Fall University of Alaska Anchorage. elearning: Distance Student Services Faculty Information Guide

Transcription

1 University of Alaska Anchorage elearning: Distance Student Services Faculty Information Guide Fall 2015 University of Alaska Anchorage elearning: Distance Student Services 3211 Providence Drive Anchorage, Alaska / Toll Free: elearning@uaa.alaska.edu

2 Page 2 Table of Contents Welcome Letter Page 3 Enabling Your Course in Blackboard Page 4 Recommendations for Blackboard Exams Page 4 Resources for elearning Faculty Page 5 Important elearning Dates for Faculty Page 6 Midterm & Final Exams Page 7 Proctored Exam Accommodations Page 8 What Can You Tell Students About Page 9

3 Page 3 Welcome to the Fall 2015 Semester! The staff at UAA elearning: Distance Student Services would like to welcome you to the Fall 2015 semester. As always, we are eager to work side by side with you and your courses to ensure a smooth semester that is enjoyable for both you and the students. This packet is intended to help you get ready for the semester. You will find information on enabling your course in Blackboard, test recommendations, important dates, and a list of resources available to you as UAA faculty. elearning would like your input regarding online/remote proctor services. An online/remote proctor service is an organization that monitors students taking online exams from their own home (rather than traveling to an approved testing center). This is often more convenient for students but will still keep the integrity of exams. We would like feedback from faculty to help determine what needs exist and what faculty are looking for in regards to testing. Here are some important updates to note: 1.Participate in the Faculty Survey on Online Proctor Services HERE. 2.We are now offering Blackboard Help Sessions for any online students who may need assistance. Let students know about this resource available to them. More information can be found HERE. 3.Both elearning & Academic Innovations are on Twitter! Follow For faculty needing support for proctored exams, please review the section with specifics on exam proctoring. Proctored exams supported by our office will require that the instructor submit the Faculty & Exam Information Form. This form is online the link and more information is included at the end of this packet. As elearning continues to grow at UAA, we hope that you feel that you have the support and resources that you and your students need. We welcome feedback and suggestions on what we are doing right or what services we might be able to provide in the future. Lastly, please be aware that our Academic Innovations & elearning (AI&e) Office has numerous resources available to you as an online faculty member. If you are interested in this support, please contact or at uaa_ai@uaa.alaska.edu. Thank you once again for your support of our elearning services at UAA. UAA elearning Staff

4 Page 4 Enabling Your Course in Blackboard To allow distance education students time to purchase course materials and to get settled with the course, please upload your syllabus to your Blackboard course shell and enable your course by August 24 th. For technical assistance regarding your Blackboard course, please call the IT Services How to Enable Your Course: Call Center at option 1. Log in to Blackboard; select your course Go to the Course Management New courses in Blackboard are not available for students until you make them available. This means that you as the instructor need to turn on or enable your course(s) so they become visible to your students in Blackboard. Because your students have been directed to access your Select Control Panel Select Customization Select Properties Under option #3 (Set Availability) select Yes Click Submit course syllabus through Blackboard, it is important that you enable your course(s) no later than August 24 th. If you have any questions about these steps, please call the IT Services Call Center at option 1 and a technician will assist you as necessary. Recommendations for Blackboard Exams The Distance Education office has recently discussed with IT Services some general suggestions for instructors and students to help create a smooth testing experience with Blackboard. Below are some suggestions for instructors to incorporate into their online testing: Technical Recommendations: o Have students conduct a Compatibility Check of their computer before taking an exam o Encourage students to take tests on an ethernet internet connection. WiFi connections are acceptable but a Public WiFi setting has frequent disruptions which may result in issues. Exam Set-up: o Set Timer Recommended time limits to be <1.5-2 hours. o Test Presentation: All-At-Once. When questions are presented One at a time, students are frequently booted from exams by clicking the Back Navigation button in an attempt to review past questions. o Randomize Questions to help keep integrity of the exam. Reporting Exam Issues: o Blackboard exam issues should be reported to the IT Call Center. This will help track exam failures and respond faster to potential Blackboard problems. Report by calling ( Opt9) Useful information for reporting issues include the Student ID#, CRN, Exam, date/time of occurrence, and internet connection type (i.e. ethernet, WiFi-Private, WiFi-Public).

5 Page 5 Resources for elearning Faculty As an instructor of a UAA online/distance education course, we want to make sure you are aware of some of the resources available to you. Below are some resources we think will be most helpful: Instructional Design UAA s Academic Innovations has a team of instructional designers ready to help you with your questions and concerns regarding your online course design. (907) Uaa_ai@uaa.alaska.edu Academic Commons An online community of faculty and staff from all UAA campuses, exchanging knowledge in the interest of improving the quality of teaching, innovation, and communication at UAA. Instructor Resources A page with teaching tools and tips for instructors. I.T. Knowledge Base The Information Technology Services Office hosts this page of knowledge base articles. Atomic Learning A page for Atomic Learning resources. mic-learning.cfm Quality Matters A faculty centered program that assures quality in online & blended course design. sign/qualitymatters.cfm For more resources and updates you can visit the UAA elearning website or the UAA Academic Innovations website. UAA elearning &UAA Academic Innovations & elearning

6 Page 6 Important elearning Dates The following is a list of some important dates for faculty and online courses for the Fall 2015 semester. These dates are also posted on the elearning website for easy access: Aug. 24 Sept. 4 Sept. 7 Sept. 8 Sept. 25 Oct. 5-9 Oct. 10 Oct. 13 Nov. 18 Nov. 25 Nov Nov. 30 Dec. 4 Dec. 5 Dec. 8 Dec. 16 Dec. 17 Dec. 24 Jan. 1 All courses should be made available in Blackboard First Day of Class Faculty & Exam Info Form Due No Classes & Campus Closed No Classes & Campus Open Proctored Midterm Exams Due to elearning This applies to courses using paper midterm exams. elearning Midterms Week Anchorage Students GHH Room 103 Appointment Only UAA Main Campus Open Testing for Midterms (Paper Exams Only) Location SSB from 10am to 4pm Last Day for testing (all locations) Estimated date for Scantron Results sent to Instructors (Paper Midterm Exams) Proctored Final Exams Due to elearning This applies to courses using paper midterm exams. No Classes & Campus Open Thanksgiving Holiday - Campus Closed & No Classes elearning Finals Week Anchorage Students GHH Room 103 Appointment Only UAA Main Campus Open Testing for Finals (Paper Exams Only) Location SSB from 10am to 4pm Last Day for testing (all locations) Estimated date for Scantron Results sent to Instructors (Paper Final Exams) Grades Due Grades Available to Students on UAOnline Winter Break Campus Closed

7 Page 7 Midterm & Final Exams The office of UAA elearning schedules one midterm week and one finals week each semester specifically for UAA online/distance education courses. If your course will require a proctored paper midterm and/or proctored paper final, please use the information below for scheduling. elearning: Distance Education Midterms Testing Monday, October 5 Saturday, October 10, 2015 UAA Campus Open Testing Saturday, October 10 10:00 am 4:00 pm Location Social Sciences Building (SSB) Appointments not needed Extended & Alternate Sites October 5 until October 10 Students are responsible for submitting their proctor form and making the necessary appointments. elearning: Distance Education Finals Testing Monday, November 30 Saturday, December 5, 2015 UAA Campus Open Testing Saturday, December 5 10:00 am 4:00 pm Location Social Sciences Building (SSB) Appointments not needed Extended & Alternate Sites November 30 until December 5 Students are responsible for submitting their proctor form and making the necessary appointments. A note about students testing with an extended or alternate proctor site (outside of Anchorage) 1. Students MUST submit a proctor form to our office at least 2 weeks before the exam becomes available. 2. Students are responsible for making the necessary appointments directly with their proctor site. We encourage students to do this early to ensure their proctor has time and space. Additional Notes elearning does not proctor timed exams on the Saturday testing for Midterms/Finals. Students are required to show a photo ID before we will administer an exam. Final exam dates for distance education courses are scheduled one week earlier than on-campus exams in order to allow time for return mailing from off-campus proctored sites. The dates above are suggested dates instructors can opt for alternate testing dates if desired on the Faculty & Exam Information form.

8 Page 8 Proctored Exam Accommodations The elearning office can also support you, your students, and your course through proctored exams. If your online course will require proctored exams this semester, please complete our Faculty & Exam Information form online. This form will help our office proctor exams for students in Anchorage as well as distribute materials to other testing sites for students outside of Anchorage. Additional exam materials (paper exams, handouts, etc.) can be forwarded to elearning@uaa.alaska.edu. If you prefer a paper version of the old form, please let us know and we will send it to you. elearning Test Center in Anchorage For testing in Anchorage, the UAA elearning: Distance Learning Services Testing Center is located in the Gordon Hartlieb Hall (GHH) Room 103 on main campus. Our testing hours for the spring semester can be found on a calendar posted to our website. Please direct students to use this calendar instead of posting hours as they are subject to change (calendar is updated daily as needed). UAA elearning Anchorage Test Center Hours When scheduling your exam dates, keep in mind our office will not be testing on Tuesdays; thus we do not recommend making an exam due date fall on a Tuesday. Testing Outside of Anchorage Students testing outside of Anchorage are responsible for submitting the necessary proctor form at the beginning of the semester. The proctor forms can be found at our website at Proctored ExamsProctor Request. Students are responsible for making the necessary arrangements directly with their proctor. Exam Accommodations There may be times when you give a student permission to take an exam outside of original deadlines or the student may require a special accommodation. For these situations, please make sure the student does the following: For students taking an exam outside of original dates Students are required to have an from the instructor stating they may take the exam early/late. That must be forwarded to our office at elearning@uaa.alaska.edu before we administer the exam. For students who may need a special accommodation The student should have paperwork through UAA s Disability Support Services Office that needs to be verified with the instructor.

9 Page 9 What Can You Tell Students About Getting Started? Do you have students asking you what they are supposed to do before class starts? Many faculty have pre-assignments to give to their students have you considered directing your students to complete our Getting Started list? This is a list put together by the elearning Office to help students get ready for their online courses. Students who are new to elearning will benefit from completing these tasks before the semester starts. Find the Getting Started list here: Proctored Exams? Does your course have proctored exams? Students are often confused about proctored exams and how to set them up. Our office can handle any questions or concerns about proctored exams feel free to post our contact information and direct students to call or us. Students will need to complete a couple of steps for their proctored exams. If you are wondering what students need to do, see the below message we send to students. It is also welcomed and encouraged to post the below message as an announcement in Blackboard. Students, This course will have proctored exams. Make sure you complete the following steps. Do not wait until the week of your exam to start this process! 1. Complete your proctor request form this form designates your proctor site and is due no later than Sept. 11 th. Visit to determine which form you need to complete. 2. Make the necessary appointments directly with your proctor site. Students located in Anchorage can request appointments online at These steps are required for each student in a UAA online course with proctored exams. Be proactive and complete these steps now to save yourself time and stress down the road.