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Educational Technology Center Support
Phone: 512.245.5566
tracs@txstate.edu
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TRACS Tools and Functions

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Tool Description/Function
Announcements To inform users of changes in deadlines, schedules, policies of the class or project
Create Announcements
Post Announcements
Send announcements to a particular section or group within a site
Set availability dates of announcements
Ability to save draft announcement that is not yet available to students
Announcements can have multiple attachments such as documents or links
Email notifications of announcements
WYSIWYG editor to format items
Assessments To administer online surveys, quizzes, and exams
Administer online surveys, quizzes, and exams
Multiple choice, true/false, fill in the blank, short answer, matching, multiple answer question types
Questions can be created as a survey
Survey responses can include interval scales and "yes/no" type responses
Assessment/survey statistics are displayed per question
Assessment/survey statistics are displayed per entire assessment or survey
Question pools can be created
Assign questions to a pool while authoring an assessment
Question pools can contain sub-pools
Question pools can be copied and moved
Question pools (and sub-pools) can be re-named
Use question pools to randomly draw questions for an assessment
Assessment can contain questions drawn from multiple question pools
Randomly draw questions from multiple question pools
An assessment can be separated into parts
Instructor can upload files, images, and audio recordings to their assessment
Students can record an audio response to an audio recording question on an assessment
Online tests and surveys delivered one question at a time
WYSIWYG editor to format text in an assessment
Set an assessment to be timed
Auto submit assessment when time expires
Users can create templates (types) to control various assessment attributes
Instructor can set an assessment to have multiple attempts
Assessments can be graded while keeping participant's identities anonymous
Survey can be graded while keeping participant's identities anonymous
Assessment feedback to participants
Release assessment feedback at a later date
Release assessment to anonymous users
Set assessment to be available only to those from a specified IP address
Set assessment to be released only to those with an instructor set secondary ID and password
Assessment layout options include each question on a separate page or the whole assessment on one page
Question navigation allows linear access to questions with no return to previous questions
Question navigation allows random access to questions with option to return to previous questions
Create an assessment/quiz/survey/question pool by pasting from word processing document
Ability to move/copy/remove multiple questions to question pools
Ability to copy all questions in a part to a question pool
Adjust question point value in assessment edit screen
Assign the same point value for all questions in a question pool
Allows students to save after each question in an assessment
Assignments Create, distribute, collect and grade online assignments
Create and distribute online assignments
Multiple grading scales for assignments
Collect and grade online assignments
Download all student submissions at one time
Student online submission of assignments
Ability to add attachments to assignments
Assignments can also be returned, with or without grades, for re-submission
Set availability dates for assignments
Set due date for assignments
Notifications of assignments
Non-electronic submission type (students hand in a hard copy of work)
WYSIWYG editor to format items
Notification for new assignment submissions
Abiltiy to download all submisions, grade them, then upload all to gradebook
Blogs Create an on-line blog for site participants to view and comment on
Ability to create a blog with WYSIWYG editor
Ability to set privacy permissions on blog
Ability to have profile in blog with photo
Ability to edit blog entry
Ability to comment on blog entry
Calendar To display class or meeting dates, deadlines, web assignment dates, special events, and more
Calendar format for class or meeting dates, deadlines, special events
The calendar has day, week, month, year, and a flat list view
Can set frequency of an event
Can select event type from drop list
WYSIWYG editor to format calendar items
Any calendar item can have multiple attachments
You can print a PDF file of any view of a calendar
Create your own private calendar items
View an integrated calendar for all sites you belong to (students only)
Chat For synchronous online discussion between site participants
Create real-time, unstructured conversations with users
Chat messages are visible to all users
Instructor can create multiple chat rooms
Can see a list of users present in chat
Keeps a record of all items in chat
Drop-Box Instructors and students can share documents within a private folder for each student
Instructors and students can share documents within a private folder for each student
Allows for nested folders (folders within folders)
The instructor can view and delete items in any student's drop-box
Drop boxes and their contents are visible in the Resources tool and can be moved
Automatic drop-box folder created for each student
WYSIWYG editor to format items
Email notifications of new items
Visual alert when new items have been added
Forum Discussion tool for online discussion
Discussions can be set up in categories or topics, to which users can respond
Forums can be reordered, edited, and deleted
Users can respond to other responses
Threads can be locked and unlocked
Users can send private messages to each other
Send attachments in a response
Ability to block a user from a forum
Ability to sort forum postings
Abilty to have discussions for a group
Gradebook To calculate, store, and distribute grade information to students online
Allows different grading structures (points, letter grades, and pass/fail)
Students can view total points for course assessments and assignments if instructor releases grades
Students can view overall letter grade for assessments and assignments if instructor releases grades
Students can view total points for course if instructor releases grades
Students can view overall letter grade for course if instructor releases grades
Ability to display number grades for individual assignments (ex: 89, 91, 75)
Ability to hide particular gradebook entries
View grades of a particular section or group within a site
Export grades to Excel spreadsheet
Export grades to CSV file
Override calculated course grade
Provides log of changes to grades (such as change date and individual who made the change)
Ability to weight grades
Ability to set categories for grades
Ability to add letter grades as grade type
Ability to add percentages as grade type
Ability to import all grades from spreadsheet
Ability to import single grade column from spreadsheet
Ability to add comments to a grade
Ability to see student view of gradebook
Gradebook 2 To calculate, store, and distribute grade information to students online
Allows different grading structures (points, letter grades, and pass/fail)
Students can view total points for course assessments and assignments if instructor releases grades
Students can view overall letter grade for assessments and assignments if instructor releases grades
Students can view total points for course if instructor releases grades
Students can view overall letter grade for course if instructor releases grades
Ability to display number grades for individual assignments (ex: 89, 91, 75)
Ability to hide particular gradebook entries
View grades of a particular section or group within a site
Export grades to Excel spreadsheet
Export grades to CSV file
Override calculated course grade
Provides log of changes to grades (such as change date and individual who made the change)
Ability to weight grades
Ability to set categories for grades
Ability to add letter grades as grade type
Ability to add percentages as grade type
Ability to import all grades from spreadsheet
Ability to import single grade column from spreadsheet
Ability to add comments to a grade
Ability to see student view of gradebook
Ability to add extra credit
Ability to drop lowest grade(s) in a category
Home Description of the site, recent announcements, forums, and messages displayed to site participants
Display recent site announcements
Display recent forum postings
Display recent chat messages
Display site calendar
Alert users of new messages
Learning Modules A tool for creating lessons in sequential order with resources and next steps associated with the module
Create sequenced learning events
Use documents from resources in module and content section
Upload resources directly into module and content section
Create content using WYSIWYG editor in module and content section
Set dates of availability for modules
Add next steps to tell learners what to do next in content sections
Set copyright status on content sections
delete/sort/reorder/restore content sections and modules
Import/export modules and sections
Mailing List Archive A repository for all messages sent to the site
Sites have an automatically generated site email address
Send email from your course site address
Send email to entire class
All messages sent to your course site's email address are stored in the archive tool
Email system capable of multiple attachments
Mailtool To send email to individuals or groups of site participants
Send individual site participants email
Student to student email communication (permission must be granted by instructor)
Send messages to groups and sections
Send copy to self of message
My Workspace Personal space in TRACS to store docouments, calendar events, and general information
Personal file space for personal documents that can be retrieved anywhere with Internet access
Personal calendar tool
Ability to set preferences for email notifications
Ability to customize display of site tabs
View announcements from all sites you belong to
Create personal profile and add photo
Ability for instructors to create course sites
Ability for instructors/staff/students to create project sites
News Feeds To display automatically-updated (RSS) news feeds from a variety of sources within a site
Site owners can display automatically updated (RSS) news feeds from a variety of sources
Page Order Helper Allows you to order your site's tools as you see fit
Ability to re-order site tools for better navigation
Ability to rename site tools
Ability to hide tools from site participants
Podcasts Create podcasts of your lectures for students to download and listen to at their leisure
Ability to upload a podcast to site
Ability to set dates of availability of podcast
Allow downloading of podcast
Podcast can play in the site itself
Polls Allows you to create simple polls for your students to take
Ability to create anonymous polls for voting
Ability to restrict user results
Create poll using WYSIWYG editor
Ability to have open and close dates for polls
Questions and Answers Allows site members to ask and answer questions anonymously
Ability to create anonymous questions
Ability to answer questions anonymously
Ability to create categories
Ability for site administrators to edit participant questions and answers
Resources Course documents, electronic files, or URLs can be posted for users to access for a course or project
Documents, electronic files, or URLs posted for users to access for a course or project
Drag and drop multiple files and folders from your computer to your course resources
Create folders, and folders within folders
Create multiple folders at one time
Post items outside of folders
Visible description of documents and folders
See resources folders from all sited you belong to in any one of those sites
View all folders and items within the resource tool at once
See and manage drop box folders within the resources tool
Move multiple documents between folders in different sites through the resources tool
Copy multiple files within the resources tool
Delete multiple files within the resources tool
Delete multiple files and folders
Set availability dates of folders and documents
Set order of folders and documents
Email notifications of new files/folders
WYSIWYG editor to format document items
Set copyright issues when adding documents
Post files in your own private resources tool in My Workspace
Import content from your Blackboard site into your course resources
Roster To view site participants list
For viewing the site participant list
View profile of a site participant (instructor or student)
View picture of a site participant (student or instructor)
Ability to view official University ID photo (instructor role ONLY)
Signup Allow students to signup for office hours, paper topics, allow students to create review sessions, and more
Set up appointment times
Create meeting times
Define how many people you want to singup for a particular meeting/appointment
Overflow list automatically created
Meeting organizer is emailed with meeting notifications
Section Info To manage sections within a site
Create sections for a lecture, lab, or discussion within a site
Assign meeting days, times, location, and maximum size to a section
Send announcements to a particular section within a site
Assign TA to particular section
View grades of a particular section within a site
Syllabus Enter material directly into the syllabus tool, upload, or link to an online syllabus
Enter and edit material directly in the syllabus tool
Link to your department's official online syllabus
Format your syllabus content in HTML instead of plain text
WYSIWYG editor to format items
Site info To make changes to your site, such as adding or removing tools, adding participants, changing access settings and more
Set up and revise a course site
Set up and revise a project site
Add or remove users
View a list of all sites you belong to
Add yourself to publicly joinable sites in the Membership tool
Create groups
Combine multiple courses or sections into a single course
Ability to name your course
Ability to integrate images into your course site
Ability to select button styles and names
Ability to add RSS news feed to your course site
Ability to view statistics on student use of your site
Easy editing of formatted text using WYSIWYG editor
Password protected access (login) to course site
Adequate storage space for course materials
Security for confidential student information
Ability to present multimedia materials including common audio and video file formats
Batch upload of users
Ability to add users more than one at a time to a site
Ability to customize user privileges and access rights
Course creation and course copy tools
Ability to import materials from other sites you own
Ability to import course cartridges from publishers
Ability to publish or unpublish a site
Ability to reorder, rename, and hide site tools
Site Stats Track student use of the site. This is added to each site by default and is available in the Site Info area of your site.
Ability to view user activity in site
Ability to veiw user activity in site for particular tool
Ability to veiw user activity in site for particular resource
Ability to veiw user activity in site for particular event
Editable stats reports
View user activity by role
Chart showing most used tool/portion of the site
Web Content Links to outside websites can be displayed in the navigation bar of the site home page
WebDAV Allows site maintainers to drag and drop files from their computer into TRACS and vice-versa
Access to documents using WebDAV technology via desktop icon
Drag and drop multiple files and folders from your computer to your course resources and vice versa
Wiki For collaborative editing of pages and content
Allows collaborative editing of pages and content
Allows users to add pages and content to the wiki
Create wiki pages using WYSIWYG editor
Allow users to save their content before posting
View versions and page history
Allow site administrator to revert to a previous version
Allow preview of site before posting
Email notification of changes wiki
Other Project sites not tied to a semester term
WYSIWYG editor available in tools
Email notification of new posts in resources, announcements, syllabus , dropbox, and wiki
HTML editor with spellchecker