Getting
Started with
ETUDES
A
step-by-step Guide
and
Workshop
Prepared by Vivian Sinou, Dean of Distance & Mediated
Learning, Foothill College
ETUDES Support Site: http://foothillglobalaccess.org/etudes/
Table
of Contents
Change your course title (also shows on the portal):
Adding “Test” Student Accounts:
Creating “Submissible” Assignments
Understanding
How Assignment Submissions Work
Setting the Base Date (for follow-up terms)
Change the Theme of Your Course
Change the
Background Colors ("ETUDES Classic" theme)
Other Methods for Creating Content
Uploading a Web Page (or Document) for a Lesson
Part 1:
Getting Started
Logging On
1. Locate your ETUDES shell (on your campus or our general portal).
2. Enter the default User ID and Password and click the Submit button.
The default user ID and Password (case sensitive) are:
User ID: admin
Password: foothill
3. Enter the default Administrator Code.
Administrator Code: LFN
(upper case).
The
admin code gives you an extra layer of security. Students don't have an admin
code.
Note:
The default admin code was coined by Michael Loceff, the developer of ETUDES.
Michael is a professor in the CTIS division at Foothill College. He's also a
screenwriter on the TV series "24." When he began programming ETUDES,
he was also writing "La Femme Nikita," hence the
LFN code.
4. Click the Continue button
to enter your ETUDES Classroom.
5. You are now logged on and inside your ETUDES classroom.
Changing your
ADMIN CODE
For security reasons, it is critical that you change the
default admin code of your shell. Every ETUDES shell comes with the
same password and admin code. It is a safe practice to change them ASAP. To
change your admin code, follow these steps ONCE YOU ARE LOGGED ON:
1. Click the Miscellaneous link in the left frame.
2. Click the Admin Code button as indicated by the arrow cursor below.
3. Type in a new admin code (again, make it something you will
remember). Whatever you type will appear in asterisks. Enter the code again in
the text box below, then click the Submit button.
The next time you log on, you will have to use your new admin
code.
4. Write down your new admin code!
Changing your
Password:
1. Click the Student Info link in the left frame.
2. From the Student: dropdown menu which says **Select a Student**, select Instructor.
3. Click the Edit button.
4. Delete the default password foothill, and type in a
password of your own (that you will remember). In this example (screen shot
below), the password erving is typed in.
5. Click Submit to accept the changes.
|
Save Your LOGIN Information: admin
code & password |
|
Save
them in both hard copy and in a text document on a computer disk. |
Change your course title (also shows on the portal):
To change the site's title in a brand new shell from
"Untitled" to your course name,
1. Click on the Miscellaneous link in the left frame, and
click the Course ID button.
2. Replace the default "Untitled Course" with the title
of your course.
3. Click the Save and Done button.
The next time you access the logon screen, the new title will
appear.
Note: The course title changes will be reflected on the portal
page an hour after you change it. These changes are refreshed by a auto-script
that is run regularly on the ETUDES server.
Adding “Test”
Student Accounts:
You will now add two test student accounts to review your work
from the student perspective.
Assuming you are still logged on as an admin into your own ETUDES
shell....
1. Select the Student Info link from the left navigation
frame.
2. Click the Add/Reinstate button.
3. Type in a fake last name for the student, a first
name, and a student ID.
For the purposes of this practice course, let's set up the
following fake student. Make it simple:
Last name: a
First name: a
Login ID: a
Password: a
Anytime you want to check your work from the student side, log
into your ETUDES shell by entering:
username: a
password: a
It will make it a quick process. You can set up a more complicated
account later. No need to worry about passwords now.
Let’s add a second student
account (with unlimited access to dated material):
4.
REPEAT steps 2-3 and add a SECOND student. Use whatever first and last name you
wish.
For
User ID and password, use:
User
ID: teach
Password: teach
5.
Check the "unlimited access to dated material" box, and click on
"Add this Student."
Unlimited
access will ensure that all the content can be accessed.
As you can see, adding student accounts is easy. However, if you have
a large class, it can be a tedious process. See if your campus can set up
auto-importation of student rosters.
Part 2: Developing
Content
Creating Classroom
Lessons
Log into YOUR ETUDES shell as an
admin to begin.
1. Click on the Classroom link in the left frame.
2. Click on the New button in the bottom frame.
3. Enter a title for your lesson (Classroom session).
4. Click on the Add this to course button in the bottom
frame.
5. You can set the start and stop dates for the lesson
availability. You would set these if you want students to only be able to
access the lecture for a specific time period. The lesson will not be
accessible to students prior to the start date and after the stop date.
Note: Leaving the default at Open will ensure that the lecture is
available for the entire term.
6. Click the New Section button.
A text area will appear. You can type directly into this area or
copy and paste words from a lecture or lesson you have prepared in another
program, such as Microsoft Word.
You can also type the name of a section title for your lecture, as
is done below.
The "Major" label shown in the drop-down box allows you
to select the size of the header for the title. If you don't want a title for a
section, select "none" from the drop-down menu.
The Fixed, Indented, and Italic and HTML-paste
check boxes on the left format the text in the window. Try them out. If you
copy sections of HTML code from another document, make sure you get the open
and ending tags and then paste into ETUDES and check the HTML Paste box. If you
paste HTML without checking in the HTML Paste box, you will get gaps of white
space when you preview your work. You can type text in the window without
checking any boxes.
7. Click the Preview button to see what the page will look
like to your students.
8. To leave the preview window and return to your lesson to continue
adding content, click the close box in the upper left (MacOS) or upper right
(Windows) corner of the browser window, depending on your operating system.
9. You can continue to add sections to your lecture by scrolling
down inside the text area and clicking the New Section button.
You can add visuals to your lecture by uploading an image directly
into ETUDES. To do this, click the Media/Link button at the bottom. But,
we’ll practice that later…..
10. Click the Save Changes button. You should make a
habit of clicking the Save Changes button often.
Continuation
pages
You may also experiment with another feature of ETUDES that allows
you to break up lessons into pages. To do so, click the Continuation Page
button (save your work when prompted) and work on a new page in this lesson.
This is a great way to break up a long lesson so that students do not have to
scroll down forever. This method forces you to chunk down your lesson into
meaningful bites.
Remember to check the HTML box if you add any HTML code to ETUDES
to prevent formatting problems. If you cut and paste a table from an HTML
editor or Word into ETUDES, select the HTML paste checkbox to retain the code
and formatting.
And this concludes how to create a lesson using the built-in
template of ETUDES.
Creating
“Submissible” Assignments
To begin, open a NEW browser window and log into YOUR ETUDES
shell as an admin.
1. Click on the Assignments link in the left frame.
2. Click on the New button in the bottom frame.
3. Type a title for the assignment in the text box. For this
example, the words ETUDES from Scratch are typed in. Leave the words Submissible
Assignment visible in the dropdown list.
4. Click the Add this to course button in the bottom frame.
5. If desired, set start and stop dates for assignment
availability.
Do NOT check the attachment OR web page options (boxes) for now. Return to this lesson later to create an assignment where you
check one of these options to allow students to submit assignments as
attachments or web pages, if you wish.
6. Enter the number of points possible for the assignment in the
text box. Leave the due date "same as Assignment stop."
7. Type your Assignment Description into the large text
area provided. If you have your assignment description in another document,
open it outside of ETUDES, and copy what you need. Then paste it into the Assignment
Description text area.
8. Click the Preview Assignment button at the bottom to see
what the problem will look like to your students.
9. Close the preview window.
10. Click the Save Changes button at the bottom.
Note: You can add graphics into either your Assignment Description
in the same manner as you did when creating a lecture. If you don't remember,
just click the Media/Link button and follow the instructions in the window that
appears.
Creating a Test
Note: Make sure your test is inactive (dates set to past or
future) while you're developing it. NEVER revise a test
while it is open and students might be taking it. It can corrupt files and
distort data. Here are the steps for creating a test in
ETUDES:
1. Click on the Tests link in the left frame.
2. Click on the New button at the bottom.
3. Enter a title for your test, then click Add this to course
at the bottom.
4. Set the start and stop dates/times for the test.
You may also set the test to be invisible on the list of tests until a
certain number of specified dates in relationship to the start/stop dates.
Then, set the total points for the test, and the due date, if
different for stop date.
5. Set the points per problem. Points can be assigned by problem
type (true/false, choice, or text) OR category. Categories can be used as the
instructor wishes; they can be thought of as topics or "difficulty
levels." Each problem can be assigned to a group/level.
6. Set the "miscue" penalty (see box in last row
above). The miscue penalty is used in multiple choice questions where one or
multiple choices are correct. The miscue penalty is the points to be taken
off for each choice missed by either checking the wrong box OR
not checking the right box or radio button.
The default miscue penalty value is set to 5 points. If a question is worth 5
points and a tester fails to check off a single box properly, then the tester
gets 5 - 5 = 0 points
7. You may select to randomize the questions in your
test. This part can be done later, once you have a large pool of questions in
your test. Randomization can be set by problem type or level/category
(there are six levels). You can enter the number of problems to be included in
a random test per problem type or category. Each student will get a different
test.
NOTE: If you check "randomize," enter how many questions
the program should randomize.
.8. Set the Test Entry Restrictions and timed testing
settings.
Review the options closely and check the features that you want
included:
a.
Check whether the test must be taken on
first entry (no second entry allowed).
b.
Check whether the test should include a
gateway screen. This shows students the instructions without revealing the test
until they click on "Enter Test."
c.
Check the "Timed Test" box if
you want to limit the time the test must be taken.
d.
You may allocate more time for
"special needs" students (identified as such under Student
Information). All special needs students will get the extended time without
your having to go into special permissions to set each one (though you could do
it that way as well).
e.
Include your own specific instructions
for your students.
Here is an example of what the students will see when they click
on the test link: 
If the "Timed Testing" box is checked with a limit of 60
minutes, the gateway looks like:
9. Set the passing score in percentage (see image below) and
type in your instructions for the test, if no gateway screen is to be used.
10. Click the Choice button to add a new multiple choice
question.
11. After you click the Choice button, a dialog box will
ask if you want to save the current window. Click OK. Type the Premise
(problem) as shown below.
12. Each problem can be ranked by group (or level). This is set at
the drop-down menu by each problem. This feature is useful when randomizing
questions by difficulty or group.
Instructors can create all their test questions first and then
assign levels or groups.
13. Type in your choices (you can have up to 5). Only the ones you
use will be included.
14. To mark the correct choice, check the box above
it. You may include a reason for the correct answer in box labeled
"reason" to reaffirm students' learning. It is not required.
15. You may include a reason for incorrect answers as well to
remediate students. If students get a question wrong, they will immediately
read the reason why they got it wrong. Again, the software does not require
that you include a reason for the right or wrong answer.
TIP: The "reason" does not word-wrap so we advise that you
press the enter or return key when you reach the end of the text area for each
line of type.
16. Preview the problem by clicking the Preview button at
the bottom.
17. Here is what the preview looks like.
When finished previewing the problem, close the window.
18. To create a True-False question, click the T-F button.
19. You will get a dialog box asking if you want to save the
current window. Click OK.
20. Type your premise in the text area under Premise. Click the radio
button in front of TRUE if the answer is true, or click the radio button in
front of FALSE if the answer is false. Enter a reason in the box under Reason
to remediate the incorrect answer, if you want.
21. Click the Preview button to preview the question. This
is what it looks like here.
22. Close the preview window.
23. To create a word, or short answer problem, click the Text
button.
24. You will get a dialog box asking if you want to save the
current window. Click OK.
25. Type in a Premise. You may also include a Model
Answer, if you wish.
26. When you are finished, click the Save Changes button.
27. Click on the back button of your browser and then click on Preview
to see the question.
The final part of creating a test is to define the type of test you want to give.
28. Click on Tests (left frame of ETUDES), and locate your
test from the list.
29. From the Type of Test dropdown menu select
"exam".
30. Click Save Changes at the bottom.
Note: Quizzes and exams are intended to be counted toward the
final grade and can be taken only once. However, you CAN allow students to
retake a test (check the resubmission box next in the grade window). Deciding
whether a test is to appear as a quiz or exam is a matter of taste; quizzes
generally weigh less and cause less stress than exams. The difference is just
semantics.
Part 3: Working as
a Student
Navigation
The navigation of ETUDES on the student side is similar to the
instructor side. The only difference is that two links are missing:
Student Info and MISC.
|
|
|
|
|
It is strongly recommended that
faculty use the software as it was designed, meaning that assignments are
placed under Assignments; lectures, handouts, and lessons are placed under
Classroom, tests under Tests, and so on. If instructors are consistent as to where they place
information, it is highly unlikely that students will get lost in ETUDES.
Confusion occurs when faculty use the software inconsistently. For example, an instructor includes information on
assignments under Assignments AND under Classroom as a way to re-enforce
information. When she makes changes, she often updates one area but forgets
to update the other. Students are presented with conflicting information, as
a result. Another instructor includes her Tests under Assignments because
they are essay exams and she wants students to submit them as attachments.
(You can create essay questions in ETUDES Testing, but they have to be typed
or pasted in a text box). This does not appear to be a good way to work
around a software limitation. How about leaving the "essay exams"
under Assignments but calling them "essays"? If you use it properly, ETUDES can help you stay organized and
will allow your students to find your lectures, assignments, and tests
easily. Explore ways to work within the framework of ETUDES in a way that it
helps you and students. Whatever you do, stay consistent in where you place
information. |
Using Dates for
Pacing
The
tables provided under each ETUDES component (Classroom, Assignments, and Tests)
can serve as calendars for students. They can view quickly when lessons,
assignments, and tests open, close, and when they are due. When assignments and
tests reach three days from when they are due, the due date turns red. This alerts students and they can plan.
Students
can click on "View Grade" (right column) and see if their work
was evaluated and what grade they received. This eliminates the need to email
you to find out if you graded their work.
You
can use the open/close feature of ETUDES to pace your students through the
material by opening a lecture every two weeks, let's say. Most instructors
leave lessons open for the rest of the term, once they open them, so that
students can go back and review things for exams. Others close lessons that
finished to motivate students to complete their reading by a deadline.
Even
if you like to have your lessons open for the whole term so that students can
access everything, setting open/close dates that span the whole term can help
students budget their time. If there are no dates listed, it is easy for time
to get away, but when the first day of the term and the last day of the term
(at the very minimum) is listed, there is a specific time frame provided.
Posting
regular announcements (in the forums) and sending students a weekly message
(under Messages) reminding them of important deadlines, along with some
encouraging words on their work can help them stay on target -- not to mention
that they will appreciate the personal contact. Online students like to be
addressed as a whole. It makes them feel part of a class.
This
is not unnecessary "hand-holding." This is reaching out to students
using the tools available. It can make a difference in student satisfaction,
persistence, and retention.
Viewing Grades
Students
can click on "View Grade" (right column) and see if their work
was evaluated and what grade they received. This eliminates the need to email
you to find out if you graded their work.
Students
can also see how they are doing (what grade they are getting) in the class by
clicking on "My Scores," a link that is provided at the bottom
of the list of Assignments and Tests:
Students
can see the points earned per assignment, homework, test, etc. and the
estimated grade thus far in the term. Traditional students do not have access
to this kind of information.
Under
"My Scores," students can click on the title of the assignment or
test to review what they had been asked to submit, and to see their own
submission and their instructor's comments.
This
information allows students to be on top of their progress.
Part 4: Managing
Your Course
Grading
Assignments
1. To grade an assignment, click on the Assignments
link in the left frame.
Select
the assignment you want to grade. Click on the Grade* button to display
the list of students who submitted assignments. Notice that this Grade* button
contains an asterisk. This means that at least one student in the class has
submitted an assignment that has not yet been graded.
2.
Find the name of the assignment that you want to grade. Click on the link that
says To jump to the first un-graded assignment, click here.
This
will take you to 2 buttons ("grade" and "delete")
above the Student ID and name. Click the grade button. Notice that this
grade button does not have an asterisk but there is an asterisk in the Recorded
score: *. Once you have evaluated the student submission, replace the
asterisk in the Recorded score: area with the points you have determined that
it is worth. You must remove the asterisk. If
you do not, students will not be able to view their grade from the "View
Grade" link under the Assignment.
3.
Time to give students some meaningful feedback. ETUDES allows you to add
comments.
Read
the assignment and add your comments in the text area of the submission. To
differentiate your comments from the student's submission, use the []. tags to
highlight a sentence in red or the [[ tags to open a paragraph
in red and ]] to close an entire paragraph that you want to appear in
red. If you want the change the default tags to something else, you can set the
tags to define your comments in the Miscellaneous Link. Review comment tags in
the next section.
In
the illustration below, the following comments will be highlighted in red:
[]. this was true in the late 1990's but is not as relevant now
[]. Hello J,
[]. Your approach is neither right nor wrong however you made a
good
argument for your case. The top-down, proactive
approach is used more by
In
order for students to view the instructor comments in red, they must click on
the "Display Submission in Separate Window" button.
4.
Erase the asterisk in the text box next to the Done button and enter the
student's score. Click the Done button. The score is automatically
recorded into the ETUDES grading spreadsheet.
5.
To allow the student to resubmit the assignment, assign points for a grade,
check the box to the right of the words "Allow resubmission:" and
then click the Done button.
The
student still has to resubmit before any expiration date you assign (stop date)
or you will have to assign special permissions if the student is to resubmit
after the date
Understanding How
Assignment Submissions Work
Once
a student submits an assignment or test, ETUDES will display a screen informing
that their submission has been received.
|
Successfully
Received! Your
assignment submission has been sent to the instructor, |
In
addition to this confirmation screen, when the student clicks on the
Assignments link in the left frame of their ETUDES classroom, the submitted
assignment will say (received) beneath the link to that assignment. This
eliminates the need for students to message you find out if you received their
work.
If
the link is still active and the student attempts to resubmit without the
instructor granting permission to resubmit, the student sees a message saying
"You have previously submitted this assignment. It
can't be resubmitted until instructor inspects current submission."
Students
can click the View Solution Pages link to view model answers, if
provided and if the instructor has allowed immediate access to solutions.
Clicking
on the View Grade link allows students see your comments and grades on
an assignment. It's helpful to state your grading schedule at the beginning of
the course so students can expect to receive a grade and evaluation within a
specified period of time. This will also eliminate private messages
asking if their assignments and tests have been graded. Finally, students have
access to their scores only; not other students.
Grading Tests
1. To grade a test, click on the Tests link in the left
frame.
This will bring you to the ETUDES Classroom Test Creation and
Maintenance Screen.
2. Click on the Grade* button of the test you wish to
grade. This will display the list of students who submitted the test. Notice
that this Grade* button contains an asterisk. This means that at least one
student in the class has submitted a test that has not yet been graded.
3. Click on the link that says, "To jump to the
first ungraded submission, click here." This will take you to 2
buttons ("grade" and "delete") above the Student ID and
name.
The grade button does not have an asterisk but there is an
asterisk in the Recorded score: *. Once you evaluate the student
submission, erase the asterisk AND enter the score.
4. Click on the Grade button to view the student's test
results.
This will open up the student's responses. ETUDES grades the
objective questions, but you will have to read and evaluate essay questions.
Add your evaluation using comment tags, and add the score next to
the points for the essay (as in Actual *--> in number 3. below).
If you would like to allow a student to retake a test, check the "Allow
resubmission" box. Unlike in assignments where the old score is
retained, when a test is retaken, the first score is overwritten with the
student’s second allowed attempt. The test must be resubmitted within the
start/stop dates set.
5. Click the Done button. The score is be recorded into the
ETUDES grading spreadsheet.
If you are curious about the time a student spent on a test, you
can click on track student time to view accumulated time for test and
the time it was submitted.
The student can click on Display Submission in Separate Window and
see the commented text in red along with their score.
If the student attempts to take the test again, they will get a
message saying "You have previously submitted this
item. It can't be repeated." Notice the word
(taken) below the actual link to the test.
The student can view his/her grade sheet by clicking on My
Scores at the bottom of tests.
Setting
Intervals
To
set login & logout Intervals for your course, log into your shell and
follow these steps:
1.
Click on MISC.
2.
Click the Set Intervals button.
Explanation of the components of this feature:
The
"Minimum Duration" and the "No Activity Timeout" both
affect the way in which students' cumulative usage times are computed. The
"Auto-Logout Timeout" is a safety precaution to help protect students
from accidentally leaving access to their accounts open.
Minimum
Duration: ___ minutes
No Activity Timeout: ___ minutes
Auto-LogOut Timeout: ___ minutes
These
work as follows:
Minimum Duration determines the minimum amount of time a
student is assumed to have used Etudes Classroom, given that they have accessed
the web server.
No Activity Timeout specifies a timeout after which a student
is assumed to have not been working continuously.
For
example, assume the timeout is set to its default value of 30 minutes. If a
student clicks an Etudes Classroom link, and then does so again 15 minutes
later, that entire time is added to their cumulative usage time. It is assumed
that they were working with Etudes Classroom during that time frame. If, on the
other hand, the student had waited 45 minutes between clicks, Etudes Classroom
would assume that they had been doing other things during that time. Only the
Minimum Duration specified above would be added to their cumulative usage
total, not the entire 45 minutes.
Auto-Logout Timeout is used to protect students from
accidentally leaving their sessions running on a shared computer. If a student
has been logged on for more than this amount of time, it is assumed that their
session was left running and they are required to log in again.
The
default is 2, 30, and 210 minutes respectively for the intervals.
Setting
the Base Date (for follow-up terms)
The Base Date feature enables you to set or change the base
date for the course thereby changing all time windows and due dates. Used to
change all course dates at once.
To begin, open a NEW browser window and log into YOUR ETUDES
shell as an admin.
1. Click on MISC on the left frame.
2. Click the Base Date for Course.
Ø
This
page can be used if your course currently has availability, expiration or due
dates corresponding to a previous delivery of the course and you wish to turn
these into new dates appropriate to a future delivery of the course.
Ø
You
can also use this page to correct the availability, expiration or due dates of
your course by shifting it forward or backward in time by a fixed number of
days.
Ø
Any
date may be selected for your old base date, even one that is not currently
used as an availability or expiration date. However, it is easiest if you use a
date that represents a defining event such as the first session, assignment or
skills test.
Ø
The
date selected as the new Base Date should correspond to the same event as the
one in the old Base Date.
Ø
If
you wish to simply shift the course forward or backward in time by a certain
number of days, you can arbitrarily select two dates for your Old Base Date and
New Base Date and simply make sure that they are separated by the desired
number of days.
Example
#1:
You originally
offered the course for six weeks starting on Thursday, 4/1/1999 and the dates
are still set according to that start date. You wish offer the course again,
starting Thurs, 1/3/2002. Set the Old Base Date to Thursday, 4/1/1999 and New
Base Date to Thursday, 1/3/2002.
Example #2:
Your course was originally planned to begin on, 5/10/2001
and you set all of your dates according to that start date. Due to scheduling
conflicts, you decide to move it ahead one week. Set the Old Base Date to
Thurs, 5/10/2001 and New Base Date to Thursday, 5/3/2001.
Change the Theme
of Your Course
Our most recent theme additions (E2 Styles) can be previewed
at our ETUDES Support Site. Instructions on how to make one of
these as your default theme are included. Please note that the E2 styles are
not customizable. The classic and other theme styles can be previewed from
within your course (Miscellaneous).
Changing a theme takes a couple of seconds. If you don't like it,
you can switch right away to something else. It is a good idea to not change
themes in the middle of the term. It can confuse students.
Here is how to change your class theme:
To begin, open a NEW browser window and log into YOUR ETUDES
shell as an admin.
1.
Click on the Miscellaneous link
in the left frame to open the ETUDES miscellaneous tasks.
2.
Click on the Choose Theme button
to select a new theme for your course.
3.
From the Theme: dropdown menu, we
selected Cerro Coso - Art theme.
4.
Click the Make Change button to
change the theme to the option you select in the dropdown window.
5.
The check mark to the left of the theme
that is followed by an asterisk is the current theme before you click the Make
Change button.
Setting the
Session Clock
In
addition to changing themes, from the Miscellaneous > Themes
screen, instructors can set the session clock to be visible in the left
navigation frame. The clock is always running in the background. Alerts will remind the user of the time left prior to logout regardless if
the clock is checked to show or not on the left bar.
Session time remaining
status window reports the number of minutes until auto-logout (the default
in ETUDES is set to 250 minutes). Additionally, alerts pop-up for 15, 10, and 3
minutes prior to logout.
Change the
Background Colors ("ETUDES Classic" theme)
If you are using a theme, most of the background colors of the
course will be controlled by cascading style sheets
associated with the theme you selected and cannot be changed. You can
change the background color of the main frame in the Classroom. If you
selected the "Classic ETUDES" theme, you can set the background color
of many areas of your site.
Click the Change Background Colors button in the miscellaneous
link to customize the look and feel of your course.
You can select custom colors for General, Classroom, Forums
(applies to Dialogue Chamber only), Menu, and Buttons. The Background
Color Selector screen has detailed directions how to change the colors and
includes a list of colors and their hexidecimal values which can be useful if
you are matching your colors to a particular theme. The menu bar changes
will not take place until you log off and log back into ETUDES.
Other Methods for
Creating Content
Linking to a Web
Page
If you maintain a website with lectures and resources and you
would like to link to those pages from within the Classroom section of your
ETUDES shell, you can follow the steps provided here to find out how to do it.
This linking method is also useful for those of you who would like to link to
library or other web resources by providing a link for students from the
Classroom list of "sessions."
If this is of no interest to you at this time, you may proceed with
the next section.
Here are the steps to Linking to a Web Page in the ETUDES
Classroom:
Open a NEW browser window and log into YOUR ETUDES shell as
an admin.
1. Click on the Classroom link in the left frame.
2. Click on the New Link/Import button in the bottom frame.
3. Type the URL of the existing Web page into the first text box.
If you don't know the address of any Web pages, open a new browser window, and
surf the web. When you find a page you like, copy the address, go back to
ETUDES, and paste it into the first text box. For the example below we have
entered the URL address for a Flash course that is currently on the web at
Foothill College.
Note: Be sure to include the http:// prefix in your URL.
4. Click the Add this to course button.
5. Title the Session, set the start and stop dates, and click Save
Changes.
6. Click on the BACK button of your browser to return to previous
screen, and then on PREVIEW to see the linked page. From the student view, the
linked page will be viewed inside the main frame.
Uploading a Web
Page (or Document) for a Lesson
To
begin, open a NEW browser window and log into YOUR ETUDES shell as an admin.
1.
Click on the Classroom link in the left frame.
2.
Click on the New Link/Import button in the bottom frame.
3.
Click on the bar ‘Click Here to Upload and/or Use a Page You Have Previously
Designed.’
4.
Click the Browse button, then locate your file, which will end in either a
.html or .htm. Click the Open button.
5.
Click the Upload This File Now button.
6.
When the file gets uploaded, click the Click Here to Preview link at the top of
the window.
7.
You will be able to see whether the page looks correct. If the page has no
embedded graphics, it should look fine. But if it does have embedded graphics,
the broken graphics icon will appear in place of all graphics.
8. Click the Upload Embedded Multi-Media or Link Now button.
9.
Click the Browse button to locate the image file on your computer. Make
sure the file has a .gif or .jpg extension at the end of its name (see proper filenames),
and click Open.
10.
Continue to add each graphic by clicking the Upload more embedded graphics
button and follow the procedure in step 9 to add more .jpg or .gif graphics.
11.
When all your graphics display in the preview, click the Add this to course
button.
12.
Once you have uploaded all of your graphics, click the Preview button to
make sure all of the graphics are visible.
13.
Title the Session, set the start and stop dates, and click Save Changes.
Inserting Images
1. Click on the Classroom
link in the left frame.
2. Click on a lesson (Classroom session) that you want to work
with.
3. Scroll down to the section where you want to insert an
image.
4. Click on the Media/Link button at the bottom of your screen.
5. A new window called the Multimedia Library will appear that
gives you three choices: Link, Upload, or Browse. Since
you are going to upload an image from your computer to ETUDES, you will click
the Upload link.
6. Click the Images button.
7. Click the Browse button to locate the image file on your
computer.
8. Make sure the file
has a .gif or .jpg extension (see proper filenames). Click Open to select it.
You would check the Overwrite if file exists box if you are
re-uploading an image file that you had uploaded previously on the ETUDES
server. You would to do this if you modify the image and re-upload that image.
9. Once you have located the image file, click the Upload This
File Now button.
You will see your image and the accompanying code next to it.
10. Click inside the box of code, and highlight (select) ALL
of the coding. Copy the coding by hitting Control-C in Windows and Apple-C
on the Mac) on your keyboard. If you prefer, you may also highlight the code
and use the Edit Menu - Edit>Copy from the Browser's menu. Make sure you copy all the code, including </TABLE>
11. Once you copy the code, close the window.
12. You're now back at the text area for your section. Place your cursor where
you want the image to go, and paste the code by hitting Control-V (Apple-V on
the Mac) on your keyboard. You may also paste the code by using the Edit Menu -
Edit>Paste from the Browser's menu. The code is inserted.
13. Note the tag called ALT="AN UPLOADED IMAGE". Replace
"an uploaded image" with a descriptive, meaningful explanation of what
your image is all about. This is what screen reader software will read to blind
students who can't see what the image is showing. Providing descriptions (alt
tags) for your images will make your material ADA/section 508 compliant.
14. You can also caption your image or type any text next to it on
either side.
You can describe the image by selecting [*LEFT*] and typing right
over it. If you don’t need a caption on the right side, the entire
<TD>[*RIGHT*]<TD> line can be deleted.
15. Click the Preview button.
16. Close the preview window.
17. Click the Save Changes button.
That's it.
The same exact process is followed to insert images
in assignments and tests. Nice consistency.