We have very limited resources here and being able to take a lot of code directly from the digital dashboard samples and the Team Folder Wizard saved several weeks of development work. We found the examples especially helpful in giving us ideas and as a construction resource. To create their prototype, Landis and Clements are using one of the Starter Kit samples as a base, cutting and pasting existing controls, object tags and parameters and changing the labels as appropriate to reflect their specific needs. The Wizard walks them through the process of creating team folders for each class, virtually generating each folder and then allowing them to name it and to specify its desired location. Scott says he regards team folders as an advance over the Exchange public folders the College had been using to disseminate course-related material and as a collection point for students to submit their work.
Faculty can easily set permissions, links and other parameters.
Instructors have had the option to create and use online discussions before this, Scott notes, but without the simple and fully integrated interface of the digital dashboard, they were less likely to do so. Public folders required students and faculty to drill down through the folders' view, sort through all the class public folders and find the right material. With the digital dashboard and team folders, this isn't necessary. The ease of creating team folders has also led Clements and Landis to experiment with them more broadly. Team folders can be housed on separate Active Server Pages or combined into a single set, based on how much information the designers want to provide to users at once.