SmarterServices, LLC Blog

Mar 29

Thinking Smarter - March

Happy 10th Birthday SmarterServices!
Where did the past 10 years go? It is hard to believe that we have been in business for a decade. It has been an honor to work with so many educators and students. As a company, we believe strongly in the concept of being a lifelong learner. Our employees are challenged weekly to learn something new. With a passion for education, each member of our team genuinely cares about our partners, clients, and the students across the country that we have helped. The past decade has been filled with change, exciting growth, challenges and success! This month marks the 10th anniversary of the birth of our first product - READI - Readiness for Education at a Distance Indicator! Now known as SmarterMeasure, it is a tool that has grown leaps and bounds since its conception. Beginning with a passion for distance learning, conviction, and a dream, Dr. Mac Adkins set out to make a difference in the lives of students. Armed with an idea and challenged to make a difference, Dr. Adkins charged himself with organizing a team of educators and making his dream a reality. The rest, as they say, is history! Ten years and over 1,250,000 students later, we are making a difference in the world of online learners! To hear what Dr. Adkins has to say about the secret to our business success, read a recent blog post. As part of the festivities, we'd love to hear from you in regards to our milestone. Share your thoughts on our birthday wallwisher. Just click and add your own virtual sticky note! Thank you for being a huge part of our success!

Valued Client and The Wall Street Journal
What do SmarterServices and OC Global have to do with The Wall Street Journal? One of our valued clients, Corey Davis from Odessa College (OC Global), recently had a story about his online program picked up from the Market Watch section of The Wall Street Journal. I encourage all of our clients to read it. Their story proves that hard work, dedication, research, and some strong products can create a strong online program that makes education available no matter what the demographic or challenge. Congratulations to Corey and his team at OC Global for being leaders in the industry! In addition, we would like to wish OC Global good luck in their quest for the Campus Technology Innovators 2012 Award. We wish you nothing but the best!

Student Support Services Webinar in Partnership with Innovative Educators
Course delivery is not what it used to be. Increasingly, institutions of higher education are moving to online and hybrid class offerings. Critical to answer as this shift occurs is, are these programs providing the necessary support services to help students succeed in the online environment? Further, how do institutions implement support programs that are turnkey and budget-friendly?

This session will explore a series of online tools, services and strategies that faculty and staff can use immediately to provide necessary aid to online students. Participants will learn how to integrate products in creative ways and design a very comprehensive, affordable enterprise solution for online course delivery and student support services. Join Corey Davis from Odessa College (OC Global) on Thursday, April 12th from 3:00-4:00 EST. In participation with SmarterServices, this webinar is FREE, so register today!

Change is Coming
Psst! Psst! You! Yes YOU...can you keep a secret? We have some really exciting news about SmarterMeasure...I wish I could spill the beans, but I've been sworn to secrecy. So...all I can say is there are some exciting changes coming! If you haven't joined our Google groups, please do so by clicking here. Also be sure to watch for email updates and a special mail out that will be coming in April.

Friday Fun Blog Series
Are your Fridays dull, boring, or just plain void of fun? Join us for our newest blog post series "Friday Fun". Wanna get some dirt on the SmarterServices team? Check out our upcoming staff interviews. What would make your Friday fun? Check out our wallwisher and add your virtual sticky note to it!

Congratulations
Congratulations to LeeAnn McKay from Texas Christian University for being a recent winner of our drawing for a donation to a charity. Riley Hospital for Children was the lucky recipient!

Thinking Smarter - March

Aug 30

Thinking Smarter

Company , FREE Resources , Newsletters , SmarterFaculty , SmarterMeasure , SmarterProctors , SmarterServices , SmarterSurveys , Thinking Smarter

Formerly Known As

Thinking Smarter (formerly eToolsAlert)

August 2010

Do you want to THINK SMARTER? Do you want to work SMARTER, NOT HARDER? Our new monthly newsletter is designed to help you make minutes count. It is our new commitment to you. Organizing your data and giving it back to you in a format that empowers you to make an informed decision. Let's start THINKING SMARTER together!

What is Your Learning Style?
Have you ever taken the learning styles component of SmarterMeasure learning readiness indicator? Based on the 7-multiple intellegences model, the learning styles section helps you discover how you learn best, what makes you tick, and what the world looks like through your eyes. Over the past decade SmarterMeasure has evolved from client input and analysis of the data received. Based on this feedback we are modifying the learning styles section. The rationale for our enhancements include needing to improve the variability of the existing three-point by using a bipolar, four-point scale, the wording of some questions because two constructs were measured in a single question, along with multiple requests to decrease the length of the assessment. The important dates are listed below. For more details about the change click here.

As of September 1, 2010 - an optional 21-item instrument will be available to all clients. This abbreviated version still measures each of the seven learning styles. The questions are measured on a 4-point scale.
As of October 15, 2010 - the 35-item instrument will be slightly modified with improved wording of some questions and the scale will be shifting from a 3-point scale to a 4-point scale.
As of October 15, 2010 - all new test taker groups created will default to the 21-item instrument in the learning styles section. However, you may manually choose the 35-item instrument by following the instructions below.

SmarterMeasure Survey Says...
Recently we sent out a survey to all of our SmarterMeasure administrators to get input on how to improve our support for users. The survey sought input regarding a virtual user's conference, adding a contact directory, good practices webinar, and shared implementation plans, among others. A brief synopsis of the results is listed below-take a look! If you haven't responded yet, there is still time. Click here and answer the short 8 question survey. We value your feedback and are committed to providing you with the resources that best meet your needs as SmarterMeasure clients!

A majority of responders said they would be interested in an Annual Virtual User's Group Conference. Another very popular idea was to add a "best practices" list to the admin panel resources tab. About 75% of responders agreed that a shared contact directory would be helpful and said they would like to be included in it. Almost 95% of responders stated they would possibly, probably, or definitely attend a free annual best practices webinar. Adding a users' group meeting onto a widely attended conference appealed to about 70% and the most popular conferences were Blackboard World, Sloan-C, and eLearning-ITC. Stay tuned to learn more about how we plan to implement some of the most popular ideas!

FREE Webinar-SmarterMeasure Webinar - Using Disaggregate Mode
Tuesday, September 14th, 2:00-3:00 pm CST
This webinar is designed for current clients who use SmarterMeasure and are interested in learning more about how to use the disaggregate mode which is now available to all clients. This webinar is for you if you are concerned about the length of SmarterMeasure, would like more flexibility for each section, or if you are interested in separating out the sections of SmarterMeasure. Register today for this FREE webinar!

FREE Webinar-Managing Information for and About Faculty
Tuesday, September 21st, 2:00-3:00 pm CST

Do you have questions about how to manage your faculty information more efficiently? Would you like to learn more about how to collect faculty credentials, accomplishments and activities and make the data more meaningful? Are you interested in evaluating a faculty member’s readiness to teach online classes? If you answered yes to any of these questions, this webinar is for you! Join Dr. Mac Adkins from SmarterServices and L.K. Williams and Scott Wymer of Data180 for this FREE webinar to learn about specific tools that will assist you in managing information for and about faculty in the most efficient way! Join us on Tuesday, September 21st, 2:00-3:00 pm central for the SmarterServices webinar and learn more about solutions to your challenges. If time allows, we will also be asking for input about ways your school has overcome these challenges. Register today for this FREE fall webinar!

Did you miss out on our FREE summer webinar - Tools for Scaling your Distance Learning Program? Don't worry, you can access the archived session here.

Case Studies
Are you currently using one or more of our products? Would you like your school to be in the "spotlight"? Periodically we highlight one school's case study in our monthly or quarterly publications. Case studies are important because they give the school free advertising and also provide ideas to other users about how they can improve implementation of our services. If you are interested, please contact our VP of Marketing & Operations, Julie Owen, at julie@SmarterServices.com. Some schools may be concerned about "unauthorized endorsements". However, our case studies are written to report the factual account of your school's product usage and are not solely meant to advertise a school's endorsement of the product. The process is easy and begins with a basic questionnaire. The final case study is approved by all parties before being published in various locations including web, print, and collateral.

August Issue:

What is your Learning Style?
SmarterMeasure Survey Says
FREE Webinars
Case Study
SmarterServices Gives Back
Ideas to Improve SmarterMeasure

SmarterServices

Gives Back

This month we heard about a group of our soldiers in Iraq putting together a 10K run to boost morale. Requesting prizes, we gladly mailed a box of frisbees to give away. Recreation is a great way to unwind.

Do you have a great idea to improve SmarterMeasure?

We want to hear from you! We have just launched an official form that allows all SmarterMeasure admins to suggest new features. Just click here and give us your ideas. Select items will be chosen for future upgrades.

Tell the World you "Like" SmarterServices

Follow us on Twitter!

FREE SmarterMeasure
Training Series
Do you need some training on the administrative features of SmarterMeasure? We provide bi-monthly 30 minute - FREE training sessions to all current clients. To view a calendar of opportunities and register, click here.

This email was sent to $contact_email1 by news@SmarterServices.com.
You can unsubscribe your address by visiting http://smarterservices.com/optout.cfm?e=$contact_email1
SmarterServices | PO Box 220111, Deatsville AL 36022

Thinking Smarter

Jun 16

Thinking Smarter eNews

Case Study , Newsletters , SmarterFaculty , SmarterMeasure , SmarterProctors , SmarterServices , Thinking Smarter , Webinars

Thinking Smarter (formerly eToolsAlert)

June 2010

Do you want to THINK SMARTER? Do you want to work SMARTER, NOT HARDER? Our new monthly newsletter is designed to help you make minutes count. It is our new commitment to you. Organizing your data and giving it back to you in a format that empowers you to make an informed decision. Let's start THINKING SMARTER together!

Case Study Spotlight:
Anne Arundel Community College and SmarterMeasure

In late 2009, Dr. Martha A. Smith, president of Anne Arundel Community College, announced plans to help its students be more successful in reaching their educational goals. Part of that plan consisted of implementing a first-semester experience that included SmarterMeasure Learning Readiness Indicator. The Virtual Campus at Anne Arundel uses SmarterMeasure to help their students make an informed decision if online education is right for them. In addition, the learning style results are used to help students understand how they can learn best using their preferred learning style. To read the complete case study click here.

SmarterProctors Wants You!

The month of June marked the beginning of our SmarterProctors campaign. SmarterProctors (formerly known as TestProctors.com) is a database of individuals who are available to proctor high stakes exams (currently in beta version). With all 50 states represented, our database is growing daily. This Fall we hope to open it up for students and schools to search from and find neutral, local proctors to administer exams. The site will provide a secure payment process so no money changes hands at the time of the test. If you would like to create a FREE profile click here. If you are interested in learning more about SmarterProctors contact our sales team at sales@SmarterServices.com.

FREE Webinar-Tools for Scaling your Distance Learning Program
Thursday, June 24th, 2:30-3:30 pm CST

Are you facing challenges in your distance learning program? Are you interested in learning more about measuring student readiness? Do you struggle with finding qualified online faculty? Would you like to know more about how to automate your end of course data? Is testing integrity an issue at your school or organization? Join us on Thursday, June 24th, 2:30-3:30 pm central for the SmarterServices webinar and learn more about solutions to your challenges. If time allows we will also be asking for input about ways your school has overcome these challenges. Register today for this FREE summer webinar!

Case Studies

Are you currently using one or more of our products? Would you like your school to be in the "spotlight"? Beginning next month in our quarterly newsletter "SmarterServices", we will be highlighting a school that has agreed to participate in a case study. We have selected a few schools thus far but are still looking for additional schools to spotlight. Case studies are important because they give the school free advertising and also provide ideas to other users about how they can improve implementation of our services. If you are interested, please contact our VP of Marketing & Operations, Julie Owen, at julie@SmarterServices.com. Some schools may be concerned about " unauthorized endorsements". However, our case studies are written to report the factual account of your school using our product and are not solely meant to advertise a school's endorsement of the product. The process is easy and begins with a basic questionnaire. The final case study is approved by all parties and will be published in various locations including web, print, and collateral.

New Features in July

Do you read our quarterly newsletter? It will be going out next month and we have several product enhancements to announce so be sure and watch for it mid July. You'll be pleased as we continue to increase our speed, efficiency, and commit to the evolution of our services.

Become our fan on Facebook

If you want to get updates on all the exciting things that are happening at SmarterServices, click here to become our fan!

Do you Tweet?

If you want to learn about what's going on with SmarterServices first, follow us on Twitter.

SmarterMeasure Training Series
Do you need some training on the administrative features of SmarterMeasure? We provide bi-monthly 30 minute - FREE training sessions to all current clients. To view a calendar of opportunities and register, click here.

Thinking Smarter eNews

May 12

Thinking Smarter

Newsletters , SmarterFaculty , SmarterMeasure , SmarterProctors , SmarterServices , SmarterSurveys

Formerly Known As

Thinking Smarter (formerly eToolsAlert)

May 2010

Do you want to THINK SMARTER? Do you want to work SMARTER, NOT HARDER? Our new monthly newsletter is designed to help you make minutes count. It is our new commitment to you. Organizing your data and giving it back to you in a format that empowers you to make an informed decision. Let's start THINKING SMARTER together!

Life Factors Section of SmarterMeasure Makes Its Debut!

Life Factors is now available! We are so excited to announce the launch of our new section of SmarterMeasure called Life Factors. For the past eight years SmarterServices have been doing a good thing. Now we are preparing to do a great thing. Our SmarterMeasure learning readiness assessment (formerly known as READI – Readiness for Education At a Distance Indicator) has been helping students understand things that internal to themselves that impact their ability to succeed in an eLearning environment. Examples of these internal aspects include their learning styles, their individual attributes like motivation and willingness to ask for help, their technical competency, their typing ability and their reading ability. Helping students understand more about these things are internal to them has been a good thing. But experienced educators know that many times students do not continue their education because of things that are external to them. These external factors can be things in their life like having to work many hours at a job, health issues, financial issues, lack of support from family, etc. With the addition of the new Life Factors section, SmarterMeasure will help students because they will receive a measure of the impact that these “life factors” may have on their educational plans. To learn more about the new section, click here and view a message from the president, Dr. Mac Adkins.

Our First Month as SmarterServices

Since our recent name change, we have been overwhelmed at all of the positive growth our company has experienced! We are excited about the changes and appreciate your patience as we continue to communicate with clients about what’s happening. Thank you for your continued support. We’d also like to welcome our new clients, St. Louis CC, Northwest Arkansas CC, North Central Michigan College, Broward College, Argosy University, Cincinnati Technical and CC, Roxbury CC, Yorktown University, Central New Mexico CC, Virginia College, South Arkansas CC, University of Nebraska at Kearney eCampus, and Anoka-Ramsey CC.

SmarterSurveys in Full Swing!

Are you currently evaluating your end of course evaluation system? Would you like to replace pencil and paper? Are you interested in saving time with valuable reports in clicks? Would you like to increase participation in your end of course evaluations? SmarterSurveys offers flexible, dependable, affordable automated surveys. With a survey builder, data upload wizard, and email integration, SmarterSurveys will save you time and money! Call or email today and ask about our Fall 2010 discount!

Become our fan on Facebook

If you want to get updates on all the exciting things that are happening at SmarterServices, click here to become our fan!

Do you Tweet?

If you want to learn about what's going on with SmarterServices first, follow us on Twitter.

SmarterMeasure Training Series
Do you need some training on the administrative features of SmarterMeasure? We provide bi-monthly 30 minute - FREE training sessions to all current clients. To view a calendar of opportunities and register, click here.

This email was sent to $contact_email1 by news@SmarterServices.com.
You can unsubscribe your address by visiting http://smarterservices.com/optout.cfm?e=$contact_email1
SmarterServices | 696 N. Silver Hills Dr, Suite 110, Prattville, AL 36066

Thinking Smarter

Jul 28

eLearningToolBox Newsletter Summer 2009

Company , ELTB 101 , FacultyFinder , Newsletters , PostCourse , Product Tips , Promotions , READI , Webinars

eLearningToolBox Newsletter

Summer 2009

The Latest in Distance Learning

READI Announces Integration with the eCollege Learning Management System

eLearningToolBox.com, the provider of READI, is pleased to announce that it has completed a project through which READI can be integrated into the eCollege learning management system. Students of schools which are using eCollege can now access READI from within their eCollege course without having to re-authenticate into the READI system. This single sign on capability reduces the number of user names and passwords that schools and students have to keep track of. A student can also submit their READI report internally through the communication features of eCollege to their instructor for review. If students and/or their instructors need to access the student’s report at a later date, they may do so through eCollege.

eLearningToolBox.com has several client schools which use eCollege and requested this integration. The next learning management system which is slated for integration with READI is Blackboard. If your school is interested in learning more about the integration of READI into your learning management system please contact your Account Manager or support@readi.info.

What's New in the ToolBox?

Personalized Online Student Readiness Report

Are you interested in knowing how your students compare to the national averages of online student readiness? Recently we launched the 2009 Online Student Readiness Report. It included data collected from over 150,000 students at 272 institutions. We are now offering a personalized report that contains data from your students. For a small fee, you can have access to statistical information to help you understand your students' strengths and weaknesses. This data can provide guidance for future course design and insight about remedial tools that you may want to consider in your planning of the online program. To view a sample of this school specific report or for a price quote, contact your Account Manager.

The Most Efficient Way to Find Out What Students Really Think

It is coming! PostCourse 2.0 will be available next month! It will feature easy data upload with an integrated wizard, intuitive real-time reporting, tiered role-based administrative access, unlimited surveys and much more! Account Managers are setting up demos in August and Setptember to highlight the new features. Postcourse is a web-based tool that will allow administrators to totally manage all data through an administrative control panel. If you would like to find out about how much you save over your current process, contact an Account Manager today at sales@eLearningToolBox.com.

Change is Good

New Feature Added to READI

READI Administrator, do you have a student test taker login group that needs to be inactivated but not deleted? Often times, schools create new login groups and although they want to keep the data in the old group, they do not want students to accidentally login using the old information. We've added a new feature to READI that allows administrators to choose "inactive" for login groups. This allows administrators to continue to view the data in the group but prevents a student from using the old user/pass combo. To access this feature follow the instructions below.

1. Login to http://admin.readi.info
2. Click on "Manage Account"
3. Click on "Admin & Test Taker Groups"
4. Click on specific test taker group
5. Use drop down box to select "active or inactive"
6. Save and close (Notice the login group is now designated with a red button instead of green)

Neat to Know

How to export READI data

Go to admin.readi.info and login to your account
Click on "Test Search and Export"
Designate preferred filters
Once you reach "Data At a Glance" click "Export Data"

For more READI tips, visit our tutorials link at readi.info/tutorials

Water Cooler

Tips to Increase Website Participation for Students
1. Require it; Making assignments optional will generally result in little if any participation. Even those who are motivated to succeed will generally use extra time on tasks they see as most important which are generally "required activities". Requiring participation, helps motivated students to prioritize and unmotivated students to keep up.
2. Play hide and seek. Hide extra credit activites, special notes for the test, create scavenger hunt clues, make it fun, and reward those who follow through.
3. Make it fun by adding new content weekly like a personal top 10 list, music, or a funny slideshow.

Do you Tweet?
If you want to learn about what's going on with eLearningToolBox first, follow us on twitter.

Blog
What do we have to say about things? Check out our blog at eLearningToolBox.com/Blog for weekly updates of our two cents.

In this edition:

The Latest in Distance Learning
What's New in the ToolBox?
Change is Good
Neat to Know
WaterCooler
Free Stuff
Coming Soon

There is Still Time to Cash in on Our FREE Summer Webinar Series!

Are you looking for a way to squeeze in some training this summer before school gets started? You've come to the right place! There is still time to take advantage of our FREE Summer Webinar Series.

Don't have time or money to travel to a classroom session? No worries, you are invited to our virtual classroom.

To register, just click on the session below. All attendees will be entered into a drawing for $50 cash!

Thursday, July 30th, 2:00 pm central

Academic Integrity in Online Education

Featuring - Lori McNabb, University of Texas System TeleCampus

Thursday, August 6th 2:00 pm central

Tools for Enhancing eLearning

Featuring - Dr. Mac Adkins, CEO eLearningToolBox.com

Coming Soon!

Fall Webinar Planned in late September forREADI Administrators

We have READI data but...
"What Do We Do With It Now?"

This webinar is designed to help you understand the READI data and how to use it. We will also explore ways to use READI data to assist you in your planning process. Key points of discussion will be:

What can I learn about my students from the READI data?
How can I use it in developing courses for the future?
What resources should we be providing based on our READI scores?
Who should be looking at the data?
How do my students compare to those at other colleges and universities?

FREE READI Training Webinars

Do you need some additional training on the administrative features READI has to offer? Check out readi.info/webinars to find the complete schedule and register for the sessions that fit your schedule.

Looking for someone to teach your online classes? Are you tired of sorting through the stack of paper resumes? Facultyfinder.com can help. Go to www.FacultyFinder.com for unlimited free searches! Search our database of over 10,000 profiles to find the right person for the job.

EXTENDED OFFER!

PLACE A JOB AD ON FACULTYFINDER.COM FOR JUST $50! NO DISCOUNT CODE NEEDED

eLearningToolBox Newsletter Summer 2009

Entries Tagged as 'Newsletters'

Thinking Smarter - March

Thinking Smarter

Thinking Smarter eNews

Thinking Smarter

eLearningToolBox Newsletter Summer 2009

Twitter Updates

Subscribe

Categories

Archives

Product Websites

Tag Cloud

Recent Posts

Recent Comments