| Access Role |
Can only view material posted to the site and add document to the dropbox tool; cannot modify the site unless granted permission
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| Access Settings |
In the Resources Tool, files/folders can be set as viewable by the entire site, the public, or select group(s)
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| Account Tool |
Feature found only in My Workspace that contains basic information on the user, including name and email address
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| Active |
Means that something is accessible to site participants
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| Announcements Tool |
Tool used to inform site participants about items of interest or importance, such as changes in deadlines, schedules, policies of the class or project
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| Archive |
A file containing one or more files in compressed format for more efficient storage and transfer
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| Assessment Available Date |
This is the date and time when an assessment will be visible to site participants and open for submissions
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| Assessment Due Date |
This is the date and time when an assessment is due. When the due date is reached the assessment is closed for student submissions and the link for participants to click on to take the assessment disappears. If a participant has begun an assessment and turns it in AFTER the Due Date and BEFORE the Retract date, it will be flagged as Late during the grading process. Think of this as an instructor telling students to put their pencils down and turn in their test.
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| Assessment Retract Date |
This is the date and time when the assessment is retracted from participant. If a participant is in the middle of taking a test and the retract date and time occur the assessment is then taken away from the site participant, even if they are in the middle of taking it. Think of this as the instructor taking the assessment away from a student after they were told to turn it in.
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| Assessment Types |
Either a Test or Survey, two types of test that have different pre-loaded settings associated with them
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| Assessments |
Tests, quizzes, exams, polls, and/or surveys
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| Assessments Tool |
Tool used to create and administer online surveys, quizzes, and exams
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| Assignment Accept Until Date |
This is the latest date and time that assignments will be accepted. If a participant has begun an assignment and tries to submit it AFTER the due date and BEFORE the Accept Until Date it will be marked as Late during the grading ess
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| Assignment Available Date |
This is the date and time when an assignment will be open to site participants
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| Assignment Due Date |
This is the date and time by which an assignment should be turned in for grading
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| Assignments Tool |
Tool used to create, distribute, collect and grade online assignments
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| Asterisk |
A star-shaped symbol, *
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| Attachments |
A function that allows users to attach documents in Announcements, Assignments, Discussion, Calendar and Syllabus Tools
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| Blog Tool |
Tool used to create a site journal where site participants may post, view, and respond to messages
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| Brace |
A symbol, { or }, resembling wavy parentheses
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| Brackets |
A symbol, [ or ], resembling parentheses with square corners
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| Browser |
A program that accesses and displays files and other data available on the Internet and other networks
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| Cache |
A place where data can be stored in a computer and retrieved more quickly than from a slower device such as a disk
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| Calendar Tool |
Tool that allows site maintainers to post items in a calendar format, with day, week, monthly, year, and flat list views. Used to alert site participants class or meeting dates, deadlines, web assignment dates, special events, etc.
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| Chat Room Tool |
Tool that allows real-time, unstructured conversations among site participants who are signed on to the site at the same time.
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| Checkbox |
A small box on which an x or check mark appears when the option indicated next to the box is turned on, and disappears when the option is turned off.
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| Citations List |
Tool that allows you to search library resources (e.g., WorldCat, Academic Search [EBSCO], JSTOR), as well as create and manage citations and persistent links to articles and other online items
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| Connections |
Feature of the Profile tool in My Workspace that allows users to search for other TRACS users and request to see their information
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| Cookies |
A data file written to a hard drive by some Web sites that contains information the site can use to track such things as passwords, login, registration or identification, user preferences, online shopping cart information, and lists of pages visited
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| Core Assessments |
Assessments that have been created in the site. Core assessments can be re-used and imported to other sites when the Import from Site feature is used
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| Course Site |
A course site is used to present coursework, documents and materials for a course
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| CSV file |
(Comma Separated Value) is a special file format used to to upload into Post’Em that can be opened in Excel and viewed as a table
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| DAT file |
The type of file that is used by the University Testing Center to return Scantron administered test results
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| Database |
An organized collection of data, kept in a suitably accessible form on a computer, that has been arranged for ease and speed of search and retrieval
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| Default |
A particular setting or value that is automatically assigned by an operating system and remains in effect unless canceled or overridden by the user
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| Download |
To transfer data or programs from a server or host computer to one's own computer or device
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| Dropbox Tool |
Tool that enables instructors and students can share documents within a private folder for each student
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| Dropdown List/Menu |
On a site, an item that, when activated, displays (drops down) a list of values, from which the user may select one. When a drop-down list is inactive, it displays a single value.
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| Email Archive |
Another name for the Mailing List Archive Tool
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| Export |
To send data from one program to another
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| Extract |
To decompress or "pull out" original files from a compressed archive
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| Feedback |
Any comments, grades, or other components you want users to view once they have completed an assessment
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| Forums Tool |
Tool used to create unlimited, threaded, online discussion boards for course or project sites
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| Grade Category |
In Gradebook, you can create categories, and assign Gradebook items to them. Also, you can assign percentages to the categories, thereby weighting them and the items they contain.
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| Grade History Log |
In the Gradebook, a tool that records the date of each grade change, as well as the updated grade, and the name of the user who made the change
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| Gradebook Tool |
Tool used to calculate, store, and distribute student grade information online
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| Grader Role |
Only has access to tools relating to grades; cannot modify anything else in the site. Has the ability to: add, remove, and modify grades; grade assignments and assessments; add postem files; and maintain dropboxes
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| Guest Role |
Has ability to view site content without viewing any potential confidential information; can access resources; can view announcements, calendar entries, chatroom postings, discussion board, polls, and wiki
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| Home |
Page that contains a description of the site, recent announcements, forums, and messages displayed to the site participants
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| HTML |
Hyper Text Markup Language; A markup language used to structure text and multimedia documents and to set up hypertext links between documents, used extensively on the World Wide Web
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| Import |
To receive data into one program from another; to convert a file into the format required by the application being used
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| IMS QTI-XML file |
Exported tests, assessments, surveys, and quizzes need to be saved in this format in order to be imported
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| Inactive |
Means that something is inaccessible to site participants
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| Info Page |
In a wiki, a page that includes a printer-friendly version of the page and an HTML version
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| Instructor Role |
Has the ability to do anything in a course site
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| IP address |
Internet Protocol Address Management; a computer's numeric address, such as 128.201.86.290, by which it can be located within a network
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| Joinable Sites |
In the Membership Tool, other sites that you can becaome a member of because they have granted Global access
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| Learning Modules Tool |
Tool for creating lessons in sequential order with resources and next steps associated with the module
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| Loading Dock |
In Gradebook, the way to import Gradebook items from a spreadsheet.
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| Local File Repository |
A personal folder on the university server that users can create, using a technology called WebDAV, to connect to their Resources folder in TRACS to their computer desktop
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| Mailing List Archive Tool |
Tool that provides an email address for the site, and is used to send and store email messages within the site
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| Mailtool |
Tool used to send email to individuals or groups in the site
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| Membership Tool |
Tool found only in My Workspace that allows user to join and un-join other TRACS sites
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| Menu Bar |
A horizontal or vertical strip near the top of the screen or a window, containing the titles of available pull-down menus or the names of currently available commands
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| Message Of The Day |
Typically an educational quote or message that appears in My Workspace
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| Messages Tool |
Tool used to send messages within TRACS Messages sent from here DO NOT go to TSU email accounts unless specified to do so
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| Metadata |
In the Assessment Types settings, an option that allows for the searching of text within an assessment
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| My Workspace |
When you log into TRACS, My Workspace is your personal online worksite where you create course or project sites. Your workspace has features common to course and project sites, including Announcements, Resources, Calendar, Site Info, and Help. It also has features found only in My Workspace such as Account, Membership, Preferences, Profile, Bobcat Mail, and Worksite Setup.
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| Navigation |
In Assessment Settings, an option to allows users to move from question to question throughout the assessment using either the Previous and Next buttons, or the table of contents
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| Net ID |
A NetID consists of your initals and 4 or 5 numbers, such as az12345; it is not your Texas State ID number, or PLID
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| News Feeds Tool |
Tool used to display automatically-updated (RSS) news feeds from a variety of sources within a site
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| Notification Methods |
A Tool for Announcements, Email Archive, Resources and Syllabus that allows users to choose whether or not to receive email notification when items are posted on the sites they are members of
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| Page Order Tool |
In the Site Info Tool, a tool that allows users to add, hide, remove, rearrange, and rename their site's tools
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| Pending Assessments |
Pending assessments are those assessments which have been published but are not yet visible to students. The date that the assessment will become available appears next to the assessment itself.
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| Permissions |
Rules a site site maintainer choses that allow or prevent users from seeing or performing certain tasks, depending on a user’s “role”
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| Pipe |
A symbol, |, created on most PCs by hitting the Shift key and the key with the broken bar symbol, ¦.
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| Podcast |
An audio broadcast that has been converted to an MP3 file or other audio file format for playback in a digital music player
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| Podcast Tool |
Tool that allows instructors to post podcasts (multimedia files) of their lectures for students to download and listen to at their leisure
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| Polls Tool |
Tool used to create simple, anonymous polls for site participants to take
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| Post'Em Tool |
Tool that allows instructors to quickly post grades, attendance records, extra credit and seating assignments on TRACS using a CSV (formatted Excel file) file, without compromising student privacy
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| Preferences Tool |
Tool found only in My Workspace used to choose how to receive emails to course and/or project sites, and email notifications of new announcements and resources.
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| Privacy Settings |
An option in the Profile section of My Workspace Tool that allows users to choose who can view their Profile information
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| Profile Tool |
Tool found only in My Workspace that allows users to create an online profile--with information such as name, position, department, phone number, location, and photo--and share it with people they choose
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| Project Site |
A project site is used for collaboration on research, for committee work, for collaborative development projects, for clubs and organizations, and more.
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| Published Assessments |
Once an Assessment is published, the creator cannot add, delete, or modify its questions, only modify the delivery dates and feedback settings. A published assessment has to be retracted from student view if any changes need to be made.
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| Question Pool |
A set of questions that have been created and added to a pool to be used in assessments
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| Radio Button |
On a site, one of a group of small circles that represent a set of choices (indicated by text next to the circles) from which only one can be selected; the selected choice is indicated by a partly filled circle
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| Random Question Assessment |
An assessment which draws its questions randomly from a question pool
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| Resources Tool |
Tool used to upload, post and organize course documents, electronic files, or web links for users to access for a course or project
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| Retracted Assessments |
Assessments which can no longer be taken by site participants
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| Rich Text Editor |
On the site, text entering box that includes text formatting commands for page layout such as fonts, bold, underline, italic, etc.
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| RIS format |
In the Citations List Tool, a special file format for expressing bibliographic citations
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| Roles |
Roles are the different sets of permissions that set limits on what users of a course or project site can and cannot do, such as post new items, read, revise, and/or delete files
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| Roster Tool |
Tool used to view the site participant list, profiles, and official university ID photos (Only the instructor role has the necessary permissions to use this tool)
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| RSS feed |
Provides+B90 continuously updated content that appears in your site
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| Section Info Tool |
Tool used to manage sections within a site
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| Server |
A computer that provides information to other machines, such as documents that are components of webpages
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| Sidebar |
The area of a wiki page where creators can place their main navigation, so users can easily access pages.
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| Sign-Up Tool |
Tool that allows site participants to sign up for office hours, presentation times, test times, paper topics, study session, etc.
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| Site Assistant Role |
Has access to modify all course aspects except for those tools dealing with grades; does not have access to gradebook, assessments, assignments, or postem
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| Site Collaboration Role |
Has ability to add or remove their own items to a course but not to remove anything else; can use the mailtool; cannot look at grades other than their own
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| Site Info Tool |
Tool used to make changes to a site, such as adding or removing tools, adding participants, and changing access settings
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| Site Maintainer Role |
Has the ability to do anything in a project site, including deleting it
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| Site Stats Tool |
Tool used to track use of the site by user, event, or resource
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| Spreadsheet |
A software program that displays data in rows and columns on a screen
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| Statistics |
A type of analysis where data is collected, analyzed, and summarized in numerical form
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| Status (User) |
Active status participants have access to the site; inactive status participants no longer have access to the site.
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| Student Role |
Only has the ability to view material posted to the site and add documents to the dropbox tool; cannot modify the site unless granted permission
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| Syllabus Tool |
Tool used to upload a syllabus, or link to an online syllabus
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| Tab/Tabs |
A navigational link for switching between webpages. It usually looks like a text label, sometimes within a rectangular box with its top borders rounded. Activating a tab (usually by a mouse click) makes its associated content visible and the tab itself usually becomes highlighted to distinguish it from other inactive tabs.
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| Teaching Assistant Role |
Has the ability to do anything in a course site except hide the site from student view and create a course site; otherwise the same privileges as an instructor role
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| Template |
A document or file having a preset format, used as a starting point for a particular application so that the format does not have to be recreated each time it is used
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| Thread |
A set of posts on a forum, composed of an initial post about a topic and all responses to it
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| Toolbar |
A row of icons on a computer screen that activate commands or functions when clicked
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| TRACS |
TRACS (Teaching, Research, And Collaboration System) is a new open-source collaborative learning environment. TRACS can be used to create two types of sites: course sites and project sites.
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| Unpublished Assessments |
Assessment creators can only add, delete, or modify questions and components--including settings--of an unpublished assessment
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| Upload |
To transfer (data or programs), usually from a peripheral computer or device to a central, often remote computer
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| URL |
Uniform Resource Locator; a web link; an Internet address (for example, http://www.google.com/), usually consisting of the access protocol (http), the domain name (www.hmco.com), and optionally the path to a file or resource residing on that server (trade)
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| Web Browser |
The program that serves as your front end to the Web on the Internet
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| Web Content Tool |
Tool used to links to outside websites, which are displayed on the menubar of the site
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| WebDAV |
Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning; a technology that allows you to drag and drop files and folders from your local computer hard drive to Resources in your TRACS workspace or in your course or project site(s)
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| Weighted Grade |
A grade that has been adjusted to reflect value or proportion
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| Wiki |
A wiki is a Web site that allows users of the site to edit it. This allows for joint authoring and ownership and is different from conventional Web sites which can only be edited by the webmaster.
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| Wiki Tool |
Tool used for collaborative editing of pages and content
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| Worksite Setup Tool |
Tool found only in My Workspace that is used to create project and course websites
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| WYSIWYG Editor |
In some tools, a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor is used to enter text and other content, and allows for formatting of text similar to a computer office program such as Word
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| Zip File |
A file that contains one or more files that have been compressed into the ZIP format |
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