Cardinal Stritch College of Business

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Cardinal Stritch College of Business

• Generic accounts allow easy distribution of
  materials and information.

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We use self-directed statistical homework with
instructions in Word and data/answer templates in
Excel. Some of the Word files exceed 8 pages in
length. Students need actual Excel files for
answer forms and data seeing them in a printed
page is not very helpful.
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We decided to make the homework instructions and
the templates available in digital format. In the
early stages we included CDs with course
materials. But this created an awkward situation
when textbook changes occurred or when errors
were found in the materials.
The logical approach was to make the information
available for download via Educator. But we do
not require on-ground students and faculty to use
Educator most of them do not have Educator
accounts. What to do?
Solution Create a generic download site. Allow
multiple logins and distribute the
http//educator.stritch.edu/ URL and a universal
username and password to all Statistics students
and faculty. (Faculty get answer keys via a
separate, confidential account.)
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• Technique
• Use embedded objects.
• Set account to allow multiple logins.
• Use CUSTOMIZE feature to hide all the navigation
  panel options except LOGOFF.
• Tell users to right-click and Save Target As
  --- do not assume they know how.
• Provide a contact for use in case they get stuck.

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Allow multiple logins.
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Hide unnecessary navigation panel links.
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Heres a glimpse of typical folder. Notice the
use of Educators Label feature.
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I use bold font (ltbgt) for the labels. Then all I
need to do is copy the object number and paste it
into the announcement.
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A glimpse of the instructors view of a typical
announcement.
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We have expanded this approach to include
graduate-level capstone materials, accounting
materials, and math materials. For our
e-learning program, we are building a library of
Excel tutorials, and richly-illustrated math
explanations. These include audio narration.
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Advantages

• Nimble maintenance
• Reduced physical inventory
• Reduced postage
• Convenient for most users
• Ready-to-use template style cuts out at least
  one layer of transcription for users

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Disadvantages

• Despite attempts at simplicity, some users find
  it confusing. (The most common problem is their
  mistaking the sitemaster for their instructor.)
• As the volume of information grows, we reach a
  tipping point at which sites cannot be maintained
  informally.
• Users without high-speed ISPs encounter long,
  long downloads.
• Occasionally, software clashes. For example, we
  encountered Word 2003 and Word 2000 compatibility
  problems.

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But the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.
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Try it live
http//educator.stritch.edu/
ASB151Student
Materials