Setting Up RSS Feeds in Your Moodle Course: Brief Tutorial

Here is a brief tutorial about setting up RSS feeds in your Moodle course. If you would like to view a screen cast of this tutorial, click on this link:

http://media.rider.edu/blog/angel-brady-adding-rss-feeds-to-your-moodle-course/

1. Login to Moodle

2. In Your course, click on the “Turn Editing on” button. (Located at the top right).

3. In the side box titled “Blocks”, click on the drop down menu and select “Remote RSS Feeds”.

4. Click on the “Link to Configure the block” to display and edit RSS feeds.

5. Click on the “Configure this block” tab.

6. Check the check boxes of the feeds you want to add.

7. If you would like to add more feeds, click on the “Manage all my feeds” tab.

8. Add a RSS feed URL in the text box provided. *It’s optional to add a title for the feed.

9. Click the add button. *You can test your feed to see if the address is correct by clicking on the “Validate feed” link

10. Click on the “Configure this block” tab.

11. Check the check box of the new feed you just added. *It’s Optional to enter a title for the block, like “Class-name’s RSS Feeds”

12. Click “Save Changes” button.

-Angel Brady

Textbox Not Appearing in Blackboard When Using Internet Explorer 7-Brief Solution

A recent issue I have been receiving from users in Blackboard is that their text box does not appear when they want to compose a message or reply to a thread in a Discussion Board. All the users were using Internet Explorer 7. There are two ways you can fix this issue so your text box appears again.

First Way:

You can click the Active X control prompt at the top of the browser and allow the script to run.

Second Way:

1. In Internet Explorer, click on Tools—>Internet Options

2. Click on the Programs tab.

3. Click on Manage Add-On button near the bottom of the Internet Options window.

4. Make sure all of your Active X Control Add On’s (look under the Type column to see if it’s Active X) are enabled, especially the DHTML Edit Control Safe for Scripting for IE 5

5. To enable an Add-On, click on the script and push the enable radio button.

6. Click OK.

7. Click OK on the Internet Options window.

8. Refresh the web page and your text box should appear. If not, try re-starting Internet Explorer.

-Angel Brady

How to Create an Assignment in TurnItIn-Brief Tutorial and Link to Screencast

Here is a video screencast tutorial to supplement this text tutorial. The Screencast contains audio.

1. Click on the class link you want to add an assignment to.

2. Click on the create a new class link.

3. Enter the name for the assignment. Choose a start, due, and end date.

4. Enter any special instructions in the text box provided.

5. Choose if you want to generate originality reports.

6. Choose if you want to show advanced options.

7. Click submit.

8. To edit the assignment, click on the assignment title link.

Screencast permalink: http://media.rider.edu/blog/angel-brady-introduction-to-turnitin-creating-an-assignment/

-Angel Brady

Weighting Grades in Blackboard’s Gradebook-Brief Tutorial

The Gradebook in Blackboard can be a complicated tool at times, but it’s a great place to organize your grades so students can see a general idea of how they are doing in your course. Some instructors weigh certain assignments more than others (a quiz counts for less than a final exam). This brief tutorial will discuss how to access the Weight Grades features and how to use it in Gradebook.

1. Log in to Blackboard.

2. Go to the Control Panel.

3. Under Assessment, click on Gradebook.

4. Add items to your Gradebook by clicking on the Items button.

5. Once you have all your items recorded in the Gradebook, click on the Weight Grades button.

6. You can choose to weigh your grades by Category or by Item. If you weigh by category, make sure each of your items are listed in the proper category. To check this, click on each item’s name in the Gradebook (you can modify an items settings this way under Item Information).

7. Make sure your percentages equal 100% or the grades will not weigh properly and you will get an error message.

8. When you are finished with weighing your items, click the Submit button.

9. You will now have a weighted total as part of your Gradebook items.

-Angel Brady

How to Set-up SFTP on Windows XP-Brief Tutorial

Here’s a brief tutorial on how to set up a sftp connection on an open source ftp client for Windows XP.

1. Download FileZilla for Windows XP at http://filezilla.sourceforge.net/

2. Install FileZilla

3. Open FileZilla and click on File—>Site Manager (CTRL + S)

4. Click on the New Site button.

5. Enter the host (server name (www.yourdomain.com for example)-provided to you by your web administrator).

6. Enter 22 for Port.

7. For server type, click the drop down and choose SFTP.

8. For Logontype, choose Ask for password.

9. For user, type in your user name you received from the web administrator.

10. Click the connect button and enter your password.

*To edit your settings, you can go to File–> Site Manager and click on and highlight the server you want to edit and click on the edit button to change settings. If you are a more advanced user, click on the tabs at the top of the Site Manager window for more options.

-Angel Brady

How to Set-up SFTP on Mac OS X-Brief Tutorial

Here’s a brief tutorial on how to set up a sftp connection on an open source ftp client for Mac OS X.

1. Download Cyberduck for Mac OS X at http://cyberduck.ch/.

2. Install Cyberduck.

3. Open Cyberduck and click on the Bookmarks icon.

4. Click on the plus sign at the bottom of the Bookmarks panel.

5. For Nickname, type the name of the server you are transferring your files to (www.yourdomain.com for example).

6. For protocol, choose SFTP (SSH Secure File Transfer) from the drop down.

7. For server, type in the name of the server you are transferring files to (received this information from web administrator, example- www.yourdomain.com).

8. Type in 22 for Port.

9. Enter your user name (received this information from web administrator).

10. Double click on the bookmark to connect.

*If you are a more advanced user, you can click on More Options when setting up your account. You can also edit you account by clicking the pencil icon to change settings. Under more options, you can choose a path, or change where you want to download files from the server onto your computer.

-Angel Brady