Cover - Pearson



[pic]

MyCanadianWritingLab Instructor QuickStart Kit

Hyperlinks have been embedded so you can go to specific Web sites

or areas within the document (crtl+left click).

What is MyCanadianWritingLab?

MyCanadianWritingLab helps students become better writers through an online learning program of diagnostic tests, review materials, progressive practice exercises, and writing assignments. Diagnostic tests measure a student's knowledge of sentence structure, punctuation, usage, basic grammar. Diagnostic pre-tests are typically taken at the beginning of a course, and MyCanadianWritingLab creates a personalized student study plan based on the results of the pre-tests. Diagnostic post-tests, taken at the end of a course, provide a measure of a student's improvement.

[pic]

Getting Support

Help is available 24/7.

Support via the MyCanadianWritingLab Page

The MyCanadianWritingLab portal page provides direct links to support resources.

• Tours

• Training

• How to Videos

Contact Customer Technical Support

If you need assistance with MyCanadianWritingLab and cannot find the information you need

on the website or in the documentation, contact Pearson Customer Technical support at .

[pic]

QuickStart Guide

Three Easy Steps to Getting Started

1. Log in to MyCanadianWritingLab

2. Create a course

3. Provide students with your CourseID

1. Log in to MyCanadianWritingLab

← Go to the website .

← Click the Log in button under Returning Users.

[pic]

Enter your Login Name and Password and click the Login button. 

** If you do not already have an access code or a log-in, you may request one from your Pearson

Representative. (Help me find my rep.)

2. Create a Course

Which page you see depends on whether you have already created MyCanadianWritingLab courses:

• Choose Your Course Type: This screen is displayed if you have not yet created any courses.

• Home: You have created one course and are now on that course's Home tab.

• My Courses: You have created two or more courses and need to select a course to enter.

When creating a course, you choose whether to create a generic course or a course for a specific text or eText. It is important to select the exact product (eText, text, or generic) that your students have access to. If you are not sure, contact your Pearson Sales Representative. (Help me find my rep.)

The Course Builder wizard takes you through the steps of creating a new course:

Step 1a: Choose Your Course Type

The first step is to select the course type:

• Use a generic course or the default course for your textbook: Select this option when creating a new course.

• Copy or link to a course from your course list: Select this option when you want to copy or link to one of your own courses.

• Copy or link to a course from the public course list: Select this option when you want to copy or link to another instructor's course.

What the course types mean:

• Creating a new course is the process of setting up a new course and specifying the course settings, including whether other instructors can copy or link to the course.

• Copying a course is the process of setting up a new course based on an existing course. Once the course is customized to your liking, you can copy it for the next semester's class. You can fully customize a copied course.

• Linking to a course creates a course that is based on an existing course. You cannot customize its Study Plan or course copy properties: Any changes made to the Study Plan or course copy settings in the original course are automatically reflected in the linked course.

[pic]

Step 1b: Choose Your Product

When creating a new course, you choose whether to create a generic course (no eText included) or a course for a specific text or eText. It is important to select the exact product (text, eText, or generic) that your students have access to. If you are unsure, ask your local Pearson representative what type of student access code was packaged with your book.

There are three ways to find a course:

1. View all book-specific courses

2. Search by the author’s last name

3. View all generic courses

[pic]

Step 2: Name Your Course

Use this page to enter a course title, section name, start and end dates, and time zone.

(*Note: Students cannot enroll in a course once the end date has expired)

[pic]

Step 3: Set Student Access Properties 

These properties determine when students have access to the course and whether they need a password.

Step 4: Set Course Copy Properties

Use this page to specify whether other instructors can copy or link to this course.

Step 5: Study Plan Properties

Use these options to specify whether students must take the diagnostic pre-test before starting the course. If you select Yes for Require Grammar Diagnostic, MyCanadianWritingLab requires that students complete the diagnostic pre-tests before allowing them access to the course. Selecting No lets students take the diagnostic tests at any time.

Specify whether students' mastery in a topic requires that they complete Recall, Apply, and/or Write exercises and to specify the Mastery Scores. For Recall and Apply exercises, also specify whether MyCanadianWritingLab is to make all, one, or two exercise Sets Available.

[pic][pic]

3. Provide students with your CourseID

In order for students to join (enroll in) your course, they must have the Course ID. A course ID starts with the instructor's name followed by a series of numbers ending with a letter; for example, Smith0418509C or Hackley657088S.

[pic]

Instructor FAQs

Are video tutorials available?

Yes. Video tutorials are available via our Tours and Training page: Tours and Training

What “time” does “Time on Task” actually measure?

The timer tracks the amount of time a student spends doing activities. The clock begins when the student starts his/her first set.

Can students get automatically logged off?

Yes, students are automatically logged off after ten (10) minutes of inactivity.

What does “Save,” “Save and Return,” and “Save and Submit” mean?

Save = save work [and continue working/writing]

Save and Return = save work [and close out to return later]

Save and Submit = save work [and submit for grading (student) or return for revision (instructor)]

How do I delete a student’s work?

To delete ALL of a student’s work:

Homepage ( Students Enrolled link ( “Delete All Student Work” button

To delete work for an activity:

Gradebook ( Class Summary ( Student’s Name( Score for activity ( “Reset” button

Can I integrate this with my Course Management course/system?

Integration of Gradebooks does not currently exist, but you can export the MWL gradebook to your management system. And you can link out from your CM course to MyCanadianWritingLab.

How can I access the User Guide?

From inside the course:

Homepage ( User Guide link within the My Course box

From the portal page:

Click the Support link ( User Guide link

How do I view my students’ work within a topic?

Gradebook ( Class Summary ( Student’s Name( Topic name/link ( Exercise

History page

How do I view a student’s summary of a set?

Gradebook ( Class Summary ( Student’s Name( Score for activity

How do I export grades from the Gradebook?

Gradebook ( Class Summary ( Export button

Where can I find my CourseID?

CourseID’s are listed in the My Courses page and at the bottom of each page within the course.

How do I edit my Pearson account information (login/password)?

Settings ( Bottom of the Settings page and click the myPearson link for Personal Information ( Edit Profile (at the top of the page) ( Login ( Edit Account

Update your information as needed and click the Save button.

[pic]

Functions on MyCanadianWritingLab Pages

[pic]

[pic]

[pic]

[pic]

Best Practices from Your Peers

The following are best practices provided to us by some of our MyWritingLab power users.

Jan Anderson, Central Texas College

• Direct students to print items that they don't understand and bring them to class. Use those items as teaching points for the class.

• Encourage students to work heavily in the lab at the front of the course so that application of knowledge can take root earlier in the course.

• Address assessment requirements by using the Diagnostic Test and Posttest as a pre- and posttest measure of the course.

• Peruse MWL before teaching, so you can adopt the same language in your instruction and avoid confusion for students.

Chuck Gonzalez, Central Florida Community College

• Hold a regular supervised lab where students complete MyCanadianWritingLab assignments in your presence. Should a student show mastery of a topic by completing it online off campus with outside help, you can require additional sets be done in your presence where you can assist in the student actually mastering the topic. The mastery percentage should conform to the school's minimum percentage to pass the course. Students should also complete some writing in your presence within MyCanadianWritingLab . They should be required to type and maintain electronic documents for their graded writing assignments.

• Students should have to complete MyCanadianWritingLab activities as a reasonable percentage of the grade for the course.

• Deadlines for completion of MyCanadianWritingLab activities should be set to keep students on track and prevent last minute cramming.

• Create an assignment handout or document with all the MyCanadianWritingLab assignments that students can refer to daily.

• Align your daily semester class activities with MyCanadianWritingLab topics so students get the needed reinforcement and practice.

Pat Leverentz, Pima Community College

• Use the Watch feature in class so that students know how it works and are

reminded to refer back to it when they encounter problems doing the exercises.

• Incorporate MyCanadianWritingLab into all in-class grammar and editing work to create a

seamless grammar program. It's important that students see MyCanadianWritingLab as a

part of the whole writing course and not something “outside.”

• Open MyCanadianWritingLab and project it during whole-class work so that you can

explain, clarify, and illustrate while students ask questions.

• Limit the number of exercises students can do on a particular topic without more studying. This is important because some students will go in and complete all of the practices for a particular topic without reviewing the rules and fail to master the topic or even markedly improve. Here is an example of how to limit exercises: Do Fragments (Recall) to 80% or above but no more than 4.

• Keep track of the grammar areas students are not mastering so that you can re-visit them. This seems intuitive, but it's important to mention because though students really enjoy doing the exercises, they are sometimes satisfied just to do the exercises without recognizing the need to master the skill.

Teri Maddox, Jackson State Community College

• In preparing for my classes, I usually select particular topics from three sections that I want students to work through: Grammar for Writers, Writing a Paragraph, and Writing an Essay.

• The first week of class my students write a diagnostic essay and we go over the syllabus. By the second week, students have had time to buy their textbook and their access code. I spend class time for students to register because that has been one of the hardest parts of using the software. I assign some of the Writing chapters for students to begin working in such as The Writing Process, Prewriting, The Topic Sentence, Developing and Organizing a Paragraph.

• By the third week, most students have gotten used to the software and we take the Pre-Test. Students now have their Study Plan in place so that they know what they have to do the rest of the semester. They must complete all of the Grammar for Writers sections that I have pre-selected. I give students time in class to work on MyCanadianWritingLab, but most do not have enough time to complete all their Study Plan in class. The most successful students are the ones who work on MyCanadianWritingLab outside of class.

• I like using the Student View so that I can understand what kinds of questions are asked, especially on the Apply questions. Although the Apply questions are more difficult than the Recall questions and take some getting used to, I like students to experience them since those questions more closely reflect real reading and writing than the Recall questions do.

• We work as a class on some of the textbook chapters, but MyCanadianWritingLab is always individualized. Students like to be able to work at their own pace—more quickly if they can, or more slowly if they need to.

• Students who are experiencing difficulty with a chapter are either sent to a tutor for individualized instruction, or we go over that particular topic as a class. For example, some students have difficulty with the Misplaced Modifiers, Combining Sentences, Varying Sentence Structure, or Parallelism topics. I usually put those topics way down on the list so that they are not working on them until they have done more recognizable topics like Subjects and Verbs, Run-ons, or Fragments. I usually go over all these chapters in class because students are not familiar with them

Bev Neiderman, Kent State University

• Present the class with clear guidelines for their work to get the desired teacher results (completed work, an understanding of the material, practice using the material, etc.) and student writing improvement (students won't open the program and question what they are supposed to do.)

• Set a minimum level of competency as a standard for student work

• Allow students to work at their own pace within set grading guidelines

• Be prepared for technological glitches

• Incorporate the online work with your classroom assignments for maximum benefits

Anna Schmidt, North Harris Montgomery Community College

• Make sure you learn the program before you start using it in the classroom. For example, I always have all my students sign up for the first time in class all together. I already know some potential problem areas and give my students very thorough instructions anticipating the problems.

• Some of the problems my students encounter when signing in are: incorrectly entered access code, user name already in use (I have to advise them to come up with an alternative which is easy to remember), students forget user name and password by the next meeting session. The last one gets even more complicated if a student entered incorrect e-mail address or forgot the e-mail address he/she entered. I always tell my students to WRITE DOWN their user name and password inside the access code card. Interestingly, access code cards are pretty difficult to lose.

• When I create a course, I go through every module and hide those topics that I am not planning to use during the semester. So that when my students log in, they will only see the modules we will be studying in class – it is a shorter list and helps them stay focused.

• I leave some of the modules for my students to see even though they are not on the syllabus. I tell my students that I left those on purpose – they are very important and those students who want to work on their writing and grammar skills independently, are welcome to work through those modules.

• Keep an open mind. No matter how wonderful a computer program is, it is only a computer program created by other people who sometimes make mistakes. Throughout the years of using the program, I have seen quite a few errors and malfunctioning situations. Therefore, I never use MWL for testing purposes. I primarily view it as a wonderful tool for additional practice for my students.

Ona Seaney, Southern Methodist University

• Use visuals as often as possible. The MWL videos are very helpful. Today's students are more visually oriented than ever before.

• If you feel comfortable with it, try integrating MWL with Blackboard for an all-around package.

• Use the diagnostic pre-tests and post-tests! They're a great way for the students to have an “objective” view of their progress (or lack thereof).

• If you are teaching in a computer classroom, MWL is a great way for students to workshop on their papers with guiding and your help.

Susan Taylor, North Florida Community College

• At the beginning of the semester (by week 2), I schedule a class period in a computer lab and we all log on together. I ask for a student volunteer to register on MWL as I direct him. This process is projected onto a large screen using an LCD projector, and the class follows along registering themselves on their computers. It has saved many headaches when it comes to answering technical questions, and it sets up students to begin using MWL immediately. They begin the diagnostic testing after log-in.

• Use the short video clips in your class presentations. I found that many of my students who have dial up had never seen these clips. Once they see how short they are and they learn how to pause the clip and take notes, they tell me they use the video clips as often as possible when they are working in a campus computer lab.

• Be aware of how many sets of activities are available in each skill and limit your students to one or two sets. Some of my students quickly rushed through all sets without mastering the skill; unfortunately, there were no more activities to assign. Assign one or two, check progress, assign some students additional practice as needed.

• As the instructor, you have the ability to hide and show various topics. I use this feature most of the time; it helps students to CLEARLY know what sections they should be working on at the required time. (They do not always write down their MWL homework in class.)

• Learn how to monitor time on task. I like to check the time on task against the scores; students are often amazed that I know exactly how much time they put into their on-line assignments. Scores do improve once they know I am watching.

[pic]

MYWRITINGLAB STUDENT REGISTRATION

Before You Begin

To register for MyCanadianWritingLab, you will need:

← Your school’s zip code: ___________________

← A MyCanadianWritingLab student access code (packaged with your new text, available standalone at your bookstore, or available for purchase with a credit card at mycanadianwritinglab.ca ) .

← A valid email address.

In addition, your instructor will provide you with:

← A Course ID needed to join your instructor’s course. ___________

Registration and login

How to get a student access code:

• With your textbook. Receive an access code card when you purchase a new Pearson English textbook or check with your bookstore to purchase a standalone access code card.

• Purchase access online.

o Go to mycanadianwritinglab.ca .

o Click Students in the “Register or Buy Access” box.

o Click I need to buy access.

o Select the version of MyCanadianWritingLab that your instructor is using, generic or eBook. Ask your instructor if you’re not sure which version to choose.

o If you select Generic you’ll need to select your length of access.

o If you select E-Book Version, select the correct author and title carefully (take care to select the correct text).

How to register a student access code:

• Go to mycanadianwritinglab.ca .

• Click Students in the “Register or Buy Access” box

• Click I already have an access code.

• ( Read the Pearson License Agreement and Privacy Policy and click the I Accept button.

• Do you have a Pearson Education account?

o If Yes – Fill in your login name and password. (TIP! You can use the same login name and password that you are using for your other Pearson products.)

o If No – Follow the onscreen instructions to create a login name and password.

o If Not Sure – Enter your email address and click Search.

• Enter your access code in the boxes provided and click Next.

• Enter and select the required information in the appropriate fields on the next page and click Next.

• Review and print your Confirmation and Summary page (a confirmation will also be sent to your email address).

TIP! Be sure to take note of your login name and password—write them down or save them on your computer in a place you will not forget

How to login:

• Go to mycanadianwritinglab.ca .

• Click Login in the “Returning Users” box.

• Enter your Login Name and Password in the fields provided.

• Click Login.

Getting started

How to join a course:

• Login at mycanadianwritinglab.ca .

• Click Join your instructor’s course.

• Type the Course ID into the field provided and click Submit. (You get the Course ID from your instructor.)

• Click the Start Working button or access the “How do I use MyCanadianWritingLab?” User Guide.

NOTE! If you’re not using MyCanadianWritingLab as part of a course or if you do not have your instructor’s Course ID, choose Work on Your Own. You can join your instructor's course any time from the MyCanadianWritingLab Settings page.

NOTE! If you join the wrong course, while in MyCanadianWritingLab click the Settings button, click Join a Different Course, click Join Your Instructor’s Course and enter the Course ID of the course you wish to join.

Need Help?

Go to mycanadianwritinglab.ca and click the SUPPORT tab for additional registration information and direct links to technical support.

We wish you success in your course!

YWRITINGLAB ! rd copy that could be used for each platofrm.ebsite all at once -

-----------------------

Contents

1. What is MyCanadianWritingLab?..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

2. Getting Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

3. QuickStart Guide (Three Easy Steps) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-5

Logging in to MyCanadianWritingLab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Creating a course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5

Providing students with your CourseID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

4. MyCanadianWritingLab FAQs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

5. Best Practices from Your Peers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-9

6. Functions on MyCanadianWritingLab pages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-11

7. Student Registration Instructrions……………………………………………………….12-13

Click the

Facebook badge

[pic]

[pic]

[pic]

[pic]

[pic]

[pic]

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download