Fall 2012 Course Manual

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OpenProfessionalWriting

User GuideVersion 2.0by Adam R. Pope

OpenProfessionalWritin

g:TheOpen-SourceCMS

fortheWritingClassroom


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Open Professional Writing

Page Open Professional Writing: The Open-Source CMS for the Writing Classroom

Version Updates

Version 1.0

Added inormation on Groups and Blogs. Updated colors and dates.

Version 2.0Added inormation or Drupal 7 version o course sites. Updated naming to Open ProessionalWriting. Corrected multipel typos in original manuscript. Replaced photos with relevant up-dated images. Replaced text. Dropped eatures no longer included.


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Open Professional Writing: The Open-Source CMS for the Writing Classroom

Open Professional Writing

Table of Contents

Site Setup ................................................. 3Updating your Account ..............................................................5Setting your Site Name...............................................................8Posting your Course Syllabus ...................................................... 10Posting Assignments to your Site ................................................11Posting your Weekly Itinerary.....................................................13Registering Students ...................................................................14

Site Communicaon ................................. 15Posting a Conerence or Meeting ................................................16Posting News ..............................................................................17Emailing your Course ................................................................18Emailing Individual Students .....................................................19Sending Grades without Email ...................................................20

Site Administraon................................... 21Grading Assignments .................................................................22racking/aking Attendance.......................................................24

Using Student Features ............................. 25Posting a Drat ...........................................................................26Reviewing Peer Work .................................................................28

Using Groups .............................................................................29Posting Blogs ..............................................................................30racking Attendance ..................................................................31

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Site SetupOpenProfessionalWritin

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Site Setup

Updating your Account

When you rst get your course site, you will be logging in as a generic

instructor. In order to start making the site your own, well need to up-date your username and prole informaon. Read below to see the steps

needed for this process.

Step 1: Logging InWhen you rst go to your site URL, you will nd yoursel at the login screen. You will need to

log into your site by inputing your username and password that youwere given in the email that also gave you your course site URL.Once youve entered this inormation into the site, youll be taken tothe ront page o your new course site.

Step 2: Accessing your ProleOnce youve logged into the site, youll be ready to access your prole. Tis is where youll be

Step 3: Updang your AccountOnce you reach your prole page, youll need to simply click on the Edit link in the center tochange your inormation. Youll want to change several things:

username email address password

able to change your username and password, as well as enter ininormation about yoursel that will be visible to your students. oaccess your account, click on the My Account link in the Accountmenu, ound on the right-hand side o the screen.

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Site Setup


Step 4: Changing your Username

In the slot labelled Username youll want to replace your username you were given to log inwith your own personal username. When you choose your username, eel ree to use spaces

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as well as capitalization. Te system will accept usernames such as Jane Doe with the spaceincluded. Additional options, such as Ms. Doe, are also available. Te main goal is to makesure your username will be readily identied with you and reect a proessional attitude to yourclass.

Step 5: Updang your Email AddressBelow the Username slot you will see a space or an email address.

Tis will be the email address associated with your account or the site.

Step 6: Updang your Passwordo update your password, you will simply need to enter it into the elds provided on the accountpage o your prole. Please note that while the course site will not orce you to use a strong pass-

word, it is strongly recommended that you do. Ater you type in your password the site will give

you an evaluation o the strength o your password. It is recommended that you use a passwordthat rates as strong. Tis type o password usually includes a combination o numbers, symbols,and upper and lowercase letters. Whatever you do, do not use your username as your password,or something easy to guess like password. Doing so will make me cry. Once you are done youcan click save. Do not change anything else on the account tab.


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Site Setup



Step 7: Updang your Personal Informaon

Once youve saved your account inormation, youll want to nish the account update process bylling in all relevant entries that are required. You can tell i a eld is required by the red astericknext to it on the account page. Currently, there will be placeholder answers there. You shouldreplace these.

Please make sure to answer proessionally, as this inormation will be publically visible to yourstudents. Te sotware knowledge, specically, will be displayed on the Members page o yourcourse site. When you are done, save, and you will have completed updating your account.


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Site Setup

Setting your Site Name

When you rst get your course site, your site will have a generic tle at

the top, as well as a default email address that will be associated with allcontent sent from it to your students. In this secon youll read about

how to change the default sitename and email address to those of your

own choosing.

Step 1: Access the Site Informaon pageo change your site inormation, youll need to click on the Site Name link under the Adminis-ter menu. You can nd this menu on the right side o the screen i you are in Instructor Mode.

Step 2: Edit your Site InformaonOnce youve accessed the Site Inormation page, youll need tochange a number o items to make your site your own: name email slogan

Step 3: Changing the Site Name

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Te site name will go at the top o your site, and will replace the deault name o Open Proes-sional Writing. Due to the way that the site name appears on the site, it is recommended thatyou do use your course title here. So, or example, i you are teaching Introductory Composition,you would title the top o your site Introductory Composition.

Step 4: Changing Site EmailTe next item you will see is Site Email. You will want to change this to correspond to yourown email address you will be using with students. Te reason or this is that the site email willbe associated with all emails sent by the course site, including the emails students will get whenthey rst register or your course site themselves. Only put an email here youd like students toknow.


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Site Setup


Setting up your Site Name

Step 5: Changing the Site Slogan

Under the site email, you will see Site Slogan. Tis slogan will correspond with the second levelo the site name listed at the top o the page. I you are working with a deault site, it will replaceCourse Number at the top o your site. It is recommended that you include the course num-ber in this section, using a ormat similar to something like ENGL:106. You may also includesection inormation i this is helpul to students. Once you are done, you can save and your sitename setup is complete.


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Site Setup

Posting your Course Syllabus

Your course site will start o without a course syllabus. This set of instruc-

ons will walk you through pung in your own course syllabus for yourstudents to reference throughout the semester.

Step 1: Go to your Course Descripon pageo add a course syllabus to your site, youll want to navigate to the Course Description sec-tion o your course site. Youll nd the link to your course syllabus in the main menu, listed asCourse Description.

Pasting froWord

When you post program like Womakes use o a ormatting, your

ment may notexactly the same sites text editor. uses a lot o mthat doesnt playwith your site (site in general)careul when pdirectly rom Wobe on the looko

issues this may cayour site.

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Step 2: Edit your Course DescriponOnce youve reached the course description page, youll want to edit it to add in your own text.o do so, simply click Edit at the top o the page.

Step 3: Adding your ContentAter you hit edit, scroll down and enter in your inormation into the Body section o the page.

Step 4: Aaching Files

Below the Body section you will nd the Attachments section. Tis section allows you toattach les to the course description page. I you do attach les, please make sure that you alsoprovide an alternate version o the syllabus in the body section. Once you are done with thebody and attaching les, save your work and your course description will be updated with thenew inormation.


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Site Setup


Posting Assignments to your Site

As part of seng up your site, youll want to post assignments. Assign-

ments on your site will show up under two places: the Projects seconand the Calendar. Below are the steps to post assignments and other

content to course sites.

Step 1: Using FoldersTe rst step to making an assignment is creating a older or it. Folders are where you students

place assignments when they are completed. Without olders, it is nearly impossible to ndand grade student work. Tere are two types o these olders: Work Folders and Project olders.Project olders are used to diferentiate between which Project an assignment belongs to. Work

olders are used to name specic assignments. Te best way to go about naming these will becovered below. Tere is some repetition in the process, but by laying out your Project and Workolders beore you create assignments you are able to plan your assignments out over a section othe semester and keep that blueprint handy on the site or reerence.

Step 2: Creang Project FoldersFirst, you should click on Project Folders in the Administer toolbar. Once youve done that,click on Add erm to add the names o each major project. When you are done, you can goback to the sites homepage.

Te rst step to posting content to your site is clicking on the Deploy Content link in theInstruct menu on your site. Tis menu is in the top right-hand corner. Any time you are postingassignments or something that youd like to show up or a single day on your course sites calen-dar, youll make use o o the Deploy Content link.

Step 3: Creating Work FoldersNext, youll need to click the Work Folders link in your Administer menu. Here, youll needto do two things: rst, youll need to recreate your Project older names. Tis allows you to as-sociate assignments by project, making it easier or students to turn things in. Next, youll needto create olders or each major assignment youll have students turn in. When youve done this,you can then click on the List ab at the top o the page. Tis will take you to the list o terms.

Using your mouse, you can then drag specic assignments under the correct Project so that theyare listed as children. When listed as a child, the assignment title will be slightly ofset. Tis willallow students to easily nd the correct older or turnins. When you are satisied, click save.


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Site Setup


Posting Assignments to your Site

Step 3: Creang an AssignmentNow that all your terms are created, you can now create a corresponding assignment. o do so,use the Create Content link in the Instruct menu.

o complete you assignment, you will generally want to ll out the ollowing inormation: Name o the Assignment Due date o the Assignment (only use an end-date i you need a range o days) Te Project associated (this is so the site can place your assignment correctly) Te Work Folders associated (so students can turn it in) Te Description (either in text or as an attachment)

Once youve entered in all the above inormation, you can save your assignment. It should showup in the correct location on your calendar as well as in your Projects tab linked at the top o thehome page.

Step 4: Filling in your

AssignmentAter youve clicked Create Content youll betaken to a blank assignment page. Here youllneed to popualte your assignment with all o thepertintent inormation that you students willneed to complete it ontime.


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Site Setup


Posting your Weekly Itinerary

If you like to keep your students up to date with a weekly schedule, you

can make use of the Weekly Inerary tool on your course site. See belowfor more about this feature.

Step 1: Creang a Weekly IneraryUse the Create Weekly Itinerary link in your Instruct menu. Tis will take you to the WeeklyItinerary creation page.

Step 2: Adding a TitleYoull need to enter in the title o your Itinerary item in the eld labelled Week o Itinerary.

Please note the name that you use will be what shows up on the Calendar page.

Step 3: Seng your DateOnce youve done that, youll need to enter in the date o your itinerary item.Youll need to pick the rom and to dates. Tis will be the range o dates that your itineraryitem will be shown on the calendar. Pick a range that makes sense.

Step 4: Filling in Content

Just like the other work youve done on the site, you can now ll in the body o this item, andattach les as needed. When you are done, save your work. You can double check what youvedone by checking the date on the calendar.


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Site Setup


Registering Students

Part of seng up your course site is allowing students to access your site

by registering. This secon will walk you through the process of seng upthat registraon.

Step 1: Making Sure your Site Accepts Account RegistraonFirst, youll need to make sure your website will allow registration o new accounts. o do so,simply click on the Registration link on your new sites Administer menu. Tis will take youdirectly to the Account Settings page.

Once at the Account Settings page, simply make sure that your site allows registration withadministrator approval only, and make sure that upon deletion an account is merely disabled withcontent kept around. Tese are the recommended settings. You should not alter them.

Step 2: Acvang Student AccountsOnce students have created accounts, they will need to be approved to access the site. o do so,click on the Users link in the Administer Menu. Tis will take you directly to the Peoplepage. Here you will see a list o all site users. Simply select the checkbox beside each user youdlike to activate then click on update next to Unblock the selected users. Tis will allow yourstudents to access your site.

It is possible that spammers will attempt to register or your site at some point. Always

make sure an account is legitimate beore allowing the user to access the site.


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Site CommunicationOpenProfessionalWritin

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Site Setup


Posting a Conference or Meeting

If you like to allow your students to use your site for scheduling conferenc-

es with you or seng up meengs during your oce hours, you can makeuse of the Meeng feature of the site.

Step 1: Arranging a MeengUse the Arrange a Meeting link in your Instruct menu. Tis will take you to the Meeting cre-ation page.

Step 2: Filling in the DateYoull need to enter in the title o your meeting item in the eld labelled Purpose/itle. Once

youve done that, youll need to enter in the date o your meeting item. Please note the name thatyou use will be what shows up on the Calendar page.

Youll need to pick the rom and to dates. Tis will be the range o time that you are ree.Tis time will show up on the meeting page itsel as well as the calendar.

Step 3: Filling in ContentJust like the other work youve done on the site, you can now ll in the body o this item, andattach les as needed. When you are done, save your work. You can double check what youvedone by checking the date on the calendar.

Step 4: Receiving Student ResponsesTe meeting eature allows students to comment on the meeting page youve created, requestinga specic slot o time. Since the responses are listed in chronological order, there is a clear systemor seeing who asked or what slot rst. Students that are beaten to a time will simply need torequest a later date/time. You can view these comments by browsing the specic meeting page.


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Site Communication


Posting News

If you like to keep your students up to date with messages on the front

page of your site, you can use the News funcon.

Step 1: Posng a News ItemUse the Post News link in your Instruct menu. Tis will take you to the News creation page.

Step 2: Filling in ContentYoull need to enter in the title o your News item in the eld labelled itle. Once youve donethat, youll need to enter in the content o your news item. Please note that your title used willbe how the post will be titled when it shows up on your ront page. I you need to, you may at-

tach a le or audio piece.

Step 3: Choosing Publicaon OponsWhen you are done with your news item, you can choose between two options or publication.At the bottom o the page youll see the Publication tab. Tere you can set whether or notyour news item will be placed as a sticky item or just on the ront page in chronological order.Making a note sticky means that it will appear at or near the top o the list o announcments.Other anouncements will appear below those made sticky. Making a note sticky makes sure itis visible to the most students or the longest amount o time. Otherwise, your item will slowlymove down the page until its on the second page or more o news items as you post them. Whenyouve decided which makes the most sense or your post, save your work to post it.


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Site Communication


Emailing your Course

Your course site has built into it a mass email feature. Using ityou can email all your users directly from the site, allowing you

to send emails without a stand-alone client.

Step 1: Emailing the Courseo email your course, youll want to use the Email Course link in the Contact menu. Tis willtake you to the Mass Contact page.

Step 2: Adding ContentOnce youve reached the Mass Contact page, you simply needto add a subject, message, and any attachments. When youvedone this you can hit send. Checking the box to send a copyto yoursel is mainly a waste o time since the eature by deaultwill send messages to everyone registered or the site, yourselincluded.


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Site Communication


Emailing Individual Students

Your course site has built into it a Contact form that can beused to send emails directly to specic students without going

through a separate email client.

Step 1: Selecng a Studemto email a student, simply click on their user name on any page it is displayed. Tis will take youto that specic students prole page. Once you are there, click on the Contact link. Tis willtake you to the Contact page.

Step 2: Adding ContentOn the contact page, you can add a message title and any text you see t. Once done, simply hitsend to email the student.

Note: You should never use the Contact orm to send grades to a student who has requestedyou not send them grades via email. Instead, you will need to use the Private Messagingsystem o your site, covered on the next page.


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Site Communication


Sending Grades without Email

Your course site has built into it a Contact form that can beused to send grades to students while bypassing their email

accounts.

Step 1: Sending a Private Messageo message a student without email, make use o a private message. You can create a privatemessage by using the Private Messaging link in the Contact menu o your course site. Tis willtake you to the private messaging system.

Step 2: Wring a MessageOnce youve reached the private messaging system, youll see yourprivate message inbox. Here you will see a list o any and all mes-sages received. At the top o that page you will see a menu with achoice to Write new message. Click this to drat a new privatemessage.

Step 3: Adding ContentOn the private messaging page, you can type in your reciepients username (the orm will auto-ll), the subject o your message, and the body. When you are done with the message, simply

click Send message to message your student.

Note: Te private messsage system will not transmit the contents o your message to yourstudents email. Instead, they will be sent an email that lets them know they have a newprivate message to read on the course site, with a link included to that message. Tis optionis the only way to contact a student with a grade electronically that has opted out o havinggrades emailed to them on their profle page.


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Site AdministrationOpenProfessionalWritin

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Site Administration


Grading Assignments

Your course site has a built in grading system that you and your students

can use to keep track of grades for assignments and to make commentson assignments. While this feature will not tabulate grades for you, it will

keep them track in a manner that can be copy/pasted to Excel.

Step 1: Entering Grading Modeo start grading, you will need to enter your sites Instructor Mode. Tis mode exists to preventgrades showing up when you are browsing student work on the sitevia projector. It also allows or a compartamentalization o the userinterace so you can see the site closer to how your students would.

Step 2: Accessing the GradebookOnce youve toggled instructor mode, you will be able to see the grading menu and select GradeStudent Work. Tis will take you to your site Gradebook.

Step 3: Using the GradebookOnce youve reached the sites gradebook, youll be able to see all student work that has beenmarked as Drat Complete. You can choose to grade this work directly on the page i you aresimply grading or completion. I you need to lter your view to grade specic assignments, sim-

ply use the Filter by Work Folder tool or the Filter by Student tool.

Step 4: Choosing an Assignment to Comment On and GradeI you wish to grade an assignment indepth with comments, simply click on that assignmentsname in the itle column to view the entire document.


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Site Administration


Grading Assignments

Step 5: Making Comments and Grading Indepth

Once youve accessed an assignment indepth, you can enter grades making use o the grading boxound at the bottom o the page. Tis box will accept entry directly, so there is no need to open aseparate page.

Once youve entered in your comments into the grading box, your results should be saved auto-matically. o make sure o this, you can click elsewhere on the page. Tis should cause a bluecircle to appear in the grading box, signalling the system has saved your work. Generally, thisis not needed, but you should check on a browser-by-browser basis to avoid wasting your work.As with any online writing, i you have spent a lot o time on comments make sure to copy yourwork beore leaving the page to avoid losing a large amount o text.

NOE: Commenting on attached fles directly is not supported by your site out o the box.I you would like this eature, please email the support group.


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Site Administration


Taking/Tracking Attendance

Taking aendance with your course site allows for an easy tracking of at-

tendance among students and allows you and your students to keep trackof what days they are absent.

Step 1: Taking Aendanceo take attendance, click on the ake Attendance link in your Grading menu. Tis will takeyou to a black attendance item. Once here, you should put in the date you are taking attendanceor, and then put a checkmark beside each student who is not present. When you are done, clickSave.

Step 2: Tracking Aendance/Eding Aendance RecordsWhen you are ready to see who has been absent on a given date, use the rack Attendance but-ton in the Grading menu. Please note this is diferent than the one in the Calendar section. TeCalendar menu link is or students.

Once youve clicked rack Attendance, youll be treated to a list o all days youve taken atten-dance with each student absent listed by the date noted. Youll also see a notes column:

I you need to change a specic dates records due to a doctors note or a tardy, you can simplyedit the absent students eld and the notes eld. Te notes eld is kept private, so you can keeptrack o when someone has turned in a sick note or came in late. Later in the semester this can beuseul in assessing tardies and the like.


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Using Student FeatureOpenProfessionalWritin

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Using Student Features


Posting a Draft

When students go to turn in an assignment, theyll need to use the Dra

feature.

Step 1: Creang a Drao create a drat, youll just need to click Compose a Drat in the Drat menu. Tis will takeyou to the Drat composition page.

Step 2: Titling your DraOnce youre at the drat creation page, youll want to title your docu-ment. You can do this by simply entering the desired title into theitle eld. Make sure this title matches the overall assignment thatyou are working on.

Step 3: Choosing a Work Submission FolderYou will need to choose a Work Submission Folder or this assignment. Each assignment thatyou turn in needs to be placed in a older in order or your instructor to nd it or grading. Teolder system is two tiered. Te rst tier corresponds to the major category o assignment youwish to complete (such as Unit 1). Te second tier will correspond to the specic assignment youare working on. Remember: i you do not select a Work Submission Folder, your assignmentwont show up to be graded.

Step 4: Adding Contento add in text to your document, simply type into the ext eld o your drat. Alternatively,you can use the File Management or Audio Upload elds lower on the page to attach a le osome sort or your document. Make sure to submit your assignment as your instructor asks you.

Step 5: Seng your Dra StatusWhen submitting a drat, you need to choose what your drats status will be. Each status has adiferent unction: Drating: A drat that is set to drating will not show up or grading. It will also not be vis-ible to your ellow students. Review Requested: Setting a drat to review requested will make it show up in the Peer Re-view interace. Tis will allow other students to check that drat out and review it or you. Submitted: A drat that is labelled as submitted will show up to be graded on your instruc-tors gradebook. You will also the grading block on the drats page. It will only be visible to youand your instructor.


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Posting a Draft

Step 6: Nong Revisions

Every time you post or edit a drat, the site saves a new revision or you. Tis revision is a snap-shot o your drat in its current state. Using the Revisions tab o your drat, once its been posted,you can actually view and move between revisions as you see t. Te Revision toolbar on thedrat composition page allows you to make notes about each revision, which can make it easierto understand what changed between drats. Simply enter in your note on the revision and saveyour document or those changes and the note to take place.

Step 7: Choosing a Revision (oponal)o move between revisions, you can use the Revision tab on your drat. Tis tab will only showup ater youve saved a drat twice. Using the tab, you can see your total revisions, the notes as-sociated between them, and choose which to make your primary revision.

Step 8: Finding a Dra (oponal)I you need to nd a drat or view its status ater posting, you can simply use the My Dratsbutton on your Drat menu to see a list o your current drats, their title, and workow status.


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Reviewing Peer Work

Your course site has a built in peer review feature that allows students to

solicit and receive feedback from others through the Draing interface.

Step 1: Finding a Dra to Reviewo nd a drat to review, youll want to use the Peer Review link on your Drat menu. Tis willtake you to the Peer Review menu. On the menu, you will see a list o student drats that havebeen set as requesting review. Simply select a document youd like to review to view it. ry toocus on documents that have no comments on them currently.

Step 2: Making Commentso comment on a drat, add a comment to the page by clicking the Add New Comment but-ton. Make sure to ollow whatever directions your instructor gives you.


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Using Groups

Groups are a feature that allows students to post within their own subsec-

on of the site with other group members. This feature allows studentsto work together privately, and also turn in items as a group with each

member geng credit.

Step 1: Creang Groupso create a group, youll need to use the Create Group button in the Instruct Menu. Tis willallow you to create groups or students to join. By deault the groups are closed, meaning thatyou will need to invite student members to join.

Step 2: Joining a GroupStudents can join a group by simply going to My Groups under the Social menu, i the group isset to open. Once there, they can view all groups, and click join next to the one theyre assignedto.

Alternatively you can add members. o do this, simply go to My Groups in the Social menuand click on the group needed. Once youve reached that Groups page, youll want to clickGroup rom the tabs at the top. On the next page, use the Add People link to give yourgroup members as youd desire.

Step 3: Posng in a Groupo post in a group, a student click on the Create Group Drat button in the Drating menu.Tis allows a creation o a drat just like any other drat, with a ew diferences. A group drat canbe edited by anyone in the group, and is only visible to the instructor and group members. Addi-tionally, the group drat can only have its state changed by the original author. Secondary authorscan only change text, they cant set it to Review Requested or the like. Finally, there is a groupmembers tool on the group drat creation page that lets students give credit to group members byadding them via username to the drat. Any member other than the author added to this list willbe able to see the nal grade and comments assigned, as well as see the item once its created intheir Group Gradetracker


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Posting Blogs

Blogs are a feature that have been in previous course sites and have made

a comeback recently. Blogs are a type of post students can create with-out having to worry about geng graded, and represent a dierent genre

than your normal student dra.

Step 1: Posng a Blogo post a blog, simply click My Blog in the social menu, and then click on Post New Entry.Tis allows students to share blogs with the rest o the site.

Step 2: Reading Blogso read a blog, simply click on Site Blogs under the social menu. Tis allows students to see allblogs on the site that have been posted, and their number o comments given.


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Tracking Attendance

When you make use of the aendance tracking features of your site, your

students can easily see what days they have been absent.

Step 1: Checking the Aendance RecordFor a student to check their attendance record, they merely need to click on the rack Atten-dance link in the Calendar Menu. Tis will take them to the Attendance racker where they cansee every date their are currently listed as absent by their instructor.

Documents

Fall 2012 Course Manual