Getting Started in ANGEL 7.2
A "How To" for Geography Faculty and Graduate Students (DOC / PDF)

Setting up your ANGEL account
In your Internet browser (see recommended browsers in the online ANGEL Help Guide) go to http://angel.msu.edu/ (login using MSUNet ID and password) -> HOME -> click on the wrench icon (Preferences) on the left command strip:

-> System Settings (set User Level to "Advanced" and at the bottom of the page choose how and whether you want your ANGEL Mail forwarded to an email account such as your MSU Mail account) -> Save settings.

-> Personal Information (enter information for other ANGEL users to view about you) -> Save settings.

Setting a course site up in ANGEL
Creating a site for your course in ANGEL: If you are an instructor of record for a course (and the course is officially "on-the-books") then a course site will appear under "My ANGEL Courses" on your HOME when you log into ANGEL.

Finding your course site in ANGEL: If you are an instructor of record for a course that is officially scheduled and it does not appear under your "My ANGEL Courses" on your HOME, click on the edit button to the right of the "My ANGEL Courses" header. This will take you to a menu of all of the courses you are associated with (either as an instructor, assistant, student, visitor, etc.). Make sure all of the courses you need to access in ANGEL are checked. At the bottom of the page, make sure Show Disabled (courses) is checked "Yes" – this way you will be able to see courses that have not been activated (i.e., turned on) -> Save settings.

If you are a teaching assistant for a course and it does not appear under your "My ANGEL Courses," make sure that the instructor of record has added you to the course list (see instructions below). Once you've been added, the course should appear under your "My ANGEL Courses." If it does not, follow the instructions immediately above.

In your ANGEL course site
Turning site on/off so that students can/cannot see it: Click on the Manage tab -> General Course Settings -> enter the Begin and End dates (these are the dates for students, called "Members" in ANGEL, to view the course site), set Member Access to "All Members" (this will allow all students/guests/administrators to access the site on the Begin Date; if you leave this as "Editors Only" then only course administrators will be able to access the site even after the Begin date), and Guest Access to "Authenticated" (this will require all guests entering your site to login) -> Save settings.

Adding TAs to the course site: Click on Manage tab -> Roster -> Add a User -> type the email address of your TA into the Account Search box -> Search -> Select TA from the search list -> give Rights permission as "Course Editor," set title, do not check Hidden or Disabled (unless you want your TA invisible to students or locked out of the course site, respectively) -> Save settings.

Adding students to the course site: As soon as students register for your course, they will automatically be added to your ANGEL site – you don't have to do a thing. There is a 1-3 day delay, however, between students being added to the Registrar's list and your course list in ANGEL. If you want a student (say, a late add) to have immediate access to the course site, you'll need to add them as you would a TA (see above), but set Rights as a "Member."

Personalizing the course site (i.e., how do I change the style of the site?): Click on the Manage tab -> Course Theme Selector -> select a theme from the list and apply it to your site -> Save settings.

Viewing the site as a student (i.e., how can I see what the students will see?): When logged into your course site, your name will appear in the upper right with a pair of sunglasses next to it. Click on the sunglass icon -> set Rights to "Member" -> Continue -> browse site and click sunglasses again when you would like to view the site as you typically do. Note: your ANGEL course site has to be enabled for this Preview feature to work.

Uploading files (lectures, reviews sheets, presentations, images, syllabus, etc.): Click on Lessons/Content tab -> Add Content -> select "Add a File" -> click Browse and locate the file you want to upload (from your computer), type a title, select file type -> Upload File. The file will be placed under the Lessons/Content tab and will be named the title that you gave it. If you'd like to upload a file to a specific folder (see creating folders below), enter that folder and then click Add Content.

Creating folders, files, and links: Click on Lessons/Content tab -> Add Content -> select the type of content you'd like to add (folder, html/text page, link, assessment, quiz, survey, discussion forum, blog, wiki, etc.) -> follow instructions.

Setting up a quiz (can be used as an exam or written assignment): Click on Lessons/Content tab -> Add Content -> select Add a Quiz -> type title, instructions (in Directions box), time limit, turn off Auto-save, enable Save Button, set User Review to Summary Only (unless you want your students to see the correct answers/feedback when they submit their exam), set quiz Start/End dates/times (see below for more information) -> Save settings. Once you've saved the settings, your quiz will be listed in the course gradebook as a synchronized (i.e., graded by ANGEL) assignment.

When you are ready to add questions, navigate to your quiz and click on the quiz title -> Add Question -> select from list the type of question you would like to create and follow the instructions -> continue adding questions this way until quiz is complete.

For more information about creating quizzes (because it can be very complicated) see:
Add a Quiz OR Lessons Tab functions (follow the quiz links)

*NOTE: In ANGEL 7.2 you can also create Assessments, which are very similar to quizzes but they are far more advanced. Use the documentation link above to learn more about Assessments.

Hiding and unhiding (release) content: Locate content (file/folder/quiz/discussion forum/etc.) that you would like to hide or unhide and click on its title -> Settings (along top command bar under content title) -> Access tab -> check or uncheck box for "Do not allow users to view this item"; if you would like the content to become visible to students on a specific date/time make sure uncheck this box and then set the Start date/time; if you would like the content to become hidden (invisible) to students at a specific date/time then set the End date/time -> Save settings.

Useful tools in ANGEL
ANGEL (e)mail

Using ANGEL mail: By default ANGEL mail sends emails to Members/Site Admin through/in the ANGEL system. These emails are available for Members/Admin to view while logged into ANGEL only – unless they have set their ANGEL mail set to be forwarded to an outside email account such as their "msu.edu" account (see beginning of this instructions sheet) OR unless you set your course emails to be sent to students' "msu.edu" accounts (see below).

If a student views your ANGEL course mail while logged into the course site and replies to it in ANGEL, the reply will be sent back to your ANGEL mail account. If you have your ANGEL mail forwarded to your "msu.edu" account, it will then be forwarded.

If, however, ANGEL mail is forwarded (by you or by their system settings) to a person's "msu.edu" account and they reply to that email, the reply will be sent to your "msu.edu" account. Yes, this is confusing. It will take a while for you (and students) to get used to. I recommend being very clear about where you will send all course emails and what account you will check for messages/replies. For example, I typically tell students that all course correspondence will be routed through their "msu.edu" accounts and to check this account routinely for emails from me/course site.

Emailing students/class using ANGEL mail: Click on the In Touch tab -> Send Course Message (you can send mail to the entire course, a subset of the course, or individuals) -> select the recipients of the mail in the To box (selecting "All Members" will send the email to all students; if you would like a copy of the mail you'll want to hold down the Ctrl key and select your name from the list as well; selecting "Everyone" will send the email to everyone on your class list including all administrators, TAs, observers, students, etc.) -> type Subject and Message -> place a "check" next to Do not disclose recipients and Send a copy of this message to recipients' Internet e-mail accounts – by selecting these two options students will not see everyone on the recipient list and they will automatically receive the email in their "msu.edu" accounts (or whichever account they have their ANGEL mail set to forward to) -> Send message.

Setting email permissions: Click on the Communicate tab -> click edit to the right of Course Mail -> set the minimum level of access for the mail features listed -> Save settings. This option is helpful if you do not want students to email the entire student list (and distribute lecture notes, for instance) or emailing the entire Faculty list for the class.

For more about ANGEL mail see: http://help.angel.msu.edu/Online_Documentation_ANGEL_7.2/Communicate_Tab/

Gradebook
Gradebook settings: Click on the Manage tab -> Gradebook -> Preferences -> set Gradebook Mode to "Points" or "Percentage" -> set Display Format to "Score" (so that students see the points they earned rather than a percent or letter grade, which need to be set up correctly in ANGEL to work and are often very confusing for students) -> uncheck to "Display Overall Average" (showing grade averages can be confusing for students) -> Save settings.

Add assignments: There are two types of assignments in the gradebook: those that are linked to an assignment in ANGEL (like an exam/quiz/discussion forum) and those that are not linked to ANGEL content (e.g., you grade an essay submitted in lecture and use ANGEL to display the grades that you've manually added to the gradebook assignment).

Click on the Manage tab -> Gradebook -> 2. Assignments -> click on Add New -> click on Advanced View -> enter an assignment name (e.g. Quiz 1, Exam 1, Essay 1) -> enter the number of points the assignment is worth, leave Calculation Type as "Manual" for now, a release date (the date/time students will see the grade for this assignment in their personal gradebooks), and set the assignment to be hidden or not (you'll need to select Not Hidden if you have a release date set; Hidden assignments appear in italics on the Assignment page) -> Save settings.

Once you've added an assignment to the Gradebook, you'll need to set whether the gradebook assignment is linked to ANGEL content or not.

Not Linked to ANGEL Content: If you have an assignment graded outside of ANGEL (say, an in-class essay or writing assignment) but would like this assignment's grades to be shown in ANGEL, you'll need to create a new assignment (unsynchronized) in the gradebook and then enter the grades (either directly into ANGEL or by importing a gradebook containing the new grades, see Importing Gradebooks below).

Click on the Tools tab -> Course Gradebook -> 2. Assignments -> check next to Assignment title -> click Show Tasks -> click on Add Grades -> enter each student's grade (Save often; bottom of page) -> click on Done (bottom of page).

Linked to ANGEL Content: All quizzes, discussion forums, and other assignments that will be graded in ANGEL need to have their Gradebook Assignment entry "linked" to the actual assignment (so that ANGEL knows where to forward scores when the assignment is graded). To create this link (this can be done when the assignment and its entry are created or just before you want grades to be released to students):

Click on the Manage tab -> Gradebook -> 2. Assignments -> check next to Assignment title -> click on Edit Selected -> click on Advanced View -> in the Associated Content Items box on the right, check next to the actual assignment linked to this Gradebook entry -> Save settings -> click on Edit Selected again -> click on Advanced View -> change Calculation Type to "Last Submission" (or whichever setting you need other than Manual) -> Save settings -> Now to add student grades to the Gradebook entry click on Show Tasks -> click on Add Grades -> click on Done (bottom of page).

Exporting gradebook: Click on Manage tab- > Gradebook -> Export Grades -> select "comma-/tab-delimited" and select output as "Percentages" or "Points" -> Export. This can be done for back-up or entering new scores into the gradebook (the new assignment must be present first in the gradebook before exporting so that the new scores can be entered in Excel).

For more about exporting grades, see: Exporting Grades

Importing scores from the University scoring office:

1. To import grades from scoring-office e-mails, save the “TOTS” file they send you (usually the first attachment) as something like quiz 1 or exam 1.

2. In your ANGEL section, create a new assignment in the gradebook (Manage tab -> Gradebook -> Assignment -> New Assignment -> enter needed information -> Save settings).

3. In your ANGEL section, import the TOTS file (Manage tab- > Gradebook -> Import Grades -> browse for the TOTS file you saved from the scoring office e-mail and select TOTS from the file types -> Import).

4. Select "username" to be the first column because it always is in the TOTS files. Then line up which column from the TOTS file goes into which column in the gradebook. To verify whether the correct assignment went into the correct column just view the gradebook.

Importing (assignment grades) from Excel: You may choose to enter grades for a (linked or unlinked) assignment in Excel where it is quicker and easier to do so and then upload them to the gradebook. To do this, follow basically the same process as above, but you have to figure out the alignment of the username column and the assignment columns. You can always check if you have done it correctly by comparing the angel gradebook and the Excel gradebook. I always keep all points and ANGEL and in Excel as I work along through the semester.  Towards the end this is handy because it is easier to download all points, calculate final grades in Excel creating new columns and then upload them back to ANGEL.

For more about importing grades, see: Importing Grades

Turning in your final grades (using eGrades) to the Registrar:
[**As of August 2007, this tool was still being tested and was not available for use.]

This will save you lots of time. At the end of a semester, you can create a new (unlinked) assignment in your Gradebook called "final point total" or "final grades" or both. I recommend letting your students view their scores and grade for a couple of days so that they can contact you if there's a potential error. If you have done this, you can upload your entire class's scores at once rather than entering grades in the Registrar's Instructor Systems Menu individually.

After you have an assignment column called "final grade" (with grades entered on the typical 4.0-0.0 scale), you need to export the final grades. Click on Tools tab -> Course Gradebook -> eGrades -> then select the "final grade" column (where you have imported or entered the students' final grades already). Save this file on your computer and go the Registrar’s page -> Instructor Systems Menu -> import this file under the correct course. It should appear with the bubbles clicked for each student. All you have to do is fill in the pertinent information for any 0.0 and you are done. TIP: Beware of students who change their last/first names during the semester. Make sure the names from your ANGEL section match the Registrar's names exactly.

For more about using the Gradebook, see: Manage Tab functions

Calendar: You can enter important dates (quiz/exams, due dates, guest lectures, last day of class, final, etc.) into your course calendar. Each entry will appear on the course calendar and on each student's My Page (if they have it set up to do so).

Click on Calendar tab -> Add -> enter information and set the date that this event/reminder/etc. should be listed on the calendar -> Save settings.

Announcements: You can post important reminders or instructions for students to see on the course Welcome page and on each student's My Page (if they have it set up to do so).

Click on Course tab -> [if Announcements doesn't appear, click on Edit Page and add Course Announcements to the Course page] -> click edit to the right of Announcements header -> Add Announcement -> enter information and set the date that this announcement should be viewed by students -> Save settings.

Polls: You can set up quick, informal polls for your students to take (anonymously) in ANGEL. A poll is an easy way for students to give their opinion about things (e.g., your office hours, ease of an exam, whether they understood a lecture, whether they've been following the news, etc.). Polls will appear on the Course page.

Click on Course tab -> [if Polls doesn't appear, click on Edit Page and add Course Polls to the Course page] -> click edit next to Polls header -> Add Question -> type question -> type "%BARGRAPH%" in the Feedback box if you would like to see the results (%) of a poll -> type answer options for the poll on the List Items lines (e.g., Yes, No, Maybe) -> under Text Input Settings set Type to "None" -> set the Begin and End Dates for the poll to be viewed by students -> Save settings.

Course News:You can provide links to or text for news articles for your students to read. These article posts can be accessed through the Course tab.

Click on Course tab -> [if Course News doesn't appear, click on Edit Page and add Course News to the Course page] -> click edit next to News header -> Add Article -> type article's information -> Save settings.

Transferring/migrating an old ANGEL course site to a new section: If you would like to copy all of the content in course site (and its general settings) from a previous semester to a new semester, you can use the Copy Course option. This option will not copy the old quiz logs or grades into your new section, just the content and general settings of the old course site.

Go to the new course site in ANGEL -> click on Manage tab -> Import Wizard -> Copy Course -> select the old course from the pull-down menu and whether you'd like to backup the new course before importing or replace all existing content in the new course (if your new course site is blank these two options don't matter) -> Import. Now your new course site will look like the old and will contain all of the content that the old site did, as well as the old site's gradebook settings. The old course's calendar, announcements, polls, chat rooms, etc. will also be copied.

ANGEL helpline
The helpline works, so use it: 517.355.2345 or 1.800.500.1554 (North America and Hawaii).

Online resources
ANGEL: http://angel.msu.edu/

ANGEL Help for Faculty: http://help.angel.msu.edu/ (click on Faculty tab)
ANGEL Documentation: http://help.angel.msu.edu/Online_Documentation/index.php
Tutorials & Resources: http://training.angel.msu.edu/training/
Tips & Techniques: http://tips.angel.msu.edu/

What's new in ANGEL 7.2? http://help.angel.msu.edu/faculty/faculty_whatsnew_7_2.php

- Created by Beth Weisenborn & Meleia Egger in January 2006. Updated August 2007 for ANGEL 7.2 by Beth Weisenborn and Juliegh Bookout.