Teaching with SmartSite An Introduction Steve Faith

What is SmartSite?  “Sometimes I hear SmartSite, sometimes Sakai”.  Open Sourced  Just as we learn collaboratively, we develop collaboratively.  Big names and small names.  International

What can I do with SmartSite?  Encourage students to collaborate outside of class.  Provide additional resources for students.  Connect with students on your terms and your schedule.  Optimize class time by making tests and quizzes available outside of class.  Assign and collect student work electronically. ...and more.

MyUCDavis to SmartSite Transition That light you see is not the end of the tunnel… …it is a train. Get on board Now: SmartSite Encouraged Fall 2007: SmartSite and MyUCDaivis Fall 2008: SmartSite only

A quick overview Two spaces:  My Workspace  your course site(s) Navigation  Menu bar  Going Back  Site Info

People in My Workspace Profile  Edit your profile Membership  Join Leslie’s Demo Site + one other site

People on your course site Welcome students with your site introduction  Edit your site information

People on your course site Roster (populated by the registrar) Participants  Add two neighbors as participants  Manage their access Warning: NEVER change your own role from “maintain” or “instructor.” You’ll lock yourself out of your site.

Course content Instructor-generated  Web links  Syllabus  Assignments Student- and instructor-generated  Resources  Message Center (discussion forum)  Wiki

Course content: Web links  Create a web link in the menu (side) bar.  Edit it so that it opens in a new window.

Course content: Syllabus Options:  Syllabus posted in HTML  Try out Create/Edit function.  Syllabus posted in another format  Attach syllabus (e.g., as a.doc or PDF).

Course content: Assignments Options:  Assignment posted in HTML  Try out the text box.  Assignment uploaded as an attachment.  Attach an assignment in another format (e.g.,.doc or PDF). Students can turn in assignments to their personal drop boxes or directly to the assignment.

Course content: Resources Think of this as your virtual file cabinet where you can store any kind of digital resource - video, web links, Word docs, PDFs, images, audio, and more.  Upload a single resource. Want to organize and upload multiple resources? Take an advanced SmartSite workshop to learn how to use WebDAV.

Course content: Wikis and Forums Wikis: pages can be created or edited by anyone Forums: Spaces for threaded discussion To learn more about wikis and forums, take an advanced SmartSite workshop.

Communication Announcements  Send an announcement.  Change your site’s address.  Send an from the site. Schedule  Add an event to your schedule Chat  Join your neighbor in the chat room.

To see any part of your course site as a student views it: 1.Add sakaistu1 as a participant. 2.In a separate browser, log in as sakistu1 (password: sakaistu1). 3.Click on your course tab at the top (or in the drop-down menu). Student view

Further Resources The advanced SmartSite workshop covers  Wikis  Tests & Quizzes  Message Center / Discussion Forums  Managing multiple resources with WebDAV  Modules  Gradebook  and more

Further Resources Level 1: Online help (Click “Support and Training” link in menu bar, and then “Technical Tips.”) Level 2: IT Express - for quick answers to questions about SmartSite tools. (Call or Level 3: ET Partners - for individual, customized assistance by specially trained student technology advisors. ( ,

Further Resources To schedule a workshop customized to your department or other group, contact Leslie Madsen- Brooks at or or Steve Faith at or For pedagogical approaches to SmartSite, join the Faculty Mentoring Faculty Program: fmfp.ucdavis.edu. To report bugs or for other questions,