An Overview of CE 6:

Some of the enhanced features include the following:

• The grade book is easier to use.
• Discussions have been organized so that it is much easier to grade student participation.
• Chat and whiteboard have been integrated.
• New quiz question types have been added.
• Glossary has been expanded to include not only text definitions but media as well. It is now called the Media Library.

Here are just a few of the new features:

• Announcements section
• User profiles
• Grading rubrics that you can associate with learning modules
• Goals you can associate with learning modules
• Who’s online? – an instant messaging feature

Q: How do I learn to use CE 6 if would like to teach online but currently do not? 

A: Contact Virginia Kirk at x4911 or vkirk@howardcc.edu

Each semester, I offer a hybrid (f2f and online) training program for faculty who would like to teach a fully online course. In this course, “Teaching Online,” faculty learn about standards of best practice, course component alignment, behavioral objectives, Bloom’s taxonomy, and resources that support online teaching and learning.

At the end of this training, successful faculty receive professional development credit and a certificate that indicates that they are certified to teach online at HCC. 

Q: How do I learn to use CE 6 if I currently teach online?

A: You should already have learned CE 6 unless you are not teaching online in fall 2007. If you have not learned CE 6, please contact me and I will set you up in a special series of online courses that help you learn about the many new and enhanced features in CE 6. 

You can learn how to use the course tools in CE 6 by taking three online Product Specialist Training courses, produced by Bb. Each takes between 6 and 10 hours to complete and each can be modified to be completely self-paced.

Part 1 – Designing Your Course

Part 2 – Teaching Your Course

Part 3 – Assignments and Assessments

You will also have a practice site where you can demonstrate your skills. Rather than track you too closely, we simply ask you to demonstrate that you know the basic design and teach skills that will allow you to most successfully teach your course.

Each division also has an online faculty member who serves as the CE 6 Liaison. These liaisons are thoroughly familiar with CE 6 and are your resource for learning more about the platform.

Q: Who are the liaisons?
A: There is at least one liaison per division.

Vacant – Science – x 4417

Rose Volynskiy – Business/Computers – x4114

Nanette Deberry – English/World Languages – x47923

Consuelo Stewart – Math – x4933

Marie Westhaver – AH – x4190        

Pat Finley – Health Sciences – x4885

Pat Sipe – Nursing – x4985

Mark Tacyn – Social Sciences – x4949

Emily Hicks and Nanette Deberry– ELI

Q: How do I learn to use CE 6 if I am a supplemental user?

A: Your division CE 6 Liaison can set you up with online training.

You can learn about CE 6 at your own pace, through a brief online course called “Getting Started with CE 6.” It takes a couple of hours and it familiarizes you with the interface, the major design features, and teaching tools in CE 6. Contact your liaison if you would like to be entered in this course.

For a more in-depth look at CE 6, you may opt for the three part online training that is required of online faculty and that is part of the certification to teach online. Contact your liaison.

Q: How do I log on to CE 6?
A: http://ce6.howardcc.edu

Once you have been assigned a course and section and your course site has been created on CE 6, you can go to the above URL and click on Log In. Your username is your HCC express username and your password is your seven digit HCC employee id number. If you do not know your employee id number, please ask a division office staff member to look it up for you.

Q: How are courses created in CE 6?

A: Courses are created automatically.

In CE 6, the course creation process is automated. Course “shells” are created from a file that we get from Colleague and then load onto the CE 6 server. A course shell is essentially a blank site. The first time you click on a course shell you will have three options:

Option 1:  A blank site 

If you are developing your course from scratch, you would choose to keep the site blank site.

Option 2: Get content from an already existing CE 6 course 

If you already have a course on the CE 6 server that you would like to use in a subsequent semester, you would choose option 2. You can copy a course from a previous semester into your new semester course shell.

Option 3: Import content from a zip file 

If you are migrating a course from WebCT 4, you would choose option 3.

Q: How do I get a supplemental site on CE 6 for my F2F course?

A: It’s easy. (No more supplemental site request form!)

Once you know what course and what section of that course you are teaching, just let your division office staff know that you would like the course designated in Colleague as using WebCT.

In CE 6, the course creation process is automated: any course that is designated in Colleague as using WebCT will automatically have a corresponding course shell (blank site) created in CE 6. Course sites are created daily, so you will have a course site on CE 6 within 24 hours of the course/section having been designated in Colleague.

Q: How do I get my content from WebCT 4 into CE 6?

A: Contact your liaison for help.

The process is easy. Your liaison can help you download a zip of your WebCT 4 course and upload it into the appropriate course shell on CE 6. It takes just a few minutes!

Q: How do my students learn to use CE 6 tools?

A: We have created a “Student Guide to CE 6” site.

We have posted a “Student Guide to CE 6” course site that provides instruction on how to use the tools in CE 6. Log in information is posted on the main CE 6 log on page at http://ce6.howardcc.edu. Links and log in information are also posted on the Distance Learning Homepage.

Username: sample

Password: student

On your course site, please post instructions for how your students can access this Orientation.

Although it is designed for students, you might find it useful, too.

Q: When are students populated in course sites?
A: The first global population of students into courses takes place the week before classes begin.

The first global population takes place two or three days before the first F2F orientations. We do this so you can check your sites ahead of time to make sure that the students are populated and you are ready to go for your orientations and/or the first day of the semester.

Q: How often are students populated into courses?

A: Student population into course sites is automated and takes place every two hours after the initial population.

Q: Does this automated population also remove students who have dropped?
A: Yes.

Students who have dropped your course during the official drop period will be unenrolled from your course automatically. 

Q: Should I delete students who withdraw after the drop period?

A: No

Please be sure to deny access to any student who withdraws from your course after the official drop period. You want to keep them on the site, so you have a record of their activity, but you don’t want them to have continued access.

Q: Should I delete NA students?

A: No

NA simply means that the student had not logged on by the end of the third week. The student should continue to have access to the site. Please structure your course requirements and assignment due dates appropriately.

Q: Can I add students to my course?
A: Yes!

In the Teach tab, under the Grade Book, you will see an option to Enroll Members. Click on this option. You will need the student’s username, which is the same as their HCC express username. You can find this in Colleague or on your roster in Express.

Q: What should I do if one of my students cannot log in?
A: There are several possible reasons for this situation.

First, you should check the Roster in Express to make sure that the student is actually enrolled in your course. Next, check the Grade Book in CE 6 to make sure that the student has been entered in your course site. If the student is both enrolled in your course and appears in your site Grade Book, ask the student to call the HELP DESK.

Sometimes students cannot log on if their birth date is incorrect in Colleague. The student, in this case, is trying to log on with the correct birth date, while CE 6 will only recognize the incorrect date. The student needs to contact Records and Registration to get make sure the correct date is in Colleague. Once the correct birth date is in the system, a correct student account on CE 6 will be created.