
Step-by-step tutorials are available at: http://www.twu.edu/blackboard/faculty-support.asp
Visit our website: http://www.twu.edu/blackboard, or call: (940) 898-3706.

Voicemail: Out of Office Settings

TWU has a new voicemail system for all permanent faculty and staff. The new system integrates voicemail with email delivering all messages to both telephone and email. To request an account on the new system, email voicemail@twu.edu and include your name, campus and telephone extension.

This tip will give information about how to set out of office status and greeting on the new system.

Setting out of office from your desk telephone:

1. Call the system: 4646 or 814646
2. Press # to access voicemail (system prompt)
3. Enter your security code (system prompt)
4. To set voicemail status to out of office, press 5 (manage personal options) + 1 (change current status) + 7 (out of office).
1. When the system asks you about setting the “until” date for the greeting to play, skip the option. This will not automatically set the greeting on & off. Press 3 to ignore this option. The system will prompt that the status is successfully updated.
5. To record an out of office greeting, press 5 (manage personal options) + 4 (manage personal prompts) + 3 (record out of office greeting).
6. To hear the out of office greeting, press 5 (manage personal options) + 4 (manage personal prompts) + 4 (listen to out of office greeting).
7. When finished, hang up.

Block / unblock message option:

When messages are blocked, voicemail will play the greeting and not allow messages to be left.

1. Press 5 (manage personal options) + 6 (manage announcement only options) + 1 will toggle to block messages or receive messages. The system will tell you if your box is or is not set to receive messages.
2. When finished, hang up.

NOTE: Set the “out of office” on your email. Out of office must be set on both voicemail and email.

Returning to the office & removing out of office from your desk phone:

1. Call the system: 4646 or 814646
2. Press # to access voicemail (system prompt)
3. Enter your security code (system prompt)
4. To set voicemail status to available, press 5 (manage personal options) + 1 (change current status) + 1 (available). By changing status to available, the standard greeting is turned on, and out of office greeting turned off.
5. To hear the standard greeting, press 5 (manage personal options) + 4 (manage personal prompts) + 2 (listen to standard greeting).
6. To record a standard greeting, press 5 (manage personal options) + 4 (manage personal prompts) + 1 (record standard greeting).
7. When finished, hang up.

Block / unblock message option:

When messages are blocked, voicemail will play the greeting and not allow messages to be left.

1. Press 5 (manage personal options) + 6 (manage announcement only options) + 1 will toggle to block messages or receive messages. The system will tell you if your box is or is not set to receive messages.
2. When finished, hang up.

NOTE: Remember to remove the out of office status on your email. Removing out of office must be done on both voicemail and email.

Voicemail is available for all permanent faculty and staff. To setup an account, email voicemail@twu.edu from your TWU email account and include name, campus and telephone extension.

Tip #16: Welcome to the Tips of the Week

Instructional Support Services welcomes you to the fall semester 2009 at Texas Woman’s University. As the semester begins, we would like to offer information about our services and staff. Each week we will be sending out tips of the week featuring various aspects of technology. Tips will be delivered to your e-mail on Mondays and Wednesdays.
On Mondays, you will receive tips featuring such topics as Web 2.0 tools, Microsoft Office, and the new voicemail system. Upcoming topics include:
Utilizing Web 2.0 tools such as Animoto, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and Prezi.
Microsoft Office features in Excel and Word that will assist in work processes.
Voicemail tips and tricks including setting out of office and using the fax options.

On Wednesdays, you will receive tips about Blackboard features. Upcoming topics include:
Embedding video in your course
Customizing the homepage
Using the Test Generator
Using RSS feeds in a course

During the semester, we will be offering training sessions and other opportunities to assist faculty and staff with technology integration. Our team is comprised of several staff including:

Jean Mankoff, Director of Instructional Technology Delivery Systems
Jean received a B.S. from Stephen F. Austin State University with a Double Major in Education and Physics. She earned a M.S. in Kinesiology and Computer Science from TWU. Her teaching experience covers K-12, corporate training as well as adjunct faculty in the Department of Computer Science. As Director of Instructional Technology Delivery Systems, her team supports professional development, Blackboard, voicemail, videoconferencing, Pioneer TV and video production.

Catherine Dutton, Manager of Instructional Technology Software Applications
Catherine earned a B.A. in Family & Consumer Sciences from Utah State University and a M.A.T. from Texas Woman’s University. She holds a secondary teaching certificate and has taught in both K-12 and higher education for the past six years. She is a doctoral candidate in the Family Sciences program at TWU researching educators’ uses of Second Life.

Vicky Johnson, Instructional Operations Coordinator and Blackboard System AdministratorVicky is a Certified Blackboard System Administrator as well as A+ certified. Vicky has an Associate’s Degree in Business, and earned her B.B.A. from TWU. She is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Educational Technology from Boise State University.

Barbara Ritter, Instructional Coordinator and Certified Blackboard InstructorBarbara Ritter is a certified Blackboard instructor the developer of the Blackboard online course for faculty. Barbara earned a B.A and an M.A. in English from University of North Carolina Charlotte. She holds a secondary teaching certificate in English. Barbara has over 14 years of teaching experience in higher education and has been teaching online since 1998. She is pursuing an EDD in Education with an emphasis on Instructional Technology in Distance Education from Nova Southeastern University.

Corin Walker, Instructional Coordinator and Voicemail System AdministratorCorin provides support for voicemail, Blackboard, Microsoft Excel, Outlook and Word, and AllClear Diagramming Software. Corin serves as the Public Relations Liaison for ISS and works with groups for project analysis and outcomes. She earned a B.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies and a M. S. in Family Studies here at Texas Woman’s University.

Want more information?
Step-by-step tutorials are available at: http://www.twu.edu/blackboard/
Visit our website: http://www.twu.edu/professional-development
or call: (940) 898-3971

Tip #45: End of Semester Checklist

Tip: End of Semester Checklist

End-of-semester checklist:
1. Export the final course gradebook.
2. Archive your Blackboard course.
3. Make the course unavailable.

Exporting the Blackboard Gradebook
1) Access the course that contains the Gradebook you want to export
2) Click the Control Panel link
3) Click Gradebook
4) Click the Download Grades button
5) Select Comma or Tab as the Delimiter Type (both file types can be opened in MS Excel)
6) Click the Submit button and then click the Download button
7) Save the file to your Desktop (or anywhere on your computer that is appropriate)
8) Click OK

Archiving a Blackboard Course
1) Access the course you want to archive
2) Click the Control Panel link
3) Under the Course Options category, click Archive Course
4) Click the Archive button
5) Click Submit
6) After you receive the archive completion email, navigate to the Archive Course page again. Right-click the zipped course file and click Save Target As… to save the file to your computer
7) Click OK

Making a Course Unavailable
1) Access the course you want to make unavailable
2) Click the Control Panel link
3) Under the Course Options category, click Settings
4) Click Course Availability
5) Select No
6) Click Submit

Tip #15: Word: Customizing Shortcut Keys

Shortcut keys allow you to quickly execute common commands without searching for the command on menus. Word has set shortcuts for several common tasks. Common preset shortcuts include CTRL-Z (undo), CTRL-S (Save), CTRL-C (copy), and CTRL-P (paste).
In Word 2007 you can change a default shortcut key to one that makes more sense to you. Or, you may want to add a shortcut key to a command that does not currently have one.

Setting a Customized Shortcut Key
1. Click the Office button
2. Select Word Options
3. Select Customize from the side menu
4. At the bottom of the window, next to Keyboard Shortcuts click Customize.
5. In the Customize Keyboard dialog box, locate the command for which you would like to edit the keyboard shortcut. Start by selecting the category. For each category, the commands will appear at the right side of the window. When you select one, a brief description will appear at the bottom of the dialog box.
6. The current shortcut key, if there is one, will appear in the Current Keys box
7. Click inside the box labeled Press new shortcut key
8. Press the shortcut key you would like to use. Include the Ctrl, Shift, or Ctrl + Shift keys.
9. If the shortcut key is currently assigned, Word will tell you what command currently uses the shortcut key. If this occurs, you may reassign the shortcut key, or select a different shortcut key sequence.
11. Under Save Changes In… select where the key is saved: Normal template affects ALL documents or only the current document
12. Click Assign to apply the changes
13. Click Close

NOTE: You can revert to the original shortcut presets by pressing Reset All on the Customize Keyboard dialog box.

Where can I find more information about Office 2007? The ISS Training site provides Quick Reference Guides and Courseware for Microsoft Office. https://portal.twu.edu/iss-training/appstraining/ms_applications.htm
For additional support, please contact the Help Desk, (940) 898-3971.

Tip #44: Weight Gradebook items by category or by item

Tip: You can weight Gradebook items by category or by item.

Here’s how to do it:
Navigate to your course Control Panel and click Gradebook. Click the Weight Grades button. Select the option to Weight by Category or to Weight by Item. Assign weight percentages to the desired categories or items. The percentages must add up to 100%. Click Submit to save the weights.

NOTE: After you assign weight to Gradebook items or categories, you cannot remove the weighting option from the Gradebook. Add weighting to the Gradebook only if you are certain that you will continue to use weighting the entire semester.

Weighting by Category:
Weighting by category allows you to assign a weight percentage to a particular type of Gradebook item, rather than to each Gradebook item. For example, you can weight all course quizzes at 30% of the students’ total grades. Each time you add a quiz, the weight percentage for each quiz will adjust accordingly.

To use this feature correctly, it is important that you assign Gradebook items to appropriate categories. You can change a Gradebook item’s category by clicking the Manage Items button in the Gradebook and clicking the Modify button next to the Gradebook item you want to change. Select a new category for the item and click Submit.

Tip #14: Outlook: Previewing Attachments

Previewing attachments is a new feature of Outlook 2007. When you receive an attachment in a message and want to see what the attachment contains without opening the file, you can preview the attachment. You can preview an attachment in the Reading Pane or from within an open message. To preview an attached file created in a 2007 Microsoft Office system application, you must have that application installed on your computer. For example, to preview a Word attachment, you must have Word installed.

How to do it:
To preview an attachment, click a single time on the attachment icon. The attachment will appear in the message frame.
To return to message view, click the Message icon

NOTE: To open an attachment for editing, or for printing formatting, double click on the attachment icon and the attachment will open in its original application.

Where can I find more information about Office 2007? The ISS Training site provides Quick Reference Guides and Courseware for Microsoft Office. https://portal.twu.edu/iss-training/appstraining/ms_applications.htm
For additional support, please contact the Help Desk, (940) 898-3971.

Where can I find information about Office 2007 training sessions?
The ISS Training Calendar lists upcoming training for Office 2007.
https://portal.twu.edu/iss-training/calendar/index.html