Synergy 1.8 User's Guide

Transcription

1 Synergy 1.8 User's Guide

2 2009 Pitsco, Inc., P.O. Box 1708, Pittsburg, KS All rights reserved. This documentation is protected by copyright and is distributed under license restricting its use, copying, and distribution. PE

3 Table Of Contents Welcome to Synergy...5 Getting Started...5 How Synergy Works...5 Accessing Synergy...5 Synergy server FAQ...5 About user name and password...7 Getting started with Synergy...7 Logging on late...7 Class...8 User Management...8 About User Management...8 Creating a New User...8 Modifying a User...9 Deleting a User...9 Filtering Users...9 Importing Students...10 Class Management...10 About Class Management...10 Creating a New Class...11 Modifying a Class...11 Saving a Class...12 Deleting a Class...12 Tabs...12 Backwards Compatibility...18 About Backwards Compatibility...18 About Legacy Modules...18 Adding a Legacy Module...18 Modifying a Legacy Module...19 Synchronizing Data...19 Legacy Grade Manager...20 Content...21 Content Management...21 About Content Management...21 Viewing Content...21 Installing Content...22 Custom Lessons...22 Modules and Legacy Modules...23 Quests...24 Other Lessons...24 Content Set Management...24 About Content Sets...24 Viewing a Content Set...25 Creating a Content Set...25 Renaming a Content Set...25 Deleting a Content Set...25 About Content in a Content Set...26 Adding Content to a Content set...26 Modifying a Content Set...26 Removing Content from a Content Set...27 Student Tips...27 About Student Tips...27 Creating a New Tip Set...28 Linking to Existing Tip Sets...28 iii

4 Synergy User's Guide Modifying Student Tips...28 Deleting Student Tips...28 Planner...29 Assignment Management...29 About Assignment Management...29 Filtering Assignments...30 Creating a New Assignment...30 Adding Orientation...30 Selecting Content for an Assignment...31 Setting Start and Due Dates...31 Making an Assignment Inactive...32 Assigning Students to an Assignment...32 Saving an Assignment...32 Modifying an Assignment...32 Deleting an assignment...33 Editing a Scheduler Rotation...33 Scheduler...33 About Scheduler...33 Assigning Content...34 Changing Number of Rotations...34 Changing Schedule Dates...34 Creating a Schedule Manually...35 Generating a Schedule...36 Status Indicator...37 Content Centric Tab...37 Student Centric Tab...38 Blocking/Preferences Tab...39 Grade...39 Grade Book...39 About Grade Book...39 Viewing Grades...40 Grade Grid...40 Grading Assignments...42 Export grades...44 Reports...44 About Reports...44 Generating a Report...44 Types of Reports...45 Individual Grade Report...45 Master Class Schedule Report...45 Class Grade Report...45 Individual Student Schedule Report...46 Student Password Report...46 Individual Assignment Grade Report...46 iv

5 Welcome to Synergy Synergy is the browser-based, classroom-management program designed to help you enter, schedule, and monitor teacher-created lessons, activities, and assessments and complete electronic grading in a Pitsco Education lab. Synergy was specifically created for Pitsco's browser-based 3.0 or later Modules but is compatible with pre-3.0 (Legacy) Modules. Any classroom with a combination of pre-3.0 and 3.0 or later Modules must have Synergy to manage all their Modules. Key features of Synergy include the following: Access the classroom-management system from any workstation on the same network using a Web browser. Schedule lessons in a rotational, modular manner. Create independent assignments and track them with the Grade Book. Browse installed Pitsco Modules and add your own tips using the Student Tips screen. Simultaneous multi-student access to a single Module is possible. Grading Scale is customizable by class. Create, schedule, and grade your own lessons in the management system. Note: You are not able to build actual content in Synergy. Getting Started How Synergy Works Synergy Modules are loaded on a lab server rather than a local workstation, which means students will launch a Web browser pointed to a specific URL and log on to their assigned Module or activity. Technically, students can log on from any workstation; however, it's best that they log on from their assigned Module workstation in order to have access to equipment used in the Module. So, for example, don't allow them to log on to the Flight Technology Module from the CADD workstation; they won't have the necessary equipment such as the Flight Simulator and Flight Yoke to complete the activities. Accessing Synergy Synergy can be accessed from any computer within the lab's intranet. Simply launch a browser window and log on using your user name and password. You will be directed to the Faculty Portal where you may begin managing your classes. Note: The logon screen is the same for the teacher and the student. However, teachers will be directed to the Faculty Portal after logon, and students will be directed to the Student Portal. User name and password are both case sensitive. Synergy server FAQ Q: Is it possible to run Synergy on our school s existing Web server? A: Yes, it is possible; however, we strongly recommend against doing so for the following reasons: First, Synergy is not Internet secure. It is designed for local area network access only. Second, Synergy requires a large amount of bandwidth to stream video from the server to the workstation. We recommend a network capable of delivering two megabytes of bandwidth per Module workstation. Depending on how the network is configured, sharing bandwidth could cause conflicts with other resources on the network. 5

6 Synergy User's Guide Third, updates, software configuration, and unknown applications can have adverse effects on the Synergy setup. Q: On how many workstations can I simultaneously run Modules pulled from one server? A: Based on the recommended server specification of at least a 100 mbps network, a maximum of 50 workstations (2 mbps per workstation) can be run simultaneously. Q: Will Synergy conflict with other applications running on the server? A: Synergy should not conflict with other applications, but there is the potential that other applications will conflict with Synergy. It's recommended that Synergy be the only application running on the server. Q: Your specifications call for PHP 4, and we are upgrading to PHP 5. Will Synergy work with PHP 5? A: Synergy Modules are written to interact with PHP 4. PHP 5 is a completely different program, and therefore, Synergy Versions 1.x will not operate with PHP 5. Q: We use MS SQL in our district; will Synergy work with that instead of MySQL? A: Synergy Modules are created to communicate with MySQL databases, not MS SQL. At this time MS SQL is not an option. This is no different than 2.6.x Modules running on MS Access and not being able to run with Oracle. Q: What browsers does Synergy support? A: Firefox 2.0+ is fully supported. IE 7 will be supported by Synergy Version 1.1+ Note: The browser must use Flash Player 9 and must be JAVA enabled. Q: Will Synergy work with Internet Explorer 6? A: No. Microsoft will no longer support IE 6; therefore, we will not be compatible with IE 6. Synergy 1.1+ will be IE 7 compatible. Q: Do you know how Synergy will work in a Novell environment? A: As long as a compliant Web browser can connect to the Synergy server, Synergy should work fine regardless of the network environment. Q: Can I use 3.0 Modules with Colleague? A: No. Version 3.0 Modules have been created to work with a completely different type of database, MySQL, not MS Access. Synergy is required for all 3.0 Modules. Q: Can I use 2.x.x Modules with Synergy? A: Yes. Version 1.3 of Synergy will ensure backwards compatibility. Q: Will Innovator projects work with Synergy? A: Yes, but only if Innovator 2 and a version of Synergy later than 1.6 are being used. Q: Can I run 3.0 Modules and Synergy on a Mac computer? A: No, not at this time. Q: Will my Modules run on Windows Vista? A: No. Q: Can I run SUSE or other versions of Linux instead of Debian Linux? A: Synergy can run on other versions of Linux as long as the Apache, MySQL, and PHP specs are met. These situations will likely require custom installation. The current installation and update system is built for Debian Linux. 6

7 Class Q: What server configurations are supported? A: LAMP (Linux (Debian) + Apache + MySQL + PHP 4) WAMP (Windows Apache + MySQL + PHP4) About user name and password Faculty and students must have a user name and password to log on to Synergy. When creating faculty and student user names and passwords, ensure the user name is unique and the password is a minimum of six characters. Note: User names and passwords are case sensitive. Getting started with Synergy Before you can tap into the power of Synergy tracking grades and running reports you must enter all necessary information in the following order. 1. Create faculty. 2. Configure your terms and periods. 3. Create classes. 4. Add student information and adding students to the correct classes. 5. Create a content set. 6. Schedule students to the content. Logging on late A second student may log on late to a session. To log on late: 1. Click Log On. 2. Click in the User Name field and type the second student's user name. 3. Click in the Password field and type the second student's password. 4. Click Log On. Notes: If the second student needs to take a test (Module Guide, RCA, or Post Test) that the first student has already completed, he or she will be given the opportunity to do so. After the second student completes the test, both students will return to the page where the first student had been working. If the second student is not assigned to the activity, his or her scores will not be tracked. 7

8 Synergy User's Guide Class User Management About User Management The User Management screen maintains a list of all users currently in the system. Creating a New User To create a new user: 1. Click New. 2. The New Student or New Faculty dialog box appears. 3. Add information to the desired fields. (Note: The First Name, Last Name, User Name, and Password fields are required. You may not create a user name that is completely numeric or contains spaces.) 4. Click Save when finished. 8

9 Class Modifying a User To modify an existing user: 1. Click the Class menu and select User Management. 2. Click either the All Students tab or the All Faculty tab. 3. Select the user to be modified. 4. Click Edit. 5. The Edit Student Information or Edit Faculty Information dialog box appears. Modify the user information as needed. 6. Click Save. Deleting a User To delete an existing user: 1. Choose a user from one of the tabs. 2. To choose more than one user at a time: A. Click the first user. B. Press and hold the Control key. C. Click each subsequent user desired. D. Release the Control key when finished. 3. Click Delete, which is enabled after the user is chosen. 4. Click OK in the confirmation dialog box. Note: If any of the users selected for deletion currently belong to a class, you will not be able to delete them. Filtering Users To quickly find users in either the All Students or All Faculty tab: 1. Click Filter. 2. In the box that appears, search by First Name, Last Name, User Name, and School ID by typing information into any of the four fields. 3. Click Filter in the box. 4. The results are shown in the grid on-screen. 5. When you've finished looking at the results, click Filter. 6. In the box that appears, click Remove Filter to clear the search. Note: You may type all or the beginning part of a search term. The results shown in the grid on-screen will include any items that begin with the information typed into any of the four fields. For example, searching the Last Name field for Smi will result in finding all records in which the last name starts with Smi, such as Smith, Smithson, Smithlin, and so forth. 9

10 Synergy User's Guide Importing Students A CSV file is commonly described as a "Comma Delimited File" or a "Character Separated File." The second description is more accurate because any character, including the comma, can be used to delineate each piece of data. To import a list of students from a CSV file: 1. Click Import. 2. The User Import screen appears. (If at any time you wish to return to the User Management screen, click Return to User Management in the upper-right corner of the screen.) 3. Click Browse next to the text CSV FILE : *. (You must choose a file before you can continue.) 4. Choose the delimiter. The delimiter should be whatever character you use to separate data in your file. The default is a comma. 5. Choose the fields that you will be importing from the Field drop-down lists. (Note: First Name and Last Name are required.) 6. Set the desired import options by checking or unchecking Import Into Current Class, Auto- Generate Passwords, or Auto-Generate User Names. 7. Click Import Users. Class Management About Class Management The Class Management screen allows the user to add, edit, or delete classes in the system and add periods, terms, students, and a grade scale to those individual classes. 10

11 Class Creating a New Class The Class Details screen contains a left panel and a right panel. In the left panel are the fields necessary to save the class in the system. In the right panel are four tabs Roster, Grading Scale, Terms, and Periods that the user can use to add additional information to the class. These tabs are optional. To create a class: 1. Click the Class menu and then Class Management to open the Class Management screen. 2. Click New to open the Class Details screen. 3. Enter the name of the class in the Name field. 4. In the Term drop-down box, select the term to which this class belongs. 5. In the Period drop-down box, select the period to which this class belongs. 6. If so desired, type a short description of the class in the Description field. 7. Click Save. Note: Name, Term, and Period are required fields for every class. Modifying a Class To modify a class: 1. With the Class Management screen open, click the desired class. 2. Click Edit to open the Class Details screen. (Note: You may also double-click a class to open the Class Details screen.) 3. Modify as necessary and click Save. Note: Name, Term, and Period are required fields for every class. 11

12 Synergy User's Guide To reset any changes: 1. Click Reset. 2. Any changes made since the last save will be undone. Note: If there have been no changes to the information on the Class Details screen or any of the four tabs, Reset will be disabled. If this is so, click Close to exit the Class Details screen. Saving a Class On the Class Details screen, Save is enabled only when a change has occurred in the Class Details area, the Roster tab, the Grading Scale tab, the Terms tab, or the Periods tab. Any error regarding problems while saving these changes will be displayed, and the changes will remain unsaved until the user addresses the issues or resets the changes. If there have been no changes made to the information mentioned above, Save will be disabled. If this is so, click Close to exit the Class Details screen. If changes were made but not saved, Close will not be available until you click either Save or Reset. Deleting a Class To delete a class: 1. With the Class Management window open, click the desired class and then click Delete. 2. At the confirmation dialog box, click OK. Tabs Roster Tab The Roster tab is used to add students and/or teachers to the class. There are two views in the Roster tab. The default view is Class Roster, which shows any students and/or faculty already added to the class. The Available Users view contains all students and/or faculty in the system (but not already added to the Class Roster list), from which you may pick. 12

13 Class Creating a New User To create a new user: 1. Click the Class menu. 2. Select Class Management. 3. Select the class desired. 4. The Class Details screen appears. (Note: You may also double-click a class to open the Class Details screen.) 5. Click the Roster tab. 6. Click the Class Roster radio button. 7. Click New. 8. The New User dialog box appears. 9. Add information to the desired fields. 10. Click Save when finished. 11. For the changes to take effect, also click Save in the upper-left corner of the Class Details screen. Note: To undo all changes made since the previous save in the Roster tab, click Reset in the upper-left corner of the Class Details screen. Modifying a User To modify a user: 1. Click the Class menu. 2. Select Class Management. 3. Select the class desired. 4. Click Edit. 5. The Class Details screen appears. (Note: You may also double-click a class to open the Class Details screen.) 6. Click the Roster tab. 7. Click the Class Roster radio button. 8. Select the user to be modified. 9. Click Edit. (Note: You may also double-click a user to open the Edit User Information dialog box.) 10. The Edit User Information dialog box appears. Modify the user information as needed. 11. Click Save. 12. For the changes to take effect, also click Save in the upper-left corner of the Class Details screen. Note: To undo all changes made since the previous save in the Roster tab, click Reset in the upper-left corner of the Class Details screen. 13

14 Synergy User's Guide Removing a User To remove a user: 1. Click the Class menu. 2. Select Class Management. 3. Select the class desired. 4. Click Edit. 5. The Class Details screen appears. (Note: You may also double-click a class to open the Class Details screen.) 6. Click the Roster tab. 7. Click the Class Roster radio button. 8. Select the user to be removed. 9. Click Remove. 10. At the confirmation dialog box, click OK. 11. For the changes to take effect, click Save in the upper-left corner of the Class Details screen. Note: To reset all changes made since the previous save in the Roster tab, click Reset in the upper-left corner of the Class Details screen. Adding a User to a Class To add a user to a class: 1. Click the Roster tab. 2. Click the Available Users radio button. 3. Click the desired user. 4. Click Add. 5. At the confirmation dialog box, click OK. Note: To add multiple users at a time, press and hold the Control key while clicking the desired users or click the first user, press and hold the Shift key, and click the last user. (The second method works only if the users desired are in order.) After selecting the users, click Add to add the users to the class. Grading Scale Tab The Grading Scale tab is used to translate letter grades into point values and vice versa when the teacher is calculating the final grade for the student. The "A, B, C, D, F" standard is the default when a class is first created. No extra work is necessary if the default is acceptable. 14

15 Class To create a new grade: 1. Click the Class menu. 2. Select Class Management. 3. Select the class desired. 4. Click Edit. 5. The Class Details screen appears. (Note: You may also double-click a class to open the Class Details screen.) 6. Click the Grading Scale tab. 7. Click New. 8. The New Letter Grade dialog box appears. 9. Enter information in the Letter Grade and Lower Bound fields. 10. Click Set. To edit a grade: 1. Click the Class menu. 2. Select Class Management. 3. Select the class desired. 4. Click Edit. 5. The Class Details screen appears. (Note: You may also double-click a class to open the Class Details screen.) 6. Click the Grading Scale tab. 7. Select the grade desired from the grid. 8. Click Edit. 9. The Edit a Letter Grade dialog box appears. (Note: You may also double-click a grade to open the Edit a Letter Grade dialog box.) 10. Modify any information in the Letter Grade and Lower Bound fields. 11. Click Set. To delete a grade: 1. Click the Class menu. 2. Select Class Management. 3. Select the class desired. 4. Click Edit. 5. The Class Details screen appears. (Note: You may also double-click a class to open the Class Details screen.) 6. Click the Grading Scale tab. 7. Select the grade desired from the grid. 8. Click Delete. 9. At the confirmation dialog box, click OK. Rounding Student Letter Grades By default, the Round Student Letter Grade check box is selected. Rounding student letter grades enables students who may have an 89.7%, for example, to receive a 90%. If you choose to not round the grades, the box will need to be unselected. 1. Click the Grading Scale tab. 2. Select or unselect the Round Student Letter Grade check box. 15

16 Synergy User's Guide Terms Tab The Terms tab contains all global terms created while using the system. Therefore, any terms you create here can be viewed and used by any other teachers in the future. That's the reason terms aren't deleted even when the class that uses them is. To create a new term: 1. Click the Class menu and then Class Management. 2. Click the class desired. 3. Click Edit. 4. The Class Details screen appears. (Note: You may also double-click a class to open the Class Details screen.) 5. Select the Terms tab. 6. Click New. 7. The New Term dialog box appears. 8. Enter information in the Name, Begin, and End fields. 9. Click Save. To edit a term: 1. Click the Class menu and then Class Management. 2. Click the class desired. 3. Click Edit. 4. The Class Details screen appears. (Note: You may also double-click a class to open the Class Details screen.) 5. Select the Terms tab. 6. Select the term desired from the term grid. 7. Click Edit. 8. The Edit a Term dialog box appears. (Note: You may also double-click a term to open the Edit a Term dialog box.) 9. Modify any information in the Name, Begin, and End fields. 10. Click Save. To delete a term from the system: 1. Click the Class menu and then Class Management. 2. Click the class desired. 3. Click Edit. 4. The Class Details screen appears. (Note: You may also double-click a class to open the Class Details screen.) 5. Select the Terms tab. 6. Select the term desired from the term grid. 7. Click Delete. 8. At the confirmation dialog box, click OK. 9. If there are no classes currently using the term, it will be deleted from the system. If there are classes currently using the term, an error message will appear at the bottom of the screen, and the term will not be deleted from the system. 16

17 Class Periods Tab The Periods tab contains all global periods created while using the system. Therefore, any periods you create here can be viewed and used by any other teachers in the future. That's the reason periods aren't deleted even when the class that uses them is. To create a new period: 1. Click the Class menu and then Class Management. 2. Click the class desired. 3. Click Edit. 4. The Class Details screen appears. (Note: You may also double-click a class to open the Class Details screen.) 5. Select the Periods tab. 6. Click New. 7. The New Period dialog box appears. 8. Enter information in the Name, Begin, and End fields. 9. Click Save. To edit a period: 1. Click the Class menu and then Class Management. 2. Click the class desired. 3. Click Edit. 4. The Class Details screen appears. (Note: You may also double-click a class to open the Class Details screen.) 5. Select the Periods tab. 6. Select the period desired from the period grid. 7. Click Edit. 8. The Edit a Period dialog box appears. (Note: You may also double-click a period to open the Edit a Period dialog box.) 9. Modify any information in the Name, Begin, and End fields. 10. Click Save. To delete a period from the system: 1. Click the Class menu and then Class Management. 2. Click the class desired. 3. Click Edit. 4. The Class Details screen appears. (Note: You may also double-click a class to open the Class Details screen.) 5. Select the Periods tab. 6. Select the period desired from the period grid. 7. Click Delete. 8. At the confirmation dialog box, click OK. 9. If there are no classes currently using the period, it will be deleted from the system. If there are classes currently using the period, an error message will appear at the bottom of the screen, and the period will not be deleted from the system. 17

18 Synergy User's Guide Backwards Compatibility About Backwards Compatibility The Backwards Compatibility screen is designed to assist a teacher with managing a classroom that consists of newer Synergy Modules mixed with older Modules (Legacy Modules). Synergy can be used with any older Modules that are Versions or higher. Note: Earlier Modules will likely also work, but this is not guaranteed. Due to the nature of the data used by Legacy Modules, the communication between them and the newer Synergy management system is not automatic. The Backwards Compatibility interface is necessary to manage mixed classrooms. Legacy Modules are required to communicate with a special Microsoft Access database. In older labs, this is the grade.mdb file used by Colleague. With Synergy, there is a special database that must be used in place of this file. This database, colleague.mdb, can be found in the Synergy application folder. All of your Legacy Modules are then connected to this database via ODBC (open database connectivity). When your lab was configured, the setup of this database was handled by the Pitsco installers. If you have any questions about your lab, contact your Pitsco Education representative by calling or by ing systems_support@pitsco.com. About Legacy Modules Synergy can be used with any Modules that are Versions or higher. The Modules known as Legacy Modules are those or newer, but older than Adding a Legacy Module When you wish to use a Legacy Module in your classroom, you will first need to make Synergy aware of it. Adding a Legacy Module to Synergy is a simple process. There are two pieces of information you will need before you can proceed: the name of the Legacy Module and its ID. The information required for a Legacy Module by Synergy must match what the Legacy Module is reporting exactly. You may find this information either in the Master Modules form within Colleague or by looking in the StartUp.ini file for a specific Module. To use the StartUp.ini file: 1. Log on to a Module workstation as an administrator. 2. Go to the Module folder (typically found at C:\Program Files\Synergistic Systems\). 3. Go to the \media\text folder. 4. Double-click the StartUp.ini file, which will open in a text editor. 5. Locate and note the Module's ID on the line that starts with MODID=. 6. Locate and note the Module name on the line that starts with ModuleTitle=. 18

19 Class When you are ready to add the Legacy Module to Synergy: 1. Click Add. 2. The Legacy Module Editor dialog box appears. 3. Enter the appropriate Module name and ID into the fields. 4. Click Save. After a Legacy Module has been added into Synergy, you will be able to access it as if it were a regular Synergy Module, allowing you to schedule and grade the Legacy Module. You will not be able to remove it; however, you will be able to modify its information at any time. (Note: The name and ID can be modified via the Backwards Compatibility screen at anytime.) Modifying a Legacy Module Modifying a Legacy Module from the Backwards Compatibility screen enables you to change its name or ID at any time. This is convenient for fixing mistakes in the initial creation of a Legacy Module. To modify a Legacy Module: 1. Click the Legacy Modules tab. 2. Select the Legacy Module desired. 3. Click Edit. 4. The Legacy Module Editor dialog box appears. (Note: You may also double-click a Legacy Module to open the Legacy Module Editor screen.) 5. Enter the new information in the Name and ID fields. 6. Click Save. Note: Changes made to a Legacy Module will affect how it synchronizes with the colleague.mdb file. Synchronizing Data After a Legacy Module has been created and scheduled in Synergy, you will be required to synchronize the information in order to push it down to the colleague.mdb file. Until you synchronize the data of a class, the Legacy Modules will not have any access to schedules, classes, or students. Synchronizing a class is also how grades are communicated up to Synergy from within the Legacy Modules. This means that you will need to synchronize your classes often in order to have an accurate report of how students are doing within them. It is highly recommended that you schedule a regular time for synchronization, such as the end of the school day, to help you manage this process. To synchronize the data of a class: 1. Click the Class menu and then Backwards Compatibility. 2. Select a class from the Class drop-down menu. 3. Click Synchronize. (Note: This only synchronizes the currently selected class. Each class must be synchronized independently.) 19

20 Synergy User's Guide Legacy Grade Manager About Legacy Grade Manager Due to the way grades are communicated during the synchronization process, changing grades in the Synergy Grade Book will not communicate the grades down to the Legacy Modules. This does not mean that manual grade modifications in Synergy don t apply; it just means that such changes will not be reflected in the Student Information screens that the students see from in the Legacy Module interface. Removing a grade from the Grade Book won t allow students to retake assessments in a Legacy Module. The Legacy Grade Manager tab inside of the Backwards Compatibility screen allows you to manage the grades as they are contained within the colleague.mdb file and bypasses the Synergy system. To use the Legacy Grade Manager: 1. Click the Legacy Grade Manager tab. 2. Choose a student from the Student drop-down menu. 3. Choose a Module from the Module drop-down menu. 4. Any available scores are loaded onto the table and organized by session. Note: Because this info is pulled directly from the colleague.mdb file (not Synergy), it will only contain info if synchronization has occurred and a student has gone through the Legacy Module and has scores. To change grades on the table: 1. Double-click the Test Points, Attendance, or Participation field. 2. Enter the new values. (Note: Any changes made to the grid are live and applied immediately.) Allowing a Student to Retake an RCA This is one example of how to use the Legacy Grade Manager. To allow a student to retake an RCA in a Legacy Module: 1. Click the Class menu and then Backwards Compatibility. 2. Click the Legacy Grade Manager tab. 3. Select the student desired from the Student drop-down menu. 4. Select the Module for which the student is to retake the RCA from the Module drop-down menu. 5. The current grades appear in the table below. 6. Locate the session for the RCA that you wish to clear. 7. Double-click the Test Points score for that session. 8. Delete the score and then press Enter. 9. The student should now be able to retake the test. Note: There is no need to use Synchronize for this type of operation; however, after the student has retaken the test, you will need to click Synchronize to bring the new score into Synergy. 20

21 Content Content Management About Content Management Synergy's Content Management feature enables you to view the lessons available for scheduling, including installed Modules, Legacy Modules, Quests, and teacher-created lessons. From this screen, you can edit the points associated with pieces of content, change how content affects scores, and create new lessons. Content is listed in a tree on the left-hand side of the screen. All content available for use in the Scheduler or Assignment Management screens will be listed here. Each piece of content will be listed under its appropriate category folder. The available categories are Modules, Legacy Modules (not shown), Quests, Other, and Custom Lessons. The tree view width can be adjusted by using the mouse and dragging the tree view area's right border to the desired location. The right-hand area of the screen will contain the forms for modifying the content data. Viewing Content To view any piece of content that is available to you, select it in the tree view on the left-hand side of the screen. The Content tree is broken into content categories (Modules, Legacy Modules, Quests, Other, and Custom Lessons). It is possible that not all of the categories will be included on your screen. For example, to view all Modules installed on your system: 1. Click the plus sign next to the Content folder. 2. Click the plus sign next to the Modules folder. 21

22 Synergy User's Guide Installing Content Modules and Quests must be installed directly on the server using the Module DVD for each title. Instructions for performing a Module installation can be found in the Lab Setup Manual for Synergy. Legacy Modules may be entered into the system via the Backwards Compatibility screen. Custom lessons may be created by teachers at any time. Custom Lessons About Custom Lessons A custom lesson is teacher-created content. This allows the teacher to incorporate graded assignments that are outside of the normal Pitsco content. When used inside of a content set, a custom lesson can be scheduled just as a Pitsco Module is scheduled. Creating a Custom Lesson Custom lessons can be created, and any assigned points must be awarded manually. (Use this method to create Lab Manager.) To create a custom lesson: 1. Click the Content menu and then Content Management. 2. Click the New Custom Lesson button in the upper-left area of the screen. The New Custom Lesson dialog box appears. 3. In the dialog box, fill in the Name, Version, and Points fields. 4. Check or uncheck the Share Lesson check box. 5. Choose numbers for the Minimum Seats Filled and Maximum Seats Filled fields. (Note: The default is set at 1 and 2, respectively, to accommodate most labs.) These are auto-scheduler options. 6. Check or uncheck the Schedule Every Rotation check box. 7. If desired, type a description in the Description field. 8. Click Save. 22

23 Content Modifying Lesson Details The Lesson Details contain basic information about the selected custom lesson. The fields include Name, Version, Points, Share Lesson, and Description. See also Creating a Custom Lesson for a description of these fields. You may change the information as needed by editing the field desired and clicking Submit Changes. Modules and Legacy Modules About Modules and Legacy Modules Modules and Legacy Modules are treated the same in the Content Management screen. The form for editing a Module allows you to specify the number of points that certain elements of a Module are worth and whether or not certain elements are counted when calculating a student's overall grade. You can control certain aspects that affect how the Module is handled by the auto-scheduler from this form. Making Content Ungraded Graded content is included in the grade calculations made by the Grade Book. Check the Graded check box for any of the Knowledge Survey, Attendance & Participation, or Performance Assessment options to be sure that content is graded. Uncheck the check box to be sure that the content is ungraded. Note: Checking or unchecking the Graded check box for the RCA Maximum Points or Attendance & Participation options will apply the action to all instances of that content. For example, unchecking the check box next to RCA Maximum Points will cause the Grade Book to ignore any scores generated via any of the four RCAs in the selected Module. 23

24 Synergy User's Guide Quests About Quests Quests contain special ELA content and are treated a little differently than Pitsco Modules are. Each Quest is allowed to have a different grading structure from the others. Because of this, each assessment found in a given Quest will be listed on-screen when it is selected in the Content tree. However, this information is for reference only, because none of the point totals can be changed for any of the Quest assessments at this time. Other Lessons About Other Lessons The Other category of the Content tree is reserved for the custom lessons created in previous versions of Synergy. In some cases, an older custom lesson may be converted to the newer format. If this is the case, when you are viewing the older lesson, a message will display saying a conversion can take place. To convert a custom lesson: 1. Click the Convert to Custom Lesson button. This will not affect any scores or assignments that currently use it. The newly converted lesson will appear under the Custom Lessons folder in the Content tree. You will be able to edit points. Note: In some cases, the structure of an older custom lesson is incompatible with the new custom lesson structure. If so, it can t be converted, but you can still use the older lesson in assignments and grading. Older custom lessons that are unconverted may not be modified in the Content Management screen. You can view the name and point total for the lesson, but you won't be able to change them. Content Set Management About Content Sets Content sets are a special grouping of content used by the auto-scheduler. They provide a level of organization that allows you to schedule content based on specific classroom scenarios. For example, you can separate the Modules that you have installed in Synergy into two different class periods: one for your seventh-grade class and one for your eighth-grade class. Content sets also enable you to include any content that you would find on the Content Management screen, letting you automatically schedule the content sets in a rotational format. Without a content set, the Scheduler will enable you to select Modules only. Content sets are only used by Scheduler. They have no impact on the rest of the system. 24

25 Content Viewing a Content Set To view the contents of a content set, simply click an item in the Content Sets list on the left side of the screen. The information for that content set will appear in the Content table the right side of the screen. The Content Sets list and Content table are separated by a splitter that lets you resize the list and table. Creating a Content Set To create a content set: 1. Click the Content menu and then Content Sets. 2. The Content Set Management window appears. 3. Click New in the upper-left corner. 4. In the New Content Set dialog box, type the name of the new content set into the Name field. Click Save. (Note: This name will appear in the Scheduler interface, so be sure to give it a descriptive name.) 5. If it is valid, the name of the new content set will appear in the Content Sets menu on the left side of the screen. 6. You may then select the newly created list and add content to it. Renaming a Content Set You may rename a content set at any time. This won t affect its use in the Scheduler even if it is currently used in an active schedule. To rename a content set: 1. Select the content set from the Content Sets list. 2. Click Rename. 3. In the Edit Content Set dialog box, enter a new name in the Name field. 4. Click Save. Deleting a Content Set You may delete any content set that is not linked to a schedule. To delete a content set: 1. Click the Content menu and then Content Sets. 2. The Content Set Management screen appears. 3. From the Content Sets menu on the left, choose the content set you wish you delete. 4. Click Delete. (Note: If the selected content set is linked to a schedule, Delete will not be active when you select it.) 5. A prompt will ensure that you are deleting the correct content set. At the confirmation dialog box, click OK or Cancel. 25

26 Synergy User's Guide About Content in a Content Set A Content Set can contain any number of mixed Content titles. This means you may group Modules with custom lessons as well as create other combinations. Keep in mind that the Scheduler will treat all content in a content set as if it were the same duration. A student scheduled in a rotation to take a custom lesson will be expected to be there the same length of time that the other students are in their Modules. The Content table, located to the right of the Content Sets list, displays all content titles that are part of the selected set. In addition to the name and version of every piece of content in the set, the Content table will display the Scheduler options for each Min Seats, Max Seats, and Empty Allowed (see About Content Sets). Changing Scheduler options on content in a set will only apply when that set is used. This allows you to specify different rules for content scheduling while still using the same content. In order to assist you in determining which content can be modified and which can't, the content that can t be modified will be displayed in a slightly different color and italicized. Warning: Changes made to the content of a set are not automatically saved. This means that after adding, removing, or changing scheduler options in a content set, you MUST click Save in order to apply changes. You may also click Reset at any time to undo all of the changes you ve made to a content set since the last save. Adding Content to a Content set To add content to a content set: 1. Click the Content menu and then Content Sets. 2. The Content Set Management window appears. 3. Select the title of the content set to which you are adding content. 4. Click Add. 5. In the Select Content dialog box, choose the content you wish to add from the Content tree. Click Add in the dialog box after each selection. (Note: Adding content will not close the dialog box, so you can add multiple content titles without closing and reopening the dialog box.) 6. When finished, click Close. Remember, the content added must be saved in order to be applied. When you are satisfied with the changes you've made to the current content set, click Save. Modifying a Content Set On the Content Management screen, you have access to a few auto-scheduler options (Minimum Seats Filled, Maximum Seats Filled, and Schedule Every Rotation). Changing these options on the Content Management screen applies a default set of values for every instance of the modified content. Changing these options on the Content Set Management screen applies them only to the content as it is used within its content set group. For example, the Min Seats value for Applied Physics has been set to 2. When you first add Applied Physics to a content set, its Min Seats value will be 2 as well. However, after adding that Module to a content set, you may change that value without affecting the Module anywhere else it may be used. In order to assist you in determining which content can be modified and which can't, the content that can t be modified will be displayed in a slightly different color and italicized. 26

27 Content To change a Scheduler option for a piece of content: 1. Double-click the option you wish to change in the Content table. 2. In the inline editor that appears, enter the new information. (Remember, changes made to the Content table are not actually applied until you click Save.) Removing Content from a Content Set Content may only be removed from a content set if it hasn t been scheduled in any class using it. Consider the following scenario: You have a content set that has been scheduled in one of your classes. Within that content set and inside the schedule, you have the Module Applied Physics, which has a student assigned to it. In the same content set, you also have Biotechnology, which has not had anyone scheduled into it. You will be able to remove Biotechnology from the content set, but not Applied Physics. In order to assist you in determining which content is used and which isn t, the content that can t be removed will be displayed in a slightly different color and italicized. To remove content from a content set: 1. Choose the content that you want to remove. 2. Click Remove. 3. At the confirmation dialog box, click OK. Student Tips About Student Tips Student tips are tips you create for your students that can be viewed by the students in the Synergy environment. After the creation of a tip, students will be able to view the tip by clicking a Tip icon located on their navigation bar. Only pages that contain tips will display this icon. 27

28 Synergy User's Guide Creating a New Tip Set To create a new tip set: 1. Be sure the correct class is chosen in the Class drop-down menu. 2. Click the Content menu and then Student Tips. 3. Enter a name for your new tip set in the Please create a new one dialog box. 4. Click Save to open the Student Tips screen. 5. From the Select Content drop-down box, select the content to which you want to apply student tips. 6. Click the plus sign next to the appropriate session. 7. On the list that displays in tree view, click the page on which you want to add a tip. 8. Click the Add Tip button to open the tip text entry area. 9. Type your tip in the text entry area. (Note: The text entry area allows for various formatting options, including bullets, italics, bolding, and so on.) 10. Click Save. Note: After the creation of a tip, students will be able to view the tip by clicking a Tip icon located on their navigation bar. Only pages that contain tips will display this icon. Linking to Existing Tip Sets To link to an existing tip set: 1. Be sure the correct class is chosen in the Class drop-down menu. 2. Click the Content menu and then Student Tips. 3. Select an existing tip set from the drop-down menu. 4. Click Save. Modifying Student Tips You may modify only the tips you have created. To modify a student tip: 1. Be sure the correct class is chosen in the Class drop-down menu. 2. Click the Content menu and then Student Tips. 3. Select the content that contains the tip you wish to modify. 4. Click the plus sign next to the appropriate session. 5. On the list that displays in tree view, click the page on which you want to modify a tip. (Note: Pages that have tips display their page numbers in red.) 6. Click Save. Deleting Student Tips You may delete only the tips you have created. To delete a student tip: 1. Be sure the correct class is chosen in the Class drop-down menu. 2. Click the Content menu and then Student Tips. 3. Select the content that contains the tip you wish to delete. 4. Click the plus sign next to the appropriate session. 5. On the list that displays in tree view, click the page on which you want to delete a tip. (Note: Pages that have tips display their page numbers in red.) 6. Click Delete to delete the tip. 28

29 Planner Assignment Management About Assignment Management Assignment Management is a tool used to create independent content assignments outside of the Scheduler. Where the Scheduler creates linked assignments in a rotational format, the Assignment Manager allows you to create any number of simple assignments linked to any number of students, independent of the current class schedule. Assigning students to content is the only way to have lessons graded using the Grade Book. You may assign content multiple times, to any number of students, and the Grade Book will allow you to manage these assignments separately. Also, assignments created in Assignment Management will be presented to the assigned students when they log on, if the assignments' due date has passed. The default view for the Assignment Management screen is to display all assignments for the currently selected class. You may view assignments in several ways, and their status is signified by a colored background. At the bottom of the main view is a key that explains the color coding of each assignment. All Assignments Past Due (on pink background) In Progress (on green background) Upcoming (on blue background) No Dates (on yellow background) Inactive (on gray background) 29

30 Synergy User's Guide Filtering Assignments To filter the list of assignments: 1. Click the Planner menu and then Assignment Management. 2. Make sure the correct class is selected in the Class drop-down menu. 3. Click Filter. 4. In the drop-down menu, the currently selected view's check box will be checked. 5. To select a new filter, click the check box next to one of the following options: All Assignments, Past Due, In Progress, Upcoming, or No Dates. Creating a New Assignment To create a new assignment: 1. Click the Planner menu and then Assignment Management. 2. Make sure the correct class is selected in the Class drop-down menu. 3. Click New. 4. The New Assignment screen appears. 5. Select the content desired. 6. Fill in the Name, Start Date, and Due Date fields. 7. If you wish for the assignment to be inactive, select the Inactive check box. 8. Choose the students to be assigned to the new assignment. 9. Click Save. Note: You may name an assignment anything you like, but it is recommended that you make it as descriptive as possible, while keeping it short. By default, the name of the assignment will be automatically set to be the same as the content title selected. Adding Orientation To add Orientation: 1. Click the Planner menu and then Assignment Management to open the Assignment Management window. 2. Select a class from the Class drop-down menu. 3. Click New to open the New Assignment screen. 4. Click Select Content. 5. Click the plus sign next to Modules. 6. On the list that displays in tree view, click Orientation. 7. Click Select. 8. Enter a Start Date and Due Date for Orientation. 30

31 Reports 9. Ensure the Inactive box is unchecked. (Note: Check the Inactive box only if you want Orientation removed from the Grade Book but still available in the system.) 10. Select the students from the list for the class. 11. Click Save. 12. Click Close to return to the main Assignment Management screen. Selecting Content for an Assignment All assignments are associated with a single piece of content, except in the case of Rotation assignments generated by the Scheduler. When you create a new assignment, you will need to select the content being assigned. To select the content being assigned: 1. Click the Planner menu and then Assignment Management. 2. Make sure the correct class is selected in the Class drop-down menu. 3. Click the desired assignment. 4. Click Edit. 5. The Edit Assignment screen appears. (Note: You may also double-click an assignment to open the Edit Assignment screen.) 6. Click Select Content. 7. The Select Content dialog box appears. 8. Browse the content tree (which contains all content titles found on the Content Management screen) and select the desired content title. 9. Click Select. 10. The name of the content associated with the current assignment appears in the Content field on the left side of the screen. Note: After content has been selected for an assignment, you may choose different content at any time by repeating the process above; however, you will not be allowed to change content for an assignment that has actually received grades. Setting Start and Due Dates Assignments are not required to have a start date initially. However, without a start date, students will never have access to an assignment in the Synergy student interface. To set a start date using the calendar widget: 1. Click the Planner menu and then Assignment Management. 2. Make sure the correct class is selected in the Class drop-down menu. 3. Click the desired assignment. 4. Click Edit. 5. The Edit Assignment screen appears. (Note: You may also double-click an assignment to open the Edit Assignment screen.) 6. Click in the Start Date field. 7. The calendar widget appears. 8. Click the desired date within the calendar widget. 9. After a date is selected, it will appear in the Start Date field in the following format: mm/dd/yyyy. Note: If you wish to bypass the calendar widget, you may type the date directly into the field. You will have to enter it in the same format mm/dd/yyyy. An assignment s due date tells the assignment when to flag itself as completed or past due in various interfaces, including the student interface. To set a due date, follow the same steps used to set a start date. 31

32 Synergy User's Guide Making an Assignment Inactive Inactive assignments are ignored by the Grade Book. Flagging an assignment as inactive is a quick way to remove an assignment from the Grade Book without actually deleting it. Inactive assignments are not very useful. This option is really provided for backwards compatibility reasons with early versions of Synergy. To change the state of an assignment: 1. Click the Inactive check box. Assigning Students to an Assignment To the right of the Assignment details is a table listing all students in the class. To add or remove a student from the current assignment: 1. Click the Planner menu and then Assignment Management. 2. Make sure the correct class is selected in the Class drop-down menu. 3. Click the desired assignment. 4. Click Edit. 5. The Edit Assignment screen appears. (Note: You may also double-click an assignment to open the Edit Assignment screen.) 6. Click the student row. 7. The row will be highlighted in pink and bolded to indicate that it has been changed. (If the student is assigned to the assignment, an X appears in the Assigned column; if a student is not assigned to the assignment, the Assigned column is blank.) 8. Clicking a modified row a second time will restore it to its original state. To use the shortcut buttons to add students to an assignment: 1. Go to the Edit Assignment screen. 2. Click Select All Students to add every student in the list to the assignment. 3. Click Deselect All Students to remove every student in the list from the assignment (except for those with grades). Saving an Assignment Changes may be made to an assignment without affecting anything until you click Save in the upper-left area of the screen. Also, you may undo all changes by clicking Reset in the upper-left area of the screen. Clicking Close will take you back to the main Assignment Management screen. If there are unsaved changes, a dialog box will appear reminding you. Modifying an Assignment Editing an assignment that was not created in the Scheduler is very similar to creating an assignment, with a few notable exceptions. 1. If any of the students within an assignment have received grades for it, you will not be allowed to remove them from the assignment or select different content. 2. Remove a student with no grades in the assignment by clicking the student's row in the grid. 3. You may change the assignment name and its dates at any time. 32

33 Reports To edit an assignment: 1. Click the Planner menu and then Assignment Management. 2. Make sure the correct class is selected in the Class drop-down menu. 3. Click the assignment to be edited. 4. Click Edit. 5. The Edit Assignment screen appears. (Note: You may also double-click an assignment to open the Edit Assignment screen.) 6. Modify the available information. 7. Click Save. Deleting an assignment To delete an assignment: 1. Click the Planner menu and then Assignment Management. 2. Make sure the correct class is selected in the Class drop-down menu. 3. Select the desired assignment you want to delete and click Delete. 4. At the confirmation dialog box, click OK. Editing a Scheduler Rotation Editing an assignment created in the Scheduler is similar to editing a regular assignment. However, you will not be allowed to remove or add students to it from here. In order to modify the assignment structure of a Rotation, you will need to use the Scheduler interface. Rotation dates may be modified here as well. Changing the Due Date for a Rotation assignment will cause later rotations to automatically adjust their start and due dates. The amount that these dates are modified is based on the Assignment Days and Rotation Days values set in the Scheduler. When viewing a Rotation assignment in the Assignment editor, you will find that the student table lists the actual content that each student is assigned to within that rotation. Scheduler About Scheduler The Scheduler is the tool used to manually and automatically schedule multiple rotations of content for a class. It presents a grid of rotation columns and content rows, where you can place students at the intersection. It also provides a schedule-generation tool that will automatically place students into content for a series of rotations, taking into account various types of blocks and preferences. 33

34 Synergy User's Guide Assigning Content When no content set is selected, the content that is shown in the schedule is selected from the Content list on the Scheduler screen. To assign content from the Content list: 1. Click a title in the Content list on the Scheduler screen. 2. The title appears in the Content Centric tab. Content titles can be added even if students have already been scheduled. You can also remove unscheduled titles. However, if there is a student scheduled for a particular title, that title cannot be removed until the student is unscheduled from it. To assign content from the Content Set drop-down menu: 1. Select an available content set from the Content Set drop-down menu. You may either select the content set from the list or type the name of the content set. (Note: Typing automatically restricts the listed content sets to names that match what you have typed.) If students have already been placed, the Content Set drop-down menu will be inactive. 2. The Content list on the Scheduler screen changes to show the content in the set, and the Content Centric tab changes to show a row for each content title. If you select a content set from the Content Set drop-down menu and then switch to no content set (before adding students), the items in the content set are automatically selected and kept in the Content Centric tab. After students have been placed in the schedule, the content set (or lack thereof) cannot be changed. You must first remove all students from the schedule to change the content set. Changing Number of Rotations The schedule can handle from one to 18 rotations. To change the number of rotations for a given schedule: 1. Drag the Rotations slider right or left to increase or decrease the number of rotations. 2. After the slider is released, any currently displayed schedule will show the new number of rotations. Note: The number of rotations in a schedule is not recorded until a student is scheduled into a rotation. In other words, if you change the number of rotations in one session with Synergy and then view the same schedule during a later session, only the highest numbered rotation with students in it will be displayed. Changing Schedule Dates When you add rotations to the Scheduler, start and due dates are automatically assigned based on the start date, rotation duration, and assignment duration shown on the toolbar. The main start date (shown in the toolbar) affects Rotation 1 only. It is applied when Rotation 1 is created or scheduled automatically. Subsequent rotations start based on previous rotations. When a rotation is saved (that is, when a student is added to a rotation) a start date, due date, and rotation end date are all recorded. 34

35 Reports The start date for Rotations 2, 3, 4, and so on begins one day after the end date of the previous rotation. Note: If there is no rotation end date, the due date of the previous rotation is used to calculate the start date of the next rotation. The due date is calculated as the start date of the rotation plus the current assignment duration, omitting weekends. The rotation end date is calculated as the start date of the rotation plus the current rotation duration, omitting weekends. When set, these dates cannot be changed in the Scheduler without removing the rotation. To change start and due dates after a schedule has been created, see Setting Start and Due Dates for the Assignment Management screen. To change the start date, rotation duration, or assignment duration: 1. Click the start date, rotation duration, or assignment duration shown on the toolbar. 2. The Change Dates dialog box appears. 3. Adjust the desired options. (Note: These are saved only if you make some other change to the schedule.) 4. Click OK. The Change dates dialog box can also be opened from the Generate Schedule dialog box. Creating a Schedule Manually Sometimes you must manually schedule students, which is simple to do from the Content Centric tab. To assign a student to content in a rotation: 1. Click the Planner menu, and then select Scheduler. 2. Choose a class from the Class drop-down menu. 3. On the Scheduler screen, click the Content Centric tab. 4. Click and drag a student from the Student list on the Scheduler screen or from within the Content Centric grid. (Note: Dragging from the grid does not remove the student from the seat. This is a change from previous versions of the Scheduler.) 5. A box with the student's name will appear to represent the student. The box will move as you move the mouse. 6. When the mouse pointer is over the desired seat, release the mouse button to drop the student in the seat. 7. As you drag the student box over the grid, the box will update based on whether the student can be dropped in a seat and why or why not. (See the About Scheduler page for an explanation of the icons that may appear in the box.) Only the highest priority reason will be indicated even if the student can't be assigned to a seat for more than one reason. If the student is blocked from a seat because they are already in the rotation (Rotation) or have had the content previously assigned (Auto-blocked), a prompt will appear when the student is dropped. This 35

36 Synergy User's Guide prompt allows the assignment to be made anyway or canceled. If the student is already in the rotation in question, he or she is automatically unassigned from the other seat in the rotation. If the student is blocked from a seat because they are blocked from the student (Student) or content (Blocked) in the Blocking/Preferences tab or because they are already assigned the content in this schedule (Content), a prompt will appear when the student is dropped describing the reason(s) the student cannot be assigned to that seat. Students cannot be removed from locked (Locked) seats without first deleting the grades from the Grade Book. (See Grading Modules or Legacy Modules, Grading Custom Lessons, or Grading Quests.) Generating a Schedule To automatically generate a schedule: 1. Click the Planner menu, and then select Scheduler. 2. Choose a class from the Class drop-down menu. 3. If you haven't already done so, choose content. 4. Click Generate. 5. The Generate Schedule dialog box appears. 6. In the Students to schedule area, select the students you want to generate the schedule for. (Note: If you click the header labeled "Student," all students will be selected or unselected.) 7. In the Content to schedule area, select the content you want to generate the schedule for. (Note: Any content that currently has students assigned to it will be initially selected.) 8. In the Rotations to schedule area, drag the two-position slider to select the range of rotations you want to generate the schedule for. The first slider indicates the first rotation to schedule, and the second indicates the last rotation to schedule. The actual rotation numbers are indicated in the label for the control. Only rotations after the highest locked rotation (that is, the rotation with a locked student) can be scheduled. 9. In the Options area, set the auto-generation options. 10. To change the date settings for the schedule: A. Click Change next to Start date and durations. B. The Change dates dialog box will appear. C. Adjust the dates. D. Click OK. 10. In the Generate Schedule dialog box, click Generate to generate the schedule or click Cancel to cancel the generation. 11. The browser will send a request to the server, asking for a schedule to be generated. After it completes, review the schedule. 12. Click Need to Save in the upper-right corner of the toolbar to accept the schedule or Cancel to revert to the original schedule. Note: The server does not store the generated schedule at all until it is saved. If you exit the browser, you will lose the generated schedule if it hasn't been saved. 36

37 Reports Status Indicator The Scheduler communicates with the server frequently while changes are being made. These changes are only made periodically, so the Status Indicator shows the current state of the schedule relative to the server. The possible values include: Current The browser and the server have the same values. Waiting The browser is waiting to send changes to the server. Saving The browser is saving changes to the server. Need to Save A schedule has been generated and must be saved. When Need to Save is shown in the indicator, clicking it will save the schedule. Also, there will be a Cancel button to the left of the indicator. Clicking it will discard the generated schedule. Content Centric Tab The Content Centric tab shows the schedule as a grid with content listed in the left-most column and rotations in the columns to the right. 37

38 Synergy User's Guide To assign content and students in the Content Centric tab: 1. Click the Planner menu and then Scheduler. 2. Choose the desired class from the Class drop-down menu. 3. Click the Content Centric tab. 4. Either choose a content set from the Content Set drop-down menu OR drag content from the Content list to the Content Centric grid. 5. Choose students by dragging their names to the spots in the rotations desired. (Note: Pay attention to the icons that are shown by the names as you attempt to drop them into spots. Remember, the legend is at the bottom of the Scheduler screen.) To remove students from the Content Centric grid: 1. After content and students are chosen, hover over the student to be removed. 2. Click the x in the upper-right corner of the student name box. 3. In the confirmation dialog box, click OK. 4. The student will be removed from the content and rotation in question. To remove content from the Content Centric grid: 1. After content is chosen, click the content in the Content list to deselect it. 2. The content will be removed from the Content Centric grid. (Note: If there are any students in a rotation of the content, the content will not be removed until the students are removed.) Student Centric Tab The default view of the schedule (in the Content Centric tab) shows content titles along the left side of the grid. This is useful for quickly seeing how content is used. However, sometimes it is useful to see what content a student has been assigned. This is the purpose of the Student Centric tab. The Student Centric tab displays the current schedule with the students listed in the left-most column of the grid and the rotations in the columns to the right. The assigned content is found at the intersection of the student name and rotation. Selecting a student shows which other students the student is paired with for each rotation. More than one row can be selected from the grid by selecting the first row, pressing and holding the Control key, and selecting each subsequent row or by selecting the first row, pressing and holding the Shift key, and selecting the last row. (Note: The second option works only if the desired rows are in order.) Selecting a single student from the grid will also select the student in the Student list on the Scheduler screen. Assignments cannot be made from the Student Centric tab. To unassign content in the Student Centric tab: 1. Click the Planner menu and then Scheduler. 2. Choose the desired class from the Class drop-down menu. 3. Click the Student Centric tab. 4. Hover over the assigned content desired. 5. Click the x in the upper-right corner of the student name box. 6. In the confirmation dialog box, click OK. 7. The student will be removed from the content and rotation in question. 38

39 Reports Blocking/Preferences Tab The Blocking/Preferences tab provides a means of changing the content blocks, student blocks, and content preferences for students. It is sometimes desired to ensure that two students don't get assigned to work with each other or that a given student doesn't get assigned to a given title. It is also sometimes desired to allow students to pick which content they would prefer to have. The Blocking/Preferences tab allows these restrictions to be made. To quickly see what students and content a student is blocked from or prefers: 1. Select the student in the Student list on the Scheduler screen, not the Blocking/Preferences tab. 2. Any Preferred, Auto-blocked, or Blocked icons will be shown in the columns to the left of the content list and student list in the Blocking/Preferences grid. To change whether content or a student is blocked: 1. Select the student in the Student list on the Scheduler screen, not the Blocking/Preferences tab. 2. Select the row for the title or student to be blocked in the Blocking/Preferences grid. 3. For content, click more than once to cycle through Blocked, Preferred, and no selection. 4. For students, click to toggle Blocked and no selection. Note: Content that is Auto-blocked cannot be changed here. In order to remove auto-blocks, you must remove the student's grades for all previous assignments of the content. Grade Grade Book About Grade Book The Grade Book is the all-in-one tool for viewing and editing student assignment scores. It allows you to select any number of assignments in a class and get an accurate representation of each student s scores. There are many tools on this screen to help you with this task including multiple assignment selection, group assignment scoring, specialized grading forms, collapsible grade details panel, and more. 39

40 Synergy User's Guide Viewing Grades Grades are listed in the grade grid by assignments. Grid rows are organized by students and their assignments. When the Grade Book is first opened, no assignments or scores will be visible. To get started, you will need to change the list of assignments being viewed, which you may do at any time. To change the list of assignments being viewed: 1. Click Load Grades. 2. The Select Assignment View dialog box appears. 3. Click the Assignment row or rows desired or click Select All to select all assignments listed. 4. Click Load Grades. 5. The Student, Total, and assignment columns are filled. Note: To select more than one, but not all, assignments, click the first Assignment row, press and hold the Control key, and click each subsequent row or click the first row, press and hold the Shift key, and click the last row. (The second method works only if the rows desired are in order.) The Select Assignment View dialog box is the interface for choosing which assignments will appear in the list. It enables you to select the exact assignments you are interested in. Within the list, you will find the assignment names, as well as their start and due dates. Grade Grid About Grade Grid The grade grid is designed to provide information about assignment scores to you, as well as to provide a mechanism for adjusting scores manually. It is laid out so that students appear along the left and assignments across the top. Each row in the grade grid correlates to a single student. At the cells where a student and an assignment intersect, you will find that student's grade totals for that assignment. Click once to select an assignment cell, and double-click to expand the Grade Details panel if it isn't already expanded. 40

41 Reports Selecting Cells You may select, or highlight, any assignment cell in the grid by simply clicking it. Highlighting an assignment will automatically switch the Grade Details panel to display the appropriate information for the selected assignment. Also, you may set the grading method used for an assignment by first selecting the assignment and then choosing the method you wish applied. It is also possible to select multiple cells at once. See below for the available selection types. Single Click any cell to select that cell. Row Click either a student cell or a student s Total cell to select all of the assignments for that student. Column Click a column header for an assignment to select all of the assignment cells in that column. In addition to the described selection types, you may add to the current selection by pressing and holding the Control key before selecting additional cells. Note: With some multiple selections, a Mixed Assignment Selection message will appear in the Grade Details panel informing you that assignments will need to be modified individually. Toggling the Grid View The default grid view displays as much information as possible. Because of this, the grid cells are large and take up much of the viewable screen area. While the grid will ensure that the column and row headers are always visible, this can make it difficult to view and navigate a large class s grades. There is a less-detailed, low-profile view for grid cells, which is available via Toggle View. To switch between views: 1. Click Toggle View to switch back and forth between the detailed and low-profile cell views. To access the additional information available in the low-profile view: 1. Hover your mouse cursor over the data labels inside of each cell. 2. A tooltip will appear with some additional information. (These tooltips are generally available in all of the cells for each view.) 41

42 Synergy User's Guide Grading Assignments Changing Grading Method To change the grading method for one or more assignments: 1. Select the desired assignments. 2. Click the Grade Method drop-down menu. 3. Choose either Set Assigned or Set Completed. 4. The information in the grade method bar in the assignment cells selected changes to the grading method chosen. Grade Details Panel Grading for selected assignments is done in the Grade Details panel located at the bottom of the screen just below the grade grid. It is contained within a collapsible component. To open and close the collapsible component: 1. Double-click an assignment cell to open it. 2. Click the open button (a left-facing arrow) or close button (an x) on the right edge of the Grade Details panel bar. 3. Double-click the Grade Details panel bar located at the bottom of the grade grid to open or close it. The Grade Details panel can be resized using the splitter. Grading Modules or Legacy Modules To grade a single Module or Legacy Module: 1. Open the Grade Details panel. 2. Select a single Module or Legacy Module assignment cell. 3. Modify the scores for the selected Module or Legacy Module. 4. Click Save to apply the changes. 5. The changes will appear in the grade grid. 6. Click Reset if you wish to reload the unmodified scores, since the last save, for the selected Module or Legacy Module. Note: Inside the Grade Details panel, the Module score fields are laid out in a table based on sessions. Every session within a Module, except for Session 6, is made up of a test, attendance points, and participation points. 42

43 Reports Grading Multiple Modules or Legacy Modules When you have more than one Module or Legacy Module assignment cell selected in the grade grid, you are presented with an interface in the Grade Details panel that allows you to set a single grade for every Module or Legacy Module selected at once. To set a single grade for all selected Modules or Legacy Modules: 1. Select the item from the Grade Item drop-down list 2. Enter the desired score in the Score field. 3. Click Apply to Selected Modules. This is a useful feature for assigning Performance Assessment scores to multiple Module or Legacy Module assignments at once. Grading Custom Lessons To grade a custom lesson or lessons: 1. Select the lesson assignment cell or cells in the grade grid. 2. Open the Grade Details panel. 3. Enter the score in the Score field. 4. Click Save Custom Lesson Score. Note: To select multiple custom lessons, click the first custom lesson, press and hold the Control key, and click each subsequent custom lesson desired. Grading Quests When you have selected a Quest in the grade grid, you will be presented with a grade table in the Grade Details panel. The table displays each of the gradable items (tests) within the Quest, as well as the points earned and points possible for the selected student. To enter or modify the points that the selected student has earned for a test: 1. Double-click a cell in the Grade Details panel. 2. Enter a new score. 3. Click Save to apply the changes. Note: Click Reset to restore the grades to their last saved state. 43