Smarthinking

Smarthinking is an online tutoring service offered by Globe Education Network and is easily accessible via the red Tools link in Blackboard. Smarthinking provides academic resources and tutors to assist students in a variety of subject areas: Writing, Accounting, Economics, Finance, Math, Statistics, Science, and Spanish. With Smarthinking, students can:

• Connect With an e-structor and interact with a live tutor.
• Submit Writing for any class to the Online Writing Lab.
• Submit a Question and receive a reply from a tutor.

While all instructors can direct students to Smarthinking, as a course developer, you can implement Smarthinking into course curriculum in a variety of ways, one of which is to have students submit assignments to the Online Writing Lab for feedback from a Smarthinking e-structor. Here’s an example of how this might be done in a course… 

Let’s say students submit a research paper in Unit 11 of their course and you want them to submit a draft of that paper to Smarthinking for feedback before turning in their final draft. In Unit 10, add this external link to the Additional Resources folder:

• Title: Smarthinking Tutorial for Students
• URL: http://www.screencast.com/users/MSB-Globe/folders/Jing/media/32f50399-e869-47ca-87ea-059e255f7871

Then, also in Unit 10, create an assignment where students submit a draft of their paper to Smarthinking. Below are some sample instructions:

Unit 10 Assignment

Smarthinking Paper Submission

To receive additional feedback on your research paper that is due in Unit 11, please submit a draft of your paper to the Online Writing Center at Smarthinking. You can access Smarthinking by clicking on the red Tools link on the left side of your Blackboard Screen. From there you will see the option to submit your writing. Smarthinking provides an excellent opportunity to have your writing reviewed by an expert and obtain valuable feedback you can use as you complete your final draft next week. The more eyes that review your paper, the stronger your final product will be!

For more information about how to use Smarthinking, please view the Smarthinking Tutorial in this unit’s Additional Resources folder.

You will need to allow a 24-hour turn-around time before getting your critiqued paper back, so be sure to plan your time accordingly. Please submit your tutor/e-structor's feedback to me for credit by using the below view/complete assignment link.

As a developer, feel free to revise/refine the approach outlined above to appropriately fit the content of your course(s) and the assignments that would benefit from Smarthinking. If you would like some individualized feedback from me on how Smarthinking can work beneficially for your course(s), please let me know!

SafeAssign

At today's online in-service, I facilitated a session on SafeAssign, a plagiarism and source matching tool built into Blackboard. Implementing SafeAssignments into our courses can help deter plagiarism, teach students about proper source attribution, and provide information for faculty as they decipher and determine possible instances of plagiarism.

If you are developing an assignment with a research component - or if you are redeveloping a course that already contains a research-based assignment - I encourage you to set up the assignment as a SafeAssignment rather than a regular assignment. These assignments are integrated with the Grade Center just like other assignments, but have the added feature of checking for source matching. 

The resources below will help answers many of your questions and illustrate for you how to use SafeAssign in your redevelopment projects:

• Recording of SafeAssign in-service session: View the Elluminate Live! recording 
• SafeAssign Wiki 
• SafeAssign Instructor Manual 
• Tutorials on YouTube: 
• SafeAssign - 411 for Faculty 
• Changing a Course Assignment to a SafeAssignmen

If you have any other questions about SafeAssign, please contact me!

January 20, 2011

Staying true to my promise to share resources for reviving your course(s), I want to remind you about a GEN resource that – while it is no stranger to this blog and was actually a hot topic last week (flashback to the numerous emails about student password changes) – has tremendous potential for adding energy and depth to online course content: Skillsoft

Many of you are likely familiar with this web-based portal that, besides being home to Books 24x7, is overflowing with simulations, training courses, speeches, audio lectures, videos, job aids, and Skillbriefs. There truly is something in Skillsoft for everyone…

To explore all Skillsoft has to offer, click here to access the SkillPort log-in page. Your username and password should be the same: firstinitiallastname (i.e. jdoe). If you have any trouble logging in, contact the GEN Helpdesk.

Once logged in, you can search for resources on a specific topic, skill, or concept. Or, browse the Catalog/Learning Programs to explore the various curriculum tools available in the world of Business, Management, Leadership, IT, Software, HR and Legal Issues, Marketing, Project Management, Communications, Team Building, Finance…the list goes on and on.

Watch this screencast to learn more about two particularly useful pieces of Skillsoft: The Leadership Channel (leadership videos by high profile speakers) and The Business Exploration Series (management/leadership interactive Simulations).

If none of the topics above strike you as applicable to your redevelopment project, consider the “soft skills” resources that are available to help students master skills for facilitating meetings, working in groups, writing, planning, researching, public speaking, and presenting.

Once you identify a Skillsoft resource for your course(s), simply determine how you would like it incorporated into the unit content. Skillsoft items are great as discussion board topics or assignment activities, as well as supplemental exercises, resources, or lectures. If you need some guidance on effectively incorporating an item into your course content, contact me – I can provide you with good examples that work well in other courses. Regardless of your approach, be sure you direct students to the Skillsoft Instructions on the GEN Helpdesk FAQ webpage so they have the information they need to log in and access the resources.

If you have any questions or would like some specific suggestions on ways Skillsoft can benefit your course content, please let me know! I am happy to do the research in Skillsoft or work with you individually on using this resource as a way to REVIVE your redevelopment project!

January 10, 2011

Hello Developers,

Well, it’s January…the time for new beginnings, fresh starts, resolutions…right?

My work-related New Year’s Resolution: Revive the Online Development Blog! This blog has been my demise and I owe it to all of you to get it revitalized…so here goes…

With only one brand new course development this cycle, my blog topics for the next 5 weeks will focus on revival – basic techniques and realistic resources you can use to REVIVE the courses you are redeveloping!

As many of you know, we are looking for ways to enhance the interactive nature of our courses. One of the easiest ways to do this is to ensure we are using resources that are readily available to us…so, I want to take a few moments to remind you to explore and utilize the publisher resources that accompany the textbook for the course(s) you are redeveloping.

Once you receive a copy of the new book, be sure to visit the textbook website and check out any companion resources. If there are practice quizzes, interactive exercises, chapter presentations, or audio lectures, look for ways to incorporate these items into the Blackboard content. In addition, textbook websites usually include useful web links selected to match the course material – these can be excellent Additional Resources for the course units.

If you are unsure how to access instructor materials that require a login, you can usually create an instructor account on the website. Otherwise, contact me for help in gaining access from the publisher.

Bonus! If you are working with a Cengage or Pearson text, GEN has Single-Sign-On accounts that will help you access any online content associated with the textbooks we use. Contact me for the login information: kschmidt@msbcollege.edu.

Tech Tip! Click here for a quick demo on uploading a Document Package to Blackboard – this could be a timesaver for you when it comes to adding chapter PowerPoint presentations from a  Zip file to Blackboard.

Have a great week!