Category Archives: Tips & Resources

Homework Annotator: Over 25,000 Documents Graded!

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That’s right! In the three short months since we released the homework annotator – Haiku LMS users have already processed over 25,000 documents. That’s a lot of grading!

How Does it Work?

Here’s the thing, it is so incredibly easy to use the homework annotator. Those who tried it have figured that out. Consider this scenario: Student submits homework using the dropbox in Haiku LMS. Teacher opens homework document in Haiku LMS. Teacher annotates homework assignment in Haiku LMS. Teacher closes document and returns to student via the dropbox in Haiku LMS. See the theme here? That’s right – it’s all done in Haiku LMS. No downloading, opening, updating, saving, uploading… “Now where did I put that?” required.

What Kind of Docs Can I Annotate?

Using the annotator, you can write on top of Word documents, Excel documents and even PDF’s. And again, all of this is done right within your browser – using Haiku LMS. This works nicely with the Google Docs integration that we’ve already told you about. Students can seamlessly pull in their Google documents and teachers can annotate until their hearts desire.

Math & Science Homework, Too?

Oh yes, if you are a math or science teacher you will love the annotator! Our friends at TutorTrove have done a terrific job making it easy to use symbols and formulas as well. “We saw math and science teachers trying to make other annotators fit their needs.” says Eli Luberoff, Founder and CEO of TutorTrove. “We are pleased to fix this pain with the powerful math and science tools we’ve brought to the annotator in the Haiku LMS.” Once you know a few tips and tricks you can easily add and edit those seemingly difficult symbols.  

In Conclusion.

It’s worth your time to give it a try if you have not already done so. “Combining the homework annotator with the ability to seamlessly use Google Docs in Haiku LMS is going to save teachers and students an amazing amount of time,” says Bryan Falcón, Haiku Learning’s CEO. “That means we are doing our job.” 

Get Started.

If you’re already a user, check out our video to see how you can begin using the homework annotator. If you really want to dig in, you can view our recorded Webinar where TutorTrove explains the annotator in detail. New users can create a free account and set up your own Haiku class to try the homework annotator and all our other features!

This is a recording: Annotator tips & tricks webinar is available online.

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If you missed yesterday’s webinar “Not Quite Rocket Science: Annotator Tips and Tricks for Math and Science Teachers,” you missed a fruitful conversation and a chance to see the little touches that make graphing and writing equations in Haiku LMS a breeze. You also missed a chance to see what’s coming down the line.

Now for the good news: a recording is available online!

Math and science teachers will find this particularly helpful because, thanks to the excellent work by Tutor Trove, using symbols and annotations directly in Haiku LMS is so simple!

Go to the recording >>

It’s alive! The Haiku LMS Google group is up & running!

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Friday we pulled back the curtain to let you know what’s been happening behind the scenes at Haiku—namely working on resources for the Haiku community.

More Than a Learning Management System

The goal is to get educators who use Haiku into a virtual room where they can talk about what’s on their minds. Naturally, we love when they gush about Haiku—but that’s not the point of the community. Sure, a common denominator is our learning management system, but just like we strive to keep the technology secondary to the teaching and learning experience we’re taking a back seat in the group so that the community drives the conversation.

The group is just getting started, and more people are joining every day. Our vision is that it’ll be a place for educators to share ideas about teaching practices and curriculum, post helpful resources, and ask questions. We’re excited to see what develops!

Now that you have a direct line to other Haiku users, join the conversation! http://groups.google.com/group/haiku-lms

Save a few clicks & a ton of time with these dropbox & inbox updates

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dropbox-grades180wTeachers using Haiku LMS can save time and a few clicks. Here’s how:

  • Grade assignments right in the Dropbox: No reason to hop back and forth between assignments in the dropbox and assignments in the gradebook. Now teachers can enter grades (and comments & notes) directly in the dropbox, and Haiku LMS records the data in their gradebook. Watch the video tutorial >>
  • Forward Haiku messages to your email address: Get an email every time you get a new message in your Haiku LMS inbox. You no longer have to log in to Haiku to check messages! Watch the video tutorial >>

Let us know what you think, and keep the ideas coming!

Take it to the classroom! Haiku vs. Sakai vs. Moodle vs. Blackboard 9: an LMS review

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Looking for a reliable comparison of the leading learning management systems by people who’ve actually used them? Wondering whether one system has what another does (and which one does it better) or even what features you’d actually use?

The University of Indianapolis recently evaluated Sakai, Blackboard 9, Haiku LMS, and Moodle and shared their findings in a Point/Counterpoint panel discussion that’s available online.

We’ll tell you right now that we’re pleased with the evaluation — particularly a comment made by an audience member who stressed how easy it is to use Haiku LMS. Fred May, Associate Professor at the university’s School of Nursing, reviewed Haiku LMS. The top benefits he named?

  • Simple and compatible with Web 2.0
  • Notification and clear display of what’s new in a class
  • A gradebook that enables the instructor to write notes-to-student and notes-to-self
  • Adding assignments ties directly into the calendar and the gradebook

The panelists touched on the barriers too, and we’ve taken notes on where we can improve Haiku LMS.

See for yourself: Part 1 of 4