A significant portion of the time we spend in lab will be working with MindLeaders web-based training software; an industry standard for IT (Information Technology) training world-wide.  This software can be run from any computer with the Internet Explorer browser and Internet access.

• You are to successfully complete 15 hours worth of MindLeaders courses from the list below. Each MindLeaders course is rated by the estimated time (in hours) required to complete it.
• At least 6 of those hours must be from the Excel 2003 Series.
• You are free to complete additional hours and courses, but only the first 15 hours will count toward your grade.
• I have scheduled 10 lab periods to work on this assignment. This means that at at least some of your coursework must be completed outside the scheduled lab time! 
• This assignment is worth 75 points (15% of your grade). Ration your time wisely.
• In order to help you get the assignment done in time, I am providing you an incentive!
  • Complete 8 or more hours of training by midnight May 6 and I will add 5 points (1%) to your total course grade.
  • Complete all 15 hours of training by midnight May 31 and I will add another 5 points to your total course grade.
  • All of your training must be completed by midnight June 6.
• I will periodically post a report of courses completed and not completed. You have been assigned a random ID to identify your section of the report. You will find this ID on your BlackBoard gradebook under "Mindleaders Code". I have to generate and post the report manually, so it is not current "up to the minute".

1. Your computer must have Internet access.
2. Launch Internet Explorer. This is the only browser that works with MindLeaders!
3. Pop-up blockers must be turned off! In Internet Explorer, select the Tools menu, then Internet Options. Next select the Privacy tab and uncheck the Turn on Pop-up Blocker option. See wbt.otterbein.edu/dpec/shared/help/techsup/popup_blockers.htm for instructions for other pop-up blockers that may be installed on your computer.
4. Browse to the MindLeaders Sign-on Page. The URL is http://wbt.otterbein.edu/dpec/login.htm (clicking these links opens a new browser). Either add this page to your Favorites, or access it via the course web page or Blackboard.
5. Enter your Otterbein user ID (firstname.lastname) in the User ID field.
6. The first time you sign on, enter a password of your choice, then click the Sign-on button. You will be prompted to re-enter your password.  BEWARE: the password verification window may pop-up behind the MindLeaders sign-on window. If so, you must bring it to the front and verify your password before continuing.

1. While working on a course, you can leave it at any time by clicking the Exit button at lower right. Or you can just close the window. The next time you select that course, you will be taken to the page where you left off.
2. After exiting a course, leave MindLeaders by closing the initial window that lists Available Courses.

1. You are required to complete at least two Excel courses. If you are not familiar with Excel, take the first two courses.
2. Take the Excel courses first, to prepare you for the spreadsheet project assigned in week 3.
3. I recommend you complete one or two Access courses. This will give you an introduction to databases. Wait until after we cover databases in class (week 4). This will reinforce what you learned in class.
4. Do not take any Outlook courses. These are available but not listed above. Your only contact with Outlook at Otterbein will be Webmail.

1. Select a course! (pretty easy so far...)
2. You will get an introduction screen with two buttons, Take the Skill Assessment and Begin the Course.
   • If you think you know the material, take the Skill Assessment first. It is a multiple choice test. If you score higher than 70%, you probably won't learn much so try a different course.
   • You will not get credit for the course if you take the skill assessment without working through the course, regardless how how high your test score is!
3. Begin taking the self-paced course. There are control buttons at the lower right:
   

   Exit the course

   Turn audio on or off

   Go to the previous page

   Go to the next page

4. Some pages are called and have a multiple choice question. You MUST respond to this question and click the button. Otherwise, you will not get credit for the course!
5. Your answers to the Think About It questions do not have to be correct! You will get feedback from which you can learn.
6. Work through every page of the course and answer all the questions.
7. After completing the course, take a Skill Assessment test. This is not automatic! You have to actively select it. Specific instructions are given below.
8. If your Skill Assessment score is less than 90%, review the material that caused you problems, and take the Skill Assessment test again. Repeat until you score 90% or higher.
9. If you have done all the above, you should receive credit for the course. "Credit" means you get 5 points for every hour the course is worth.

The tabs shown below are displayed vertically on the left side of the window as you go through the material of a course. Clicking on the Course Tools tab produces the image shown to the right. You will be primarily interested in three tools. Click on the Take a Skill Assessment link to take the Skill Assessment at any time or repeat it if you wish. The View My Scores link allows you to view your score table. An example score table is illustrated and explained below. The Progress Report link shows you which "Think about It" questions have not been answered. This will be helpful if you are trying to get rid of those pesky dashes in the Course column of the score table. Click the Close button to hide the tool links.

Background information:

• Directions for viewing your course scores were given in the section above. Scores are displayed in a table like the one below that illustrates a Word 2003 course. The important table columns are Skills Assessment Best Try and Course
• Each course consists of a number of lessons. Each lesson forms one row of the score table.
• Each lesson has quiz questions, called , that you answer along the way. 
  • As you answer each question, be sure to click the button before going to the next page or else your response will be registered as incorrect!
  • Your score on these questions will be shown in the Course column.
  • The Course column will show a dash (-) until all the quiz questions have been answered.
  • Bug: The Course column for Lesson 1 may show a dash even after you have answered its questions. Double-check that you have answered them before moving on.
• After you have completed all the lessons, you must take the Skill Assessment (final test) for the entire course. 
  • You can take the Skill Assessment as many times as you want.
  • The scores for your best try will be shown in the Best Try column.
  • The Skill Assessment covers the entire course; you cannot pick and choose which lesson to take.
  • Bug: The score table may show a dash (-) in the Skill Assessment columns for Lesson 1. You can ignore this.

1. Mastery column : Ignore this column!
2. Skill Assessment First Try column : Ignore this column!
3. Skill Assessment Best Try column : Overall Score of at least 90%. Bottom row (circled). Remember, you can re-take the Skill Assessment as many times as needed!
4. Course column: Diagram Circle 3 must contain all numbers, no dashes! I don't care what your score is in this column.
   For this to happen, you must respond to all the "Think about it" questions that appear as you take the course. If a row contains a dash (-), you have not responded to all the "Think about it" questions and you must go back into the lesson and do so.




Example Score Sheet for an Incomplete Course

Interpreting the Example Score Sheet: The person who received the above scores has taken the Skill Assessment test and has not worked through all lessons (hence the dashes in the Course column).  This person would need to work through each remaining lesson by clicking on the links to those lessons under the Lesson Name column above.  This person does not pass the Skill Assessment Best Try requirement, because the Overall Score is less than 90%. 

You can re-take the Skill Assessment as many times as needed. Should you need to retake the Skill Assessment, be aware there is only one test for the whole course.  The test is usually 30 questions which are broken down per lesson behind the scenes. 

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Working on Courses outside the Lab

Refer to the section Signing Onto MindLeaders above. You may work on your MindLeaders courses from any computer with an Internet connection, using the Internet Explorer browser. Any pop-up blockers have to be turned off. If your computer's browser does not have the required multimedia plug-in, you will be prompted to obtain and install it.

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[ C SC 100 | Peter Sanderson | Math Sciences server  | Math Sciences home page | Otterbein ]

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Last updated:
Pete Sanderson (PSanderson@otterbein.edu)