Edline Tip: Differentiating Your Post

Edline User Tip: Differentiating Your Post

Be sure to Use Unique Identifiers When You Post Items at Edline

ISSUE: Edline automatically combines some items that you post in groupings that include other teacher’s posts.
For example: your class title appears in the My Classes box, and your calendar postings along with others are gathered into a student's Combined Calendar. Similar titles like Period 1 or Homework do not allow anyone to tell your item from anyone else’s who might logically use the same title.

Solution: To avoid confusion and make Edline easier to use for everyone, always title items with unique identifiers to make them clearly recognizable.

Example 1: Many teachers change the name of their classes to add the period or other information to make each class more recognizable and easier to work with at Edline. (Remember: never change the Class ID that looks something like “044_0327_001”).

Problem: This new class name is listed in each of your students’ list of classes with all of their other classes. Can your students identify your class if you and other teachers on your team (or on their schedule) all choose Period 1 for their first period class? No, that student could see several classes listed as Period 1. (So would their parents, guidance counselors, SE teachers, and anyone else viewing the page.)

Solution: Title your class something like: SCIENCE 7 - Period 1 (044_0327_001). This clearly identifies the class as Science for anyone who views the title on any page on which it appears. Since each student has only 1 science class, the problem is solved.

Example 2: When you post assignments on your calendar at Edline, the “Combined Calendar” automatically displays all calendar items relevant to that student, parent, teacher, etc.

Problem: If you and other teachers simply post the title as Homework, the combined calendar would show several items simply as Homework for that day. Though your combined calendar may only show one Homework, your students’ page may show many and they can not differentiate your homework from that of other classes.

Solution: Title your calendar items something like, Math Homework, Science week of 1/14, or Spanish Project, etc. This makes it easy for anyone to know which item to click to find the item they are seeking.

These are 2 specific examples that are common. Whenever you title any items for Edline, try to use distinct identifiers to distinguish your information from that of others.

January 2008