I agree that the new grading format is much more cumbersome. I want to be able to view the comments window for all students at the same time.

The update has made grading papers even more frustrating! I can read about five lines of a student's paper. Given that many of my students struggle with writing skills, following their train of thought is sometimes difficult enough without not even being able to see an entire paragraph of their paper at one time. I need to either grade from the similarity report (given one was required) or download each and every paper (the exams cannot be downloaded and there is no similarity report) for each and every class just so that I can read what the student submitted. Why is there a need to take up so much space at the top of the page (ex. all changes are saved automatically, name, etc...) while obscuring so much of the paper that the student submitted? We should at least be able to read one page of a student's assignment at a time. Same goes with the private messages-I just ask my students to email me if their message runs more than two sentences. The students complain that the CLC forums are a nightmare of communication. I appreciate that the developers worked hard on Halo, but I just cannot see how it can benefit the students. One suggestion is to add instructional designers and curriculum experts to the Halo team so that they can represent the students' needs and to align with sound pedagogy. With the right adjustments, Halo might work out well for all. 

Thank you both for responding -

I agree that the redundancies between the Intros and Knowledge Checks in Week 1 certainly do not help. I know the objective isn't to make teaching and grading 100% efficient, and repetition is necessary and important at times, but some of the updates that have been implemented don't seem to provide any meaningful benefit to students or faculty.

I can also relate to the visibility issues on the screen. By the time I zoom out enough to see a significant amount of content, I have to hold my laptop to my face because the font is so small.

The suggestion to include instructional designers and curriculum experts to the Halo team is outstanding! I would love to see that happen! (Though I also wonder why we can't simply adopt an existing, user-friendly LMS like Canvas or BlackBoard...)

Canvas or BlackBoard....Oh, bliss! 

At first, I found it a little cumbersome, but I adjusted after a week. I use my NOTES from MS Office to keep some general feedback I usually give, then individualize for each student as needed; this works for me. I think it is a little better on the side because I can read the document better, and I like having the rubrics on the side. I right-click and quickly go to all submissions and then a specific student. Once I used it for this week, it felt easier. It just takes some time. 

The two introductions (summary of content and intro) could be consolidated. 

I like Halo way better than Blackboard or Canvas. -Mirta

I am actually writing an email to IT right now and was looking for some instrutctional videos first, in case there was some shortcut or technique I was missing. I didn't want to fire off a complaint only to find out I missed something. But I stumbled across this thread instead, so it seems like I am not alone. This update is really challenging and I am finding that every step I want to take in my grading requires multiple clicks and steps the whole thing take up unnecessary time. I am so frustrated I literally feel like I need to give up for the day because this is a mess.

Tamara Batiste-Locke, I agree; I looked, and when it comes to the DB, you can still see all the comments sections and the graded areas the same as before. This seemed more streamlined, and my students could now see my feedback; for some reason, before this change, it was hard for them to see my feedback. Not sure why. I had several students state that to me. After a week and a half, no issues, it is easier to see everything, and the documents are easier to read/view. I am a fan. I think change can be challenging for all of us. However, I try to look at the positives and adapt best. I am used to it now. Mirta

Mirta Ramirez-Espinola I feel as though I don't have much of a choice other than to give it some time, but I'm guessing that you and I may use this platform a little bit differently. The way that I use it for my psychology classes, it is not working for me so far. I try to grade things in order of when they were submitted, that doesn't work. There are all these filter options, but they only seem to work for the first submission you select. When you hit next to progress to the next one, in the hope the same filter selection is applied, it doesn't work. In order to grade the submissions in the order by which they were submitted, I have to grade one, then navigate back to the full list, re-filter the submission list, and select the next one in line. Adding comments to the grades for the discussion and participation is more cumbersome because you have to make extra clicks on each individual student's name, constantly moving in and out of "screens". To find assignment or discussion post due dates requires an extra click, it's no longer just posted at the top of the page like it used to be. Even smaller things like having the total number of participation posts listed on the page instead of having to do the math yourself (simple math, yes, but still an extra step) has been eliminated. I am an adjunct and this is a secondary role for me. As Marissa says below, this is adding a good amount of time to my processes and I'm not sure how I will be able to keep up. I could certainly make modifications in order to make the process easier, but I think that the only way I would be able to do that is to pull back on some of the feedback that I give to my students which isn't fair to them and doesn't make me feel good as the type of instructor I would like to be. But I'm struggling to make time for the messiness that this process has created.

Tamara Batiste-Locke Yes!! Those are the same issues that are creating extra steps for me. One extra click doesn't seem like much, but with two sections, 25-30 students each, and 2+ items submitted each week, the additional time adds up quickly! 

I also liked seeing total posts and substantive posts, as well as having that comment field readily available for participation and discusison questions.  

Certainly we will be able to "get used to it," but I've kept full contracts and bragged about Halo to other institutions because of how streamlined the process was-- it allowed for maxmimum feedback to students in an effective way.  Now, I will have to minimize contracts I take simply because it takes so long to give my full presence.  This ultimately negatively impacts the students, or makes the university have to hire more adjuncts to fill its needs. Tiny changes, but big impact. 

Marissa Underhill I have worked with Canvas and Blackboard in professional development as a student and faculty member. I still think HALO is more sufficient and has the availability to view all content, and is user-friendly overall. I wouldn't say I like Canvas. -Mirta  

Tamara Batiste-Locke Maybe an instructional video could help. But, when I grade participation, I can still see everyone's work when the response can be dropped. Hence that section to me wasn't too different. Some scrolling, but again, not too different. I liked the check mark on the participation posts, which means the student completed the three posts on three other days as prescribed by the graduate policies in place for my courses. 

Try clicking on all topics to see 1-6 in your grade book. The LMS does give you the option to grade that week, but I click on all of them since some of my students like to get ahead or need more time because of the clinical parts of our courses. The NEXT and PUBLISH NEXT buttons are easy to use, and my students say they can read feedback better. Some of my students could not locate it in the past, especially when I resigned assignments. 

The best part is that it is easier to scroll and read the student's products. It took me about two weeks to adjust, and now I am adjusted. -Mirta

I came here to see if anyone else was finding the update more cumbersome-- I'm glad I'm not alone. By making the comment box a separate click/ open box, that doubles feedback time! Also, I've not been able to grade by submission date through a single assignment-- it defaults the list to by student name.

I reported this to technical support, but they referred me to the Halo ideas community. Nobody has noted the issues on there, so I did.

I'm hoping they'll correct some of these things soon, else I just won't have time to keep up with classes (it easily added 5 hours a week per class to give proper feedback).

Marissa Underhill, I wish I knew what you meant: "I've not been able to grade by submission date through a single assignment." It could be that courses vary in how they need to be graded. I have not had any issues as of late. M

I am having similar issues with the update. I understand getting this rolled out for the new semester, but that threw me for a loop, an update of this size halfway through a course I'm teaching! It adds a lot more time to my grading, opening a separate comment box for each DQ.  I like seeing all of their posts with the option to score and comment from a single page. I can't say I have gotten used to it yet. I agree the developers may have done some things to make it look "cleaner" or more streamlined but it isn't grading-friendly in that it requires too many extra clicks. Are there faculty members that get to test-run updates (at least of this caliber) before they go live?  

I have run into another issue as well. It appears CLC projects no longer allow uploads from multiple users. This was a problem when they submitted their Fruit of the Spirit Evaluations. All but 1 group member had to DM me with a copy of their eval. As these courses move quickly during the summer, I didn't find time to look around for a solution and have yet to find one now. My online course had theirs completed before the update so I am not sure if it is just a difference in the online vs on the ground shell for the course I teach or an actual problem with the update. 

If we can get halo integrated with Google for ease of collaboration with students that would be great. Since we are making our Christmas list right now I thought I would throw that in there. 

I agree with a lot of the above. I am having trouble understanding how the new update is meant to streamline the process. It is taking quite a bit longer to navigate through and provide meaningful feedback without getting frustrated at the lack of "back" button, or having to click through multiple screens to get the next submission. Grading is taking too long. I am finding that after filtering in order of submission date, the "next" feature does not necessarily take you to the next submission in queue. It should not take so many clicks. 

I am also hoping one of you can clarify something. I'm noticing an italicized Enter Instructor comments "optional" in the instructor DQ comments box. Is this now optional? A while back I remember an email coming out that indicated Instructor comments with regard to Participation scores were optional if they earned full credit, is it also optional in the discussion question comments? I've always provided comments, even if the student received full Participation or full points for DQ replies. I'm just curious if I missed the notice that it could be optional for both? If not, I'm wondering why the developers put that in. Ah, so many questions. 

Thanks,

Karen

Karen Davis, I am going to check on that too. We can post a full comment (feedback) for the assignment, and we doneed not have to fill out the per rubric comment box unless they needed redirect/feedback. Let me look at the faculty handbook and review that information. Mirta

Karen Davis 

file:///Users/mirtaramirez-espinola/Downloads/A%20Day%20in%20the%20Life%20051022.pdf

I found it. I think you are right!!!

Mirta

Mirta Ramirez-Espinola 

I can't seem to open that file. What did it explain? 

Thanks!

Karen Davis, I went ahead and save it on my desktop then added it here. See if you can open this one. It is the day of the life of an adjunct in the classroom faculty expectations section.

Mirta Ramirez-Espinola,

I can open that now, thank you for the resource! It appears you have solved the riddle!
Karen

Tamara Batiste-Locke, great explanation of this! At first, I assumed clicking next was indeed going to the next in queue as well. I hope it's an easy fix for the developers, and happens soon. I can't think of a good reason to grade in alphabetical order rather than in order received.

Karen Davis, The info attached states to grade within seven days, so if the new one starts Thursday and ends Wednesday, then I suppose we should be good as long as you grade all the assignments posted within that time frame, but I understand about the grading now. I grade every other day, and I manage to complete all students unless they need an extension or are super late; in that case, that will be indicated when we open up the LMS. If I have a larger class, I grade daily to stay caught up. However, since adjuncts highlight this, I am sure it will be remedied. -Mirta

Tamara Batiste-Locke I see what you mean.