YuperStar

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1. Aug 20, 2007 at 8:56 am

   Allison Weiss says,

   Here is an email I received from Becky Lopez, who agreed to “beta-test” YuperStar. Thanks, Becky!
   Thanks for a super, duper YUPERSTAR! I really like the flexibility it
   offers. Ademas, se puede navegar muy bien. Couple of reflections came up
   for me as I moved around, although I’m sure it’s a question of practice, for me anyway…
   a) On the reservation calendar for signing out the Lab, you name the
   different instructional areas of the Lab at the head of your 5 column
   table. I’m not sure that I know to which areas of the Lab these refer? I
   know the 24 person section, but when you list the G5’s…I’m guessing
   these are the computers that are located in those “pod-like” areas for
   group work, that are right behind the 24 person computers?? Anyway, I
   don’t know that we have given these Lab areas “nifty, catchy names” or
   that we need to, but I might like to tell the kids, “Hey mis amigos, why
   don’t we go over to the “????” area. Maybe it’s silly… :D The technical
   catergories are totallly cool, too!

   AW: Thanks for the great suggestion. I simplified the reservation calendar. Now there are only 4 areas (INSTRUCTIONAL, PROJECT, TRAINING, WELCOME) and 1 column for simultaneous reservations. This last column use when you have a small group coming in to share any one of the lab’s areas. For example, two students assigned to do DiLL at the same time as another small class is using the INSTRUCTIONAL Area. Or a second teacher wanting to use the training area. Or two classrooms using the PROJECTS area. For a map showing which label goes to which area of the lab, see this post.

   b) In the reservation calendar for signing out the Lab, since we all have
   access to direct reservation of an area, can other people
   uncheck/undo/delete your reservation entry?

   AW: The system will not allow another user to delete another user’s reservation. If there is a conflict, contact your colleague and work it out with them. =) In the future, we may give certain grade levels preference during certain weeks, or something like that, since we know that there are times in the day when more classes will be “competing” for lab time.
   Related to this, you may worry when you see that your class time appears to overlap with another class time, due to a limitation of the system, which only allows for 15 minute increments. Since the blocks of time can’t be exact to the minute, please write in the class times in the first field of the reservation, so we can all see when one class finishes and the next class begins. Was that confusing? Email me and I’ll try again.

   c) In the reservation calendar, I know that you mentioned entries are
   “first come, first serve”. So, does one’s reservation entry get posted
   immediately upon submitting it (in “real time”)?

   AW: Yes, the reservations are posted immediately upon submitting. But please don’t abuse this feature. I’d still like to see who is coming into the lab at least 24 hours beforehand. And cancellations, perhaps 48 hours beforehand, so that colleagues have a day to see that the spot is available and use it if they want to. There will probably be some kinks in this system, but we’ll work them out!

   d) Naming the DILL files sounds like it’s going to be a hoot!

   AW: Those naming conventions are just suggestions. It’s really up to the teacher how they want to name files, since it will be filed under their name or their textbook in the catalog. Whatever makes it easier for them and the other teachers in their language to find the files later. Probably the best thing would be to just look up how you named things in the past and stick to those same conventions.

   e) Love the “teaching videos” that you have! I absolutely love these! They
   are quick, simple, direct, and totally necessary for those of us who need
   to see this stuff more than once to really “get it.”

   AW: That’s great news. I know videos won’t work for everyone, but it’s gratifying to know that they are the right tool for you!

   f) Survey and choco plan sound fun!
   Gracias for all your hard work and the site looks wonderful.

   AW: Thank you, Becky, for being my guinea pig and responding to what I have up here so far. I’m looking forward to hearing responses from other teachers during Planning Week. I hope to have hundreds of comments when I get back September 7!

2. Sep 7, 2007 at 3:58 pm

   Allison says,

   The new location for the WLL Reservation Calendar is:
   http://ucls.uchicago.edu/wllreserve/day.php?area=2

   This calendar is temporary. When the IS Group installs a better solution for reserving iCarts, we will be updating along with them.

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