Frank Rotondo, I am not sure what happened with my first response! Sorry about that! Anyway, thank you for your sharing your experiences and insights. 

You bring up a very good point about being comfortable in Loud Cloud and that can make the transition to Halo a little more challenging. I remember switching from Angel to Loud Cloud and it was like a whole new world! :) 

Do you teach multiple classes at a time? The one thing I really like about Halo is that the classes are color coded and show the current "Topic" in the drop down menu. I used to spend a lot of time clicking all the classes until I finally found the one I wanted. Halo saves a lot of time in that regard. 

For those of you that may not be familiar with what I am referring to, see the picture below. 

I teach several sections at a time of the same class and this feature is amazing! Any thoughts? 

Shaunna Waltemeyer , thanks did not realize what that was  

Dr. Parker 

Shaunna, thank you for starting this conversation!  Below are my responses to your questions.

1. Have you started teaching in Halo yet? If so, what grade level and modality do you teach?  I have been IA'ing online graduate classes for a while and I am teaching undergraduate TO classes right now. 

2. What are some of the things you like about Halo?  I love that we can see when our students review our feedback and if they acknowledge the announcements!

3. What positive feedback are you getting from your students about Halo?  The overall ease of navigating the platform.

~Jessica

Jessica Blair, thank you for the comments! I know you have a lot of experience in Halo so I appreciate you sharing your comments. You mention that instructors can see when students read the comments. This is not something I have used before, but it sounds awesome! Can you talk a little more about that and how/where instructors can view this information? 

Thank you in advance! I am excited to learn something new! Shaunna

Shaunna Waltemeyer Good evening. I am teaching NUR-513 and started teaching HALO at the beginning of September. I am teaching my third class in HALO at this time. It has taken me a little while to get used to it after five years of using Loud Cloud but it's coming along. I find the class much easier to set up in HALO and also find the grading easier as far as the DQ's and the week's participation. I am quickly getting used to grading the assignments without having to look back at the Rubric comments 1-5. I still have a bit of a challenge marking posts substantive and hitting post after I reply to a student but have found using a mouse does help. My students who are new to GCU do not have any complaints regarding HALO. My students who went to GCU for their BSN do occasionally complain because they were used to Loud Cloud and it is usually something like having a problem uploading an assignment and I have to refer them to IT because I do not know HALO well enough yet to answer their questions. I did email (sorry forgot who) to ask about adding a title to the posts instead of pinning them. A gentleman called me and we talked for a bit and he told me that soon we will have the ability to add a title to a post just as we can for an announcement. That will be wonderful! I post specific instructions and templates for assignments and I pin them but I am finding that the students are not reading them. i.e. make sure to have a comprehensive thesis statement in your paper. Of 23 papers only 8 had a thesis statement at all. With Loud Cloud I could title the post. "Important for Week 5 assignment- Please Read!" and they did. I post the instructions the week before and the week the assignment is due. In the next class I plan to post the instruction posts in the announcements until we are able to title forum posts. I do have to have my students label their posts as to whether they are a DQ, Devotional, or CAT question reply. They have been excellent at doing so. Thank you for this helpful discussion. 

Blessings,

Joanna Hysler

Joanna Hysler, thank you for the comment! I really like your idea of asking the students to reply and include a title at the top of each post. What a great way to easily refer back when grading participation! I have found the Announcements section very helpful and refer students back to this location if I have already provided the information. This gets them used to checking the Announcements on a regular basis :) Thank you for sharing and have a great Sunday! Shaunna 

Joanna Hysler ~ Hi Joanna! I am relieved to read that the Title functionality will appear soon! Titles are pre-reading and pre-writing scaffolds that help with organization (both for students and me!). I hope students can add titles too. 

~Helen :)

Hi Joanna, 

As an online instructor, I post related information, hints, and additional questions, such as CATS. This is how I provide instruction for students. Even my CATS questions have some instruction in them.

I am encouraged by the posssibility of them adding Title functionality into the Halo questions in the Forums.  

Titles are a valuable teaching tool. It increases the likelihood that a post might be read.

The ability to pin posts is a nice feature, but a few students have confused them for the actual DQ.

Take care, 

Phillip

Shaunna Waltemeyer Yes, asking the students to add to their post what type of post their post is, is really working well! I haven't had a chance to review everything new in the past couple of days so I am sorry if I am beating an old horse. I am having an issue with reading and answering all of the posts yet the post count number is not going down, it just continues to climb higher and higher. Also when student asks a question in messages and I reply they always say thank you, which is great, but then I have to reply again to get the message number to go away. Is this being worked on? Thank you greatly!

Joanna Hysler

Phillip Brown, thank you for the reply. Yes! We need titles. Students don't always read the pinned posts even though they are instructed to do so in the announcements. The titles need to come back! 

Blessings,

Joanna Hysler

Hi Shaunna,

Is there a way that I can add a comment when grading participation?

Thank you,

Marnie

Marnie Davis, great question! You want to click on "gradebook" and select the Topic you want to grade. You will see a "show comment field" in the upper right corner of the page. If you click tis button, it will populate a comment box for each student. If you want to hide the comment boxes, click "hide comment field." See below and let me know if this answers your question! Best, Shaunna

To hide the comments, click "hide comment field."

Shaunna Waltemeyer I don't this this - do you have a screen shot? Lisa

Lisa Durff, thank you for chiming in on the Halo discussion. What exactly do you want a screenshot of and I will post it? Shaunna

Hi Shauna, 

Thanks for asking!  Great questions! 

1. Have you started teaching in Halo yet? If so, what grade level and modality do you teach?

I have been teaching in Halo 4 weeks. I am teaching graduate level College of Education courses.

2. What are some of the things you like about Halo?

I like that instructors can upload content and links with the course materials.

I find it easier to grade participation and DQs. I like being able to scroll down and reviewing them all.   

I like that Class Introductions has been moved where it is more visible. However, if students respond to peers, it shows up as Participation, so it needs to be clear that substantive participation can only be earned in the Topic forum for Week 1. One student did not understand this expectation. 

I think it is sometimes easier to send them links or shortcuts to course materials in the classroom as well. 

It has been easy to figure out, so far. 

3. What positive feedback are you getting from your students about Halo?

One of the students stated that she likes being able to see the assignments and list of course materials together.  

I have had a little negative feedback.  However, I think that is to be expected, because there is a learning curve to learning anything new. It can sometimes be frustrating and uncomfortable learning new platforms. Some of us are more patient than others as we are learning. I think students and instructors will get the hang of it. I am telling students that we are all learning this new platform together. 

As an instructor, the platform has been easy to learn. There are a few features that I do miss from LoudCloud. I miss not being able to add titles to make my DQ posts or CATs stand out. I realize that we can PIN posts, but a few students have confused the pinned CATS with the actual DQ, However, Halo has some great features as well.     

I was recently told that we can posts CATS or Checks for Understanding in the e-textbook that can count as participation. However, not all CATS are textbook related or dependent.

Take care, 

Phillip  

Shaunna, 

Another thing that I really like is that the grading seems to save automatically.

Phillip

Phillip Brown, it does! And it is amazing! For those who have not noticed this function, see below for a snapshot from the gradebook that shows your comments and/or scores are saved automatically. The autosave feature is also available in the discussion forum and Inbox. You no longer need to fill in the entire rubric before hitting "save" in the gradebook OR "save as draft" in the forums. This is an awesome feature! 

Phillip Brown, thank you for the great comments! You brought up some really great points and I agree that getting comfortable in a new platform can take time :) 

I am glad you brought up grading participation and our viewpoints are very similar with how easy it is! This discussion on Halo is scheduled for four weeks, and I have it on my list to create a specific post dedicated to DQ's and participation grading. 

Phillip brings up a great point that the bio has moved from the Class wall to Class Introductions. The picture below is from my UNV-504 class and show there are two places the students need to submit their bio. The first one (ORANGE) is worth 10 points and linked to the grade book. The second one (BLUE) is worth zero points and linked to the discussion forum. If your class does not require students to submit their bio for a grade, then you will only see the Class Introductions in BLUE. 

I hope that helps! Please let me know if there are any questions! Shaunna 

Hi Shaunna, 

I am assuming that we need to go in and place a 0 for Class Introductions even, if students do them. 

In past classes, I had to fill in the 0 or the system would not register the grade as being "ready" to submit. 

I usually write a feedback comment like: "Thank you for posting your Class Introduction! This activity was worth 0/0 points."  I have only had one student ask me why I marked a 0 for her Class Introductions. 

So far, I have had 100% compliance with Class Introductions.

Take care,

Phillip 

Phillip Brown, you can publish all the grades at once if would like. However, if you want to add a comment, like what you listed above, you will have to do that for each individual student. See below for the feature that allows you to publish "all" at the same time. I hope this helps! Shaunna

Phillip Brown ~ I learned about uploading content and links with the course materials from your post... thanks! This really helps with proactive Tips for students. I was not able to upload a post to the "Class Questions" to be proactive about an assignment point so I have started uploading a document to the the Course Materials. I am thinking about making it a running document, but I am not sure if students will find it too overwhelming. 

Anyway, thanks for the tip!

~Helen

Hi Helen,

I am glad that my post helped you notice the feature. We sometimes stumble on features or discover how they work. 

My old way of doing things was to post the weekly tips in the DQ Forum and the Announcements. However, with the lack of Title functionality, I have started posting them as PDFs for each Topic.

In the future, I can upload the documents during the week before the class starts.

I am considering posting the tips for all the assignments in one document as well.   

Take care,

Phillip     

Phillip Brown and Helen, I like the idea of posting as a PDF document each week. I am not sure if creating one document for the entire class would be overwhelming? If anyone does this, I would interested in your comments! Great discussion! Shaunna

Shaunna Waltemeyer, does anyone know how to insert images? I topics that I need to present with a visual image in the discussion to develop critical thinking.  So far, I cannot figure out how to insert the direct image, so I have have inserted links. I do not believe opening the links create the same emotion.  Any ideas?

Angela 

Phillip Brown, I have several assignments in which students have to create Loom videos. I have challenged myself to create Loom videos with FAQ's.  Since, we are limited to GCU's faculty permission role, videos are limited to 5 minutes. I have been getting great responses. 

I am also challenging my students to do short introduction videos. One thing that I practice is I hate to request something that I have not done myself.  

During the last week of my courses, I ask students to enter their final participation with a short video about the course. 

As the younger generation is attached to devices, they really love creating videos on their cells phones and submitting the Loom link.

Angela 

Angela Parker, I love the idea of making short intro videos. I do this as well and point out the main areas of Halo. This is very helpful as my students are in UNV-504 and it is the first class. Great idea! Shaunna

Angela Parker, you cannot insert videos or pictures at this time. I do believe this is something the developers are working on this as an update in the future. I am not sure of the timeline though. I agree, this is a great teaching tool! Shaunna

Shaunna Waltemeyer 

Hi, I have added a zoom link for a brief 60 second intro to the class. The zoom link and passcode seem to work ok.

Phillip Brown - Hi my CATs are usually current events as I teach environmental health, so we are speaking of climate change, risk assessment, exposure, pesticides, food safety. Any given day there is something on news, social media, alerts related to any of the topics, so I like to keep my student in tune to latest developments.

Usually, there are links that I may locate and post and ask the class of their opinion and why

Dr. P 

Shaunna, thanks for your work with this. I have begun facilitating courses in Halo but only dissertation chair courses. As such, I have not really experienced some of the functionality as of yet. For now, I do really enjoy that the system keeps me organized by identifying when things are due to be graded. I have not received any feedback from my learners thus far. I do have a question. It seems that I cannot grade certain items earlier, such as participation, is that correct? What other "tricks" or hacks (I use that term loosely) have you found? I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks, again! Jason

Jason Ward, thank you for your comments! Yes, you are correct that you must wait until the due date to enter grades for participation. This also applies to students with accommodations who have additional time to complete their assignments, but do not submit anything. For example, if the due date is September 1 and a student with accommodations has until September 15 to submit an assignment, you cannot enter a score until September 15.

 As far as tips and tricks, I will be posting them over the next four weeks so check back! If you run into something and have a specific question, let me know! Be on the lookout for information about Announcements later this evening. I hope that helps! Shaunna

Shaunna, I thought you could submit, but not publish until the due date. I have inserted my participation early, however I cannot publish until the date rolls on the calendar. 

Angela 

Angela Parker, you can enter comments and mark substantive but you cannot publish until the due date on the calendar. I hope that answers your question! Dr. W

Happy Thursday! It is almost the weekend! I want to share a tip on how I use the Announcements in Halo to post my Course Expectations. In Loud Cloud, I would post a main topic in the Questions to Instructor Forum titled "Course Expectations" then list each expectation in a separate post. Then, I would ask student to reply and acknowledge each post so I knew they read the information. It was a lot of work setting up the class on my end, and required the students to click on multiple posts to acknowledge the information. 

Halo has saved me (and my students!) so much time! Instead of creating multiple posts, I put all of my Course Expectations into one PPT presentation and post it in the Announcements. Now, the students simply "acknowledge" the information with click of a button. The best part is that I can see which students have reviewed the information! 

Below is snapshot from the Announcements in Halo. I also attached my Course Expectations PPT if you would like to review and use in your classes. Feel free to make it your own if you find the information valuable. Thank you and please share any best practices you have implemented in your classes. 

Best, Shaunna

**Note: If you click "expand students" you will see a list of names. Those that have a "green checkmark" have acknowledged your announcements. I did not complete this step as shows all the students' names.

I like that idea, I am learning Halo, not bad, but certainly a learning curve for faculty.

Angela

Angela Parker, good! I am glad to hear you find the information useful. Several of my colleagues share resources and this is what we came up with :) 

Frank Rotondo, I am not sure I can answer this question as I have only administered exams in Cengage MindTap. For my students, they need to complete the exam in one sitting and it is timed. If they "start" the test and navigate away for any reason, they cannot go back and restart the exam. MindTap is not a GCU or Halo platform, which I assume is the same for Pearson. I recommend reaching out to the course owner or content lead for this class so you can get a definitive answer. I hope that helps a little! Shaunna

There are many things that I do like about the new platform.  And now that GCU has created their own, I think we can all settle into this one for the long haul (I hope).

I do like the ease of grading overall, but one thing that maybe I'm not doing right but I'm not able to post a grade for an assignment that might have been completed outside of Halo (Connect, testmoz, etc).  Either the due date must pass or they have to submit something.

Am I missing something or is this the case?

Also, side note on grading, am I missing the function of putting students in alphabetical order for Participation grades?  My students are in no particular order than I can tell.

Thanks for this little bit of help,

Kathy

Kathy Ostrander, great questions! Yes, you must wait until the due date has passed to enter a grade for an exam. OR, they have to submit a document. My students take their exams in MindTap so I ask that they send me a screenshot of their score in a Word document. As of now, the order of names for participation does not allow for alphabetical order. This is one thing I am hoping for, too! 

Let me know if you have any other questions and thank you for being part of the discussion! Shaunna

Shaunna Waltemeyer I will have them do that.  I like to get ahead of grading and even having to wait to enter participation is nerve-wracking for me. Some of my classes do not use DQ so there's no need to wait until Monday to post grades.

Thank you for that reminder about the document submission.

Hi Kathy, 

I teach a class that has DQs and Participation in the forum. While I cannot post the participation grade early, I do go into the Participation, mark the participation posts as substantive or not, assign the points for those who meet the 3 days of substantive participation, and write a comment for students. The new system saves the grading. 

Recently, I read an email that states that, if students earn all points for the DQ or participation, we do not have to provide feedback. However, I still post a comment. We do have to provide feedback, if they do not earn all points.

Take care, 

Phillip  

Kathy Ostrander, great idea about posting comments beforehand. I bet that does save time! I will start doing this. Thank you for sharing! Shaunna

Hi Everyone,

Great discussion!

1. Have you started teaching in Halo yet? If so, what grade level and modality do you teach? 

I have taught my last 4  classes in Halo.  I am an online adjunct professor, teaching in the Educational Administration Graduate program.

2. What are some of the things you like about Halo?

Halo is a lot more user-friendly than LoudCloud.  It is easy to navigate and allows for greater interaction with students. 

3. What positive feedback are you getting from your students about Halo?

There has been some anxiety about the change over since students were comfortable with LoudCloud.  It is important to let students know that there will be some grace when/if a problem arises due to the transition.  

One thing that I REALLY miss about LoudCloud is the ability to create a post in the Class Discussion forum.  We do not have this same ability in Halo.  In LoudCloud, I was posting weekly Prayer Forums in the Class Discussion forum.  This can no longer be done in Halo.  I did ask about this during Halo training and was told that this is something that tech support is working on. Hopefully, it will be up and running soon.

One thing that I find useful in Halo is pinning my posts in the discussion forum so it is at the top of the discussion.  This has been well received.

Mike Sollitto, thank you for sharing! I really like the "pin" function. I tell me students at the beginning of class to make sure they read the "pinned" posts from me. This is where I include my CAT's and Weekly Wrap-Ups. By the second or third week, I usually see an increase in responses to the "pinned" posts because they know what to expect. 

I have also heard we may have the ability to add a forum, similar to what you described. This would be linked to the overall "Discussion Forum" so the posts can be used for participation credit. I will be very excited when that happens! Shaunna

Hi Shaunna!  Thanks for facilitating.  

1. Have you started teaching in Halo yet? If so, what grade level and modality do you teach?  Yes, I've taught several graduate courses in Halo and have now started a dissertation chair course on the platform as well.

2. What are some of the things you like about Halo?  I love that GCU owns it and is no longer outsourcing their LMS.  Tons of potential there.  I can already see some fantastic improvements, such as the ease of grading participation each week.

3. What positive feedback are you getting from your students about Halo?  Well...you know how excited most people get about change.  :)    They're getting there!  

4.  Bonus Question:  What do I really, really want to see GCU address?  Yeah, I know...you haven't asked that one yet.  Thanks for humoring me.  

First, the message indicator bubble really needs corrected.  Once I've viewed a message, I need that yellow indicator to go away (it currently only goes away if I respond to the message).  I don't want to have to play a game of "who can respond last so I don't have to see the indicator" with my students.  If there is a way to fix this that I've missed, someone please let me know so I can correct it in my courses.

Second, the "view more" option in the discussion thread needs to be eliminated.  I can't imagine that anyone wants to use an additional click to go to a separate portion of the discussion (especially an instructor that is needing to hunt down substantive posts), and then another click to return back to the discussion (that's a staple of web design...more clicks = bad).  In my opinion, there's nothing to gain and everything to lose with this particular feature.  Again, if there's a way to turn this off that I've missed, the help is very much welcomed!

Thanks again, Shaunna!  Glad we're discussing this topic.

Vince Evans I have been using the smile emoji, however, I still end up with phantom notification indicators on my messages. 

Susan Lorrain, I do the same thing! 

Vince Evans, I will definitely forward this feedback on for you about the "view more" button. I believe there is some discussions happening around the Discussion Forum functionality, but I am not sure if/when an update will occur. 

The intent behind needing to be the last one to respond so the message is left "unread" so you don't forget it's there. In LoudCloud, you would read a message then go find the answer for the student or look up something in gradebook. If you had multiple student questions then something could easily get lost because the indicator was gone. I find the indictor really helpful simply because I have 8-10 active classes at a time and there's no way I can keep all the questions straight, HAHA! 

I hope that helps and thank you for the feedback and comments! Shaunna

Hi Shauna, 

Please know that I realize you're not a Halo designer and these next thoughts aren't in any way, shape, or form directed at you (they are directed at our new platform, which I think has the potential to be great).

I'm also someone who is teaching a lot of courses simultaneously, and I truly hope this isn't the way the message notification system was intended to function.  I really don't want to have to leave a happy face at the end of a conversation in the hopes that the student doesn't respond with a happy face of their own; an endless battle of emojis simply to get rid of an unwanted notification bubble (in my opinion) isn't in anyone's best interest.  

Consider an email inbox.  Like many of you, I receive a couple hundred emails per day and many of them don't justify a response (I read them, and delete them).  If I had no way to delete them and they all showed as being "unread" every time I logged into my email, that would create a serious organizational mess.  If I had to respond to each email in the hopes of getting it to go away, it would be messier.  

While my preference would be for the indicator to go away once a message has been viewed, if our Halo designers disagree, then I'd like to propose that we have some type of "Acknowledge Message" button that will act to remove the indicator (and eliminate the need to send a non-substantive reply to a student in a hope to be "last").  

Thanks for giving me this opportunity to present a differing opinion on the matter.

Vince Evans 

I have the same concern with the yellow notification button never going away! When students say "thank you" for answering a question, I'm forced to respond, "you're welcome" if I want the notification to go away. It seems unnecessary.

Molly Long - I agree! It's like a "tag you're it" game! ;-) 

Can we just add a "message read" option?

Mike Sollitto I like that option. Just like we have in the discussion forums. 

Vince Evans - I certainly agree!!!

Dr. P 

Hi, Shaunna, and thank you for starting this interesting conversation!  

Have you started teaching in Halo yet? If so, what grade level and modality do you teach?  No, I haven't started teaching in Halo yet, so I am looking forward to seeing what the new platform can do!  I teach undergraduate classes at this time.  I am looking forward to reading the other comments in this thread ..... right now!

Alexis Chontos, please come back and discuss your experiences with the group! This forum still has three weeks left for discussion. I posted a message on Thursday of last week on how I use the Announcements section for my Course Expectations. Take a look and maybe you will find it useful! Shaunna

Colleagues, 

1. Have you started teaching in Halo yet? If so, what grade level and modality do you teach? I will teach 1st class in Halo starting in a few days. Set up was mostly easy, but where on where are the student email addresses?

2. What are some of the things you like about Halo? I don't like the 2 week start page, but I may be the minority there. I do like the acknowledge thing for announcements. I want the ability to add HTML please, please, please. And change discussion post titles. I was just getting the hang of emoticons for titles to draw students in and..............

3. What positive feedback are you getting from your students about Halo? I have only had one student so far who reported she didn't like it - now we were both still in Loudcloud, so she may have changed her tune.

Lisa, just an FYI (you may have already noticed) that in the upper-right hand corner of your "Calendar" page there is a toggle switch to change between one and two-week views.  Agreed completely that I miss the ability to change discussion post titles.

Lisa Durff Have you tried pinning your posts? I have found this has been fairly effective. In the top right hand corner of your post there are three dots, when you click you get a pin or hide option. This is what one of my pinned posts looks like. This keeps my posts at the top of the list.  I put in a screenshot but it is a bit fuzzy. 

Susan Lorrain Wow! Didn't try this - thanks (runs off to try it right now)

Lisa Durff On the top left hand corner of the main screen it shows you the class you are teaching and your number of students. Click on your number of students and the list of contact information shows up.

Susan Lorrain, this is a really great tip! When I first started working in Halo, I could not find the roster to save my life. It was hiding in plain sight :) Thank you for sharing! 

Susan Lorrain But that is not their GCU emails. Lisa

Lisa Durff Ah I never knew where to find their GCU emails in Loud Cloud either. 

Susan Lorrain In the roster.

Lisa Durff ~ Totally with you on the html and embed codes... increasing the font size and adding visuals are important features. :)

Helen Teague Love seeing my friend Helen in this discussion!   

Lisa Durff  Thanks! Good point re: Roster.  Another feature I liked about the Roster was seeing the different states where students resided. It was easy to check who might be affected by weather and we could do a focused prayer for those students-there is, sadly, at least one weather or current event in each class.  I would do a Bingo CAT on state bingo. Also the emails on the roster were often the ones that students used and this helped with correspondence (sometimes faster than Private Forum messages). Perhaps this feature will be added in the future.   :)

Good evening. Thank you for having this discussion. I teach NUR-513 and I am teaching my third HALO class with the first being at the first of September. I am getting used to HALO and feel that the grading is easier in respect to the DQ's and participation for the week. I am getting used to using the Rubric for grading without having to look back at the 1-5 descriptions that don't show up automatically. One issue that I definitely had, but it is getting better, is the ability to mark a post substantive or to hit post after replying to a student. I have found that using a mouse helps quite a bit. It just seems there is very little real estate at the bottom right hand corner of the screen. My students who are new to GCU (my class is a core class/their first) do not have any complaints. The students who received their BSN at GCU and were used to Lopes Write have complained and mostly about uploading an assignment or knowing where to post for what type of question. I have asked them to write at the beginning of their post whether it is a DQ, Devotional, or CAT response and this has worked well. My only complaint is not having the ability to add a title to a post. My students do not necessarily pay attention to the pinned posts. They should but don't always do so. I was told that we would, shortly, be able to add a title to a forum post. This would be wonderful. A title that say "Important Instructions for your Assignment- Please Read!" works very well. From now on I will post the instructions in the announcements so I can make sure that they read the post because it will have a title. I think HALO will be fine once the kinks are worked out and everyone gets used to using it, both faculty and staff. 

Blessings,

Joanna Hysler

Joanna Hysler I have asked my students in the announcements to read all my posts and I have been pinning them, which has helped some but I do not think it is as obvious as being able to give them titles. I agree this is what I miss most.

Susan Lorrain I gave titles and could insert emoticons to draw attention. Getting students to open something is half the battle. 

Lisa Durff - totes agree! 

I just finished teaching an 8 week Pych-550 online class in Halo, and I am also teaching Psych-102 traditional online in Halo. There are some things I really like, and others that have been difficult.

I think that the grading is much easier, except that you have to download a zip file, that contains a folder that contains another folder that then contains the word doc.  However, grading participation is so much better, I now enjoy grading it. 

I think it is much easier to navigate Halo than LoudCloud and it nice to have the messages on the page with the dashboard, classroom questions in their own place, and you know which students have read your announcements. However, my messages always say there are messages even when it is even. If this bug was fixed, it would help manage a lot. And it is difficult to keep track since we cannot set it up to alert us when a message is sent. 

My students have not mentioned what they like more in Halo, but they did have a lot of confusion around their test results because they could not see their partial scores per question. It just tells them that they got 10 questions right but they did not get 100%. So it is very confusing for them. There were problems with students who used Safari during an exam not working, technical support says it is supported but I had 3 students who had the same issue using Safari. I can't get the students to call technical support when they are taking a timed exam. 

We have had missing information including missing information on their timed tests. I've been reporting everything to technical support and they have been getting things fixed, but not always in time for the class to benefit. 

One really difficult issue for statistics discussions, especially when we are working with factorial research designs is we can no longer put tables in our discussion posts. So you end up having to write up your answer in excel or a word doc and attaching it. You can't get your participation rubrics in the announcements you have to attach them. 

I do not like that I can't change the title of my reply in a DQ forum, but I have found that I can pin my messages to the top of the list and this is looking to be very effective.

The dashboard is great for keeping track of what is graded, what needs to be graded and the highlight that an assignment was late is very helpful. 

Susan Lorrain, thank you for the comments. I also miss the ability to paste things in the comment box like we were able to in LoudCloud. I was on a panel with the Halo team and heard there was a "possibility" this may be an option in the future. Fingers crossed! Shaunna

Susan Lorrain -you are correct, my students have to submit epidemiological content\data as we research public health data, depending on the topic, I am having a hard time, so I know they are. 

Some things I am having to allow that I normally would not in the previous learning platform. 

Dr. P 

Frank Rotondo, please let us know what you find out! That is a really great question! 

Happy Monday, Everyone! I hope all of you had a great weekend! Thank you for all the great discussions happening in the Faculty Forum over the last week. One thing that I find very valuable in Halo is the ability to add resources to the Topic Resources. I like to post tutorial videos and examples for my students and it is great because they are listed with the rest of the Topic Resources along the right side of Halo. Is anyone else using this? If so, what types of resources do you post? 

The first step is to select the Topic you want to review.

Then, look at the right side of the screen where the Resources are located. Click UPLOAD RESOURCE and follow the steps. You can include documents, website, videos, etc.

Shaunna Waltemeyer I liked this feature as a course I teach was missing a video for a discussion and I used to add in the discussion so now that I can add in resources, I am hoping more students will see it. 

Lisa Durff, yes! I really like this feature because it allows us to add resources and post them in the appropriate place...with the rest of the resources :) 

Thanks I will try that also, good information 

Shaunna Waltemeyer - today I had several students to indicate he\she did not know how to insert speaker notes. I inquired in the class, as  I teach graduate students, who knew how to create Facebook pages, snapchats, ticktok? You would not believe the number of responses I received, and of course it was a loaded question.   

My response then, if graduate students could figure out how to create social media content, my expectations were graduate students could figure out how to insert speaker notes. Then it got quiet. I waited a couple of hours, then discussions started to come in that videos were on YouTube, internet.  Then I inserted my Loom video as to creating PPT assignment. 

At one point, it seemed as if my students were not challenging themselves as I was providing so much. I certainly did not learn this way during my studies. Expectations were different, to say the least.   

Dr. P 

Angela Parker, I see this a lot as well. I really like how you made it relevant by using social media and then bringing it back to classroom assignments. I often tell my students that Google can be used for education, just like it can for anything else. Good comments! Shaunna

Frank Rotondo, very interesting! Thank you for sharing, Shaunna. 

Hi Shaunna! Thank you so much for hosting this relevant and engaging discussion. 

1. Have you started teaching in Halo yet? If so, what grade level and modality do you teach?

Yes, I use Halo Learn for initial faculty trainings in FT&D and I have taught or am teaching online, TO, and ground classes in Halo Learn.

2. What are some of the things you like about Halo?

The autosave feature is a great convenience when using the different comment boxes throughout the class. Having all of the DQ and participation grading on one page is a wonderful time saver. The view also facilitates analysis of the participation of the class as a whole. 

3. What positive feedback are you getting from your students about Halo?

They seem to like the calendar view and the messages feature.

Shaunna, what has your experience been with online Main Discussion Forum student response and engagement in Halo Learn as compared to Loud Cloud? I don't have enough of a data set to make an affirmative assessment. However, my initial observations lead me to believe that students are not as engaged based on the lower amount of responses to my CATs and replies. What are your thoughts?

Curtis Blocker I also am concerned about CAT participation. My first class in Halo my CAT participation was down. Engagement overall was down from the previous class from Loud loud of the same type. I found the pin function late in that first class, pinning my posts to the top has increased participation but still I think participation is down. I also feel engagement in the Halo classes all around is down. That is a concern for me.

Susan Lorrain Question - Do you pin all the CATS in the forum? My first Halo class starts today - everyone is a teacher by day, student by night, so they have not jumped in yet.

Hi Susan, 

I also have concerns about the CAT participation as well. The absence of the Title feature in the Discussion is missed. I am hoping that the feature will be added in the future.

As for now, I will pin posts and use the Announcement feature as well to encourage students to review certain pinned posts.

A few students have mistaken the pinned CAT post for the actual discussion question (DQ). They are relatively new to GCU and new to Halo.

Take care. 

Phillip 

Lisa Durff -pin all CATs so you can find them, if not they get lost.   

Dr. Parker

Is there a way for professors to see their number of post per DQ? We have a minimum as well, however, I have been counting my posts so far.   

Dr. P

Angela Parker, I do not believe this is an option yet. However, I have heard that this may be an option in the future. It is very helpful and I know students really like this feature, too! Shaunna

Curtis Blocker, thank you for your response! I have found that engagement is about the same, but more spread out. Meaning, my students would post to the people at the top of the discussion forum in Loud Cloud but in Halo I have found that the "position" in the forum does not really matter. I like to see the discussion happening this way so everyone is getting a response to their post instead of only the people at the top. 

As far as pinned posts, I make this very clear at the beginning of class that students want to read these each week. I also make sure to tell them these posts do not always need to respond, but they definitely need to read! Giving them this information up front really drives the replies to the pinned posts, at least in my class. 

I hope that helps! Shaunna

Curtis Blocker, Susan, Lisa, Philip, and Shaunna~Thank you so much for all the helpful shares!  By building "buy-in" and ownership (from Kotter's model for change mgmt), I am hoping through CATs to also increase participation. The first CAT was a Pre-course Routine- share CAT, then a "Learn Something New" CAT where we discussued how many repetitions it takes to learn something new (research says that it takes more reps for adults than students!). These have helped students ease the pressure to gain proficiency and frustration of the newness, at least a little bit. This week we are building community ownership with a "Would you rather CAT"--  I created a little survey for the new CAT--- where students will choose where they would like to see things posted... here is a link to the CAT-- https://tinyurl.com/ WouldURatherCAT   Next week, we will have a "First Pancakes" CAT.  I'd love to see (and borrow-steal ) any new CAT ideas that you and all are using!

Helen Teague, what a fantastic idea! Thank you for sharing! Shaunna

Hi Everyone! Thank you Shauna for opening this forum. I have been reading the posts in email and my intention has been to reply many days earlier... and then it is after midnight and, well, you all have been there...
The tips and advice already shared here have been very helpful! Thank you all!

1. Have you started teaching in Halo yet? If so, what grade level and modality do you teach? I am in Week 3 of my first Halo class! I also have a class in LoudCloud. Both are graduate courses in COE. 

2. What are some of the things you like about Halo? I am still in the learning curve. I was part of some pre-sessions looking at the platform in early stages. There are some functionality features,  that were recommended that I hope to see in the future as they would benefit students. 

3. What positive feedback are you getting from your students about Halo? My students are still in the learning curve. There are not to the "thumbs-up" stage yet. I have shared the resources that Tech Support provided. 

~Helen Teague

Helen Teague, thank you for responding! I completely understand that we have intentions and then it gets late, haha! 

I have found that new students, who have only ever been to class in Halo, really like it and find it easy to navigate. However, those that have been to class in LoudCloud are a little more reluctant when they transition to Halo. Which is completely understandable since faculty experience the same thing! Just like LoudCloud, there will be updates and different iterations to Halo that will make our jobs easier and students giving it a "thumbs up!" I am glad to hear you are sharing resources with your students. If you think of something in particular you have a question on, please let me know! Shaunna 

Colleagues, Here's a question. In Loudcloud I could see activity of a student, so I knew if they accessed a resource, discussion post, or assignment. Can I see that in Halo and if so, where? BTW, I work with amazing people here at GCU and am very thankful for all of you!

Lisa Durff, I did not know we could see when what/when students accessed a resource, DQ, or assignment in LoudCloud. How did I miss that feature?! I have not see that as a feature in Halo. Does anyone else have any insight on this? Shaunna

Lisa Durff yes we can, I will have to find, just saw yesterday. 

Dr. Parker

Hi Shaunna, 

Thank you for facilitating this forum as I am picking up a lot of tips. To answer your initial questions, I am instructing my very first class on the Halo learning platform which started September 23rd and am learning my way around. I am on online instructor, graduate level, counseling courses.  So far students are still commenting that they are getting used to things and there have been no complaints thus far. My question is how do I download just my responses to the student's DQ posts without having to copy and paste on a separate document one at a time? Also, I used to post my CATS in the Question to Instructor forum and thought I could use Class Questions only to realize instructors can't ask questions there, only answer them. The PIN feature is new and I am not sure how that works. I am hesitant to experiment in the live classroom. This first week I just made another announcement but would like a better way for the weekly wrap ups. 

One feature I really appreciate on Halo is that you can see which students have acknowledged the announcements. 

I look forward to anyone's help on these items. Thanks in advance.

Laurie Tone, thank you for your comments! As of now, I do not believe there is an option to filter out only your comments. I see what you saying though and that is a nice feature. The PIN feature allows you to "pin" one of your posts so it shows up as the top post in the Discussion Forum. You can "pin" and "unpin" so feel free to play around with since it is not permanent :) See below for visuals. Let me know if you have any other questions! Shaunna 

Click the three dots that are highlighted to see the menu. The push pin symbol indicates this message has been "pinned."

This is the view from the list of names in the Discussion Forum that shows my post is "pinned." 

Shaunna Waltemeyer 

Thanks for the tip, Shaunna

All,

I started teaching Halo in August with graduate students, 500- 600 level. 

Streamlined a little. I like the spellcheck, not crazy about not being able to center, select font colors or emphasize, unless one uses italics. 

No student has provided positive feedback, in fact, I did not like Halo the first time. I am facilitating course #4, it is getting better.  I have attended multiple FTD seminars and I am consistently adding feedback about functionality and features. 

I also request my students to state likes and dislikes in the EOCs. The only way for improvement to happen is start requirements\data collection about the software\application. 

Angela 

Angela Parker, you bring up a really good point that attending the FT&D sessions are a really great way to give feedback to Halo developers. Thank you for sharing! Shaunna

Colleagues, I would suggest we have the ability to use the entire screen to read. I seem to only be able to see discussions on the bottom have of my screen. Is there a pop out option I have missed?

Lisa Durff, that option is not available for this iteration of Halo. There are discussions on expanding the space in the Discussion Forum for easier reading. I do not know if/when that will occur though. Good question! Shaunna

Happy Friday esteemed faculty! Did you know you can send Early Alerts directly from Halo? See the picture below on how to submit early alerts from the menu on the left side of the page. The best part...it takes you straight to the roster for that class so you do not need hunt for your student's name! Has only used this yet? If so, what is your feedback? Thank you all for a great few weeks of discussions! Shaunna

Shauna, Didn't we have that link in Loudcloud? Haven't used, as course is just beginning. Lisa

Lisa Durff, I believe you had to go through CIRT website before. This link takes you directly to the roster of students for that particular class. It saves a lot of time and clicking :) Shaunna

Does anyone have the issue with the messages count not resetting, even after you have replied to a message?

For example, I have one message that I replied to on 9/30 and one where a student responded back to me and I have not replied from 9/28. Everything else has been replied to previously. However, the count is still set to 2 and it is 10/2. Because the numbers are never correct, I never know if there is a new message or not. And the numbers from my previous class that finished 2 weeks ago are still on the messages list and those stopped resetting after the class closed even though students could still post messages to me. So it feels like those will be there forever. I've logged in on 2 different computers using both Chrome and Firefox and it is the same. If we can't get notified somewhat reasonably of new messages it is hard to respond to them quickly.

Susan

Susan Lorrain, this is a known issue that the developers are aware of and working on. In the meantime, I click on all the messages just to be sure I am not missing something. Not ideal, but it only takes a minute and I know there will be a fix in the future :) I hope that helps! Shaunna

Susan Lorrain yes, it seems to hang up and bugs me to death...

Dr. P 

Why is it necessary that we have to issue a response after reading a message? LoudCloud did not require us to have to say something after reading a message. Halo seems to reflect message unread if we do not enter something in the box. 

Dr. P 

Angela Parker, I am not sure the exact reason. However, I believe it is because if it is left "unread" then faculty know to go back and don't "forget" about the question. That is my best guess! Shaunna

Hi there. I'm teaching on Halo for the first time this past 8 weeks. I like it a lot. I find it easy to use and navigate. I'm teaching the first 500 NUR class, so most students don't have anything to compare it to. I've not had students complain yet about it.

My question is, are final grades submitted via Halo or somewhere else?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Laura Smith

Laura Smith, see my post towards the bottom of the page. I just posted more information about submitting final grades. Great question!

Laura Smith - I facilitate environmental health in nursing program, final grades submitted via Halo, the same as the prior platform. 

Dr. P 

Friends, Gotta say I LOVE that I get announcement acknowledgments that tell me WHO read and who did not. This is AWESOME!

Lisa Durff - I posted a few days ago that I could see who was not reading announcements, the que went up  

Dr. P 

Frank Rotondo 

Hi Frank< I am having a similar concern. I used to post CATS to the Question to Instructor as I shared previously. Since we cannot post questions, the only place that I could figure out was on the announcement page. Today a student responded on the actual DQ forum and prompted me to add a grade. These CATS go toward participation and are graded as a substantive post and not as a DQ. So I gave her a zero and let her know she would receive points toward participation. She had already received a full 5 points on her DQ. However, when I went to the graded section, the 0 showed up and her original graded DQ no longer appears on the Discussion Forum under that topic. So I went back and graded the CAT as though it were a DQ because her original 5 points disappeared. 

I have since pinned this on her response but found it rather odd that her original DQ disappeared along with her 5 points. 

Laurie Tone, have you tried to contact tech support about this issue? I imagine they would be able to help you figure this out. Now I am curious what happened! :) 

Laurie Tone - I would like a feature in which I could speak to the class directly and guide them to inserted content. 

Dr. P 

Shaunna Waltemeyer Thanks for this suggestion. I am attending a FT & D workshop if they can't help I will contact Tech Support. 

Laurie Tone, did you find anything out about this? 

Shaunna Waltemeyer Thanks for asking. I submitted it on the chat during the FT & D webinar but it was one of many and did not get addressed. I have since had the same thing happen in an additional course. I am now asking students to answer on the Class Questions forum to avoid the DQ forum. I have not had time to check with Tech Support on this. 

1. Have you started teaching in Halo yet? If so, what grade level and modality do you teach?

I began teaching in Halo on 9/9/21. I teach online for the MS in Psychology program. 

2. What are some of the things you like about Halo?

I like that students can "acknowledge" announcements. 

3. What positive feedback are you getting from your students about Halo?

I haven't heard specific feedback from my students about Halo.

Is there a way to get email notifications when a student submits a private message to the instructor? I liked this feature in LoudCloud and would like to utilize it in Halo.

Molly Long 

Hi Molly, I was wondering the same thing. 

Molly Long, I do not believe this is an option at the moment or if this is something in the works. Good suggestion! Shaunna

Shaunna Waltemeyer - I agree that email notifications for private messages would be very helpful. When I get a notification, I am more likely to make an effort to respond quickly, and I would imagine others feel that way as well, so this would actually benefit students. So far, that is the only thing I have disliked about Halo; I have found it to be pretty intuitive and easy to use, and I'm sure I will warm up to it more with more familiarity.

Phillip Brown , 

Thank you Dr. Brown. Great idea!

Laurie Tone, great suggestion! I teach the MBA introduction course I and I get this error a lot! :)

Frank Rotondo

Thank you, Frank. These are helpful tips. 

Another thing I am noticing is the fluctuating number of students actually enrolled in the course. Sometimes Halo is showing a higher number than are actually enrolled. Some dropped the class before it starts but some of the tabs show that same initial number enrolled. 

Laurie Tone, good observation! This is a known issue that I believe the developers are working on. It has to do with active and nonactive students, as well as those who were scheduled to start but didn't. I am not sure when a fix is coming, but I believe we will see it eventually. I hope that helps! Shaunna

Shaunna Waltemeyer 

Yes, thank you.

Laurie Tone - same for me as I have group assignments for group data collection. I attempt to divide groups evenly, all of a sudden the student counts drops and my groups are uneven. Then I hate to rearrange as the students may have previously started collaborating. I do work with  those groups in which students are not as I do not think it is fair especially for extensive assignments. 

I think the requirements is that courses have to be set up completely before the class starts, right?  I set up my entire 8-week course before the course opens. 

Dr. Parker 

Angela Parker 

Hi there Dr. Parker, 

Thanks for your comment. I don't have to set up my courses completely before they start and usually do topic by topic posting all the new information on the announcements for each new week. 

But I could see how setting up groups beforehand might be challenging when the actual number shifts. Hopefully, this little glitch will get worked out. 

Angela Parker, I meant to comment on this earlier and forgot! I do not set up all weeks before the class starts. In fact, the majority of the faculty on my team do not. I just make sure it is set up on Wednesday (I teach all grad classes) for the new week that starts Thursday. This may help with the group issues you mentioned. I hope that helps! Shaunna 

Laurie Tone  and Shaunna Waltemeyer: The larger student count fluctuations can be a bit strange. Previously, in LoudCloud, I was able to go to the Student roster and see if a student's status was "Active" or "Inactive" which was helpful for students who might have stopped participating. I asked Tech Support (who are just awesome!!) if this feature was available in Halo and it is! 

Here is the reply I received: 

"To see inactive students, you can go to the gradebook, click on the three lines next to Student in the top left corner, then check the Inactive Students box. For more information, please see the following article: https://support.gcu.edu/hc/en- us/articles/360057872213-- Halo-Learn-Faculty-Gradebook  "

Here is a little screenshot I made to show where it is: 

Hope this helps!

~Helen Teague

Helen Teague, this is awesome! Thank you for sharing! Shaunna

Happy Hump Day! For those who have not submitted final grades in Halo yet, I wanted to give you an idea what to look for. When you navigate to the gradebook, you will see a PUBLISH button. When you have grades ready to publish, this button is blue. Once you publish, you will see "In Progress." That's it...super easy! I hope that helps! Shaunna

Friends, The first week in Halo down and never had I had so few students doing the CATS. Now this is not a quan study and there could be many reasons for this. Just sayin.

Lisa Durff & Frank Rotondo: Same here. In Week 4, it started to get better. I ended up "pinning" my CAT with a short announcement breadcrumb, but I am not sure if those two things made a difference or not. I made a CAT about how long it takes to learn something new and perhaps everyone is just reaching the number of clicks/hours needed. Dunno for sure, but I wanted you to know that you are not alone. 

~ Helen :)

It's the weekend and I have some exciting news! There was a Halo update yesterday and one of the new things you will see is that multimedia content will now display in the application text boxes when you include a link. Here is an example from a post in my class where I include a link to OWL Purdue. What are your thoughts? Shaunna

Shaunna Waltemeyer ~ I was so stoked about this update... but my attempts and the students attempts are not rendering the same as your screenshot. (Maybe the links have to be "just so" as my Granny would say.)  For example, a student posted a link to a YouTube video and other resources and all the links dumped, er, located at the end of a message.  In the grading portal, the link was reconfigured to a "Halo asset" (?) and the link could not be seen via the grading portal, just in the discussion board. I just took the student's word for it since this is a kinda large class and clicking around was not super optimal. Also, Maybe a simple tool bar such as in these FAB forums will appear soon! 

:)

Helen Teague

Helen Teague, I noticed there was a glitch yesterday with how the websites displayed. When I was in class today it seemed to be resolved. I have not seen "Halo asset" but I will keep an eye out for that. I also need to check out how the website shows up in the grading portal. Thanks for the info, very helpful! Shaunna

I teach for the CONHCP and have not started using HALO yet, but I find the discussions here helpful, but at the same time I am almost regretting when I will need to start it. I hope that all of the bugs will be corrected by then. I think I am going to need to watch the HALO tutorial Many more times before I will feel comfortable with using it.

Luci Hanus don't panic yet! While we have focused a lot on the things that we are struggling with here on the forums, there are some aspects of Halo that are great. Like grading participation, I'm doing that in Loud Cloud right now and it is so much better in Halo, so I miss it a bit. Navigating between sections is so much better in Halo. And it color codes things, so I think it is more obvious to the students if they have something late or overdue. There are a couple of things that very much need to be addressed in the software, but overall it is much more intuitive to use. And as we collaborate we will all find new ways to effectively teach our classes. The tutorial was helpful, but what really worked is when I set up that first class, I stopped and looked at every page to see what was there and what the options are. Also, technical support has been very helpful.

Susan

Susan Lorrain, this is a great tip! I spent a lot of time just "clicking" around to find all of the different areas of the class. Just like anything, change can be hard but so far I am very happy with Halo. It makes grading easier and I like that all the messages from students are in the same Inbox! Thank you for sharing! Shaunna

  Susan Lorrain Thanks Susan 

Luci Hanus - I facilitate PUBH within that college also, don't panic, you will get use to it. I started with Halo Learn during the summer, when fall sessions started, I sort of had my concerns addressed  Tech support is AWESOME! 

I do recommend if possible attending the HaloLearn sessions offered just to listen to faculty idiosyncrasies and opinions. I know we will get there, just as we tell our students to be change agents and adapt, we have to as well.   

This discussion has been perfect as we can share lessons learned. 

Hopefully, Shaunna will facilitate a pt 2 once we get acclimated a little more. 

Dr. P

Angela Parker, I am not sure I will facilitate in the future, although I would love to! Keep my name and make sure you send me an email if you have any questions! I am more than happy to help! Shaunna

I am currently teaching 4 online TO courses in HALO. I like the easy of access to the different areas of the course from message to discussions and the gradebook. And the immediate notification of messages from students in all courses in a single area, and the number of posts needed to respond to the Discussion Forum

I like that when grading is completed for an assignment, quiz or postings in the Discussion Forum it is noted in the gradebook. I also like that the gradebook moves to show the current assignments and posting without have to scan through earlier weeks of posting and assignments

At first I was not happy with the need to move to the gradebook to grade discussion posting during each Topic week, requiring me to take notes on student who fell short of the posting requirements.

My only disappointment is the inability to include images in either the Forum posts or Announcements. I spent the summer in "Canva" creating posters and animations to enhance requirements and add to the overall interest in announcements and expectation requirements. My hope is that these elements I worked on will be available for future courses and upgrades in HALO

Marti Abitheira

Marti Abitheira, I believe it is the goal for faculty to be able to embed imagines. I know this is a valuable learning tool. I am not sure if/when this is happening, but I sure hope so! 

I agree, I like that the gradebook moves to the current week. It requires less "scrolling" over, especially when the class is 8 or 16 weeks long.

Thank you for commenting! Shaunna

Marti Abitheira - I agree, sometimes optional context and content breaks up the monotony. Plus, I like sharing aspects\events of the day that relate to the course. The  opportunity to embed links do liven up the course some. 

Dr. P 

Thanks, these tips are really appreciated  

Dr. Parker

Laurie Tone, great tip! Thank you for sharing! Shaunna

Hi Shaunna and Group, 

Has anyone else noticed that the Assignment descriptions that are listed with the Calendar do not have the Rubric link, so students must go to the Topic matrials and view the Assignment directions their to find the Rubric?  

This may be something to add to our Announcements.

Phillip

Phillip Brown, I noticed that as well. I agree it is a good idea to mention this in the Announcements. I am guessing here, but I imagine that link it to the Topic so students review and/or use the Topic Materials? 

For anyone not sure what Phillip is referring to, below is a visual of an assignment accessed through the calendar that requires the student to access the related Topic. Thank you, Shaunna

Hiya there!  

I started using Halo in August for graduate level classes.  

Like: Grading is so much more streamlined. 

Students have been quiet about it actually, not negative or positive honestly.  

Summer Zwanziger Elsinger, I agree that grading is streamlined and much easier to access! Sometimes, no news is good news :) Thank you for sharing! Shaunna

I was going through the HALO tutorial, and had a question about publishing grades that was confusing. In one of the boxes, it stated that if the assignment was 'Overdue' you did not need to bill out the 'Rubric Points' - as filling out the points gives the final grade, this did not seem correct. Can you explain. I have not started to use HALO yet, but am trying to get a handle on it before I do. Thank you.

Luci Hanus, I hope I understand your question correctly about the grading and rubrics. If an assignment is overdue and you want to place a "zero" in the gradebook, then you have to add a comment and then you can add the "zero" (see below). This applies to assignments both with and without a rubric. 

However, if a student submits an assignment and they earned a zero then you have to fill in each section of the rubric and insert a comment. Additionally, you cannot place a zero in the gradebook and "publish" it until the due date has past. 

Let me know if that answers your question! If not, I can give you a call :) Shaunna

Shaunna Waltemeyer Yep, still a bit confused. Why would you add a zero if it was overdue? Or would this only be if the student is not responding to queries on where the assignment is and that it is overdue?

Luci Hanus - I would add zero if student is not responding. I usually allow another 24 hours after due date, life happens.

Dr.  P

Luci Hanus, good question! I place a zero if a student is not responding or a student is absent from class for a few weeks. I also place a zero for final assignments if they are not submitted. I hope that helps! Dr. W

Angela Parker Can students still submit an assignment after you mark it as a zero for a no submission?  I do not like after the due date passes, it shows that I have students that are "overdue," but in Loud Cloud they could not submit work if I marked it as a zero.  I have to keep looking to see if they submitted the work, but I do not want to mark it as a zero if they cannot submit the work.

Hope this makes sense!

Krista

Happy Thursday! It's almost the weekend! I wanted to share a tip for quickly downloading an assignment that does not require you to download the .zip file version. From the gradebook, you will see the LopesWrite information at the top of the screen. Click on "Similarity Score." This takes you to the LopesWrite Report. On the upper-right of the screen, you will see three symbols. Click the one on the right (highlighted below) and it will download the Word document. This saves a few steps and clicks. I hope this helps! Shaunna

Is there an easier way to add faculty feedback?

Dr. Parker 

Angela Parker, I am not sure what you mean by an easier way to add faculty feedback? Can you clarify? Thank you! Dr. W

@Shaunna Waltemeyer  - Hope this is ok to share! 

Happy Friday All!  Thought I would share a link to my Online Course Bingo template, which is what I will post as one of the Week 1 CATs to help build a supportive and responsive community during the new-ness of Halo. (Previously, we created it together in one week and "played" it in the next week. )

Here is the link: You can add your own "stuff" to customize for your classes. You can also invite your students to add their own ideas so every card will be different. 

:)

Edited to attach an extra link and see the pdf attached in Reply to Luci's reply.

https://tinyurl.com/OnlineCourseBingo2    (new)

https://tinyurl.com/OurOnlineCourseBingo 

Helen Teague Love this! How can I use for my class? It states on this link that I need to ask permission to download and change. Thanks!!

Helen Teague, this is AWESOME! Thank you for sharing! 

Hi Luci~ Thanks for letting me know about the link. I have not had this issue before. I added the long link and a new shortened link (the one that ends in "2").

See if this longer link will work: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ccft7nC3qRaLFiusg4cojy3lY_447wDg0n7wfFGGbhQ/edit?usp=sharing

I've also attached a pdf

Hope this helps! 

Helen

Helen Teague - Love, motivated me !!!  

Dr. P 

Yes - this one worked and I was able to download and change it. Thanks

Happy Tuesday! This is our last week discussing Halo and I wanted to share something it took me a few weeks to figure out! In the Inbox, there are links (in blue) that take you to three different places in the classroom for the specific student are you communicating with. If the student has a question about a grade, all you have to do is click "Gradebook" and it takes you directly to the gradebook for that class. I did not realize these were "clickable" links! This is such a great feature and saves so much time! Any thoughts? Shaunna

Hello Everyone, I want to thank all of you for the incredible responses and engagement in the Halo discussion the last four weeks! Our time is coming to a close and wanted to ask if there is anything else I can provide and answer any last questions? Please keep my name handy if anything comes up in the future and I will be happy to help! Any closing comments someone would like to share? Shaunna

Thank you, Shaunna! I really learned a lot from your posts! Thank you, too, to everyone else in this Forum! 

Stay well! 

Helen :)

I have been teaching in Halo for two weeks now.  In LoudCloud we could track our own posts within the discussion forum.  Is there a way to track our own postings in the discussion forum?  I know I can track student postings within the grade book.  

Also, I have seen a few discussions on it but, are we going to have the option to add titles to discussion posts soon?

Thank you so much!  

Jamie Hahn

Phillip Brown thank you, that is what I assumed.  I just hate that in Halo it shows that there are grades that I need to give, and that there is not a notification if a student submits a late assignment late.  Loud Cloud did a better job of notifications I feel.  I am just that strange person who does not like seeing those little numbers on my phone for messages or updates!  I would like to clear that gradebook notification when the assignments are not submitted, and I have graded the rest of the classes' work!

I appreciate the feedback!

Krista