Yes, there is a feature called Copy Components that will copy all but the student generated content from a previous course.  It can be found by clicking on Edit Course in the course you want to add the content to.  See our Copy Components quick guide for more information.

At the end of the semester when the class closed, your student's access to that course is removed.  The Learn@ UWSuperior Site Administrator will need to extend the access for the student.  You will need to contact the Technology Helpdesk 715-394-8300 to request that he or she has extended access to the course.  You can also use the Learn@ UWSuperior Student Access form on this website.  Please give the Course name, section number and semester when you make this request.  If the student is making up an incomplete from a previous semester but needs to be added to your current course offering please indicate that as well. 

The Learn@ UWSuperior Site Administrator will need to enroll the student in the course(s) as either a student assistant with grades access or without grades access.  You will need to contact the Technology Helpdesk 715-394-8300 to request that he or she has access to the course(s).  Please give the Course name and section number for each course and if they should have grades access or not.

On the Learn@UWSuperior login page there is a "Check Your System" link, you can use that to see if your computer and internet connection meets the requirements.

Note:  Some of the older browser versions will not be supported or will have limited support. As of the Summer 2012 upgrade, the most current browser is usually the preferred browser.

Think of your Content as an outline for the course materials, with modules as key subjects and topics as the supporting information.  In order to create topics, you will need to have at least one module for your Content area.  Here is an example of a Content structure that shows modules and topics.  If you are working on the Content while the course is available to your students, you can hide modules or topics so your students do not see it until it is ready.  You can also put a date restriction on a module or topic so it will only display during a certain time period.  

For more information on how to set up your Content area, we have a quick reference guide and the Desire2Learn full guide.

In this case, the best way to post PowerPoint files is as a PDF document. Your students will be able to view the slides but not be able to make changes to them. It will also take less time for the students to download the file. See an example of this.

Here's how to do this:

1. In PowerPoint 2007 (PC), from the Office button, selectPrint -> Print. In PowerPoint 2008 (Mac), select File -> Print.
2. PC - from the Namedrop-down menu, select Adobe PDF. Mac - from the PDF button select Save as PDF.
3. PC & Mac - from the Print What drop-down menu, select Handouts.
4. PC - click OK. The Save PDF File As dialog box will appear.
5. PC & Mac - name the PDF file and click Save.

This happens if you copied the Content Quicklinks from a previous offering but did not copy the corresponding tool item you were linking to at the same time. When you copied the components, you might have taken the Content and Course Files, but forgot the Dropbox folder, Discussions topic, or Quiz, which broke the connection with that item.

There are two ways to fix this, you can delete the Quicklinks and recopy them along with the topic, folder, quiz, etc. Or you can use the editing icon for that Quicklink to fix the problem after you make sure the topic, folder, quiz, etc is in the current course.

If you have recently done a search in your Classlist, you will only see the results of that search. Check the Search For field for a name, delete the name if there is one and click the search button again.  This can also happen in the Enter Grades area.  

If the Search For field is empty and you can only see a few members from your class, check to make sure that the View By dropdown menu is set to Users and not Groups.

You have made the forum, but you need to make a topic within the forum for your students to compose posts or reply to existing messages.  If you click on the New Topic icon and follow the steps, your students should be able to post messages then.

Normally what happens when you click on the "Compose" icon is it opens in a new window.  If you have your browser's pop-up blocker turned on, it will look like nothing is happening.  You will want to turn off your pop-up blocker for Learn@UWSuperior. 

• PC users with Internet Explorer: In the browser information at the top of the window, on the Tools drop-down list, select Pop-up Blockers "Turn off Pop-up Blockers" after that, the Compose window will appear after you click the "Compose" button.
  
• Mac users with Safari: In the browser information at the top of the window, on the Safari drop-down list there is an option to "Block Pop-up Windows", if you uncheck that item the Compose window will appear after you click the "Compose" button.
• PC and Mac users with Firefox: In the browser information at the top of the window, select "Options" from the Tools drop-down list.  A new window will open, on the content tab is an item called "Block pop-up windows".  Instead of unchecking that box, to the right of it is an "Exceptions" button, click on that, and add the address for Learn@ UWSuperior to the list.

You are going to want to do this under the Groups tool. Here's how to get to the correct screen to make these group forums/topics:

1. Go to the course and click on the Groups icon in the navigation bar.
2. Select the name of the group you would like to edit and click on the "Edit Discussions Restrictions" link in the Additional Options area.
Note: You might have to use the "View Categories" dropdown menu to find the group you want to work on.
3. Click on the "Automatically create restricted topics" link.

To create new topics in an existing forum, click on the "Add Another" button for the forum listed on the dropdown menu. If you have several topics that you want each group to post messages to within that forum, you will need to click the "Add Another" button for each one you want to create. I recommend changing the titles for each set as you make them to avoid mixing the group topics up (go to the Discussions area, click on the edit pencil icon for the group topic and add a more descriptive title, but keep the "Group 1" or "Group 2" in the title as well so you will know which group is which).

If you need to create multiple forums as well as group topics (ex. week 1, week 2, week 3, etc.), click on the New Forum link next to the Forums dropdown menu. Once you have named the new forum, save it and then click the "Add Another" button for this forum. Keep doing this until you have the number of forums and group topics you need.

If the file contains one of the special characters listed below that the system does not allow or has a consecutive period in the name, you will not be able to open the file. 

! @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) : ;

If you download the file to your computer and use the program (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc) to open the file it should work properly.  If it does not open after downloading the file, the student will have to resubmit the file to the Dropbox without the special characters in the name.

Another reason you might not be able to open a file your student has submitted is because you do not have the program (Microsoft Works, Word Perfect, or Pages) on your computer.  If you download the Works file to your computer and open Microsoft Word, you should be able to open that student's file.  It might contain symbols or random characters, but if you scroll down the page, you should start seeing the student's work.

There are a couple of ways you can do this:

• Change the folder end date to a later date, which would open the folder for all the students in the course.
• Add special access to allow the one student to access the folder and keep it closed for everyone else.
• Set up a separate folder for late assignments and have all students submit any late work to this folder. If you want them to use this folder throughout the semester, do not set an end date for this folder.
  

Yes, when you set up the Dropbox, there is a Grade Item dropdown menu that appears in the settings.  Select the grade item you wish to link to from this menu.  When you are reviewing each students submission, you can click on the Leave Feedback link to add the student's grade and leave any feedback for the student.

Dropbox folders with longer names or special characters (!@#$%^&*) do not function properly during the integration between the two products. It is recommended that you use a short name for Dropbox folders, then use the custom instructions area to give your students more information on that Dropbox folder.

For example, a Dropbox folder with "Lesson 1: Uploading & Downloading in Learn@UWSuperior using Content & Dropbox" would need to be changed to "Lesson 1" as the name and "Uploading and Downloading using Content and Dropbox" in the custom instructions area.

 The Dropbox doesn't have a restriction on file size, but the video file might be too large for your internet connection to download all at once. You might need to have your student compress the file to a smaller file size. If that doesn't work, they might need to break the video down into smaller sections. If the video needs to be a higher quality for grading purposes, you might want to have them make a DVD copy or save it on a Flash drive for you.

If you receive an error message while downloading a video file, write the message down and contact the Technology Helpdesk at 715-394-8300 for assistance.

It could be that extra characters were added to the file name, which could cause the file not to print on Mac computers. For example: "Reading Assignment One.docx" could become "Reading%0Assignment%One.docx". What you would need to do is download the file to your computer and rename it so there are no spaces in the name, like "ReadingAssignmentOne.docx".

This is happening because the weight on the correct answers is 1 instead of 100. For Learn@UWSuperior to know what the correct answer is, you have to put 100 as the weight for it or the system will think it's only a partial answer and gives only partial credit.

Quizzes have many settings. Chances are, you select many of the same settings repeatedly for each quiz you create i.e. "time limit", "grace period", "submissions", "# of attempts", etc. Instead of making these choices every time you create a new quiz, create a quiz template which has these settings, but has no questions. Start by creating a new quiz. Type template in the "name" field and save your quiz. Make all of the selections that will be the same in your other quizzes, and save the quiz again. Do not set an availability or add any questions.

If you have recently done a search, you will only see the results of that search. Check the Search For field for a name, delete the name if there is one and click the search button again.  This can also happen in the Classlist area.

If the Search For field is empty and you can only see a few members from your class, check to make sure that the View By dropdown menu is set to Users and not Groups.

What that calculator icon means is that your students' final grades are out of date because you have added/removed grade items or added grades for assignments and need to update this information. There are two ways to fix this:

• On the right side of your Grades area, click on the Enter grades - Final Grades icon (ruler with a check mark) and click the Recalculate All icon (calculator) near the top of the page. This will temporarily update the final grades for each student. Next time you add/remove grade items or add grades for assignments, they will be out of date again. 
• Click on the Grade Settings icon (two gears) in the left column and click on the Calculation Options icon near the top of the page. In the Grade Calculations section, check the "Auto Update: Automatically keep final grades updated" box. This will permanently keep your Final Grades up-to-date. One drawback is if you have a large class or a lot of grade items, it might take the system a few extra seconds to load your Grade area when you click on the Grades icon in the navigation bar.
  

In the Manage Grades area, create a new grade item using Calculated as the grade item type. Give it a name like "mid-term grade" and select the grade items from the list you would like to include. Your list might look something like this (in Learn@ UWSuperior the highlight will be green):

• Assignment 1
• Assignment 2
• Assignment 3
• Assignment 4
  
• Quiz 1
• Quiz 2
• Quiz 3
  
• Essay 1
• Essay 2
• Essay 3
• Essay 4
  
• Group Project 1
• Group Project 2
  
• Peer Review 1
• Peer Review 2
  

When you have selected your items, click on the Save button.

In order for extra points to appear for an assignment, you have to check the "Can Exceed" box for the grade item. This will let the system know to include those extra points above the max points for that grade item. If you use categories, make sure you check the "Can Exceed" box for that category as well.

Here's how to get to the correct screen to make these group forums/topics:

1. Go to the course and click on the Groups icon in the navigation bar.
2. Select the name of the group you would like to edit and click on the "Edit Discussions Restrictions" link in the Additional Options area.
Note: You might have to use the "View Categories" dropdown menu to find the group you want to work on.
3. Click on the "Automatically create restricted topics" link.

To create new topics in an existing forum, click on the "Add Another" button for the forum listed on the dropdown menu. If you have several topics that you want each group to post messages to within that forum, you will need to click the "Add Another" button for each one you want to create. I recommend changing the titles for each set as you make them to avoid mixing the group topics up (go to the Discussions area, click on the edit pencil icon for the group topic and add a more descriptive title, but keep the "Group 1" or "Group 2" in the title as well so you will know which group is which).

If you need to create multiple forums as well as group topics (ex. week 1, week 2, week 3, etc.), click on the New Forum link next to the Forums dropdown menu. Once you have named the new forum, save it and then click the "Add Another" button for this forum. Keep doing this until you have the number of forums and group topics you need.