September 21, 2004 Edition
Welcome to the eGrade Plus Customer Newsletter!

This newsletter has been designed to help you and your students get the most out of eGrade Plus. Please let us know what you think by sending us a comment using the link at the bottom of this message. Thank you!
In This Issue

New Titles
Upcoming Functionality
Customer Support/Training/Documentation
Experts Alley with the Faculty Resource Network
Packaging and Fulfillment
What Customers are Saying
Tell Us What You Think
New Titles TOP
We're excited to let you know that eGrade Plus is being developed for over 30 additional titles during the next academic year. Books in disciplines such as Mathematics, Science, Psychology, and Business will be available soon. For a complete list of available with eGrade Plus and forthcoming titles, please visit our website!




Upcoming Functionality TOP
The eGrade Plus team has been continually monitoring the user experience and customer feedback. Based on what we've heard from instructors and students, we've begun creating additional features and enhanced functionality scheduled to roll out over the course of the next few months. Some planned improvements include:

Student Account Management: The login and registration process for students will be simplified. Instructional text will be edited for accuracy and clarity. Utilities such as "find my class section" and "find my instructor" will be added.

Instructor Prepare & Present: Additional file types and formats will be added to this section. There will be improved tools for downloadable files, presentation management and image libraries.

Instructor Assignment: Based on instructor feedback, we intend to allow additional policy settings for assignments, such as ability to use values from the textbook, scramble choices upon repetition, and show answers after due date.

Instructor Gradebook: There will be improvements to the interface, including sorting and selecting of records, metrics, and analysis tools.




Customer Support/Training/Documentation TOP

New Documentation Now Available

Wiley has created several resources to help you and your students get up and running fast with eGrade Plus:
  • Instructor's Manual: From system requirements and basic set-up, to mastery of most advanced features, this handy guide answers all of your questions about eGrade Plus and how to use it.
  • Instructor's Quick Start Guide: This guide will provide you with the information you need for the initial set-up of your eGrade Plus course and some tips and tricks to be aware of.
  • Instructor's FAQ's: Quickly get answers to some of the most commonly asked questions on eGrade Plus.
  • Student Quick Start Guide: This document will provide your students with a basic overview of navigating through eGrade Plus, covering such topics as registering for your class, accessing their assignments, and tracking their progress via their personal gradebook.

Simply visit the eGrade Plus Instructor s Resource Center to access and download any of these files.

Faculty Resource Network - Training and Advice
eGrade Plus training is available through Wiley's Faculty Resource Network. If you haven't already, we highly recommend you and your colleagues sign up for a training session to ensure the successful implementation of eGrade Plus this fall. Faculty Resource Network training sessions are led by other faculty members using eGrade Plus, and will cover basic course set-up procedures. View a complete schedule of upcoming sessions on our website today!

Technical Support
Instructor Technical Support is available at 877-586-0192 from Monday-Friday from 8:00am to Midnight (eastern) and Saturday-Sunday 5:00pm to 11:00pm. (eastern).

Web-based Student and Instructor support is also available at www.support.wiley.com . At this site, FAQs, downloads, and other documentation is available, along with an online form for emailing technical support. Support via Chat is also available online during the hours listed above.

Wiley Technical Support is the best resource for any student who needs assistance with accessing or registering for eGrade Plus.
Please do not direct students who are having difficulty accessing eGrade Plus to the campus bookstore. They will not be able to assist your students with registering for eGrade Plus, and they will not be able to issue them a new access card. Wiley is responsible for assisting your students with issues like this and will do so promptly. You may also refer your students to the directions for using registration codes that are on the printed access card they receive if the text is purchased from the bookstore. The same directions are available in the Quick Start Guide above.

Tech Tip - Using eGrade Plus on a Mac
eGrade Plus is designed to support the Internet Explorer browser on the Mac. Please advise students to use Mac OS X (version 10.2.3 and higher) and Microsoft IE (version 5.2 and higher) for optimal performance. We are currently working on fully supporting other browsers for Macs such as Netscape and Safari in future releases.




Experts Alley with the Faculty Resource Network TOP
Every aspect of eGrade Plus continues to be shaped by the suggestions, questions, and feedback from faculty across the nation. Faculty using eGrade Plus in their fall classes have found the following tips useful:

Save time with assignment templates
In order to speed up your assignment creation, you can create a Template Assignment. Here's how:
  1. In the Assignment area, open an old assignment whose policies you want to use in the template (no. of submissions you will allow, feedback settings, etc).
  2. Click on the "Copy and Edit" link to create a new assignment with the same settings and questions as the old assignment.
  3. Give the new assignment a name (such as "Template Assignment"), and remove the old questions (using the Remove link under the "Review and Publish" tab).
For future assignments, you can "Copy and Edit" this template assignment, change the name and add your questions. You won't have to remember or rethink your assignment policies, your settings will be exactly as they were in the earlier assignment!

Creating a student account for yourself
eGrade Plus allows you to see their course exactly as your students do, by letting you easily create a student account for yourself:
  1. Login as the instructor in the class you want to create the student account.
  2. Click on Course Administration, then Roster Operations.
  3. Click on the button at right labeled "Create a student account for yourself". You can now see your name in the Class Roster.
  4. Copy the Class URL under Course Administration>Class Properties.
  5. You can now login as a student to this class URL you copied using your usual login id and password.

Note: You can only have one student account, but the Master Course Instructor can move your student account to any section you wish by entering Course Administration > Class Roster.

Change classes by going "Home"
To change classes as an instructor, simply click on the "Home" link at the upper right-hand side of the page, and then select the class you want to enter (or the master course instructor link at the top of that list). You can always tell which section you are working in by looking at the upper left-hand side of the page, where the section name appears.

Create an "interactive syllabus"
Are you looking for new ways to keep your busy students on schedule? By creating Reading/Resource assignments in the Assignment area, you can add reading assignments to your assignment list. These assignments then appear along with their online homework, which reinforces to your students the importance of doing the reading before class, and makes sure they access the sections you want them to read (your grade book records whether they have accessed each section).

Note: by using the above tip, you can assign any of the content and resources located in the Study & Practice area, including interactive tutorials, simulations, and videos accompanying your text!

Are you an eGrade Plus Expert?
Test your knowledge of eGrade Plus by taking this short quiz. Answers appear at the bottom of this message.
  1. Which of the following tasks in eGrade Plus can only be performed by the master course administrator (regular instructors cannot do these things)?
    _a. Change a class name
    _b. Add an instructor to a class as a student
    _c. Create a new class section and assign an instructor
    _d. Change the time zone
    _e. Share assignments with all instructors in the department


  2. Which is the best link for an instructor to use to switch sections in eGrade Plus?
    _a. Logout
    _b. Switch Sections
    _c. Change Classes
    _d. Home


  3. Which of the following features of eGrade Plus are designed to support student learning?
    _a. Homework problems link to relevant section of the online text.
    _b. Key terms, figures, and multimedia are linked to the text.
    _c. Readings with deadlines can be assigned, and progress recorded in grade book, and can include any of the text content, or student or instructor resources.
    _d. Algorithmic problems support problem-solving practice and collaborative learning.
    _e. All resources are integrated with the text in one user-friendly website.


  4. Presentations created in Prepare & Present show up for students in which area?
    _a. Prepare & Present
    _b. Study & Practice
    _c. Assignment
    _d. Documents




Packaging and Fulfillment TOP
By now you have probably seen the textbook package your students are buying in the college bookstore. "eGrade Plus Versions" of Wiley textbooks are intended to stand out so that it's clear to your students what they should be buying and what they are getting. Remember to order the "eGrade Plus Version" of your textbook so that your students won t have to pay extra for the required eGrade Plus access code. If you have questions about what ISBN to use on your bookstore order, please contact your Wiley Representative.

We also wanted to remind you that eGrade Plus registration codes can be purchased online at http://www. wiley.com/college/buyegradeplus for $30 for 1-term, and $45 for 2-terms.




What Customers are Saying TOP
"I think eGrade Plus is just great. I can set up a one-week homework assignment in less than 4 minutes, and I can easily monitor students when they are having trouble."
  -  Jearl Walker, Cleveland State University

"I like eGrade Plus very much. I think that it will help me to be a better student. Thank you!"
  -  Student, Houston Community College




Tell Us What You Think TOP
We want to make sure this newsletter achieves its purpose of providing you with valuable information and updates on eGrade Plus. Please send us any comments or feedback you have. Are there other topics you would like to see? Are you interested in contributing an article or topic for "Experts Alley with the Faculty Resource Network"? Please let us know by sending us an email with your comments. All feedback is welcomed!




 

Answers to "Are you an eGrade Plus expert?"  
1. a,c,d 2.d 3.a,b,c,d,e 4.b 



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