The Activity Monitor (AM) is continually undergoing user interface development. As such, this guide will be modified as the AM undergoes additional development. To make sure you have the latest version of the AM, visit cansaware.com. This guide was last modified on March 16, 2009. Check back for updates on April 16, 2009.

1. Overview

The Activity Monitor (AM) is a tool, located within Sakai, which allows instructors to configure the CANS notification preferences for their course. The AM allows you to create customized “notifiers”, or notifications of activity within that course.

Each notifier specifies what activities to track, who to track, and to whom notifications will be sent.

As shown above, multiple notifiers can be made for a class, resulting in the ability for instructors to receive more detailed information than students, or for collaborative teams to receive notifications solely about their own work group.

The delivery for notifications come in two forms:

the email digest (below) and the interactive web page.

example digest
Example email digest.

example interactive web page
Example interactive web page

Coming Soon--Homepage Widget:

Homepage Widget:

2. List View

List View is what you will first see upon viewing the AM. List View is the starting point for:

  • adding, editing, viewing, duplicating, and deleting notifiers
  • Setting Site (entire course) Settings
  • Setting Permissions

Want more details? Continue Reading below...

A quick 30-second tour:

NOTE: If you encounter any error messages, you will need to download and install the latest version of the Adobe Flash Player:
get flash.



2.1 Deleting a Notifier

To delete a notifier:

  • Check the box on the right next to the notifier under "Remove?"
  • Click the "update" button below.
Note: You can only delete and edit the notifiers you created.

Note how Jane's List View (right) doesn't allow her to delete or edit others' notifiers. However, she can still duplicate and view them. This will depend on (and can be adjusted by) the Permissions section (link at the top of the List View page.)

listview delete




2.2 Duplicating or Viewing a Notifier

To View or Duplicate a notifier:

  • Below each notifier, there is a "Duplicate" or "View" link. Click the appropriate one.
Note: Permissions setting (link at top of list view) dictates who can view, edit, and delete various notifiers.
listview duplication




2.3 Symbols & Sorting

Several symbols let you know at a glance about the notifiers:

  • activeThe notifier is active (monitoring and sending out notifications).
  • inactveThe notifier is inactive (NOT monitoring or sending out notifications).
  • emailThe notification is an email digest.
  • graphThe notification is an interactive web page.

sort<-- You can also sort the notifier list by clicking on the column headers (similar to Excel).





3. Add/Edit Notifiers

Notifiers specify whose activities to track and who gets those notification summaries. Within the add/edit notifier view, you can:

  • Specify whose activities to track and who gets those notifications
  • Make the notifier active or inactive
  • Set title and description

Want more details? Read more below...

A quick 30-second tour:

NOTE: If you encounter any error messages, you will need to download and install the latest version of the Adobe Flash Player:
get flash.



3.1 Add or Edit Notifier

add notifier<-- Add notifier by clicking on "Add Notifier" link in List View (top)
OR
edit notifier<-- Edit notifier by clicking on "Edit Settings" link in List View underneath the notifier you want to edit.

1. Set Title, Type, and Description:

  • The title you set will be in the subject heading of the email digest (notification). (It's good to use the class name here.)
picture one

2. Set Activities to Monitor and Schedule Delivery:

  • The checked activities will be tracked, recorded, and sent in the notifications.
  • "Resources" are items in the resources section and any attachments to the discussion board.
set activities to monitor schedule delivery

Select who is monitored and who gets notifications:

  • Highlight from the site member list and move over to the "list of members to monitor" or "notify" list.
  • "List of members to monitor": These selected members' actions will be tracked and recorded.
  • "Notify": These selected members will receive a notification about the recorded activities.
Tip: Some instructors may want their own notification (supplying specific or more detail than what students receive). In this case, the instructor would "monitor" all students, but only "notify" himself/herself.
select sho is monitored

Set activity status and save:

  • "Active" status will track and record the member activities AND send notifications.
  • "Inactive" status will NOT track or record the member activities nor send notifications.
  • Save this notifier by clicking "add notifier."
set activity status




3.2 Sample Activity Events

Below are some examples of activity events and what types of activities that event would record (example of activity event). Not all events are covered, but it is shown to help get an idea of what the different activity events represent.

Activity Event Example of Activity Event
Announcement post Dr. Smith posted an announcement to her class.
Read Assignment Dr. Smith looked at Gloriaʼs assignment.
Revise Assignment Gloria posted her assignment and saved it, or edited it (not necessarily submitted yet).
Submit Assignment Gloria submitted her assignment to Dr. Smith.
Chat Add Gloria posted a question in the chat room at 2:05.
Discussion Post Gloria posted a new thread in the discussion forum.
Discussion View Gloria looked at Stanʼs discussion post.
Resource Add Gloria uploaded a document to the resources section.
Resource View Both Stan and Dr. Smith downloaded Gloriaʼs document.




4. Edit Site Settings

The purpose of Site Settings is two-fold:

  1. Activate (turn on or off) CANS notifications for all of your notifiers at once, and
  2. Set up activity events and members that you want to include (or exclude) from all of your notifiers. The notifiers will inherit these properties you set up here in the site settings.

Want more details? Read more below...

A quick 30-second tour:

NOTE: If you encounter any error messages, you will need to download and install the latest version of the Adobe Flash Player:
get flash.



4.1 - Edit Site Settings

The activities in site settings have the same meanings as those when adding a notifier (see "Add/Edit Notifier" for more activity descriptions).

To edit site settings:

  • Select activities you want to include in your monitoring. (If you don't check an activity, NONE of your notifiers will be able to monitor that action.)
  • Select members you DO NOT want to monitor.(Excluded members will not be able to be monitored by ANY of your notifiers.)
  • Activate: "Off" turns off all tracking and notifications for the entire course; "On" turns on all tracking (notifiers which are inactive will stay inactive, however.)
Note: By default, NO activities are checked and NO members are included. This must be done before you can add any notifiers and track activities.
site settings




5. Permissions

Each member who has access to the Activity Monitor will be assigned permissions. (You can assign permissions to site members via the "Site Info" menu item in Sakai.) The AM Permissions allow you to select what each member has permission to do within the AM.

Want more details? Read more below...

A quick 30-second tour:

NOTE: If you encounter any error messages, you will need to download and install the latest version of the Adobe Flash Player:
get flash.



permissions link<--Select the "Permissions" link at the top of List View.

To edit AM Permissions:

  • For those that have a role of "access", check all of the actions you grant permission for them to perform. (Example: Those that have access only can deleteOwn but cannot deleteAny.)
  • For those that have a role of "maintain" (higher than "access"), check all of the actions you grant permission for them to perform.
permissions view
Note: There are explanations at the bottom of the page that explain the meanings of "read", "deleteAny", "deleteOwn", etc.




6. Scenarios

This section describes various fictional scenarios in which instructors found the activity monitor useful in their courses. Select a person to see how they created notifiers and used the tool in their course.

Dr. Richard Bolling

Profile:
Class: Psychology 1010
Class Size: 263
Uses Sakai for: Holding outside discussions for class, storing class resources
Hopes CANS: will help with grading discussion participation, being aware of who is reading resources and not, who is participating in discussion

Watch how Dr. Bolling uses CANS.

Dr. Mike Moore

Profile:
Class: Education 9045
Class Size: 12-20
Uses Sakai for: Collaborative work groups, posting information and resources. Students are assigned online discussion and work while student teaching.
Hopes CANS: will help with the awareness involved with collaborative workgroups when not sharing the same physical space.

Watch how Dr. Moore uses CANS.

Dr. Brian Christianson

Profile:
Class: Physics 2250
Class Size:20-30
Uses Sakai for: Posting materials, submitting assignments, providing feedback
Hopes CANS: will allow students to generate notifiers if they want, help spur students to be reminded about upcoming assignments and materials others are reading

Watch how Dr. Christianson uses CANS.

Cheryl Robinson, Student

Profile:
Class:In Physics 2250
Class Size:20-30
Uses Sakai for: Reading materials and submitting assignments, collaborating with a group on an assignment.
Hopes CANS: will allow her to see if other group members for an assignment are reading materials, accessing the materials and participating.

Watch how Cheryl Robinson uses CANS.

NOTE: If you encounter any error messages, you will need to download and install the latest version of the Adobe Flash Player:
get flash.