GeorgiaVIEW Vista Student Guide. The Vista Learning System by Blackboard, Inc. A Project of the University System of Georgia

Transcription

1 Information Technology Services Kennesaw State University GeorgiaVIEW Vista Student Guide The Vista Learning System by Blackboard, Inc. A Project of the University System of Georgia

2 Copyright 2009 Information Technology Services Kennesaw State University This document may be downloaded, printed, or copied, for educational use, without further permission of the Information Technology Services Department (ITS), provided the content is not modified and this statement is not removed. Any use not stated above requires the written consent of the ITS Department. The distribution of a copy of this document via the Internet or other electronic medium without the written permission of the ITS Department is expressly prohibited. 2

3 Contents Introduction... 4 Learning Objectives... 4 How to access GeorgiaVIEW Vista... 5 Browser Compatibility... 6 Scheduled System Maintenance... 6 Java Requirements... 6 The My GeorgiaVIEW Page... 8 Course News... 9 The Content Manager Page Navigating through a Course Section Th e Course Toolbar Goals Discussions Assignments Assessments Mail Calendar Chat Th e My Tools toolbar My Grades My Files My Progress Notes Getting Help How to troubleshoot peculiar happenings in Vista such as a frozen screen?

4 Introduction GeorgiaVIEW Vista is the University System of Georgia (USG) supported Learning Management System (LMS) that allows 24/7 internet access to course content, chat, discussions, quizzes, and much more. A Course Management Tool is a software product that is used to facilitate and enhance classroom instruction. It is composed of various tools that can include discussion groups, classroom based content (PowerPoint slides, documents, etc), chat rooms, whiteboards, assignments, course calendar, classroom based , syllabus and assessments. Each instructor determines what set of tools are used for a given class. Building on the familiar tools and interface of WebCT Vista, GeorgiaVIEW Vista has evolved to a more comprehensive system, which offers students enhanced functionality for learning alongside an improved interface and navigation structure. Every Kennesaw State University student has a GeorgiaVIEW Vista account and therefore has the ability to use the software tool. GeorgiaVIEW Vista is not required for every class being offered on campus because it is the prerogative of the instructor to utilize the software tool. So, your class may or may not use GeorgiaVIEW Vista. Ask your instructor if your class will be using it. To use GeorgiaVIEW Vista, you need an internet connection. You must know how to use an Internet browser, have basic word processing skills, and have basic computer file management skills. You are not required to know HTML or computer programming. Learning Objectives This document is meant to explain the fundamentals of using GeorgiaVIEW Vista. You will learn the basi c terminology, concepts, support options, navigation, and tools for GeorgiaVIEW Vista. Get familiar with the GeorgiaVIEW Vista system. Set up the Home Page. Use the course tools. Use your tools. 4

5 How to access GeorgiaVIEW Vista To login to GeorgiaVIEW Vista: 1. Open a web browser and point it to: https ://vista.kennesaw.edu 2. Enter your NetID in the KSU NetID field. 3. Enter your NetID password in the Password field. 4. Click OK. Note: If you see a message about popups, click on the yellow bar and then select Always allow popups from this site. Note: If you are asked about security certificates, click Yes. When prompted with the security warning shown above, click Run to allow the Java application to load. 5. You should arrive at your My GeorgiaVIEW page and should see a course list in the center. 5

6 Browser Compatibility At this point, you can click on the Check Browser link to verify that your web browser is fully compatible with GeorgiaVIEW Vista. The Browser Check tool will also check that cookies are enabled, that the pop up blocker is turned off, and that the Java requirements are met. It is strongly recommended that you uninstall any Yahoo, Google, or AOL browser toolbars you may have so that your online course will function properly. Your web browser must be configured to allow Java applets to run. Scheduled System Maintenance Each GeorgiaVIEW Vista server undergoes scheduled maintenance every other Friday from 10:00 PM through Saturday at 7:00 AM. During this period, the GeorgiaVIEW Vista service is temporarily unavailable. This routine, periodic maintenance is essential to keep GeorgiaVIEW Vista operating smoothly. Please be aware of these times when you are planning on taking an assessment or submitting an assignment. You can review the Vista scheduled maintenance calendars at the GeorgiaVIEW web site: Java Requirements GeorgiaVIEW Vista requires the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 1.4.2_07 or higher to be installed on your computer (excluding 1.5.0_02). JRE Version 5 (1.5_17) is strongly recommended. To fin d out which version of Java is running on your PC: 1. Click on the Start button on your compute r desktop. 2. Click on Settings, and then Control Panel. 3. Double Click on Java. 4. Click on the About button. 5. Close the Control Panel. 6

7 To obtain the recommended version of Java, you can go to: PC users: bin/intershop.enfinity/wfs/cds CDS_Developer Site/en_US/ /USD/ViewProductDetail Start?ProductRef=jre 1.5.0_17 oth CDS_Developer Mac users: Use the Software Update feature (available on the Apple menu) to check that you have the most up to date version of Java for your Mac. Note: Vista needs only ONE supported install of Java. If you have multiple versions of Java installed on your PC, Vista will not work properly. Multiple versions of Java do not affect Macs. To fin d out if multiple versions of Java are installed on your PC: 1. Click on the Start button on your compute r desktop. 2. Click on Settings, and then Control Panel. 3. Click on Add or Remove Programs. 4. Scroll down to locate all versions of Java, J2SE, JRE, JVM, or Sun Java. 5. If you find multiple versions, click on the older one to select it, and then click on Remove. 6. Close the Control Panel. 7

8 The My GeorgiaVIEW Page After logging in, you will be at your My GeorgiaVIEW page. The My GeorgiaVIEW page is an overall view of all th e course sections to which you have access. In the center of the My GeorgiaVIEW page, you will see a list of your course sections. You will automatically have a GeorgiaVIEW course for every section that you are enrolled in. Note: As a student, you are automatically enrolled in GeorgiaVIEW Vista courses each semester whether your instructor uses GeorgiaVIEW Vista or not. It is okay to see several courses listed on your "GeorgiaVIEW Vista" page that are not being used or do not have content associated with them. To enter a course: Just click on the course section link in the Course List. Log out Click here to completely logout of Vista. Calendar The Global Calendar is an overview of all the Course Calendars. Check Br owser Vista is browser sensitive. Click on this link to see if your browser is compatible. Channels Channels allow you to select which components to display on the page. An Action Link next to each channel gives you the options of editing and/or hiding the channel. 8

9 A Pencil Icon lets you edit the course list. Note that hiding a course does not remove the course or change your enrollment, access, or activity in the course. My Settings This section lets you set global settings across all sections. You can view/edit your profile information, modify several tool settings such as calendar view and paging, and set your online visibility status. Help: The Help feature is context sensitive, so wherever you are in Vista, clicking Help (top right hand side of the screen) will open Help with information about the screen that you are on. Course News Whenever there is a new discussion message, a new assignment, or a new mail message, an icon will appear in the Course List on your My GeorgiaVIEW page. These icons are called Course News. They indicate that changes have been made to a course section. This is especially helpful if you have several course sections and would like to be able to login and see if there is anything new from the last time that you logged in. 9

10 The Content Manager Page Clicking on the Content Manager tab takes you to My Files. My Files is used to create and store your personal files in the online course system. Each student user has their own My Files that is always private and cannot be accessed by other users. You have 200 megabytes of storage space in My Files. Navigating through a Course Section Clicking on a course section takes you to the actual course homepage. Once you have entered a course section, moving around in GeorgiaVIEW Vista is best done with the internal navigation tools, not your Back button in your web browser. There is always the Course Toolbar, navigating arrow, or a Bread crumb trail visible that should be used to navigate from page to page or tool to tool. The Course Toolbar The Course Toolbar is located on the left side of the screen. It is split into two areas: Course Tools and My Tools. The Course Tools toolbar is visible in your course section at all times. It provides one click access to all the tools made available to the c ourse. The Course Tools toolbar may contain Announcements, Assessments, Assignments, Calendar, Chat, Discussions, Goals, Learning Modules, Local Content, Mail, Media Library, SCORM, Search, Syllabus, Web Links and Who s Online components. The My Tools toolbar contains the My Grades, My Files, My Progress and Notes components. Note: The menu area, which includes both toolbars, can easily be collapsed to increase the size of the main content area by clicking on the double arrow between the main content area and the menu area. A second click expands the menu area back. Note: Clicking on any of the tools takes you to the page that lists the content related to that tool. To access a course component directly, click on its link on the homepage. 10

11 Example of a course homepage: Goals The Goals tool lists all the goals set for a course. Refer to this tool to determine which items in the course will support progress towards the achievement of each goal. Clicking on a goal will let you view files and course content, such as assignments and assessments, w hich have been associated with the goal. Note: Goals are not visible inside course content. Dis cussions The Discussions tool is a communication tool that allows everyone in the course to post messages to a topic. The difference between the Mail tool and the Discussions tool is that when you post a message in the Discussions tool you are sending the message to a topic instead of a person or group of persons. Online discussions will be initiated by a topic, comment or question posted by the instructor. Typically, students are required to respond with posted comments to the instructor s post and to those of other students. 11

12 There are three types of discussion topics: Threaded: Participants post and reply to messages. Replies that are associated with the same post are grouped together, creating message threads that can be expanded and collapsed. Class blog: Participants post a chronological series of entries on a particular topic. Participants can then add comments to any blog entry. Journal: Participants have a place for their own writing. Unless otherwise specified, the journals are kept private between the Student and the Section Instructor. If enabled by instructor, students can review each other s messages using a simple grading scale or a more elaborate grading form. To us e the Discussion tool: 1. Click on the Discussions tool in the Course Tools toolbar. 2. Click on the Discussion topic in which you want to interact. Note: You can determine the discussion type by its icon: Blog Threaded Journal The Messages section of your Discussion topic should open. 12

13 To read a message: Click on the Subject link. The Message window will open and you can read the message. To reply to a message: Click on the Reply button. To Pos t a Message: 1. Click on the Create Message button. The Create Message window will open. 2. Enter a Subject and a Message. 13

14 To create the message in Plain Text format, enter it in the Message text box. The message will appear exactly as typed. To create the message in HTML format, use the HTML Creator or hand code the HTML: a. To use the HTML Creato r, click Enable HTML Creator. b. To code in HTML: 1. Select Use HTML. 2. In the Message text box, enter the HTML code. 3. To attach files to the message: a) Click Add Attachments. The b) Locate and select the file(s). 4. Click on the Post button. Content Browser pop up window appears. Note that it is a good idea to preview your message before you post it to the whole class to read. You may also click the Save as Draft button if you wish to review it and post it later. To preview the message, simply click on the Preview button. Assignments To submit an assignment: 1. Click on the Assignments tool in the Course Tools toolbar. The Assignments Inbox should open. 14

15 The assignments are organized on four tabs according to their current status. The new assignments or submissions returned to you for editing are listed on the Inbox tab. The assignments that are unread are displayed in the bold format. 2. Click on the title of the assignment you wish to access. The Edit Submission window will open. You will see the Instructions, the Grading Criteria, and the Due Date. 3. On the Edit Submission screen, perform the following tasks: a. Read the general information about the assignment. b. Read the instructions, and download the attachments if applicable. c. If your submission is short and in plain text, type it in the Submission box. d. If your submission is in HTML format, enable the HTML creator. e. If your submission has one or more files, click on Add Attachments and follow the instructions to add the files. f. Add a comment in the comment box if applicable. g. Click on Submit or Save as Draft as needed. When you submit your assignment, you will be directed to a Confirmation page. Note: The submitted assignment will be moved from the Inbox tab to the Submitted tab, with the time stamp of when you submitted it. It will be moved to the Graded tab after being graded, with the grade displayed. Or, the assignment will be moved back to the Inbox tab if returned to you for further editing. 15

16 Assessments There are three types of assessments in GeorgiaVIEW Vista: Quizzes, Surveys, and Self Tests. To complete an online assessment: 1. Click on the Assessments tool in the Course Tools toolbar. 2. On the Assessments screen, click on the title of the assessment to start. 16

17 3. Read the general information about the assessment. Click on Begin Assessment when you are ready. An assessment window pops up as shown below. 17

18 4. The question types in GeorgiaVIEW Vista include Calculation, Combination, Fill in the Blank, Jumbled Sentence, Matching, Multiple Choice, Paragraph, Short Answer, and True False. 5. Answer each question, and click Save Answer before moving on to the next one. The question status is displayed on the right side of the screen. 6. After completing all the questions, click Finish to exit the assessment. A confirmation message should pop up. 7. Select OK to confirm your submission. A confirmation message will display to confirm the successful submission. To vi ew all submissions: 1. Click View All Submissions on the Assessments screen. The status of your previous submissions will be displayed. If the assessment is already graded, the grade will be listed on this screen. 2. Click on the time to view the access log. The details may help you review your performance during the assessment. 18

19 To view statistics: You can view summary or item statistics. Summary statistics compare your performance to the group performance for each submitted assessment and consist of: Individual Performance analysis, including values for Max. Score (maximum score possible), Score (score achieved), Score % (score as a percentage), and Percentile (proportion of scores the individual's score is greater than or equal to). Group Performance analysis, including values for N (number of students who have taken the quiz), Mean (mean as a percentage), Median (middle score as a percentage), and SD (Standard Deviation). Item statistics compare your performance to the group performance for each question in your submitted assessments and consist of: Individual Performance analysis on a question by question basis, including values for Max. Score (maximum score possible); Score (score achieved), and Score % (score as a percentage). Group Performance analysis on a question by question basis, including values for N ( number of students who have answered the question), Mean (mean as a percentage), Median (middle score for a question, as a percentage), and SD (Standard Deviation). 19

20 1. From the Assessments screen, click on View Statistics. 2. Select the assessment for which you want to view statistics and do one of the following: Mail To view summary statistics, clic k on View Summary Statistics. To view item statistics, click on View Item Statistics. The Mail tool allows all of the people in a course to communicate with each other. The Mail tool is similar to e mail, but does not have addresses like e mail. Only people in the course can communicate with other people in the same course. To use the Mail tool: Click on the Mail tool in the Course Tools toolbar. T he Mail tool opens to the Inbox by default. To read a Mail message: Click on the message link in the Subject column of the Inbox. Note: Mail messages may come in while you are in the inbox. To see these new messages: Click on the Refresh now button. To create a new Mail message: 1. Click on the Creat e Message button. The Create Message window will open. 20

21 2. Click on the Browse for Recipients button to choose to whom you wish to send a mail message. If you know the recipients NetIDs, you can enter them separated by commas. 3. Enter a Subject and a Message. 4. Click on Send. Note: Composing a mail message is like composing an e mail message, except you can only send mail to other people in the course. You cannot send mail to external e mail addresses. Mail Notification Icons There are two ways to notice if you have new mail: Course News 21

22 Course Toolbar Icons Indicates that mail has been read Indicates that unread mail has arrived Calendar The Calendar tool has the capability to create different types of calendar entries according to the needs of the user. For example, a professor can create a calendar entry for a Vista course, which is visible to any individual enrolled in that class. On the other hand, if a student wishes to create a quiz reminder, the Calendar tool can be used to create a personal entry that only displays for the student. To vi ew personal entries: 1. Click on Calendar in the Course Tools. 2. Click on the View drop down box on the right side of the screen and select Personal only. 3. Once the Personal only option is selected, click on the Green Arrow to activate the view. The calendar will display only personal entries. To vi ew course en tries such as assignments that sched uled in the class: 1. Click on the View drop down box again and select This Course Only. 2. Click on the Green Arrow to activate the view. The calendar will display all entries related to the course. To vi ew different types of calendar entries simultaneously: 1. Click on the View drop down box again and select This Course + Personal. 2. Click on the Green Arrow to activate the view. The calendar will display both personal and course related entries. Note that only you will see both types of calendar entries when this particular view is chosen. The other members of the course, including the instructor and the other students, will not be able to see your personal calendar items. 22

23 To ad d an entry to the calendar: 1. Click on Calendar in the Course Tools. 2. Click on the Add Entry button. 3. Add a Title for the calendar entry. 4. Enter an optional Description to help define the calenda r entry. 5. Enter a Start Date, Start Time, End Date and End Time. 6. Click on the More Options link if you would like to set up a recurrence for the calendar entr y. a. Check the checkbox beside This Entry Repeats. b. Select the day(s) that the entry will repeat on. c. In the Until field, select an end date for the repeat. 7. Click on the Add File or Add Content Link if you would like to add a file or content to the entry. 23

24 8. Click on the Save button. To delete a calendar entry: 1. Click on Calendar in the Course Tools. 2. Select the month that the event appears in from the drop down list. Do the same for the year if necessary. 3. Click on the Green Arrow. 24

25 4. Click on the exact day of the event to be deleted. For this example, the event scheduled on the 9th of September 2009 will be deleted. The day should appear on the screen as shown: 5. Click on the Action Button located to the right of the entry title. 6. Select the Delete option. 7. When prompted to confirm the deletion, click on OK. The event is no longer on the calendar as shown below. Chat The Chat and Whiteboard tool allows you to communicate in real time with other members in the course. You can use Chat to engage in real time conversations with all users or selected users. You can use Whiteboard to draw objects, enter text, import images, and create slide shows that can be viewed in real time by other users. 25

26 1. Click on Chat in Course Tools. 2. Click on a chat room to access it. A Chat window will pop up. Although there usually is a whiteboard and a chat box, the instructor may decide to only display one or the other Select and use whiteboard tools. If the Handraise function is enabled in the chat room, click on the button to raise your hand just as you would in a physical classroom. Load external files to display on the whiteboard. Save and print the whiteboard content. 26

27 The My Tools toolbar My Grades To access your grades: From My Tools, click on My Grades. The My Grades screen appears which displays all released grades for your course. Depending on administrator settings, this screen may contain: The Grade column: displaying all of your grades and other grade book information that your instructor has released to you. If your grade was calculated using a grading form, you can click on View Grading Form to see the grading criteria. The Statistics column: displaying the average score or a View Statistics button that lets you s ee detailed statistics. The Comments column: displaying Section Instructor or Teaching Assistant comments that were entered with your grade. My Files You may use My Files to save, organize, and create files for a Vista course. The files in My Files are only accessible to you. In My Files, you can: Create an HTML file by selecting Create File. Upload a file by selecting Get Files. Create a folder to organize the files. Download files to a local computer. Select a file and copy, move, delete or archive multiple files into a zip file. 27

28 My Progress The My Progress tool displays a report that includes information about your participation in the course. You can export the report to your local computer. Click on the Export button and follow the instruction on the screen. Notes The Notes tool lets you create general or learning module notes to use as reminders or study aids. General notes are relevant to the entire course. Learning module notes are relevant to specific content within a learning module, such as a quiz or discussion topic. 1. Click on Notes in My Tools. The Notebook window will pop up. 2. Click on Add General Note to add a new note. 28

29 3. Enter the Title and Notes text. Click on Save and exit the window. The new note is displayed in the Note window. To ed it a note: 1. Click on the Action Link beside its title. 2. Select Edit from the drop down menu. 29

30 To delete a note: To 1. Select the note by checking the checkbox beside it. 2. Click on the Delete button. print a note: 1. Select the note by checking the checkbox beside it. 2. Click on the Create Printable View button. 30

31 Getting Help The following is a list of places where you can get help with GeorgiaVIEW Vista if needed. Information Technology Services (ITS) Service Desk The ITS department operates a service desk for KSU students. Walk in help is available in BB475 ( Burruss building). Their website is at You can also call the service desk at extension 3555 or send an e mail to studenthelpdesk@kennesaw.edu. ITS Technology Outreach The ITS Technology Outreach group is a cooperative team devoted to conveying technical knowledge across the Kennesaw State University campus community. We are a section of Information Technology Services (ITS). See our site a t: /its.kennesaw.edu/techoutreach. Follow us on Twitter: ter.com/techout. us at: itstechout@kennesaw.edu. We offer the following support for GeorgiaVIEW Vista: Hands on Workshops Register online at: One on One Sessions with a Trainer Request specific help at: USG Online Support Center The University System of Georgia operates a help system called Georgia VIEW. It can be accessed at 31

32 How to troubleshoot peculiar happenings in Vista such as a frozen screen? Such situations can often be resolved by clearing the Java cache. PC users: 1. Click on the Start button on your compute r desktop. 2. Click on Settings, and then Control Panel. 3. Double Click on Java. 4. Click on the Settings button in the Temporary Internet Files section. 5. Click on the Delete Files button. Mac users: 1. Open the Macintosh Hard Drive, go to Applications, and then open the Utilities folder. 2. Open the Java folder and then double click on the Java Plugin Settings icon. For Java 1.5, double click on the J2SE 5.0 folder. 3. Clea r cache: a. For Java 1.5, double click on the Java Preferences.app icon. Click on the Delete Files button in the Temporary Internet Files section at the bottom of the new window. Make sure all boxes are checked on the dialog and click on OK to close the confirmation button. Close the Java Preferences window. b. For Java or earlier, click on the tab marked Cache. Click on the Clear button. Click Yes in the popup confirmation window. Close the Control Panel. 32