Archive
Blackboard: Content System: Ancillary digital textbook material reuse (publish to course participants, roll-over between terms)
If you have a well administered language program, your admin should have uploaded all digital (text, audio, textbook and table of contents) materials that come with your textbook for convenient reuse between sections and terms into the Blackboard content system.
As a Blackboard course administrator, you can easily give all course participants access in 1 step (as course administrator, you can also access the audio materials during classes from the Blackboard content system directly).
Here is a video recording of a real-world walkthrough of this process – voice-over is in German, but Blackboard interface is in English: blackboard-content-system-finding-adding-existing-content-item-to-course-access-play.wmv
Once you have given course participants access to the audio materials, and you teach the course again next term, it is even easier to roll over the access: Just use the Copy link in the Blackboard Control Panel.
How a teacher grades a Blackboard audio recording assignment
- Switch to interactive view, if your vertical scrollbar does not show up, and thus the assignment column is hidden (or reduce the font size in Firefox, e.g. by holding CTRL and rolling the mouse scroll wheel):
- Once you see the assignment column, you can either download all submissions as a zip file, open it with the built-in zip tools in Windows (XP or newer). This is especially practical if you want to then select all recordings and drag and drop them into an audacity window, for doing easy to comparative grading of student submissions, as described earlier.
- To grade,
- This gets you to the grade details:
- You can also listen to the student recording submission by clicking on the file linked behind “users; file”.
- Fill out your grade comments and grade.
- Instead of doing (only) written comments, you could also oral feedback grade the student recording, and re-upload this new recording.
- Finish by clicking button:”submit”.
- Next in series: How the student reviews a grade Blackboard audio recording assignments: TBA
- First in Series: A better way to do student homework audio recordings in the Sanako LAB 300, using Blackboard:Assignment.
How a student submits a Blackboard model imitation audio recording assignments
- Access the assignment in the location of your Blackboard course that your instructor pointed you to.
- Download the model audio recording attached to the assignment to your desktop (if any).
- Right-click on the downloaded file, choose open with (something else but the Sanako Duo which you will use to record).
- Play and listen to the model.
- Imitate the model, recording yourself using the previous instruction, using pause/play as needed.
- Upload the recording into the Blackboard assignment by clicking “browse to local file” [i.e. where you saved your recording].
- Click “submit”. If you get an error “Not a valid file’, try using another web browser to open the assignment and submit the file.
- Next steps: see How the teacher grades a Blackboard audio recording assignments
- First in series: A better way to do student homework audio recordings in the Sanako LAB 300, using Blackboard:Assignment
How to automate nightly updates of a Kiosk PowerPoint
This copies nightly a ppt file from a network share where it is collaboratively edite to a network computer where it is displayed for announcement and marketing. The ppt file should already be set to kiosk, manual timings, loop mode.
#region ;**** Directives created by AutoIt3Wrapper_GUI ****
#AutoIt3Wrapper_outfile=\\adfileprod01\Shared\LLC\scheduling\channel55-presenter\updater-channel55.exe
#endregion ;**** Directives created by AutoIt3Wrapper_GUI ****
; revision after hardware upgrade from hallway.au3, "hallway"->"channel55" not in variable names, only in strings , except for encryption password
; includes debugging
; connect to channel55-presenter using tightvnc
; adapt at [TBA]
#include <ie.au3>; put the compiled executable of this in channel55Presenter c:\temp and run it as a scheduled task late-nightly
#include <debug.au3>
#include <File.au3>
#include <Screencapture.au3>
#include <String.au3>
#include <Date.au3>
Global $filename = "[TBA]"; "channel55"
Global $filenamelog = "[TBA]"; "channel55"
Global $fileextremote = ".pps"
Global $fileextlocal = ".pps"
Global $fileextlog = ".log"
Global $pathfilelog
Global $filepathlocal = "[TBA]"; "c:\temp\"
Global $fileshareordriveremote = "[TBA]"; "\\resman\Student Saved Work\"
Global $filepathremote = "[TBA]"; "Admin\conf\scheduling\channel55-presenter\"
Global $filepathremotebackup = "tmp\"
Global $usernameinstructor = "[TBA]" ; "trplagwitz"
Global $passwordinstructor = "[TBA]" ; hashed password
Global $passworddecrypt = "hallway"
Global $LogonDomain = "[TBA]" ; "ad.loyola.edu"
Global $timelocal
Global $timeremote
Global $debugtype = "debugconsole"
_ScreenCapture_SetBMPFormat(0)
$logfilehandle = FileOpen($fileshareordriveremote & $filepathremote & $filepathremotebackup & $filename & $fileextlog, 1)
If Not FileExists($fileshareordriveremote & $filepathremote & $filename & $fileextremote) Then
$ret = FileWriteLine($logfilehandle, "cannot open file: " & $fileshareordriveremote & $filepathremote & $filename & $fileextremote)
FileClose($logfilehandle)
Exit
Else
If ProcessExists("powerpnt.exe") Then
ProcessClose("powerpnt.exe")
EndIf
Sleep(5000)
If ProcessExists("powerpnt.exe") Then
$ret3 = RunWait('taskkill /F /fi "imagename eq powerpnt*" /im *')
EndIf
Sleep(2000)
$ret = FileCopy($fileshareordriveremote & $filepathremote & $filename & $fileextremote, $filepathlocal & $filename & $fileextlocal, 1)
$ret = FileWriteLine($logfilehandle, "result:" & $ret & " filemove from: " & $fileshareordriveremote & $filepathremote & $filepathremotebackup & $filename & "_" & today() & $fileextlocal & "t: " & $filepathlocal & $filename & $fileextlocal)
If FileExists($fileshareordriveremote & $filepathremote & $filename & $fileextremote) Then
FileDelete($fileshareordriveremote & $filepathremote & $filename & $fileextremote)
EndIf
ShellExecute($filepathlocal & $filename & $fileextlocal)
EndIf
FileClose($logfilehandle)
Exit
Func today()
Return (@YEAR & @MDAY & @MON)
EndFunc ;==>today
Func addHallwayPresenterNetworkshares($LogonDomain)
If $LogonDomain = "" Then $LogonDomain = @LogonDomain
If StringLen($passworddecrypt) > 0 Then
$driveletterreplacementforhallwayread = DriveMapAdd("*", $fileshareordriveremote, 0, $LogonDomain & "\" & $usernameinstructor, _StringEncrypt(0, $passwordinstructor, $passworddecrypt))
Else
$driveletterreplacementforhallwayread = DriveMapAdd("*", $fileshareordriveremote, 0, $LogonDomain & "\" & $usernameinstructor, $passwordinstructor)
EndIf
myDebugOut(@ScriptLineNumber, "$driveletterreplacementforhallwayread is: " & $driveletterreplacementforhallwayread & ", $fileshareordriveremote is " & $fileshareordriveremote & ", $usernameinstructor, $passwordinstructor are " & $usernameinstructor & $passwordinstructor)
If (($driveletterreplacementforhallwayread == "") Or $driveletterreplacementforhallwayread == 0) Then
$driveletterreplacementforhallwayread = "H:"
EndIf
Return $driveletterreplacementforhallwayread
EndFunc ;==>addHallwayPresenterNetworkshares
Func removeHallwayPresenterNetworkShares()
$driveletterreplacementforhallwayread = $fileshareordriveremote
If StringInStr($driveletterreplacementforhallwayread, ":") Then
If StringInStr($driveletterreplacementforhallwayread, "\") Then
StringTrimRight($driveletterreplacementforhallwayread, 1)
EndIf
$ret = DriveMapDel($driveletterreplacementforhallwayread)
If $ret = 0 Then myDebugOut(@ScriptLineNumber, "failed to DriveMapDel for: " & $driveletterreplacementforhallwayread)
EndIf
EndFunc ;==>removeHallwayPresenterNetworkShares
Func myDebugOut($ScriptLineNumber = @ScriptLineNumber, $msg = "Error")
Local $debugstring
Local $debugfilename
Local $tabhandle
Local $tabmaxnumber
Local $tempdir
$tempdir = @TempDir
If $tempdir == "" Then $tempdir = "c:\temp"
$debugstring = $ScriptLineNumber & "~" & _Now() & "~" & $msg
If $debugtype = "debug" Then
Local $activewindowtitle = WinGetTitle("")
MsgBox(0, "debug", $debugstring)
WinActivate($activewindowtitle)
ElseIf $debugtype = "debugconsole" Then
ConsoleWrite($debugstring & Chr(13))
ElseIf $debugtype = "run" Then
If $tempdir == "" Then $tempdir = "c:\temp"
$debugfilename = FileNameEscape($debugstring, $tempdir) & ".jpg"
_ScreenCapture_Capture($debugfilename)
_DebugOut($debugstring)
ElseIf $debugtype = "debugconsolescreen" Then
ConsoleWrite($debugstring & Chr(13))
$debugfilename = FileNameEscape($debugstring, $tempdir) & ".jpg"
_ScreenCapture_Capture($debugfilename)
ElseIf $debugtype = "releasetextlog" Then
If $pathfilelog == "" Then $pathfilelog = @TempDir & "\" & "autoitlogfile.log"
$loghandle = FileOpen($pathfilelog, 1)
If $ret = 0 Or @error Then Exit
$ret = FileWriteLine($loghandle, $debugstring & Chr(13))
If $ret = 0 Or @error Then Exit
$ret = FileClose($loghandle)
ElseIf $debugtype = "releasewordpad" Then
Else
SetError(1)
EndIf
EndFunc ;==>myDebugOut
Func FileNameEscape($filename, $tempdir)
$filename = StringReplace($filename, ":", "_")
$filename = StringReplace($filename, ">", "larger_than")
$filename = StringReplace($filename, "<", "smaller_than")
$filename = StringReplace($filename, " ", "_")
$filename = StringReplace($filename, "/", "&")
$filename = StringReplace($filename, "/", "+")
$filename = StringReplace($filename, "&", "+")
$filename = StringReplace($filename, Chr(9), "_")
$filename = StringReplace($filename, "?", "questionmark")
$filename = StringReplace($filename, "!", "exclamationmark")
$filename = StringReplace($filename, "'", "quotationmark")
$filename = StringReplace($filename, Chr(34), "doublequotationmark")
$filename = StringReplace($filename, "__", "_")
$filename = StringReplace($filename, "__", "_")
$filename = StringReplace($filename, "__", "_")
$filename = StringReplace($filename, "__", "_")
$filename = $tempdir & "\" & $filename
Return $filename
EndFunc ;==>FileNameEscape
Func FileCopy2LocalTemp($filepath)
Dim $arrfilepath, $filepathname, $arrfilepathname, $filepathnameext
$blnValid = True
If Not FileExists($filepath) Then
If Not DriveMapAdd("", $filepath) Then
$blnValid = False
EndIf
EndIf
If $blnValid Then
$arrfilepath = StringSplit($filepath, "\")
If @error Then
SetError(1)
myDebugOut(@ScriptLineNumber, "error stringsplit filepath")
EndIf
$filepathname = $arrfilepath(UBound($arrfilepath) - 1)
$ret = FileCopy($filepath, @TempDir & "\" & $filepathname)
Else
SetError(1)
EndIf
EndFunc ;==>FileCopy2LocalTemp
Video Library: Scheduling for Reserve Desk and Viewings
Lab staff instruction for editing the video-reserves spreadsheet H:\LLC\scheduling\video-reserves&mh441b-showing\video-reserves.xls:
- Lab supervisors build the spreadsheet for the reserve desk and viewing: video-reserves-reservedonthisday-unfold-schedule-viewing.wmv, video-reserves-viewing-selecting-timeslots&venues.wmv
- Lab assistants read the spreadsheet and handle the actual media (i.e. update the reserve desk and show the videos): video-reserves-reservedonthisday-filter-viewing-or-reserve.wmv
Quia Online Exercises
Here are examples from the Treffpunkt Deutsch Quia Website. Quia Treffpunkt Deutsch is organized in chapters which you can select from the dropdown navigation control on the left. As you see on the following page, each chapter contains 3 different types of exercises, organized in sections.
If you click on a section header, you will see a list of exercises:
Here is an example of an exercise, assigned as “A[rbeitsbuch=work book], K[apitel=chapter]9: A9[=chapter-number, again]-1[=exercise-number]”.
The letters and numbers from the assignment repeat in the exercise, see this screenshot:
You can also hover your mouse over the info button in the upper left corner to get a summary of this information: 
Also note the link to the corresponding preparatory web page which opens in a new window (Problems getting the window to open? the popup-blocker of your web browser may be the root? instead of simply clicking on the link, try CTRL-clicking, on the link as well as the browser information bar, if it comes up). It is crucial to read/review the corresponding preparatory web page first.
It is not necessary to get everything 100% correct. It is not even a good use of your time to redo the exercise until you get everything 100% correct. Especially if you try speeding up this tedious task by doing the first round mechanically to get at the automated feedback answers, then doing the second round mechanically by pasting them in. That is why I have my Quia course “Options” set to “Calculate cumulative scores based on students’ first attempt” and to “Ignore student results after the 1st attempt”.
Therefore, you will see that you have only 1 “Attempt remaining” for each exercise. You will also, unless individually told otherwise, only have to do the exercises that are “Assigned” (consult legend at bottom of page).
Rather use the valuable error feedback to go back to the Structures and try to learn and bring any remaining questions to class – it is highly likely that fellow students have the same problems, especially if they have the same native tongue. That is also the reason why I review your submission before class – not to mark you down, but to see from your problems help what to spend valuable class time one.
Also, the exercises are integrated into the progression of the course (including your ability to do partner work with others during class meetings). That is why you will not be able to submit exercises long after when they were due:
For reviewing, we will use other materials.
Finally, consult the Help which is linked in the top menu:
Canon ZR-200 LLC Camera Basics
The camera can store only about 30 [check, might be 100 or more, recording size is 5MB per 1 min video] minutes on its SD card
Currently we are using my personal SD card, bring your own to extend the recording time (by swapping the cards. You can move video clips onto classroom computers’ network shares if the classroom computer is in MS-Active Directory (which most should be) and if the classroom computer has an SD card reader (which most will NOT have).
Video–clips (internal access only) showing how to operate the camera are here:
camera-canon-zr200-Inserting&Removing_Memory_Card_Starting&Stopping&Filming.avi
camera-canon-zr200-Inserting_Memory_Card_into_Card_Reader_on_Assistant-Computer.AVI
camera-canon-zr200-moving_video_from_memory_card_to_H-Drive.avi
For base documentation, see these graphics:
You can change the audio modes:
Optimum video mode with card is 320*240.
All in all: Quick and dirty recording and archiving for basic assessments…













