Etudes NG
We will be moving over to Etudes NG in Fall 2006 at Mission College. Faculty who wish to teach an online class in Fall 2006, must receive training in etudes - ng, or pass a proficiency exam (if it is using another course management system)
If you are interested in developing materials to use online or in your classroom you will want to train in Etudes NG during Winter, or Spring 2006. This is done entirely online.
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click here Winter
2006: January 17 - January 27, 2006 - pre-register by January
9th, February 06 - February 17, 2006 - pre-register by January
27th, (there are additional training sessions on2/27 3/20, 4/10,
5/01, 5/22, and 6/12. We will no longer train in the Etudes "Classic"
system, and will only train in Etudes NG.What is Etudes - it means "Easy to Use Distance Education" Software - a course management system which assists the instructor to deliver webcontent to students online or for use in the "on campus" classroom - i.e. syllabus, class notes, lecture notes, assignments, cases, case problems and solutions, formulas, outlines, and the like.
What is Etudes "Classic" - this is the original Etudes formulated in 1995, and delivered through Foothill College. Mission College and the rest of the L.A. Community College District have been using Etudes Classic to deliver web content since 2003. Etudes Classic will no longer be supported after July 1, 2007, and it will be replaced by Etudes NG - a faster, better, and newer improved course management system.
features of Etudes "Classic" - Consistent interface across classes, Easy to use navigation tools, Easy to learn e-mail, discussion, etc. tools, One interface for all course-related communication and activities, Ability to access multimedia materials, Easy to use Bulletin Boards - threaded discussion, Access by students to their their own grades
What is Etudes NG (Next Generation) - ETUDES-NG is stylish looking, fast loading, and fun to use, and a better Etudes system. Melete, a Java-based Sakai lesson builder tool - new powerful editor - "The availability of word processor-like formatting tools provides for the quick creation of attractive, readable, and easy to navigate pages," The calendar is another tool that received high marks by users. Events are automatically added to the calendar from assignments and announcements. Math, physics, and chemistry, instructors were happy to learn that there is even a formula feature. The global calendar is quite customizable and displays all the events posted in the calendars of all the courses users are enrolled in. The global calendar feature is especially useful for users with poor time management and study skills. The single log-in feature is outstanding and a real time-saver. You arrive at a personal workspace that is your one-stop gateway to all of your ETUDES Sites. No more multiple URLs and multiple logins!"
What is JForum (newly developed discussion boards)? JForum Discussion & Private Messages is an easy-to-use, yet robust tool that offers industry-standard discussion functionality to users. Instructors can set up unlimited categories and forums, moderate topics (move, edit, delete, lock, or unlock topics), read recent topics and mark them as read, watch and bookmark topics, and much more. Additionally, JForum comes with built-in private messaging that allows site members to communicate privately while discussing issues or collaborating on projects. JForum has a familiar (php board) graphical user interface. Supports MySQL.
Faculty from 17 ETUDES Alliance member colleges participated in an early pilot of ETUDES-NG in the spring of 2005. ETUDES-NG is a collaboration and learning environment based on the Sakai open course platform. Foothill, the first institution to partner with the Sakai Project, is collaborating closely with the Sakai technical teams, and is building tools upon the Sakai framework to meet the unique needs of its community college members and users.
What is the Sakai Open Source Project? The University of Michigan, Indiana University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Stanford University have each agreed to grant copyright license to the Sakai Foundation. The Foundation provides a permanent home for the software and an independent coordinating organization for the Sakai Community. “This grant from the four Sakai Project founders gives the Sakai Foundation a clear lineage of copyright for the Sakai software code,” said Joseph Hardin, Sakai Project Chairman of the Board. “Like the Apache Foundation, the Sakai Foundation will use a contributor agreement for all contributions, and we thought the founding universities should lead by example in being the first to freely contribute their code.”
How to Get Started:
1 Take the online training on Etudes NG - Winter and Spring 2006 online classes -
click
here2. Upon completion of training in Etudes NG - obtain a developmental course classroom
3. Develop your class room materials. If you are currently using Etudes, then you will configure your new Etudes NG classroom.
4. In Fall 2006 your developmental etudes ng classroom will be open and available to your students.
5. If you are going to teach more than 50% of your class online in Fall 2006, you need to first update your course outline through the Curriculum Committee, and then you will need to receive training in etudes or pass "equivalency" or "proficiency" examinations delivered by the Committee for Distance and Distributive Learning (DDL) before teaching online.
Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact David Jordan at jordandc@laccd.edu or abogado@pacbell.net.
good luck, and let us know how we can help,