Scholar for Research, Collaboration and Administration Contents 1 What is Scholar?... 1 The Scholar Layout... 2 Creating a Scholar Project Site... 4 Site Info Area... 5 Resources Area... 6 Forums... 11 Chat Room Tool... 15 Wiki Tool... 16 Messages Tool... 19 Announcements Tool... 20 Email Archive Tool... 22 Communication Tool Comparison... 23 Calendar Tool... 24 Sign Up Tool... 26 Workshop Checklist... 30 Help! I Need Support!... 31 What is Scholar? Scholar is Virginia Tech's implementation of Sakai, an open-source learning and collaboration management system. Sakai was designed by higher education for higher education. Sakai is being used at MIT, Stanford, Michigan and Indiana and over 200 other universities. Like Blackboard, Scholar has innovative ways for faculty to teach and assess learning Scholar has ways for faculty and students to collaborate with each other, users at Virginia Tech, and users outside of the VT community. eportfolios can be added to Scholar sites.
Scholar for Research, Collaboration and Administration 2 Scholar at Virginia Tech In June 2008, Learning Technologies upgraded to Scholar. Since then, faculty and students have had access to online tools for teaching and learning, research, file sharing, collaboration, and assessment/accreditation projects. Types of Sites: Project, Course, and eportfolio Scholar contains three types of sites: Project, Course, and eportfolio. Project and Course sites facilitate teaching, learning, collaboration and communication. eportfolio sites let users post materials to track and display their learning process. 1. Project sites Project sites facilitate collaboration. Users can discuss ideas, share files, and create and share web pages. Site owners can invite non-vt users to participate in Project sites. Example project sites would be: a website where a group can collaboratively work on digital documents, a website where a project director can make announcements and share resources, such as electronic documents and web links, with colleagues, or an online discussion board. 2. Course sites Course sites are powerful teaching and learning tools for faculty and students. They can include online assignments, tests, and a gradebook for evaluation, and blogs, wikis, forums, and chat rooms for collaboration. Course sites can also display syllabi and other course content, like readings. Course site membership is tied to Banner, so when students add or drop the course, the Course site s membership automatically updates. 3. eportfolios eportfolio sites are an attractive way to store and present project and personal learning material. eportfolios benefit faculty by: improving student learning, increasing course organization and workflow, and helping package materials for assessment and accreditation. eportfolios benefit students by: tracking key educational moments, showcasing skills and achievements, and privately or publicly sharing materials. Visit the eportfolio website at: http://eportfolio.vt.edu/ to learn how to get started. The Scholar Layout Before you get started, you should be familiar with some of Scholar s tools:
Scholar for Research, Collaboration and Administration 3 My Workspace Area: When you log in to Scholar, you will automatically go to a site called My Workspace. All users have their own, private My Workspace area where they can create and store files, messages and calendar appointments. Messages and calendar appointments on other sites users are members of will also show up in My Workspace. Tabs: Scholar sites are listed at the top of the browser window. Sites that users create, and that others have added users to, are shown in tabs. If someone is a member of more sites than are shown as tabs, she can access those sites by clicking the My Active Sites tab. Tools & left-hand menu bar: Scholar sites have capabilities, called tools. Tools are displayed on the left-hand menu bar. Site owners can customize the tools in their sites using the Site Info tool. The left-hand menu bar can be collapsed and expanded. The following tools, and more, can be added to a Scholar site: o Home: All Scholar sites have a Home page that site members first enter when they click a site tab, or when they click Home on the left-hand menu bar. Users determine what s on a site s home page. o Calendar: This is Scholar s scheduling tool. Users can add and display appointments, like assignment dates and special events, and display the Calendar in day, week, month or year formats. o Announcements: Use Announcements to let site members know important information. Announcements show up on a site s Home page, and on users My Workspace sites. o Resources: This Resources area is where users can post and share files or URLs on a Scholar site. It can be set to only allow site owners to post materials, or opened up to all users. o Forums: Use Forums to allow users to ask and answer each other s questions or collaborate on projects. Forums can be organized by topic, and permissions changed so that groups have their own forums. o Assignments: With this tool, instructors can hand out and collect digital assignments. Instructors can then grade and give students comments on those assignments, also online. o Drop Box: The Drop Box is similar to Resources, but users each have their own folder that only they, and the site owner, can access. The Drop Box can be used to submit digital assignments or share files between site users and owners. o Email Archive: Like a listserv, a site owner can create an email address that, when emailed to, will distribute the message to all site members. o Site Info: Use the Site Info to change a site s settings, including tools and site members.
Scholar for Research, Collaboration and Administration 4 Making Your Site Creating a Scholar Project Site 1. Log on to Scholar with your PID and password. 2. Select the My Workspace tab. 3. In the left-hand menu, click "Site Setup". You will go to the Site Setup page. 4. At the top of the Site Setup page, click on "New" You will go to the Site Type page. 5. Select the project site" radio button. Click the Continue button. 6. Fill in the Project Site Information page. All of this information can be changed after the site has been created by using the "Site Info" tool. In the "Site Title" box, enter a name for your site. This is what shows up on the tab in participants' Scholar accounts. It is often easier for students if course sites are named according to title and term, not course number or CRN. The "Site URL Alias" box is for a unique and direct URL for your site. Most users navigate to a site using Scholar's tabs, and don't require a direct link. Either way, users need to log in to Scholar to access the site. In the rich text editor under "Description", enter information you want to show on your site's home page. In the "Short Description" text box, you can enter a description that other Scholar users can see when they browse public Scholar sites. This is only used if you make your site public as a "joinable site". 7. Click "Continue". You will go to the Project Site Tools page, where you choose Scholar tools to include in the site. 8. Place a check in the box(es) next to each tool you want in your site. 9. Click "Continue". A: If you didn't choose "Web Content" or "Email Archive", you are at the Project Site Access page. Proceed to step 10. B: If you chose "Web Content" or "Email Archive", you are at the Add Multiple Tool Instances page because these tools require more information.
Scholar for Research, Collaboration and Administration 5 Enter in the information: o Under "Email Archive", create an email address to which you can email content that you want Scholar to distribute to site users, like a listserv. o Web Content creates a menu link on the left hand side of your Scholar site. Enter a title and source, a web address (URL), for the link. o Click "Continue" to go to the Course Site Access page. Go to the next step. 10. You are in the Project Site Access page. Under "Site Status", place a check in the "Publish site" box ONLY if you want site users to have access to the site. Since this is a test site, publishing is not necessary. If you choose "Leave as Draft", only leadership roles will have access to the site. 11. Click "Continue". Scholar will go to the Confirm Your Project Site Setup page. 12. Review your site information, and go back if necessary. Settings can also be changed after you create your site. 13. Click "Create Site" to create your site. Site Info Area The Site Info tool is where users change a site s settings. Through Site Info, a site owner can add and remove tools and members from a site, and publish or un-publish a site. To add and remove tools: 2. On the top of the Site Info page, click Edit Tools. You will go to the Project Site Tools page. 3. Check the boxes next to any tools you would like to add to your site, and/or uncheck those next to tools you want to remove. 4. Click "Continue. 5. If you have added Web Content or Email Archive, you have to enter additional information in the next window.
Scholar for Research, Collaboration and Administration 6 6. Click "Finish". To add participants to a site: 1. At the top of the Site Info page, click "Add Participants". You will go to the Add Participants page. To add VT participants, enter their PIDs or VT email addresses in the TOP box labeled "Virginia Tech Participants". Put each PID or email address on a different line. To add non-vt participants, enter their email addresses in the Non-Virginia Tech Participants box. Put each email address on a different line. If you want all new participants to share the same role, click "Assign all participants the same role". If you want to assign new participants different roles, click "Assign each participant a role individually". Click "Continue". You will go to the Choose a Role for Participants page. Select appropriate roles for your participants. 4. Click "Continue". You will go to the Add participant(s) to (site title) page. Decide whether or not to email your new participants and select the radio button accordingly. 4. Click "Continue". You will be asked to confirm your additions. 5. Click "Finish". Remember, you cannot add or remove participants from a Course site that is linked to a Roster through Banner. Those enrollments are updated by the registrar. To publish/unpublish a site: 1. At the top of the Site Info page, click "Manage Access". You will go to the Change Access page. 2. Click the radio button next to Publish site to publish it, or Leave as Draft to unpublish it. 3. If a site is published, other options will appear below. Click the radio button next to Limited to whom I add to keep unknown persons from joining your site, or Add site to Joinable Sites to allow anyone to add the site. 4. Click the Update button. Resources Background Resources Area Every Scholar site has a Resources area, including your My Workspace. In your My Workspace, the Resources folder acts as a personal file repository. A course site's Resources area is designed to store that course's materials. You can then link to those materials from other tools within that site, such as the Assignments or Syllabus tools. Depending on permissions, the students and TAs who are members of your course site can access files stored in Resources.
Scholar for Research, Collaboration and Administration 7 Any type of file can be uploaded into a Resources folder. Best practices when using the Resources tool: Link to items in Resources from other tools so you do not have to upload them multiple times. This will be covered in subsequent sections. Help your u locate items by: o o giving your folders meaningful names according to topic or week, ordering the folders in a meaningful way, like alphabetically or chronologically. Resources: Uploading and Creating Files The "Add" Menu in Resources In a Scholar site's Resources area, you can create new files, folders, and links to external web sites. These commands are available on the "Add" drop-down menu. Enter any site's Resources area and hover over the "Add" drop-down menu. The following options are available: "Upload Files" opens the web interface for uploading files. This process is described below. "Create Folders" allows you to create folders and subfolders to organize your Resources area. "Add Web Links (URLs)" creates a link to an external web site from within Resources. "New Form Item" is used with eportfolio sites and will not be covered in this tutorial. "Create HTML Page" opens a rich-text editor into which you can type or paste text and add images. The page is then saved as an HTML webpage in Resources. "Create Text Document" opens a plain text editor into which you can enter text. It will be saved as a text file in Resources. "Add Citation List" allows you to search Google Scholar and add citations, add citations manually, and import citations from EndNote, RefWorks and other citation management programs. Uploading Files to Resources There are two ways to add files to Resources: the web interface and a WebDAV connection. A file upload web interface is included in Scholar and accessible through the "Add" dropdown menu by clicking "Upload Files." The web interface can be used to upload up to 10 files or a maximum of 250MB. A WebDAV connection can be used to upload more than 10 files at a time, or files larger than 250MB, but it requires installation of software on your computer. This software links to Scholar's Resources area and makes Resources behave like an external hard drive on your computer, where you can drag and drop files to add and remove them.
Scholar for Research, Collaboration and Administration 8 A. Through a Site's Web Interface 1. Log in to Scholar and go to the site to which you want to add files by clicking its site tab. 2. On the left hand menu, click "Resources." You will go to the Resources tool. 3. Hover over "Add" to display the "Add" drop-down menu. 4. Select "Upload Files," 5. Browse for the file you wish to upload. 6. If uploading multiple files, click "Add Another File" and repeat the process for up to 10 files. 7. When finished adding files, click the "Upload Files Now" button. B. Through "Upload-Download Multiple Resources" (WebDAV) See Upload-Download Multiple Resources for directions on downloading and using a WebDAV connection. Resources: Renaming and Organizing Files It is easier for your students to find resources if the files have relevant names, and the files and folders are organized by topic or date. You do not have to do this before you upload your materials; you can rename and reorder files once they are in Resources. Renaming Files 1. Hover over "Actions." 2. Select "Edit Details". 3. Rename the file by replacing the current name at the top. 4. Click the "Update" button when finished. Organizing Files There must be more than one item within a folder for the Reorder option to display. 1. Hover over "Actions." 2. Select "Reorder. 3. Use either the up/down arrows or the position numbers to change the order of files. 4. Click the "Update" button when finished. Resources: Access and Permissions You can change the access to and permissions for your folders in Resources. Each folder can have its own permissions settings, so students can access certain items but not others. You can display folders and files between pre-determined dates.
Scholar for Research, Collaboration and Administration 9 Setting Folder Permissions You can change the permissions for a site's Resources folder, or set permissions for Resources subfolders. To change the permissions for a site's Resources area (top level folder) 1. Log in to Scholar and go to the site where you want to change Resources permissions. 2. On the left hand menu bar, click "Resources". You will go to the Resources tool. 3. At the top of the Resources page, click "Permissions". You will go to the Permissions page, shown below, where you can set permissions for your Resources tool. There is a chart with user roles across the top, and different actions listed on the left. 4. For each user role, check a box for the action you would like that role to be able to perform. 5. Click the "Save" button. To change the permissions for a subfolder in Resources A. Create the subfolder 1. Log in to Scholar and go to the site where you want to change Resources permissions. 2. On the left hand menu bar, click "Resources". You will go to the Resources tool. 3. To create a subfolder, next to the top-level Resources folder, click the "Add" dropdown menu and select "Create Folder". You will go to the Create Folders page. 4. Enter a name for the folder and click the "Create Folders Now" button. You will go back to the main page of the Resources tool. B. Set the permissions 1. To set permissions for this folder, click the "Actions" drop-down menu next to the folder title. Select "Edit Folder Permissions". You will go to the Permissions page for this folder. 2. For each user role, check a box for the action you would like that role to be able to perform. 3. Click the "Save" button. Setting Access Dates for Items and Subfolders You cannot change the access dates for your main, top level, Resources folder. You can change the access dates of subfolders and files stored in Resources. Subfolder and File Access Dates 1. Create the subfolder (see above), or add/create a file. 2. From the "Actions" drop-down menu next to the item you would like to modify access to, select "Edit Details". You will go to the Edit Details page, shown below, for this folder or item. 3. Enter or choose settings:
Scholar for Research, Collaboration and Administration 10 o Name: Enter or change the folder or item name. o Availability and Access: You can have only site members view this item. You can make it publicly viewable. If you have created groups within your site, clicking the radio button next to "Display this folder... " will display the groups. Then you can select the group with which you would like to share this item. Go to the Groups lesson for more information. Under "Show this folder", or "Show this item", use the drop-down lists to choose From and Until display dates for this folder. o Web address (URL): This folder or item has a URL to which you can link from other tools in Scholar, which will be covered in the Assignments lesson. 4. Click "Update" to save settings. Resources: Copying Files from one Resources Area to Another You can use your Resources area in My Workspace as a central file repository, and copy or move files from there to your other Scholar sites. You can also copy files within a site's Resources area. Moving files from Resources in My Workspace to Resources in another Scholar site 1. Log in to Scholar. 2. Click the "My Workspace" tab. 3. Click "Resources" on the left-hand menu bar. You will go to the Resources area in My Workspace. 4. Locate the greyed out links for "Remove Move Copy." See the image below. 5. Check an item you wish to move or copy. "Remove Move Copy" are now clickable. Click "Move" if you wish to move the selected item to another site. This will delete that item from the Resources area after a successful move. Click "Copy" if you wish to copy the selected file to another site. This will not delete it from the Resources area. Multiple items can be moved or copied at the same time. Simply check multiple boxes. 6. Once you click "Copy" or "Move," icons for pasting will appear next to folders and "Remove Copy Paste" will again be greyed out. See below. 7. Look for the words "Location: My Workspace" above "Remove Move Copy." If it looks like and skip to step 11. If it looks like, proceed to step 9. 8. Scroll down to the bottom of the page. 9. Click "Show other sites." 10. Scroll down., it is clickable. Click "My Workspace"
Scholar for Research, Collaboration and Administration 11 11. A list of the Resources folders (and Drop Boxes) in your Scholar sites is shown. Locate the site and folder to which you want to move or copy your selected file. Either: click the paste icon, or hover over the "Actions" drop-down menu and select "Paste copied items." If you do not see either of these options, there may be an error in selecting the file to copy. Repeat the instructions from step 4. 12. Depending on file size, the copy or move process may take some time. 13. Once the copy or move is complete, Scholar will navigate to your Resources folder in My Workspace. To see your files in their new location, go to that Scholar site. Resources: Copying Files within one Site's Resources area You can move files between folders in a site's Resources area. Follow the procedure above, but instead of pasting the files in another site's Resources area, paste them in a folder in the same Resources area. Forums The Forums tool allows site participants to communicate with each other. One user can post a question or statement, and others can reply to that statement. Related discussions are grouped together in threads, and threads are grouped by topic. How Forums Work At the top level is the forum. The Forums tool can contain multiple forums, but adding too many forums to a site can be problematic.
Scholar for Research, Collaboration and Administration 12 Below the forum level is a topic. You can add as many topics as you wouldlike to the Forums tool. Threads can be started within a topic Messages respond to threads, or to other messages. What Forums Look Like When you first enter the Forums tool - Forums will shaded and enclosed in a box. Topics will be below the forum, indented, and with a vertical orange bar to the left of the title. When you click on a forum - A bread-crumb trail is at the top, telling you which forum and topic you are in. Threads are listed on the left, with blue bars to the left of the title. Messages responding to the thread are indented from the thread. Messages responding to messages are indented from the message responded to. Creating Forums, Managing Settings and Permissions You need to add forums to the Forums tool; Scholar doesn't create a default forum for you. You need to add a topic before a forum is visible to participants. By default, students cannot create forums, but you can change permissions. Adding a Forum 1. Click "Forums" on the left-hand menu. You will go to the Forums tool main page. If you haven't created a forum yet, it will look like this: 2. At the top of the page, click "New Forum". You will go to the Forum Settings page. The top of the Forum Settings page has forum settings, and the bottom has permissions settings. 3. In the settings section: Enter the a title in the "Forum Title" box. Text entered in the "Short Description" box will appear under the forum title in the Forum tool main page. Text entered in the "Description" box will appear when users click "View Full Description" in the Forum tool main page. Use the "Add attachments" button to add an attachment to the new forum. Under "Forum Posting", o use the upper radio button to lock/unlock the forum, and
Scholar for Research, Collaboration and Administration 13 o use the lower radio button to moderate/not moderate the forum topics. If you moderate topics, you will have to approve of topics others post before they are posted to the forum. Under "Availability" choose to either show the forum or to show it between specified dates. 4. Scroll down to the Permissions section. 5. In the Permissions section: Use the "This site role" drop-down menu to select a site role whose permissions you wish to modify. Use the "gets this permission level" drop-down menu to select default permission levels. When you do so, the checked boxes in the "which you can customize below" area will update to the selected permission level. Use the check boxes to customize the permission level as desired. 6. At the bottom of the Forum Settings page: Click the "Save" button to save your new forum. It will be visible on the Forum tool main page. Click the "Save Draft" button to save the forum as a draft. Site users will not be able to access it and it will be labeled "DRAFT" on the Forum tool main page. Changing Forum Settings and Permissions 1. Click "Forums" on the left-hand menu. You will go to the Forums tool main page. Your forums will be listed. 2. To the right of the forum title, click "Forum Settings". You will go to the Forum Settings page. 3. Change forum settings and permissions as described above. 4. Save or save a draft as described above. Forums: Posting Threads You can only post threads to topics, not forums. You can only post messages in response to threads, and not directly under a topic or forum. You must have both a forum and a topic created before you attempt to post a thread. Posting a Thread 1. On the Forums tool main page, your forums and topics will be listed. If they are not, you must create both a forum and topic before you can post a thread. 2. Click the title of the topic to which you wouldlike to post a thread. You will go to that topic's page.
Scholar for Research, Collaboration and Administration 14 On the topic page: o click "Thread" to sort the threads alphabetically, and o click a thread title to read the messages in that thread. 3. Next to the topic title, click "Post New Thread." You will go to the Compose New Forum Message page. Note that you can also go to the Topic Settings page by clicking "Topic Settings. Enter a title for your thread in the "Title" box. Enter the thread text in the "Message" text box. There is no draft option, so you may want to compose your messages in a word processor and paste the text into the Message box. Use the "Add attachments" button to add an attachment. Click the "Post Message" button to post your thread. Replying to a Thread or Message 1. Go to the topic under which the thread is posted. Click on the thread title. You will go to that thread's page. 2. Next to the thread, and any messages posted under that thread, is the option to "Reply". 3. Click "Reply" next to the item to which you wouldlike to respond. You will go to the Reply to Forum Thread page. This page is similar to the Compose New Forum Message page, described above. 4. Enter your title, message, and any attachments. 5. Post your reply. Organizing your Forum You can change the order of forums and topics housed within the Forum tool. You cannot change the order of threads and messages because they are posted and replied to depending on context. 1. On the Forums tool main page, at the top, click "Organize". You will go to the Organize Forums and Topics page, which lists all your forums and topics. 2. Use the drop-down number lists to reorder forums and the topics within them. 3. Click the "Save" button to save your changes. Changing Notification Options You can tell Scholar whether or not to email you when someone's posted to the forum. 1. On the Forums tool main page, at the top, click "Options". You will go to the Watch Forums Options page.
Scholar for Research, Collaboration and Administration 15 2. Use radio buttons to select how you wouldlike to be notified of new postings, and save. Chat Room Tool You can use Scholar's Chat Room tool to communicate with collaborators, hold online office hours, or for student group projects. The Chat Room can be set to save messages, recording your communication. Chat Room Features When you add the Chat Room tool to a Scholar site, it automatically creates a chat room for you. 1. Click "Chat Room" on the left-hand menu. You will go to your default chat room. 2. Each chat room has: the "View" drop-down menu, where you select whether to display Date, Time and ID in the main window, the "View Messages from..." drop-down menu, where you select how many messages to display, the main chat window where messages are shown, the "Users in Chat" box, that lists users in the chat room, and the "Enter chat message" box, where you type your chat messages and add them to the main chat window by clicking the "Add message" button. Adding and Deleting Chat Rooms You can add additonal chat rooms to your Scholar site. For example, one chat room can be for office hours, and another for student group work. Adding a Chat Room 1. Click "Chat Room" on the left-hand menu. You will go to your default chat room. 2. At the top of the page, click "Options". You will go to the Manage Rooms page, where your chat rooms are listed. If you have more than one chat room, you will see "Change Room" at the top of a chat room page. Clicking this will also bring you to the Manage Rooms page. 3. Add a chat room by clicking "Add Room" at the top of the Manage Rooms page. You will go to the Add Room page. 4. Enter a title and description for the new chat room. 5. Under Recent Chat Display, choose whether to display all messages, no messages, a certain number of past messages, or messages from a specified number of days in the past.
Scholar for Research, Collaboration and Administration 16 6. Check "Allow chat participants to change the chat display settings for their own chat window" if you would like users to have access to the "View" and "View Messages from..." drop-down menus. 7. Click the "Update Options" button. Editing, Deleting, and Setting Default Chat Rooms 1. Click "Chat Room" on the left-hand menu. You will go to your default chat room. 2. At the top of the page, click "Options" or "Change Room." You will go to the Manage Rooms page. Here your chat rooms are listed, with the following options below each title: "Edit Delete Clear History Set as Default". 3. Clicking "Edit" will bring you to the Edit Room page, similar to the Add Room page. Here you can change the Recent Chat Display settings, as in step 5 above. 4. Clicking "Delete" will delete a chat room. Scholar will ask you to confirm your decision. 5. Clicking "Clear History" will delete old messages in a chat room. Scholar will ask you to confirm your decision. 6. If you have multiple chat rooms, those rooms that are not set as default will have the option to "Set as Default." The default chat room is the one that Scholar goes to when you enter the Chat Room tool. Chat Room Permissions All chat rooms in a Scholar site will have the same permissions. You can access the Permissions page from multiple pages within the Chat Room tool. 1. Click "Chat Room" on the left-hand menu. You will go to your default chat room. 2. At the top of any chat room, click "Permissions". You will go to the Permissions page. Alternately, click "Options" or "Change Room". You will go to the Manage Rooms page. At the top of this page, click "Permissions". You will go to the Permissions page. 3. Place a check in the box under the site role, and beside the action you wouldlike people in that role to be able to perform. 4. Click the "Save" button. What is a Wiki? Wiki Tool Wiki means "quick" in Hawaiian. A Wiki is a collaborative web document, like Wikipedia. In Scholar, you and your site participants can create and edit documents using the Wiki tool.
Scholar for Research, Collaboration and Administration 17 o Older versions are saved, and you can revert to them at any time. o You can set editing permissions. You can use a Wiki for collaborative class projects and meeting agendas. Wikis can be exported into MS Word for further editing. Using Scholar's Wiki Tool Starting your Wiki 1. When you click "Wiki" in the left-hand menu, you enter the Wiki tool. You are automatically in view mode, and are looking at the Wiki tool main page. The home page has text to help new users get started. 2. To edit this page, which is also your wiki home page, click "Edit" at the top. You will go to the Edit page. The Edit page content (left-hand) pane is a text editor similar to the rich text editor, but you need to use codes to format your text. Notice the starter text is in the box. The right-hand pane is for Wiki Tips, and can be shown/hidden as desired. To see all of the formatting codes, click "More hints on Wiki formatting" at the bottom of the Wiki Tips pane. 3. Delete the starter text and type your text in the Edit page content box. Include any formatting features. For example: Changing colors - The default color for text is black. To produce "This is red text" use the formatting code: {color:red} This is red text {color} Making a subpage - If you want to create a new wiki page and link to it from the home page, place the new page's name in [square brackets]. When you save it and go to view mode, the page name will have a "?" after it until you add content to the subpage. Linking to existing pages - Link to existing pages in a wiki by putting the name of the page within square brackets: [Iguana]. When you have done that and saved your edits, it will look like: Iguana. The "?" should not appear if the page already exists. 4. Use the Preview tab to preview your content. 5. When finished, click the "Save" button. You will go back to view mode, and be on the home page. 6. To edit a new page, click its link in the home page. You will go to the new page, still in view mode. Click "Edit" at the top, you will go to edit mode. Make your changes and save.
Scholar for Research, Collaboration and Administration 18 Reverting to Older Versions of Wiki Pages 1. On any wiki page, at the top, click "History." You will go to the History page, where the page version, user who modified that version, and date modified are tabulated. 2. Under "Revert?" and next to the version you wouldlike to revert to, click "Revert to this version," and confirm your decision. The Wiki tool will revert to that page. Notifications on Wikis You can set the Wiki tool to notify you when a wiki page has been modified. 1. On a wiki page, at the top, click "Watch." You will go to the Watch page. 2. Use the radio buttons to select whether to be notified: whenever this page (or something in the wiki) is changed, once a day, or not at all. 3. If you were in the home page when you clicked "Watch," the settings will propagate to all subpages UNLESS you go to the Watch page for each subpage and clear the radio button next to "(For wiki subsections-only) Just do the same as for the main wiki notifications." Wiki Permissions and Information You can set permissions for each page in your wiki. 1. At the top of the page you want to set permissions for, click "Info." You will go to the Info page. The table at the top of the Info page determines permissions. 2. Place a check in the box next to "Enable/Disable on this page?" and in the appropriate column to allow users to perform an action. Remove the check to not grant permission for that action. 3. Under "Additional Page Permissions," place checks in the boxes to allow the wiki owner or public (site members) to read, edit and perform admin activity on the page. 4. Save permissions. 5. Below the permissions tables, site information is posted. Next to "Incoming?" pages linking to the current page are listed. Next to "Outgoing?" links in the current page are listed. You can also: o see who's commented on the site, o look at your notification preferences, o determine page owner, o page url (next to global name), and o when the page was last edited.
Scholar for Research, Collaboration and Administration 19 Messages Tool The Messages tool one of two tools in Scholar for sending email. The Messages tool can send messages within Scholar, or have them forwarded to participants' email accounts. You can contact individual students, groups, or all site participants. The Email Archive tool can also be used to contact site members via email. It is different from the Messages tool in that: o You need to log into Scholar to use the Messages tool, but you can send email to the Email Archive tool from your email account. o With the Messages tool, you can sub-select site members, groups and sections to whom to send emails. If you use the Email Archive tool, you can't subselect recipients. The email will be sent to all site members. o The Messages tool displays recipients' messages in Scholar, with the option to forward them to members' email accounts. The Email Archive tool only forwards email to recipient email accounts. The Messages tool saves messages on Scholar, and all Scholar sites are routinely backed up. Scholar administrators and technicians can access sites and their backups, so encourage students to send private or personal messages through regular email. Creating and Sending a Message 1. Click "Messages" on a Scholar site's left-hand menu bar. You are now in the Messages tool. On this page, the number of messages Received, Sent and Deleted from the site is shown. 2. To create a new message, click "Compose Message" at the top of the Messages tool. You will go to the Compose a Message page, shown below. 3. Choose the message recipients from the "To" box. Select recipients by role, section, group or name. 4. Place a check in the "Send Email" box if you wouldlike a copy of the message to be sent to the recipients' email addresses. 5. Select message priority with the "Label" drop-down menu. 6. Enter message content in the "Message" box. 7. Add an attachment with the "Add attachments" button. 8. Click the "Send" button to send the message. Alternately, click: the "Preview" button to view the message, the "Save Draft" button to save a draft, or the "Cancel" button to cancel message composition without saving changes. Message Folders 1. Create a new folder for messages by clicking "New Folder" at the top of the Messages tool. You will go to the Messages - Create Folder page.
Scholar for Research, Collaboration and Administration 20 2. Enter the folder title, and click "Add. 3. To delete the folder, next to the folder name in the Messages tool, click "Folder Settings". You will go to the Messages - Folder Settings page. 4. Click the "Delete" button. Message Settings By default, students can send each other messages on Scholar. You can determine whether or not these messages get forwarded to their email accounts. o Let students know who has access to the messages tool, and that messages are saved, so they can protect their privacy. You can forward all messages to an email address for record keeping. o If you auto forward messages to a third party, inform your students so they can protect their privacy. 1. To access these settings, at the top of the Messages tool, click "Settings". You will go to the Messages - Settings page. 2. Select the desired settings. Allow/disallow students to send messages to each others' email addresses. Forward/do not forward all messages to an email address, and specify that address. 3. Click the "Save Settings" button. Announcements Tool The Announcement tool posts announcements to your Scholar site. Announcements are forwarded to each student's My Workspace area, and you can also choose to send a copy to participants' email accounts. With the Announcement tool, you can: post announcements to a Scholar site, set display dates for announcements, update posted announcements, view past announcement versions, send a copy of announcements to participants' email addresses, rearrange announcements in a site, restrict announcements to specific groups, grant students access to post announcements, and display announcements on multiple sites. Adding an Announcement 1. Click "Announcements" on a Scholar site's left-hand menu bar. You will go to the Announcements tool main page.
Scholar for Research, Collaboration and Administration 21 2. At the top of the page, click "Add." You will go to the Add Announcement page. 3. Next to "Announcement title," enter an announcement title. 4. Under "Body," enter the announcement text in the rich text editor 5. You can add images or web links to your announcement. See the Rich Text Editor lesson. o If you are importing announcements from one Scholar site to another, (see the Importing Materials to a New Scholar Site lesson), and you have added images to your announcements, make sure the Resources folder housing the images is not hidden, and that it is set to be publicly viewable. If the images' folder in Resources is hidden or not publicly viewable, you won't be able to see the images in a different site. o To change Resources folder show/hide settings and accessibility, go to "Edit Details" and/or see the Resources lesson. 6. Scroll down. 7. Under "Access", use the radio buttons to select whether the announcement will be visible to site members only, to all Scholar users, or to selected groups. If you have created groups or have multiple sections in your site, clicking "Displays this announcement to selected groups only" will display those sections and/or groups. If you do not have sections or groups in your site, no groups will be displayed. 5. Under "Availability", use the radio buttons to select when the announcement will be posted. Tell the Announcements tool to show it immediately, save it as a draft and hide it, or specify display dates. 6. Click the "Add Attachments" button to add an attachment to the announcement. 7. Use the "Email Notification" drop-down menu to decide whether or not to forward the announcement to site members' email addresses. 8. Click the "Preview" button to view your announcement. 9. Click the "Add Announcement" button to add it. Changing an Announcement You can change announcement content and show/hide dates. 1. Go to the Announcements tool main page. Each announcement is listed. If you want to delete an announcement, place a check in the box under "Remove?" and next to the announcement's title. Then click the "Update" button. Confirm the removal. The announcement will be deleted. 2. To edit an announcement, click "Edit" next to the announcement's title. You will go to the Edit Announcement page, which is nearly identical to the Add Announcement page. 3. Make changes to announcement title, text, access and/or availability and attachments.
Scholar for Research, Collaboration and Administration 22 4. If there is more than one version of the announcement, "See revision history" will be listed under "Email Notification". Click it to view past versions of the announcement. 1. Click the "Save Changes" button. Reordering Announcements To change the order of announcements in a site: 2. At the top of the Announcement main page, click "Reorder". You will go to the Reorder Announcements page. 3. Drag and drop the announcement titles into the desired order. 4. Click the "Update" button. Setting Announcement Permissions You can determine which site roles can read, add, and delete announcements. 1. Go to the Announcements tool main page. 2. Click "Permissions" at the top of the page. You will go the Permissions page. 3. Use the check boxes in the chart to determine what site roles can perform which actions. 4. Click the "Save" button. Email Archive Tool Scholar has a listserv-like tool called Email Archive. You can email all site participants directly from your email account without having to log on to Scholar by using the Scholar listserv address you create. Email Archive, as its name suggests, also keeps a record of sent email messages. Adding an Email Archive Address You need to create a separate Email Archive address for each site. Emailing to this address, from any account, will distribute email messages to that site's participants. When you create the site and select tools, or add the Email Archive tool through Site Info, you will be asked to enter an email address.
Scholar for Research, Collaboration and Administration 23 Email Archive Options 1. Click on "Email Archive" on a Scholar site's left-hand menu bar. You will go to the Email Archive tool main page. 2. That page lists: the email address you have set for the Email Archive tool, archived email messages, and a search box for searching archived email messages. 3. To change the Email Archive options, at the top of the Email Archive tool main page, click "Options". You will go to the Customize Email Archive page. 4. By choosing radio buttons or entering text, you can: decide if anyone, or just site participants, can email into the Email Archive tool, set the reply-to address, and change the email address associated with the Email Archive tool. 5. Then click "Update Options" to save changes. Email Archive Permissions You can set permissions for the Email Archive tool depending on a site participant's role. 1. Go to the Email Archive tool main page. 2. Click "Permissions". You will go to the Permissions page. 3. Use the check boxes to select what roles can read, send and delete email from the Email Archive. 4. Click the "Save" button. Communication Tool Comparison
Scholar for Research, Collaboration and Administration 24 Calendar Tool Set appointments and deadlines for your course. Categorize appointments into activities, exams and more. Copy appointments from one site's Calendar to another. Import calendars from Outlook, Meeting Maker or comma-separated files. Decide which calendar fields to include. Determine which site roles can add, remove and view events on the Calendar. Viewing the Calendar 1. Click "Calendar" on a Scholar site's left-hand menu. You will go to the Calendar tool. In the screenshot below, the Calendar by Day view is selected. From the "View" drop-down list, select how you wouldlike to display the calendar: by day, week, month, year or as a list of events.
Scholar for Research, Collaboration and Administration 25 Use the buttons to the top right of the page to previous and subsequent days, months and years. Click "Printable Version" to open a window with a PDF version of the Calendar. Click "Set as Default View" to make the view you chose (day, week, month, year or event list) the default. Click on a date to show that day's events. The Calendar will go to the Calendar by Day page, also accessible by choosing "Calendar by Day" from the "View" dropdown list. In any view, click on an appointment title to view that appointment's details. Click the "Back to Calendar" button to go back to the Calendar. The legend lists icons and their categories. Importing Calendars from Outlook, Meeting Maker or CSV file Note: you can only import calendars that are in comma-separated (CSV) or tab-delimited files. Most calendar applications, like MS Outlook, will not export to these file types. 1. Click "Calendar" on a Scholar site's left-hand menu. You will go to the Calendar tool. 2. At the top of the page, click "Import". You will go to the Import Calendar page, Step 1 of 3. if you don't see "Import", you don't have permission to import a calendar. Edit permissions by clicking "Permissions" at the top of the Calendar tool main page. You will go to the Permissions page. Check the box next to "Import events" and below your role in the site. Click the "Save" button. Then go back to step 2 above. 3. Click the radio button beside the type of calendar file you are importing: Microsoft Outlook, Meeting Maker or Generic calendar import. 4. Click the "Continue" button. You will go to Step 2 of 3, where you must browse and upload your calendar file.
Scholar for Research, Collaboration and Administration 26 5. Click the "Choose File" button. A browser window will open. 6. Browse for and select the calendar file you want to import. 7. Click the "Choose" button. You will go back to the Calendar Import, Step 2 page. 8. Click the "Continue" button. You will go to Calendar Import, Step 3 of 3, where you verify your imported events. 9. You should see a preview of the items to be imported. Uncheck any items that you don't want to import. If you don't see a preview, or if you get an error message, Scholar could not import your calendar file. Make sure the file is a CSV, Outlook or Meeting Maker file. 10. Click the "Import Events" button. Changing Calendar Permissions 1. Go to the Calendar tool. 2. Click "Permissions" at the top of the Calendar tool main page. You will go to the Permissions page. 3. Place checks in the boxes next to tasks, and below site roles, that you wouldlike people in those roles to be able to perform. 4. Click the "Save" button. The Sign Up tool lets advisors: Sign Up Tool set up a sign-up sheet for meetings with students, assign students to timeslots, allow students to sign up for their own timeslots, change timeslot length, give comments, release sign up to students in multiple Scholar sites, and track attendance. Adding a Meeting 1. Go to the Sign Up tool by clicking "Sign Up" on the left-hand menu bar. You will go to the Meetings page. 2. At the top of the Meetings page, click "Add". You will go to the Create New Meeting page. 3. Enter a title, location and description for the meeting. Scroll down. 4. Add an attachment (if desired), enter start and end times, and determine when sign-up begins and ends. 5. Check the box next to "Attendance" if you want the Sign Up tool to track meeting attendance. 6. Next to "Available To:"
Scholar for Research, Collaboration and Administration 27 decide to whom you want to release the sign up. It can be the current site, groups within the current site, or click the " + " next to "Other Sites" to show other Scholar sites to which you can release access to meeting sign up. 7. Under to "Meeting Type" select whether you want to set single or multiple time slots, or to leave the meeting time open for walk-ins. 8. Enter the number of participants per slot. 9. If you chose to set multiple timeslots, in the blue box next to "Meeting Type" enter the number of slots you want. The duration per timeslot will be calculated and displayed for you. 10. Click the "Next" button. You will go to the Meeting Summary page. 11. Double-check meeting information. Scroll down. 12. Choose whether you: want display participant names, if you want to be notified via email when participants sign up and cancel, and if you want to send all potential participants an email about the meeting. 13. Click "Show the other default settings" to view other changeable settings. 14. Choose whether you want to: add a wait list, allow participants to add comments, let users to input their User IDs, send auto-reminder emails to participants, add the meeting to the site's Calendar tool, and assign a maximum number of times lots per participants. 15. Click the: "Publish" button to add the meeting, "Assign Participants & Publish" button to start adding participants (you sign them up), "Back" button to go back and make changes, or "Cancel" button to cancel without saving changes. 16. You will go back to the Meetings page. If you published the meeting, it will appear there. Adding Participants Manually Adding Participants To add participants to time slots in an existing meeting,
Scholar for Research, Collaboration and Administration 28 1. On the Meetings page, locate the name of the meeting to which you want to add participants. Click it. You will go to the Meeting Details page for that meeting. At the bottom of the page is time slot and participant information. 2. Locate the time slot to which you want to add a participant. Under "Participants" and next to that time slot, click "Add Participant." 3. A drop-down list with the names of possible participants will appear. 4. Select the participant from the drop-down list. Click the "OK" button. Letting Participants Add Themselves 3. Participants/students will see the Meetings page when they enter the Sign Up tool. 4. They click a meeting name to go to that meeting. 5. Then, they click "Sign Up" buttons to sign themselves up for a time slot. Modifying and Copying a Meeting You can change a published meeting. You can copy a published meeting, duplicate it, and change the date and time information to make a new, similar meeting. Modifying a Meeting 1. On the Meetings page, click the meeting name you want to modify. You will go to the Meeting Details page for that meeting. 2. At the top of the Meeting Details page, click "Modify". You will go the Modify Meeting page, which is similar to the Create New Meeting page. 3. Make changes. Publish the modifications. Copying a Meeting 1. On the Meetings page, click the name of the meeting you want to copy. You will go to the Copy this Meeting page for that meeting, which is similar to the Create New Meeting page. 2. The time and date settings are those in the original meeting. Make changes for your new, copied meeting. 3. Click the "Publish New Meeting" button. The new meeting will be added. Checking Attendance To enable attendance checking, you must place a check in the box next to "Attendance" when creating a meeting (the Create New Meeting page) or modifying a meeting (the Modify Meeting page). For meetings where attendance has been enabled, on the Meetings page, you will see "Attendance" under "Status".
Scholar for Research, Collaboration and Administration 29 1. Click "Attendance" next to the meeting where you want to enter attendance information. You will go to the Attendance page for that meeting. It displays who signed up for each time slot. 2. Place a check in the box next to those who've attended. 3. Save. Meeting Permissions You can change Sign Up tool permission settings for site members, allowing them to create their own meetings. You can also restrict certain meetings to certain groups. To do so, 1. at the top of the Meetings page, click "Permissions". You will go to the Permissions page. 2. Use the checks to determine the actions those in each site role can perform. Exporting Meeting Information You can export meeting, time slot and participant information. To do so, 1. at the top of the Meetings page, click "Export". You will go to the Export Meetings page. 2. Place a check next to the meetings you wouldlike to export. 3. Click the "Export" button. 4. The meeting will be exported into a MS-Excel readable format. Save it to your computer.
30 Scholar for Research, Collaboration and Administration Workshop Checklist Scholar site types o Project sites o Course sites o eportfolio sites Creating a project site Site Info and site settings o Adding non-vt participants Collaboration tools o Resources Resources permissions o Forums o Chat Room o Wiki Communication tools o Messages o Announcements o Email Archive o Communication tool comparison Scheduling tools o Calendar o Sign Up
31 Browser Recommendations Help! I Need Support! Mozilla Firefox 12 and newer Internet Explorer 9 Chrome 18 and newer Safari 5.1 Most Scholar functions have been tested with all four browsers and versions listed above. That does not guarantee every feature will work perfectly in all four browsers, but we are committed to doing our best to support all four. If you suspect a browser-related problem, we encourage you to try another browser and to promptly report the issue to 4Help at http://www.4help.vt.edu. Online Resources and Scholar Training For instructions on site creation, importing course materials, and TA permissions, see the Instructor s Checklist at: http://help.scholar.vt.edu/instructor%27schecklist.html For instructions with screenshots and for answers to How do I? questions, go to Scholar s Inline Help. In Scholar s left-hand menu bar, click. Use the search box or the alphabetical index to find your information. For Scholar FAQs, handouts, and videos, see the Online Learning & Collaboration Services (OLCS) website: http://www.olcs.lt.vt.edu/scholar/scholar.html. For Scholar short courses and one-on-one training, visit the Faculty Development Institute (FDI) website: http://www.fdi.vt.edu/, click the appropriate term, and register for Scholar training. You will need to log in with your PID and password. Live Help For questions, comments, suggestions, bug reports, or anything that needs attention, please use the 4Help web form at http://4help.vt.edu/ or call 540-231-HELP (4357). When requesting assistance, include as much of the following information as possible: your name and PID, the browser and operating system, the Scholar site s title, the course name, course #, and instructor s name, any complete error messages you may have saved, the day, time and what you were doing when the error occurred, and any solutions you have already attempted. For in-depth assistance or for a consultation concerning instructional strategies and Scholar tools, sign-up for an In-Person Help session or a One-on-One session through the FDI at http://www.fdi.vt.edu.