Sakai Post-It Tool

The Sakai Post-it tool is a convenient way to give your students feedback. You create a csv (comma separated values) file using Excel which contains the information you want the students to see and then upload this file to the Post-It tool. Through this tool, individual students will be able to see only the information in the file pertaining to them. You can post several csv files in the same course, or continually update just one file, say a gradebook file, throughout the semester. Please see this tutorial for a comparison between the Gradebook tool and the Post-It tool.

Adding the Post-It tool

Log in to your Sakai course and click Site Editor. Click Edit Tools.

The Post-It tool will be unchecked if you haven't already added it to your course. Check the box and click Continue.

Click Finish on the confirmation screen.

Before you can add anything to this tool you will need a CSV file containing Sakai usernames for each of your students and the information you want the students to see.

Creating a CSV file

Use Excel to create and edit a CSV file. The first row must contain the column names, with the first column named Student ID. This first column must contain the Sakai username of your students. Currently students use their Allegheny email addresses, including the @allegheny.edu, as their Sakai username so that's what should go in this first column. Other columns can be labeled whatever you like, and can contain text or numbers.

You can use the Gradebook tool to start your excel file. If you have not already added the gradebook tool to your course you should do this first. You can remove it afterwards if you do not plan to use it during the semester.

Enter the Gradebook tool and click Roster. Then click Export for Excel.

Open the exported file in Excel and save it with a new name. Note that the Student Name column is the first column.

You must either delete this column or move it, because Student ID needs to be the first column.

Once you have your Excel file set up the way you want it, save it as an excel file. If you want to update the csv file in future you will start by updating this excel file.

Now save the excel file as type .csv.

Say yes when you are asked if this is what you really want to do. You will now have two copies of this information - an excel file that you can update later and a csv file to upload now.

Uploading a csv file to the Post-It tool

With the Post-it tool added to your class you will see a link labeled Post-it in the list on the left of your course page. Click that link to enter the Post-it tool. Click Add to begin uploading your csv file.

Enter a title for this file and click the Browse button to browse to the .csv file you created earlier. You can choose whether to release this feedback to the students or not, and then click Post.

You will be shown what the first row in the file will look like to that student. Click Save if everything seems to be in order, or Back to cancel the upload.

If you chose to release this feedback to the students, each individual student will see the information pertaining to them as it appears above when they enter the Post-it tool and click the View link for this file.

Updates

You can add future information to the Post-It tool in two ways: create and upload a new file, or add information to an existing file.

If you choose to create and upload a new file, you may want to start with the previous excel file so that you have the Student Id column already created. When your new csv file is ready click Add and follow the procedure as described above to upload the new file.

If you release this feedback to the students, students will see the new file in a list of available feedback and can click the View link to see your feedback.

If you choose to update an existing file, start with the excel file you used to create the csv file you want to update. Add your new information to the excel file, save, and then save as a csv file.

In the Post-It tool, click the Update link for the file you are updating.

Note that you can change the title and also the availability, as well as upload a new file to replace the existing csv file. When ready, click Post to complete the update.

 

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