Subject: Niihka  Update  &  Tips  -­‐  8/20/2012
Date: Monday,  August  20,  2012  4:12:41  PM  ET
From: Scoville,  David  J.
To: Instructors  using  Niihka  (Sakai)
BCC: IT  Services  Leadership
Hi  Instructors,
A  number  of  good  questions  have  come  my  way  since  sending  out  the  last  Update  &  Tips  message.  I   thought  I  would  answer  some  of  those  questions  here  since  many  are  of  a  general  interest  nature.
In  this  update:
How  to  Publish  /  Un-­‐publish  a  Site
Adding  /  Removing  Rosters
Roster  Synchronization  Issues
Using  Clickers  in  the  Classroom
Register  for  a  Workshop  in  TRAIN
How  to  Publish  /  Un-­‐publish  a  Site
If  you  need  to  publish  /  un-­‐publish  a  site  in  Niihka,  login  and  navigate  to   Site  Info  >  Manage  Access .
You'll  see  the  controls  for  site  access.  Before  the  recent  upgrade  there  was  only  a  single  check  box   that  read  "publish  site."  If  the  box  was  not  checked  the  site  was  not  published.
In  the  new  version  of  Niihka,  there  is  a  set  of  radio  buttons,  " Publish  Site "  and  " Leave  as  Draft ."
Choose  the  "leave  as  draft"  button  and  your  site  will  no  longer  be  published  (i.e.,  no  longer   available  to  students  or  TAs  in  a  course  site  or  no  longer  available  to  the  "access"  role  in  a  project   site).
You  can  view  the   status  (published/un-­‐published)  of  any  of  your  sites  in   My  Workspace  >  Worksite
Setup .  What  is  meant  here  by  "your"  sites  is  any  site  that  you  have  created  or  in  which  you  are   enrolled  with  the   Instructor  role  for  a  course  site  or  the  M aintain  role  for  a  project  site.  From  here,   changing  the  status  of  any  site  is  just  a  couple  of  clicks  away.  The  instructions  below  are  copied   directly  from  Niihka  Help:
From  Worksite  Setup
1.   From  your   My  Workspace   menubar ,  click   Worksite Setup .

2.   Check  the  box  next  to  the  site  you're  working  with,  and  then  click   Edit .
3.
Click   Manage Access .
4.   Under  "Site  Status",  select   Publish site  or   Leave as Draft - accessible only to site maintainers .
5.   Click   Update .
Adding  /  Removing  Rosters
Sometimes  you  may  wish  to  add  or  remove  a  roster  from  a  course  site.  It  could  be  that  you  have   created  a  stand-­‐alone  course  site  but  would  now  like  to  convert  it  to  a  combined  course  site,  or  you   have  decided  to  create  standalone  sites  from  a  previously  created  combined  course  site.  This  type   of  change  is  easy  to  do,  but  should  be  limited  to  early  in  the  semester  before  entering  too  many   assignments,  grades,  etc.
To  add  or  remove  a  roster,  login  to  the  Niihka  course  site  in  question  and  navigate  to   Site  Info  >  Edit
Class  Rosters(s) .
You  will  be  presented  with  any  rosters  attached  to  the  course  site.  To  remove  a  roster,  tick  the   check  box  under  "Remove"  then  click  the   Update  button.
To  add  a  new  roster,  click  the   Add  Roster(s)  button…
Choose  the  Academic  term…

Now  choose  the  desired  roster,  click   Continue  then  click  the   Add  Class(es)  button  to  complete  the   process.
If  you  wish  to  back  out  of  the  Edit  Roster  process  at  any  time,  click  the  Reset  button    at  the  top-­‐ left  of  the  Site  Info  page.
Roster  Synchronization  Issues
Your  Niihka  course  site  is  synchronized  to  the  Photo  Roster  for  your  class.  The  Photo  Roster  for  each   class  is  available  under   "Courses  you're  teaching"  in  the  My  Courses  block  in  myMiami.  The  Photo
Roster  is  the  official  roster  for  the  course  you  are  teaching.
In  most  cases  your  Niihka  course  site  and  the  Photo  Roster  will  display  the  same  membership   information  as  the  two  are  synchronized  in  a  virtually  real-­‐time  fashion.  However,  there  may  be   rare  cases  where  the  two  don't  match.  To  force  an  update  of  your  Niihka  roster,  login  to  the  Niihka   course  site  in  question  and  click  the   Site  Info  tool  in  the  main  menubar.  Scroll  to  the  bottom  of  the   page  and  click  the   Update  Participants  button.  Once  the  page  refreshes,  you  should  see  that   participants  in  the  Site  Info  page  match  those  in  the  Photo  Roster.  If  not,  please  contact  IT  Help  for   assistance  by  calling  (513)  529-­‐7900,  sending  an  email  to  ITHelp@muohio.edu,  or  via  live  chat   during  business  hours  at:   https://ithelp.muohio.edu
.
Using  Clickers  in  the  Classroom
If  you  have  chosen  to  add  the  Turning  Technologies  tool  to  your  course  site  and  plan  to  utilize  the

student  response  systems  (clickers)  with  your  Niihka  site,  your   students  must  register  their  clicker  in
Niihka.  This  process  must  be  repeated  each  semester  as  the  device  codes  are  purged  from  the   system  prior  to  the  start  of  each  semester.  This  purging  allows  students  to  buy  and  sell  used   clickers.  Students  may  find  this  and  other  useful  information  by  searching  the   IT  Help  Answers
Online  site .  In  fact,  you  can  find  all  sorts  of  clicker-­‐related  help  in  the  Answers  Online  site…
Register  for  a  Workshop  in  TRAIN
Hopefully  you've  seen  the  list  of   upcoming  Niihka  workshops  being  put  on  by  ALT  (see  message   entitled:  Upcoming  Niihka  Training  Workshops,  dated  August  19).  Many  users,  especially  new   faculty  have  never  registered  in  TRAIN  before.  While  you  can  browse  the  workshop  sessions   without  logging-­‐in,  you  must  be  logged–in  to  the  TRAIN  site  to  register  for  a  workshop.  Here's  how   to  register  for  the:
Login  to  TRAIN
Click  View  Learning  Opportunities
Click  Topics
Click  Niihka
Click  Workshop  name  with  active  sessions  (e.g.,  Niihka  Overview)
Click  the  session  you're  interested  in  attending
Click  the   Register  for  Session  button.
You'll  receive  a  confirmation  email  upon  successful  registration.
Note:  When  registering  for  a  workshop,  you  may  see  a   seat  type  option  of  Windows,  Mac  or
General  seating.  General  seating  means  you'll  BYOD  (bring  your  own  device).

The  maximum  column  reflects  the  number  of  each  type  of  workstation  available  in  the  chosen  lab.
What  if  I'm  a  Windows  user  and  there  are  no  more  Windows  computers  available?  Fear  not,  Niihka   is  accessed  though  a  web  browser  and  is   not  platform  dependent.  It  works  the  same  whether  Mac,
Windows  or  Linux.  However,  Firefox  is  the  web  browser  of  choice  for  Niihka.  So  if  you  BYOD,  you   would  do  well  to  install  Firefox  prior  to  coming  to  the  workshop  session.
Thanks  and  I  hope  your  classes  are  off  to  a  good  start!
Dave
-­‐-­‐
Dave  Scoville
Learning  Systems  Coordinator
Miami  University
307F  Laws  Hall
Oxford,  Ohio
513.593.4478