I’ve got to do some work on Dossier’s server this evening which may require me to shut down the site for a bit, starting around 6:00 CDT. I’ll have things back up and running as quickly as possible.
Sometime this week, I’m going to shut down the S.O.S. (that’s “Stratepedia Online Support”) section of the Learning Labs. I thought providing a level of peer support was a good idea, but it never really caught on in this case and I think confused more than it helped. Not to worry: Our Stratepedia Guidebooks are still online, and you can always e-mail your questions to us at help@stratepedia.org.
If you have any questions about this transition, drop me an e-mail or leave a comment.
In other support-related news, Amber and I are in the process of revisiting and revising the aforementioned Guidebooks to make sure they address the kinds of questions we find ourselves answering more often than not. These new Guidebooks will be rolled out as we get them done and will be available for free in both web-based and PDF formats. The latter is suitable for printing, if that’s your liking.
We’re using a great new application I found a few weeks ago called ScreenSteps. It’s great for creating how-to guides for anything to be done on a computer, and can be exported to blogs (if you’ve been following my series on Goodreads you’ve seen ScreenSteps in action), straight HTML, or PDF. I think Depot’s Guidebook will be updated to this new format within the next few weeks; other guidebooks will follow.
But that’s not all! Keep following Hello (the blog you’re reading right now) for tutorials, case studies, and anything else that might not fit within the context of our guidebooks. If you’ve got tips or success stories to share with others, let us know and we’ll showcase your work within Hello’s virtual pages.
To recap: S.O.S. is going away, the Guidebooks are staying put but will be getting a significant facelift (and PDF versions), and we want to showcase your tips and successes on our blog. Thanks!
Dossier is getting the updates I promised a few weeks ago, and also moving to a new server. I’m going to do this tomorrow, May 1. I’m planning on doing this during the day since nobody’s really using the system just yet, but if I’m wrong now’s the time to let me know. If this will conflict with your plans I’ll reschedule this for a night or weekend.
(By the way, all the changes I talked about before made it in, except for the last one. The question types changes will have to wait for a future release.)
It’s been awhile since we’ve talked about Dossier. Things are afoot: We’ve been busy adding a few features and generally cleaning up. Here’s a quick rundown of what will be available in Dossier starting sometime next week:
I’m still looking for volunteers with smallish assessment groups who’d like to give Dossier a try. If you’re interested leave a comment below or drop me an e-mail.
We’re getting ready to roll out a new, really useful feature in Dossier–automated scoring of the Stages of Concern questionnaire. Just use Dossier to enter the data and access the scores.
I want to test this out with one or two small-ish groups, like one or two schools but not a whole district just yet, and definitely not a whole state. If you’re interested in trying it out, leave a comment below or e-mail me at help@stratepedia.org.
The Stratepedia Library Depot (new name, what do you think?) has been ready for launch for a week. The server I’m using for it, however, has not.
Basically, we’ve outgrown what the server in its current state can do, and patching it to work has proven to be problematic in some spots and downright impossible in others. The biggest issue is security. I want to do everything I can to keep your login information secure on the site, and the tools our old operating system provides aren’t letting me do what I want to do.
So today I’m starting with a clean slate–I’m installing a new operating system as I type this, and hopefully by the end of the day can get things to the point where I’m able to kick the tires over the weekend. If that goes well I’m looking at having Depot online, with all your data from the Content Enhancement Library, by Monday.
After that I’ll look at applying the same steps to Dossier’s server. This will also, eventually, effect the Virginia CLC coaching scheduler. More on those changes as they happen.
Update: Things went really well today! I’ve got the Depot software running on a revamped server–it’s now just a matter of shutting down the old Content Enhancement Library and moving code over to the new system. See you next week!
Mark, our new programmer, and I have finished some of the changes to Dossier people have been anticipating for awhile–namely, some different options to visualize data from an assessment. We’ll be moving these to the server sometime tomorrow morning evening. Dossier will be unavailable for roughly 30 minutes during this time.The new visualization allows you to toggle each question between a table view of data and a pretty bar chart. Down the road we’ll add other visual options.Mark is now working on the much-anticipated data import feature–stay tuned!
In the interest of transparency, I wanted to let everyone know where we currently stand on some of the technical issues that caused such fits a few weeks ago, as well as some other things we’re working on improving.
First, the domain name transfer I mentioned last week is still in progress. Basically the companies that provide this service (see Wikipedia’s entry on this topic if you want to know more) are all in competition with one another, so I get varying levels of support vs. barrier. It’s all still in the works, though, and I don’t anticipate any downtime from this project.
Second, a few people have asked recently about the status of Dossier, a.k.a. “the data collection thing.” We’ve made huge strides in making it ready for you to use, for real, in the last couple of months. The survey builder and assessment manager are really solid at this point. Now we’re cleaning up the behind-the-scenes parts that keep Project A separate from Project B and handle data security. This is important stuff, and we don’t take it lightly. In addition, we’re cleaning up the accounts management, login/logout component to make it as easy as possible for people to set up accounts, get to the groups they’re supposed to get to, and provide the data they’ve been asked to give.
Third: How about them Stratepedia Learning Labs? They’ve really taken off in terms of both semi-static supports for professional development (see Amber’s wonderful GIST: Drafting a Unit Organizer workshop) and collaborative, community of practice-like workgroups for various CRL projects. The Learning Labs are here to stay. The site will be getting a facelift in the coming weeks, and as we learn more about how to put Moodle to full use, we’ll roll out additional features and enhancements.
Finally, let me talk about the Content Enhancement Library briefly. It’s been kind of neglected of late, I know. A new version with a stronger database on the backend and a simpler interface has been in the works for a few months now. Oh, and it won’t be strictly Content Enhancement–we’re opening it up to add support for other components of SIM as well. It’s currently sitting on my laptop. I was hoping it would be done in time for the new year but that hasn’t happened. Once some of these other projects cool off, the new Library will be my top priority. I’d like to be able to at least show it off at the summer conference.
So, in broad strokes, that’s what we’ve been working on up on the top floor of JRP. As always, feel free to send me an e-mail (asumner -at- ku.edu) if you have any questions, comments, or ideas.
Thanks everybody,
Aaron
