Communication is Key!

Attendance in Talon

Many instructors use Talon to record student attendance.  The Attendance tool (Course Admin > Learner Management > Attendance) has a few limitations:

• • attendance CANNOT be tied to the Grade Book
  • attendance registers must be created manually, meaning instructors need to individually enter the days and times for each class meeting – which can be tedious

[VIDEO CONTENT FORTHCOMING]

Email in Talon

Talon has an tool allowing instructors to send Email to individuals enrolled in a course.  This is not an internal messaging system since replies are sent to official Kirkwood Email accounts.

The Email tool can be accessed from the Mini Navbar by clicking the envelope icon.  From here, you can send individual or class Emails.  Addresses can be found using the address book; however, the easiest way to send Emails is using the Classlist.

Emailing students using the Classlist:

1.  Visit Course Admin > Learner Management > Classlist
2. Click the Email Classlist button; please note this includes all students on your classlist – if you need to exclude any students or send to a message to just one individual, you can do so by using the “Show Search Options” function or by removing recipients in Step 4

3. Click the Send Email button

4. All students will appear in blind carbon copy and you can remove students by clicking on the x next to their name
5. Type your message and click the Send button
6. When a message is sent from Talon, the subject line will automatically populate with Talon – Course Name.
7. All Talon messages are sent to official Kirkwood Email accounts and any responses are sent to an instructor’s official Kirkwood Email account as well

Instant Messaging

The Instant Message tool is Talon’s internal messaging system; students can send instructors or other students instant messages.  Instant Messages live inside Talon and are not forwarded outside of Talon.

The Instant Message tool is access through the envelop icon in the Mini Navbar.

A new Instant Message will be indicated by a orange dot on the envelop icon.

Clicking on the Instant Message tool opens a pop-up box sharing either a Inbox, Friends, or Classlist tab.  “Friends” are individuals you Instant Message frequently; anyone can be added to a “Friends” account.  The “Classlist” shows members of the class you are currently in, and instructors can send individual messages to students or other faculty enrolled in the section.

The green identifiers next to individual names shares when someone is currently online; an “online status” does not mean they are available to chat via Instant Message – it just means they are currently logged in to the system.

To send an Instant Message, go to the Classlist tab and select individual or multiple students, then click “Message.” Type the message and then click the Send button.

To reply to messages, go to the Inbox, click on a message, type a reply, and then click on the Send button.

Announcements

Announcements communicate changes or updates in a course, provide weekly wrap-ups, share due date reminders, or relay any other information an instructor thinks is important enough for everyone to know right away and all at once.

To create a new Announcement, click on the action arrow [V] in the Announcement widget and select “New Announcement.”  If you do not have an Announcement widget on the Talon Homepage, then access creation functions via Course Admin > Communication > Announcements.

Enter a Headline and the Announcement’s content; a full HTML editor is available within this tool.

Instructors can choose to have their authorship of the Announcement shown to students.  Clicking the “Display Author Information” check-box lets students see who wrote the message; unclicking that box removes that information.  This is useful if an instructor is using content developed by another faculty member and the don’t want to confuse students over who is contributing to the course.

Adjust the Start and End Dates to establish the message’s availability to students.  By default, the Start Date is set to the date and time you publish the Announcement.  Instructors must choose an End Date – which is highly recommended so an Announcement does not display all-semester long or appear later in a copied Talon course shell.

You can also add an attachment to the message and set release conditions.

[VIDEO CONTENT FORTHCOMING]

Activity Feed Widget

The Activity Feed Widget is a communication alternative to an Announcement.  With this social-media-like tool, you can create “posts” to share with students, and students can comment back, creating interaction amongst students and with the instructor.

Adding the Activity Feed Widget

To add the Widget, visit Course Admin > Site Setup > Homepages.  Click on your active homepage to edit it, and then click the Add Widgets button and locate the Activity Feed Widget.

Creating posts in the Activity Feed Widget is as easy as clicking the “Plus” icon or clicking in the “Create a post . . .” box and typing!

You’ll have the option of creating either a Message or Assignment.  In general, a Message is like an Announcement and an Assignment is like an Assignment with a submission folder.  Best practices favor placing Assignments in the Course Content section of Talon.

You can allow or turn off commenting to your posts, as well as attach several file types if you wish to share those with students.

Video Note

In some tools such as Email, Intelligent Agents, Feedback, etc. you can attach new or existing Video Notes; these are embedded in an HTML file and require the user to be logged into Talon for viewing.

Instructors can use Video Note to do the following:

• • creating a new topic in a Content area
  • adding descriptions to a Module or a topic in the Content area
  • creating Announcements on the course Homepage
  • providing instructions in conjunction with a submission folder for an Assignment
  • sharing feedback on students’ Assignments
  • describing a new topic in Discussions or making a post on a Discussion topic
  • giving feedback in the Grade Book
  • composing an Email

Video Note is also available for students if they wish to:

• • add comments to uploaded Assignment
  • posting a new thread or replying on someone’s thread in Discussion topic
  • composing a Talon Email

Some limitations do exist with Video Note:

• • recordings with Video Note are limited to 30 minutes
  • recordings posted in Content, Assignments, and Discussion topic details can be copied from course to course
  • recordings can’t be captioned

Creating a Video Note

When in an HTML editor, select the Insert Stuff button.

Select “Add Video Note” from the pop-up dialogue box.

Video Note connects to cameras via a browser; if no camera is detected, users may see a warning.  Dependent upon browser and operating system, the system may ask the user about browser media settings.   Users should s “Allow” to make the connection; this decision can be remembered by selecting the “Remember this decision” checkbox.

After the webcam image appears, select the New Recording button and recording of the video will commence.

To stop the recording select the Stop Recording button.

After a recording is stopped, select the Next button and a processing message will appear, followed by a description page.  Give the video a description and, if necessary, a title and then click the Next button to move ahead in the process.

Select the Refresh Preview button to preview the video. It is also possible at this step to go back and repeat the process by clicking the Back button.  Select the Insert button to insert the video into the HTML file where the cursor is located.

Intelligence Agents

An Intelligent Agent monitors student activity within a course to see if it meets particular criteria: log-in activity, course activity, and release conditions.  When criteria are met, faculty can employ automated communication with tailored messages appropriate to the context.

Intelligent Agent User Page

• More Actions: restore or export Agent History
• Agent [V]: Edit, Copy, View History, Export History, Practice Run, Run Now, Delete
• Results of Last Run: identifies how many students met established criteria
• Last run date: when the last criteria check was initiated
• Next Run Date: when the next criteria check will take place
• Settings: customizes email communication (Name and Reply-To address)

Creating a New Agent

• Agent Name: an Agent’s title
• Description: what purpose does this Agent serve?
• Category: defines how you want to organize your Agents (quizzes, assignments, discussion board, exams, support message, etc.)
• Status: shares whether or not the Agent is enabled; this can be changed at any time – even from the User Page

Scheduling

• Frequency: how often do you want Talon to run the Agent?

Criteria

• Role in Classlist: select all users to capture the student roster; Users with specific roles include instructor, instructor test student, tutor, and more
• Take Action on Activity:
  • Login Activity: to address student activity in Talon
  • Course Activity: to address student activity in the course

 Release Conditions:

• • Create:
    • Condition Type: select a) what element in the course you want to follow-up on with students (assignments, checklists, competencies, content, discussions, grades, quizzes, etc.) and b) what performance condition needs to be met

• Condition Details: once the element has been chosen (in this case, we are working with a submission folder), select what particular item it applies to. A list of written assignment drop boxes appears in this example.

Example: Release Conditions Related to Scores

• Criteria:
  • < =                 less than or equal to
  • <                    less than
  • > =                 more than or equal to
  • >                    more than
  • =                    equal to
  • Between      between two percentages
  • !=                   not equal to
  • Not Between     not between
• Grade: what is the percentage associated with the Criteria (appears once Criteria is established)

Actions

• Repetition: when do you want your action to take place – the first time or every time an Agent runs?
• Send an Email: contact students via email when criteria are met
  • o What special email address can I use: refer to Settings
  • o What replacement strings can I use: refer to Replacement Strings
• Attachments: attachments can be included in an email
• Email Format: HTML or text formats are available

Replacement Strings

These generate personalized elements when placed in a subject line or message:

Email address field:

• {InitiatingUser} – User who performs the action that meets the agent’s criteria.
• {InitiatingUserAuditors} – The auditors for the user who performs the action that meets the agent’s criteria.

Email subject line and body fields:

• {OrgUnitId} – The id for the org unit.
• {LastCourseAccessDate} – The date the initiating user last accessed the course.
• {LastLoginDate} – The date the initiating user last logged in.

Email body field:

• {OrgName} – The name of the organization.
• {OrgUnitCode} – The code for the org unit.
• {OrgUnitName} – The name of the org unit.
• {OrgUnitStartDate} – The start date specified for the org unit.
• {OrgUnitEndDate} – The end date specified for the org unit.
• {InitiatingUserFirstName} – The first name of the initiating user.
• {InitiatingUserLastName} – The last name of the initiating user.
• {InitiatingUserUserName} – The username of the initiating user.
• {InitiatingUserOrgDefinedId} – The Org Defined ID of the initiating user.
• {LoginPath} – The address of the login path for the site.

These are the replacement strings in action:

[VIDEO CONTENT FORTHCOMING]

Replacement Strings

Replacement Strings can personalize messages!  For example, when sending an Email to a group of students, you could use a replacement string to individualize the message each student receives by using their first name.   

To insert a replacement string into a message, simply type in the replacement string where you would normally place the name or other text type as given.

A list of replacement string options appears below:

• • {OrgUnitName} : displays the name of the course
  • {FirstName} : displays first name of the user
  • {LastName} : displays last name of user
  • {Email} : displays Email of user
  • {OrgUnitStartDate} : displays Course start date
  • {OrgUnitEndDate} : displays  Course end date
  • {LoginPath} : displays URL for Talon (http://talon.kirkwood.edu)
  • {UserID} : displays a User’s k#
  • {InitiatingUserFirstName} : displays the first name of the initiating user
  • {InitiatingUserLastName} : displays the last name of the initiating user
  • {InitiatingUserUserName} : displays the last name of the initiating user
  • {InitiatingUserOrgDefinedId} : displays the last name of the initiating user
  • {InitiatingUser} : displays the user whose behavior meets the agent’s criteria (for example, a student who has not logged in for 5 days)
  • {InitiatingUserAuditors} : displays the auditors for the user whose behavior meets the agent’s criteria
  • Talon Kirkwood Community College : displays the name of the organization

Groups

Groups Tool: Create a New Category

Category Information

• Enrollment Type: dropdown menu provides grouping options (refer to Enrollment Type section)
• Number of Groups: the number of groups chosen
• Restrict Enrollments To: have no restrictions, select the course section, or choose from established Groups
• Group Prefix: optional ability to provide groups with a title

Advanced Properties

• Group Options: auto-enroll new users, randomize how users are placed in groups, category and group descriptions can be made visible to group members

 Additional Properties

• Create Workspace: group works areas can be created in association with discussions or assignments

Enrollment Type

• # of Groups – No Auto Enrollment: create a specific number of groups into which you can add learners. USE: when you know how many groups you want to create and which users you want in each group.
• Groups of #: create the minimum number of groups needed to place learners in groups of a specified maximum size. USE: when you know how many users you want in each group.
  • o If learners are enrolled in the course before groups are established, Can be auto enrolled into groups is enabled; one student is added at a time into each group.
  • o If Auto-enroll new users is enabled, and all groups reach their maximum capacity, a new group is created to accommodate new students.
  • o If Can be auto enrolled into groups is disabled, the minimum number of groups needed to create groups of a specified size are created; no users are enrolled in them. Students can enroll using the Groups page.
• # of Groups: create a specified number of groups. USE: when you know how many groups you want to create, but want the system to place users in the groups for you. USE: when you want group rosters created at random, or you are limited in the number of groups you can create.
  • o If Can be auto enrolled into groups is enabled, one student is added at a time into each group.
  • o If Can be auto enrolled into groups is not enabled, the specified number of groups is created and no users are enrolled in them. Students can enroll using the Groups page.
• Groups of # – Self Enrollment: create the minimum number of groups needed to accommodate users in a group of a specific size. Learners choose which group they want to belong to using the Groups page. USE: when you know how many users you want in each group, but you want to users to choose their own groups.
• # of Groups – Self Enrollment: create a specified number of groups into which students can enroll themselves. Learners choose which group to enroll in from the Groups page.  USE: when you want to make a specific number of groups for users to join.
• # of Groups, Capacity of #: create a specific number of groups with a specific number of enrollees/group. Learners choose which group to enroll in from the Groups page. USE: when you know how many users you want in each group, you want to allow users to choose their own groups, and you want each group to have a maximum number of users.
• Single-user, member-specific groups: create a group with a single user where the first name and the last name of the user is the name of the group. When a new learner enrolls in the course, a group is created for them.  USE: when you want to create a journal-type project (group) with a single member.

If you are enrolling users yourself, this is accomplished on the Manage Groups page once a Group is created.

1. Click on the Group name (under the Groups column)
2. Choose the Enroll Users to choose which students form that particular Group
3. Choose the View Enrollment to see the student list within that Group

Creating Group Discussions

When creating Groups, it’s possible to create discussions for them (Additional Options > Create Workspace > “Set up discussion areas”

1. Select “Set up discussion areas”

2. Choose to create a “New Forum” (then click on [New Forum]) or attach to an existing Forum
3. Choose to “create new Topic” (available only to the Group members) or “Attach to existing Topic” (with a Group-only accessible Discussion Thread)
4. For “create a New Topic”:
   1. “Create one topic per group” > Create and Next > Done (click the Add Another to create multiple Topics within the same Forum > Done)
   2. “Create one topic with threads separated by group” > Create and Next > Done
5. For “Attach to existing Topic” > “Attach to Topic” > Save

NOTE: 4a. allows you to see each group contribution independently of one another, making grading a little more complicated in that only one topic is tied to a grade item; 4b. is easier to grade, but a little more difficult to follow since Discussion Threads are all associated with one topic.

6. Click the Save button

Creating Group Assignments

When creating Groups, it’s possible to create Assignments for them (Additional Options > Create Workspace > “Set up discussion areas”

1. Select “Set up assignments”
2. Select the type of submission via the drop down menu: file, text, paper, or “Observed in person”
3. Click the Save button

On the Create Assignments page, you will provide a name, instructions, and determine the type of submission a student can share.

• Submission, Completion, and Categorization: Assignment Type, Submission type, Files Allowed Per Submission, Submissions, Notification Email, Category
• Evaluation and Feedback: Score Out Of, Grade Item, Student View Preview, Rubrics, Default Scoring Rubric, ePortfolio Artifacts, Anonymous Marking, Annotation Tools

4. Clicking the Save button saves all your options OR
5. Clicking the Add Another button lets you create another Assignment OR
6. Clicking the Skip button creates the Group without any of the Assignment parameters in place

Incorporating Group Work into Your Course

Once you have created Group discussions and/or assignments, they must be placed within your course for students to access.

1. Go to the Module in which you want to place your assignments
2. Click Existing Activities > Discussions to add the group discussion forum
   1. NOTE: if you choose to create a new Forum or Discussion Topic at this time, neither will be in Group form
3. Click Existing Activities > Assignments to add the group assignment
   1. NOTEL if you choose to create a new Assignment at this time, it will not be in Group form
   2. The Group Assignment is automatically hidden, so be sure to toggle it “Visible”

Remind Texting App

Remind is a web and phone application used for sending messages to entire classes or to individual students.   Both students and faculty can receive these messages through Email, the Remind mobile app or through the texting application on their phone. It’s up to the user to decide how they would like to receive messages.

At Kirkwood, we “roster” all courses in Remind, which means courses are auto-created and students are loaded automatically. Users are currently added with their official Kirkwood email address as contact information. Rostering happens 14 days prior to the open date set on the course in Talon.

[VIDEO CONTENT FORTHCOMING]

Here are some quick answers to typical questions associated with Remind:

Q: Why have I received an invitation to Remind and what do I do with it?
A: We created all courses in Remind and invited instructors. If you want to use Remind with your class, claim your courses. If you don’t want to use Remind, you can delete the email or you can archive your courses in Remind.

Q: I can’t find the Remind notification/invitation in my email
A: If teachers can’t find the Remind email in their inbox, have them go to this link and type in the email address that was used to create their account. We use your firstname.lastname[at]kirkwood.edu version of your email address to create your account.

Q: I seem to have more than one account on Remind, how can I fix that?
A: Fill out the form linked to the Merge Duplicate Remind Accounts article and Remind can merge your accounts. Students will occasionally have duplicate accounts created in your class too. Share this same link with them so that they can report the issue to Remind.

Q: What can I do with Remind?
A: You can invite students to sign up for your class using their phone (we only add them with their email address). Share this video process with them to get them signed up with the phone. Your students will need to know your class code which you can find in Remind. Then you can send messages to students and they will be much more likely to see your communication. And even if they don’t sign up with their phone, they can still receive the message via email.

Q: How do I find my class code?
A: Click on your class in the Classes Owned list. At the top of the main window, just below the class title, find the @ symbol followed by letters and numbers. This is your class code.

Q: Can I change my class code?
A: Yes. You can customize your class code, but it does need to be unique to the institution, so you might be forced to pick a more unique title if it’s already been taken. To change your code, click on the class title in the Classes Owned list. Click on Settings in the main window.

Q: Do students know my phone number if I enter it in Remind?
A: No. That’s the great thing about Remind. You don’t know their phone numbers and they don’t know yours.

Q: Can students message each other?
A: By default, no. You do have the option to turn this feature on if needed in your class.

Q: Where can I learn more about how to use Remind?
A: You can look to the Remind help center for quick tutorials.

Q: How can I add Remind to Talon?
A: There is a Remind compose message widget you can add to your course. It will allow you to compose a Remind message rather than using your phone. There are also options to create a custom widget that displays your class thread in Remind.

Q: Where can I get help with Remind from someone at Kirkwood?
A: Send email to alan.peterka@kirkwood.edu for assistance.

Remind: Communicating with Texts

Creating Accounts

Groups

The “Progress” tab can be used in many ways to assist an instructor when tracking a student’s access and engagement in a course.