Have your class CRN and Kerberos password nearby when you visit the dynamically-updated lists of students in your class.  You may also save your roster as a spreadsheet with which to record and compute your grades.

            The ACML (also called just an E-mail Mailing List, or EML) allows a classroom instructor or teaching assistant to e-mail all students via a single address, such as teachers-w01@ucdavis.edu.  You can also ask the ACML engine to alert you via e-mail of adds and drops, and link all ACML e-mail to a public or private web archive. 

            If you are checking e-mail with Eudora, or Microsoft's Outlook Express or Entourage, you can use filtering programs to separate your e-mail automatically into different folders for different functions.  For instance, any message sent to your ACML can be routed into a folder titled "Class E-Mail," while any message titled "Make money fast" can be routed directly to the trash. Review this article in the IT Times on using filters with Eudora.

            Simply by typing in the word "my" from any U.C. Davis computer, or http://my.ucdavis.edu from any networked computer in the world, you can link to a configurable database of information relevant to you. Its creators see MyUCDavis as the one site where you can check on rosters, e-mail and class web pages, as well as the weather, top news stories, and any announcements from your college, school or department.  Geckomail is the web-based mail program used by MyUCDavis; also accessible as a stand-alone application, Geckomail allows one to send and read attachments.  Instructors on campus are also exploring a more advanced Course Management System than MyUCDavis called WebCT which allows one to make and grade quizzes automatically, hold real-time discussions, and represent one's course on the web without any knowledge of HTML. You might also read the TRC report comparingWebCT to CourseInfo.

            I haven't used a paper gradebook in several years, for after the add deadline I download my class roster as a spreadsheet, eliminate all but the student names and ID numbers, and then add information about the names and percentages of my assignments.

            Once all the grades are recorded, computing final grades is a snap.  One need only enter the correct formula for the first student, and apply the same formula to the rest.  Students can be arranged by last name for penciling in bubbles, by grade to assess the range of grades, and by ID number to post or share grades.  The TRC tutorial (via PDF) and English Department handout will both help you use Excel to manage grades.

            The beloved Teaching Resources Center offers to host any course-related web page, and teach its creator how to build and use it.  Every classroom leader should take advantage of this opportunity, for with a simple web page one can present all course documents, link to e-mail lists and archives, and post students' annotated webliographies.  Use Netscape Composer as a simple page-making program, but also consider eventually upgrading to a program like Dreamweaver.

The English Department's Computer-Aided Instruction Page, which links to handouts called "Ten Tech Resources All of Us Should Know," and "Searching Effectively with Specialized Search Engines."

The Faculty Technology Guide, recently updated and published by our own U.C. Davis IET Publications.

The Arbor, the faculty center for technology and teaching, has recently moved to 165 Everson.

You can also always contact me, Andy Jones, at aojones@ucdavis.edu.

Last Updated: January 17, 2001