Dropbox - Reading assignments online

Many instructors have asked how to just view student assignments in the dropbox without collecting them and downloading. Dagne Tedla (Political Science) would not take my first answer as "the law of the land." So we experimented, and uploaded versions including a Word document, an RTF, PDF and a Text file. Seems that all these files really download although the TXT and PDF sometimes are viewable in the browser. We also tried using the Dropbox Comment field where students can leave a "note" with their submission. D2L requires a file to be added before the Comment is submitted. We did not test the word count limits for the comment box, but this was our preferred method for online viewing without downloading. Think of a creative way for students to have a small image file to always upload so they can add their assignment just as comments. Maybe a Google Image Search for a cartoon character that gives them confidence. Each time they submit a paper as comment, they will also upload the cartoon image. It will be important that student keep copies of their work as an MS Word document until the end of the semester.

We also tested the idea of using a Moderated Discussion Forum to collect assignments In this tool they will have the WYSIWYG editor for formatted text. But, students do not see their submission after the initial post to a moderated forum. So there is no confirmation of submitting the assignment as there is with the Dropbox. This technique will create more questions from students.

Breaking News from Folsom Lake College Web 2.0 workshop: Paula Haug (Communication, FLC) uses the Long Answer question type in Quizzes for students to submit assignments. They can type and format responses using the WYSIWYG editor or copy text from Word document to the answer box. Student work is always available online without downloading and instructor comments are left for individual students with a grade.

Hotfix to resolve some Turnitin issues as of 10/1

D2L has notified Los Rios IT staff that they have a "hotfix" ready that should resolve a number of the bugs users have been experiencing with Turnitin plagiarism detection in D2L. This hotfix code will be loaded into the D2L server at 7:00 a.m. tomorrow, 10/1/09. This will not require system downtime. Users who continue to experience problems with Turnitin after this hotfix is implemented should contact the Los Rios District Help Desk at (916)568-3012 or lrohelp@losrios.edu.

Disaster Preparedness

Profhacker's blog offered tips for "What to Do When Your Course Management System Goes Down" -- No, don't panic, I'm not predicting anything here. But the tips are worth considering for any problem ranging from local laptop issue to complete system failure. Other blog posts here are organized into categories marked in the Tag Cloud: collaboration, learning goals, mindfulness, paperless, pedagogy, time ... and more. Thanks to Jeff Karlsen (Library) for this URL.