ReggieNet

Starting this semester, students and instructors will use a new grade book tool (simply called Gradebook). The new Gradebook in ReggieNet sports a new interface, but the underlying structure is the same as the now-retired Gradebook 2.

New features include

• A more spreadsheet-type look
• Student names stay in place during horizontal scroll
• Entry of values greater than the item’s point value (extra credit)
• Display of students’ total points (for instructor)
• Display to student of overall course Grade, percentage, and/or total points in any combination
• Display of student’s percentage for each category
• Set zero scores for empty cells for entire gradebook
• Course grade override log
• “Keep highest”  and “Drop highest” score(s) option for a category

Learn more about the new Gradebook in this handout or by attending a workshop.

The Spring Break 2017 update added a new Gradebook tool, which will eventually replace the old "Gradebook 2" tool. Some users have reported that their classes have been set for Pass/No Pass instead of letter grades. To change this in either grade book, please do the following:

1. Go to Site Info then click Manage tools. Select Gradebook, then Continue, and then  Finish.
2. In Gradebook, click Settings and select grading schema. For grade type,  change it to letter grade and change the minimum percentage accordingly, then click on Save Changes.
3. Go to Site Info again and click Manage Tools again and this time, deselect Gradebook. The change you made in Gradebook carries over to Gradebook 2.

ReggieNet remains largely unchanged since its last major update over the winter of 2015. More importantly, the system has remained strong and stable since then. ReggieNet is ready to help you teach and to help your students learn this fall. A few reminders:

• Step-by-step instructions on how to get started with your ReggieNet course site are available on the Start Your Semester page.
• After a recent upgrade, some instructors may see duplicate tools listed on the left-side menu in their ReggieNet course site. Duplicates can be removed by going to Site Info > Edit Tools and unselecting the duplicate entries.
• Starting Fall 2016, documents created in or uploaded to the Syllabus tool are "published" to students by default. 
• If you use SCORM-based modules in ReggieNet, you may need to reload them to the system.  Read more about changes to the SCORM Cloud tool.
• SoftChalk users need to upgrade to the latest version of SoftChalk Create (ver. 10) and repackage and reload their modules into ReggieNet. Contact your department IT support person for help getting updated software. 
• While unrelated to ReggieNet, the system that allows users to reset their University password will be unavailable the morning of Sunday, August 21.

SoftChalk users need to upgrade to the latest version of SoftChalk Create (ver. 10) and repackage and reload their modules into ReggieNet. Contact your department IT support person for help getting updated software.

When you log into ReggieNet, you'll notice a new look and a few new features. You can find more information on the What's New page.

Some instructors have encountered errors when trying transfer data from old courses to new ones. Two specific issues concern the Gradebook2 and Resources tools. While we believe these issues should be resolved soon, there are steps instructors can utilize now to manually move this data.

Resources tool - copying content from an old course site to a new one:

1. Open the course in ReggieNet that the resources will be copied to.
2. Click on the Resources tool in the left hand tool bar of the course.
3. On the main Resources page, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on Copy Content from My Other Sites to view resources from other courses.
4. Identify the course from which to copy resources and click on the yellow folder for that course to view the materials contained in the Resources tool for that course.
5. Check the boxes to the left of the folders that are to be copied. This will enable the copy button at the top of the list of folders in Resources for this course.
6. Click on the copy button. This will reset the page to the course Resources tool to which the files are to be copied.
7. At the top of the list of folders in Resources, click on the clipboard icon associated with that folder or click the Actions drop down menu for that folder and select Paste copied items.

If you experience technical issues, please contact the Technology Support Center, as usual. If you have questions related to teaching with ReggieNet please email CTLT@IllinoisState.edu.

Spring 2016 Updates

As part of the migration to a new hosting service, ReggieNet will be upgrades to the latest version of Sakai. This means users will experience an enhanced interface and several new features. Check our the What's New in ReggieNet section for details.

Course Sites

Instructors can now access their course sites for the spring semester. Go to ReggieNet.IllinoisState.edu and click on the "My Active Sites" tab on the right of the screen.

• Please remember that you will only see your spring courses if you have been designated as the instructor of record for your department.

Tools Changes

As we announced last spring, three tools will be retired and no longer available starting next semester. Plan on using the replacements for these tools, which are already in service:

• The Modules tool will be replaced by the Lessons tool.
• Discussion Forums will be discontinued; the similarly named Forums tool will remain.
• The Blogs tool will be replaced by the Clog (“Community Blog”) tool.

Workshops are available to help you transition from the Modules tool to the Lessons tool. In addition, consider:

• a tutorial video on how to transition from Modules to Lessons.
• one-on-one faculty support for ReggieNet. Email CTLT@IllinoisState.edu or call 438-2542 to make an appointment.

Course Combination Requests

If you wish to have two or more Spring 2016 courses combined into one ReggieNet site, there is a new process for submitting requests. A step-by-step help guide (PDF) is also available.