PLATO (Blackboard Learn 9) SUGGESTION BOX!  

Plato users! Is there something you would like to see change in Plato (BBL9)? 

Click the link below for the BBL9 suggestion box. Please submit any wishes, issues, recommendations, or ideas directly to Blackboard in order to help make Plato (BBL9) better! 

Feel free to submit as many suggestions as you would like! 

Thank you!

http://www.blackboard.com/contact-us/feedback/suggest-product-enhancements/for-learn.aspx

More Plato Updates!

Atomic Learning has recently been added to Plato for WSU instructors and your students to use! 

This great new addition offers hundreds of tutorials for almost any software application you can think of, and many other helpful tools.

To use this great tool, log into your Plato account and click the Atomic Learning link on your Plato dashboard. You can then search for online tutorials on Microsoft Office®, Blackboard Learn™, APA™ & MLA® Style, Effective Listening Skills, and 65,000 more tech topics. 

Instructors can also add selected tutorials directly into courses using the "Tools" link in any content area. 

For assistance with this tool please contact us at the CIT at 413-572-8130 or email us at cit@westfield.ma.edu. 

WSU CIT Team! 

More training sessions!

Hello Again!

Now that we are settling into the fall semester, the CIT has added a few more training sessions on the updated features of the Plato (Blackboard Learn 9) system.

Check out the descriptions below, then go to the CIT page and click on the CIT Calendar to check on upcoming dates and times and to register at www.westfield.ma.edu/cit.

REMEMBER: If these times don’t work for you, please send an email to lclark@westfield.ma.edu with some times that you are available, and what type of training you would like to attend so we can attempt to schedule one around you.

Discussions for Plato Instructors

Learn how to create, edit, view & grade discussions in your course on Plato! In this training, we will review the basics of discussions and get into some more detail on how to maneuver and manage them in your courses.

Blackboard Collaborate Training for Plato Instructors

In this session Plato instructors will learn how to set up a virtual office, schedule virtual meetings, and use the BB Collaborate software and tools to meet virtually with students. BB Collaborate offers an interactive whiteboard, the ability to use microphones, cameras and chat to communicate in real time. This great tool also allows for document sharing, screen sharing, recording of sessions and a few other great tools that will enhance the experience when meeting students virtually!  This session is a great way to get started using BB Collaborate, but also would be a great review/refresher for those who have used it in the past. Register now! Seats are limited.

 

Get to know the Plato Grade Center

In this session Plato instructors will learn the basics of the Plato Grade Center. Learn how to grade discussions, assignments, surveys, tests, etc. Create, arrange, show/hide grade center columns. Learn how to use the smart views and some of the other great features and settings in the grade center. Register now! Seats are limited.

Plato Quick Start

For those who have not yet had the Plato Overview (previously known as the Socrates Overview), and would like to use the Plato system, this session is for you!

In this session we will introduce the new Plato template, which offers communication tools, help tools and weekly content areas so you can easily navigate the system, communicate with your students, get Plato help when you need it, and begin to load your course content for students right away. We will also cover the typically used tools, and give helpful hints to make the virtual experience easy for both you and your students. Register now! Seats are limited.

Click the Calendar at: www.westfield.ma.edu/cit to register! Hope to see you soon! All training sessions will be held in the CIT lab, Wilson 114 unless otherwise specified.

Happy Summer! The new and improved Plato is now up and running. All courses are using the new system. Old Plato archives can still be accessed under "useful links" on the bottom right side of the Plato page at www.westfield.ma.edu/plato.

If you have not yet attended an overview of the new system, please go to www.westfield.ma.edu/cit to register for training and system access. 

If you have courses that need to be converted from the old Plato Archives, please allow 10 to 15 days for conversion. 

Please contact us at cit@westfield.ma.edu if you have questions! Thank you!

CIT STAFF

Summer Session Conversion!

SUMMER SESSION CONVERSIONS! 

If you are teaching in the upcoming Summer Session, and have Plato content to be converted, please request a Sandbox in Socrates now and indicate which Plato course content you will be using this summer, so we can begin migrating your course. 

Click here for the course request form: 

http://www.westfield.ma.edu/plato/wp-content/uploads//Socrates-Course-Request.doc

SOCRATES OVERVIEW SESSIONS! 

The CIT will be offering several Socrates Overview sessions over the next weeks for all WSU instructors who currently use the Plato system, and those who would like to provide online content for courses.

To register for an overview session, please go to the CIT Home Page at www.westfield.ma.edu/cit 

and click on the calendar to reserve your seat. 

Hope to see you soon! 

Happy Spring Semester! 

As you may already know, the CIT is in the process of migrating to an updated version of Plato (Blackboard Vista), called Socrates (Blackboard Learn 9.1). 

We had 126 courses run in Socrates this Fall, with great feedback on the ease of use and simple layout. The Spring semester has already hit 260 courses and continues to grow on a daily basis. 

We plan to have all Plato users using Socrates for the Summer ‘13 semester.

To make this happen, we will be holding several group overview sessions this semester to get everyone familiar with the upgrade and comfortable with the transition. 

UPCOMING SOCRATES OVERVIEW SESSIONS

*please plan on having a few minutes after the session for your questions!   

• Tuesday, February 12^th, 9:45 am to 11:00 am
• Monday, February 11^th, 1:40 pm – 2:55 pm
• Thursday, February 7^th,  12:45 pm to 2:00 pm
• Wednesday, Feb 6^th,  9:20 am – 10:25 am
• Wednesday, Jan 30^th,  1:40 pm – 2:55 pm
• Tuesday, Jan 29^th,  9:45 am  – 11:00 am

All sessions will be held in the CIT Lab 

Wilson 114

unless otherwise specified.

Please go to the CIT Home Page at http://www.westfield.ma.edu/cit/ 

and click on the calendar to register! 

**If you have content coming over from Plato we can discuss this after the training session. The conversion process from Plato can take several days, so please keep that in mind.**

I am looking forward to working with you. J Have a great day!

SOCRATES USERS!

Each semester you must submit a course request using the appropriate course request form for each course you are teaching (don't forget to request and cross list the E01 sections!).

ALWAYS CHECK YOUR WSU EMAIL FOR IMPORTANT PLATO MESSAGES!
IMPORTANT: If you are requesting course shells after the semester start, students will not be automatically enrolled. Please contact the CIT to ensure that your students are enrolled in your course. See below for tutorials, and other important information regarding course requests.

Please fill out the Socrates request form (doc or pdf formats available):

Click here to download the PDF version to print out, fill in and bring to CIT

Click here to download the Word Document that you can edit, and email back to Lisa

at lclark@westfield.ma.edu or drop it off at the CIT, Wilson 114

Be aware that if you would like to migrate your PLATO content to SOCRATES you will need to allow up to two weeks migration time.