SmartSite and UCD

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SmartSite and UCD

• Helping you to help the faculty
• Kirk Alexander
• April, 2007

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What is SmartSite

• New Course Management and Collaboration Tools
• Easy to use and extensible tools for organizing
  work and content enables technical integrations
• A national community of programmers joined in an
  Open Source effort
• Encourages interdisciplinary activities
• Enables research and teaching synergies
• A solution for the future
• See Handout...

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New Contributed Tools!

• Agora (Live conferencing)
• Breeze Link
• Configuration Viewer
• Evaluation System
• Gallery
• Home Page Tool
• ImageQuiz
• Mneme (Test Center Presentation Engine)
• Open Course Ware (OCW)
• PreferAble/TransformAble
• Recent Activity
• Reset Password
• TurnItIn integration

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Quick Status

• Pilot has been running since January 2006
• Faculty from many different departments have
  participated
• Still on course to open access to any and all
  courses in Fall 2007
• Still plan to run in parallel with MyUCDavis for
  at least a year.

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What have we learned from the Pilot?

• SmartSite is viable we can continue to move
  forward..
• Faculty are sticking with it! And the word is
  spreading.
• Test Quiz is a complex subject and a
  complicated tool...more work to do here. Faculty
  input needed.
• Many uses for project sites (research,
  administrative, committee, dissertation...)
• Wiki can be used for group exercises in many
  disciplines
• User activated site creation is desirable and
  solves many issues related to combining sections
  and cross listed courses

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Outstanding Questions and Issues

• Many Gradebook features officially delayed until
  December 2.5 Release.
• Assessment Tool stable but still evolving and
  carries a learning curve (e.g. plan on training)
• Just now completing an overhaul of Banner
  connection to fully support sections, cross
  listed courses, course descriptions...
• Still investigating what will else may be needed
  for departmental MSOs or graders--but Final
  Grade Submission is essentially untouched at this
  time.

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Local Support Documents

• Manuals for faculty
• Tests
• Gradebook
• Technical Tips
• Html/Word/Pdf/Captivate
• Online Help System
• Related Handouts
• Podcasting
• Wiki Quick Start
• Blogging
• jsMath

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Pedagogical Handouts(In collaboration with TRC)

• what can I do with..
• Modules
• Chat
• Wiki
• Discussion Forums
• Tests Quizzes

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Major Support Resources

• ITExpress team now to answer both phone and email
  inquires
• ETPartners extended faculty hand-holding (in
  office if desired)
• 2 FTE Training and Support Staff
• Support in Classroom via CTS/ITExpress
• Weekly Faculty Support Staff Coordination Mtg
• Support Partners monthly Meeting
• Special IT Support Staff Training can be arranged

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Support Team Working Documents

• In Confluence UC Davis Sakai Collaborative
  (http//confluence.ucdavis.edu/)
• All workshop materials
• Pedagogical Handouts
• Feature Guide (whats coming and when)
• All system upgrade information/schedules
• Test Plans (test it yourself!)

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What we could use from TIF

• Recommendations on times and topics for
  departmental IT support staff training sessions.
• Feedback on additional resources needed by IT
  staff
• Feedback on whether existing proxy capability
  provided by SmartSite is sufficient (we have
  given other abilities to the trainers and
  ITExpress)

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Thank You

• Contact
• Kirk Alexander (kdalex_at_ucdavis.edu)
• Leslie Madsen-Brooks (ljmadsen_at_ucdavis.edu)
• Steve Faith (faith_at_ucdavis.edu)
• Help (smartsite-help_at_ucdavis.edu)
• SmartSite
• http//smartsite.ucdavis.edu

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Demo
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Key Communications

• Heads-up to TIF (04/25) and TSP (05/03)
• Discussion with deans and vice chancellors (early
  May)
• Notifications to campus community, key groups
  (early May)
• Presentation to CCFIT (05/14)
• Articles and publications IT Times (early
  June), Aggie (June), Dateline (June)
• Special events (May-June, summer)