Frequently Asked Questions

What are the main differences between this web site and the old Listserv set-up?

With the old set-up everything was done by e-mail. With the web-based system, students still recieve their messages by e-mail, but to respond, they need to click on the link in the message which brings up that message on the website. They then respond via their browser.

What advantage does the SL website have over the older Listserv-based lists?

There are a number of advantages:

The sign-up process is easier to understand since it is interactive.
An archive of all messages is available, thus new participants can immediately find messages which they might be able to respond to.
The web-based system should encourage more interaction, making the e-mail exchanges look more like discussions. Under the Listserv system students tended to post one-off messages since they were impatient to participate and would have no messages to respond to until a number of days (or weeks)had elapsed.
The capability to display mug shots of the participants helps build a "sense of community".
Resource files, links, etc. can be easily made available to the students.

I'm worried about the security of my students' names, pictures and e-mail addresses. Will this information be available to the public?

No, absolutely not! Only those who are registered have access to the SL-list site. Only students who have been given the "enrollment key" by their instructor or individual students, who have approached the manager, Tom Robb, and promised to abide by the rules of the Project, have access to the site.

When I tried to post a message, there was a gray box on my screen for some time before I was able to start typing. Why?

On Windows systems, the default editor for creating postings is a Java-based "Richtext Editor". While this editor does allow you to format the text in your messages, it sometimes is slow to start and is a bit "buggy". If you don't want to use it, click on your name in the upper right corner, go to your profile and select "Use standard web forms".

How can I format sections of my message if I don't use the Richtext Editor

You can use simple HTML codes such as <b>bold</b> when typing your text. Most of the standard HTML tags will work properly. You can check their effect after you click "Save Changes." If you don't like the results, you have 15 minutes to modify your message before it is actually sent out.

How can I include a link in my message?

Just copy and paste the URL into the message. Anything starting with "http://" is automatically made into a link.

Do I have to subscribe to the all of the student forums if I want to view their contents?

No, you don't. Anyone who is registered in the Teachers' Forum has free access to the student forums. If you did subscribe to all of the forums, you would also end up receiving every single posting that any participant made. If you just want to view your own students' messages, see the next item (below).

How can a view my own students' postings?

You can now click on a button at the top right of the Forum that says "Info on My Students" and get a report of your own students' activity.

This function displays a listing of the basic data for all of your students including how many postings they have made. The "View Posting" link allows you to see all of the postings of any particular student.

To use this function, all of your students need to enter your user ID in their profile where it says "Teacher Code". If you have more than one class using the Student List Project, decide on a unique course code for each class, and have the students enter this where it says "Course Code" in their profiles. This will cause the listing to come up sorted by class.