Edison Services : Import Feature

The Online IST Syllabus Tool now allows you to quickly reuse parts of an old syllabus. Built into the new Syllabus Wizard is an "import" feature provides you with the ability to use a part of a previous syllabus -- or even import an entire syllabus as the starting point for a new section. It is easy to use and will give you the ability to really take advantage of work you may have done in the past.

Edison Services : Section Builder

The Online IST Section Builder has been in use for over three years now. During that time, over 300 sections of Online IST courses have been registered by faculty around the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. For Fall 2004, many of the tools within the section builder have been given a total rewrite. This means you can now do more than ever with the section builder. To take advantage of any of the new tools in the Edison Services suite, you must start by registering a section.

As in the past, you can register ANY IST course using the section builder and take advantage of all the tools that Edison has to offer. This means that if you register and create your section with Edison, you can use any of the tools discussed below. And as always, if you are registering a course with an Online IST course design (110, 111, 210, 220, 250, 302, or 421) you have instant access to the thousands of pre-built course readings, labs, problems, and interactive exercises. In addition, new enrollment and team management tools are present to make it quicker and easier to communicate and assess student performance.

Edison Services : Syllabus Builder

We see the Online IST Syllabus Builder application as the hub to your digital teaching and learning life. Creating an online syllabus that connects all of the available readings, problems, labs, and resources of an IST course can be very difficult. Couple that with the need to use an HTML editor to build and maintain it, find available web space, and upload it and you have a fairly complex process. With the Edison Services Syllabus Builder, all you have to do is point and click.

The Online IST Syllabus Builder does away with the need to do all of that. As a matter of fact, the Syllabus Builder's wizard will walk you through the process and in no time you'll have a complete syllabus that complies with PSU's policy requirements and that is completely linked to any predesigned components of Online IST. In addition, many of the parts to your syllabus will be saved in Edison Services, so the process of building subsequent syllabi will be even shorter.

For fall, you'll notice a new WYSIWYG inline editor, so every aspect of your syllabus can be customized. The syllabus will now allow you and your students to log in so you can instantly communicate with your class with a single click. In addition, the syllabus will be stored, maintained, and supported by the Solutions Institute team.

Edison Services : Peer Evaluations

One of the most important concepts in keeping your teams functioning at peak performance is to let students do blind evaluations of themselves and their teammates. This has been a very tedious, sometimes impossible task to do right. The new Online IST Peer Team Evaluation Tool provides a seamless web-based application to enable this.

Using it is easy, register a section and activate this service for as many projects as you like, they will show up when your students login. This will not only save you time and help your teams, but will eliminate the massive paper usage common with the old Self & Team Evaluation forms.

Edison Services : Course Communication

The Solutions Institute believes in providing you with quick collaboration with students. When you create your section, you are prompted to do a "sync with ANGEL" step that actually pulls your course list for the semester. When this is done, all of your students' information becomes part of the appropriate section. You can directly interact with individuals from your section right from your syllabus. And if you've used Edison to establish your teams, you can send emails directly to members of each team you've created. The new syllabus also allows for the creation of dynamic announcements that even alert your students to updates.

Communicating with the members of your class has never been quicker or more straightforward.