CompClass Instructor QuickStart
for The Bedford Handbook, Seventh Edition


For technical support call 1-800-936-6899.

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Table of Contents

Overview

System Requirements

Accessing CompClass

Instructor Access - Adopting CompClass

Directing Your Students to Access CompClass

Student Option One: Purchase Access Directly Via the Site

Student Option Two: Register with an Activation Code

Logging in to the Course

Customize CompClass

The Home Page Layout

Adding a Course Description

Tab Setup

Setting the Time Zone

Viewing the Course as a Student

Online Help

CompClass e-book

e-book Functionality

Customizing the e-book

Instructor and Student Resources

Quizzes and Assignments

Blogs

Discussion Forums

Gradebook

Overview

Welcome to CompClass for The Bedford Handbook, Seventh Edition. CompClass combines an array of instructor and student content with numerous course management tools. In this guide, we have outlined steps you can use to set up your course and get started quickly.

This quick start guide is designed to get you up and running in the course software. You will be introduced to the main features, and shouldbe comfortable enough to begin working in CompClass. After working your way through this guide, you will be able to:


For technical support call 1-800-936-6899.

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Ensure your computer is properly set up for CompClass

Understand how instructors and students access CompClass

Login to CompClass

Customize your CompClass

Access CompClasse-book content and customize the e-book page

Find CompClasscourse materials and add new resource content

Create a CompClassquiz assignment

Create and assign discussion forums

Post to you blog and access student blogs

Access and use CompClassGradebook functions


For technical support call 1-800-936-6899.

1

System Requirements

The following Web browsers are formally supported and tested for use with CompClass:

Windows:Internet Explorer version 6 or 7 and Firefox version 1.0.7+ and above.

Mac OS X:Firefox version 1.5 and above.

In addition, some CompClassresources require Adobe Shockwave Player, Adobe Flash Player, Apple QuickTime (5.0 or above), Java, or Adobe Reader (version 6 or above). The latest versions of these plug-ins can be downloaded free of charge from Adobe, Sun, or Apple Web sites.

To see which plug-ins you have installed and to find installers, do the following.

  1. Click the System Check link from the bottom of the CompClass welcome screen or go directly to .

Note: To view some features of CompClass, you may need to turn off your browser’s pop-up blocker, and any pop-up blocker(s) in third-party toolbar(s) you may have added to your browser, such as the Google or Yahoo toolbar.

Accessing CompClass

This section describes the procedures for instructors and students to access CompClass.

Instructor Access - Adopting CompClass

If you don’t yet have access to your own CompClass course, take the following steps to begin your course activation process:

  1. Go to the CompClasslogin page at
  2. Click the ADOPT CompClasslink. A form will pop up. Fill in all the requested information.
  3. Click the Submit button at the bottom of the screen
  4. Once you have completed these steps, the course will be created within 48 hours. You will receive all of the necessary information and instructions by email.

Directing Your Students to Access CompClass

Once you’ve set up your course, you will need to make sure your students know how to register and access your course. To get access to CompClass, your students have two options, described below.

Note:We can provide you with an electronic handout/syllabus insert and PowerPoint slides to help explain the registration process to your students.

Student Option One: Purchase Access Directly Via the Site

  1. Students should go to and select PURCHASE access to CompClass and then select their state/province from the drop down menu. Student will then be prompted to select their institution and your course from additional drop-down menus.
  1. Students must enter an email address and password, as described in the Activation Code instructions below.
  2. Students must then enter payment information including their name (as it appears on the credit card), credit card number, expiration date, billing address and click NEXT. After confirming their information, they should click on PLACE YOUR ORDER.
  3. Once the system has confirmed payment, a thank you screen will display that confirms the student’s name, email address, username, and password. Students will also receive a confirmation email.

Note:Students won’t be able to change their email address once they’ve registered, so they must choose an address that will be valid for the duration of the course.

Student Option Two: Register with an Activation Code

  1. Students should go to and select the REGISTER an Activation Code link. The registration screen will appear.
  1. Then, students must enter an Activation Code, name, and email address (the email address will serve as each student’s CompClass username).
  2. Students then create a password and password hint. The password must be at least 4 characters long and should be something memorable.
  3. Students register for a specific class by selecting their school location (state/province) from the drop-down menu at the bottom of the screen. Subsequent drop-down menus allow them to choose their institution and course/instructor.
  4. Students then click NEXT at the bottom of the screen, confirm their information on the following screen, and click CREATE ACCOUNT to complete the registration process.

Logging in to the Course

Both you and your students should go to login to the CompClass course.

  1. Supply your email address and password.
  1. Click LOGIN.

Note:If you or your students have trouble with a login id or password, call 1-800-936-6899 or contact technical support via email at .

Customize CompClass

Once you’ve logged in, you will arrive on the home page. From here, you can access all the information, tools, and resources in CompClass. As the instructor, you can access tools to customize this home page to match the needs of your class.

The Home Page Layout

You can customize the “components” available to you and your students on your course home page. Follow the steps below to add, delete, or change the arrangement of your home page components.

  1. From your home page, select Customize CompClass in the upper-left corner of the screen.
  2. Select Home page layout from the Customize CompClass page.
  3. To add a component to your home page, select it in the list and click the Add Component button. The item’sposition defaults to the bottom of Column 1.
  4. Drag and drop component(s) to rearrange the display on the home page.The number of columns is controlled by your placement of the components.
  5. To remove a component, click the small “X” to the right of the component name in the layout.
  6. Click the Save button when you’ve made your desired changes.

Adding a Course Description

Add a course description that will appear at the top of your home page.

  1. From the home page, click Customize CompClass in the top-left corner of the window.
  2. Click the link for Course descriptionon the Customize CompClass page.
  3. Enter your course description. You can use the toolbar to format text, add links, and add pictures.
  4. Click Submit Description. Your new description will be displayed. If you see a mistake, follow the same steps outlined above to make edits.

Tab Setup

At the top of the window are named tabs that jump to significant pages of the online course. You can modify these tabs and even create a new tab that links to a Web site.Options are also provided to control which tabs in the content frame will be available to students.

  1. From your home page, select Customize CompClass.
  2. Select Tab setup from the Customize CompClass page.
  3. Click the about link for a description of the tab’s function.
  4. Click the checkboxes to include or remove tabs from your course.
  5. Rename the tabs by changing the text in the input fields.
  6. Use the yes/no radio buttons to indicate whether or not each tab should be available to students.
  7. Reorder the tabs using the up/down Move arrowheads.
  8. For Custom tabs, you will be asked to supply a URL or content item to link to from the tab.
  9. When you're done, click the Apply Changes button at the bottom of the page.
  10. Click the Revert to Default Settings button to abandon changes.

Setting the Time Zone

The time zone function affects due dates, calendar dates, and other settings in CompClass.By default, CompClass courses are set to US Eastern Time. Follow the steps below to set the time zone for your course.

  1. From your home page, select Customize CompClass.
  2. Select Time zone settings from the Customize CompClass page.
  3. Use the radio buttons to indicate your time zone.
  4. Click the Submit button to complete the setting.

Note: Daylight savings time changes will be automatically taken care of by the Portal.

Viewing the Course as a Student

In some places, the view you see is very different from what your students see. Students don't have any of the options you have to add course content or edit components.

  1. To see how the online course looks to your students, click the view as button in the top-left corner of the window.
  1. Click OK to confirm entering Student view.
  2. In Student view, you won't be able to modify the course, grade assignments, or do any of your usual instructor tasks.
  3. To return to Instructor view, click view as again, and click OK.

The current view mode is indicated by either (Student) or (Instructor) after your name in the window.

Online Help

Details on using the many CompClass features and tools are available in Online Help.

  1. Click the Help button in the lower-left corner of the CompClass window.
  1. Explore the information available and close the window when finished.

Note:To sign up for a live, Web-based training session, visit us at Sessions take about an hour and a trainer walks you through all of the tools and options.

CompClasse-book

The CompClass e-book is a complete online version of Diana Hacker’s The Bedford Handbook, Seventh Edition.

e-book Functionality

Links throughout the e-book connect to numerous study tools. Students can access tutorials, writing resources, The Bedford Research Room, design guides, i•cite visualizing sources and more – all designed to make the learning experience more effective and relevant.

  1. To open the e-book’s table of contents, click the e-booktab at the top of the page.
  2. Once you’re in the e-book, use the Navigation Pane (on the left) and the Previous and Nextlinks to get around in a chapter or to go to another chapter.

Customizing the e-book

The CompClasse-book provides powerful options to manage, customize and assign e-book content.

You can easily rearrange the chapters in your course’s copy of the e-book to match the order in which you will cover topics in your course. To do so, follow these steps:

  1. Click the e-book tab at the top of the page to see the e-book table of contents.
  2. Click the rearrange link just under the e-book title.
  3. Drag and drop the chapters in the subsequent screen to reorder them.
  4. Click Save when finished.

Full chapters or chapter sections of the e-book can be assigned and scheduled for students.

  1. Navigate to and select The Writing Process in the e-book.
  1. Select the change settings link under the chapter title.
  2. Click the Assignment tab.
  3. Click the Assign Item checkbox. A dialog opens where you can specify a due date. Other available options are to schedule a reminder email for students and to optionally include the item in the gradebook. As you may not be sure of dates at this time, you can click Cancel to abandon this assignment until you are ready. If you do Save it, you can always Unassign it later.

You can also add new content items (e.g. web links, uploaded documents, or pages you write from scratch right in CompClass) anywhere in the e-book.

  1. Navigate to the chapter or sectionfolder where you want to add the item click the add content link under the folder title.
  1. Click Link to create a link to another Web site (for example).
  2. As you may not have a link in mind at this time, you need not save this new content item. Note, however, that on the Content tab of the New Link settings you would supply a link name – e.g. CompClass Link. At the bottom of the Content tab you would supply a Link URL.

Instructor and Student Resources

Resources such as tutorials, model papers,i•cite visualizing sources and language debates are made available to instructors and students. These tools are available directly from the course materials tab. You (but not your students) can also access instructor-specific course materials, such as exercise and quiz masters, transparency masters and ancillaries.

  1. From anywhere in CompClass, select the tab for course materials.
  1. Select Instructor Resources, then select Exercise handouts.
  2. Select one of the topics to review.

Quizzes and Assignments

In CompClass, you have a wealth of activities, quizzes, quiz questions, and e-book content you can access to shape your course. You can also create assignments using your own content, which you can add to the course. Here, we’ll walk you through creating a quiz. Anything in CompClass can be assigned, using the procedures outlined here.

  1. Go to your AssignmentCenter. Use the Create a new assignment dropdown to select a Quiz and click go.
  1. To quickly create a quiz and start adding questions, enter the quiz name (for example, Grammar Quiz) and click Create Instant Quiz. You can come back to the AssignmentCenter later to set the due date and other settings (for example, you can scramble the questions and/or multiple choice answers in the quiz). (To edit these settings before creating the quiz, you would click Create Quiz & Edit Settings).
  2. Now that you have created an instant quiz, you will now be in the question picker. While you could add questions from the hundreds of provided questions in a AstroPortal question bank, try creating a question of your own for now. Under the Create your Own dialog box, use the drop-down to view your options. Select Multiple Choice and click go.
  3. In the text field type the question “Which of the following is an adjective?” In the answer fields put car, truck, fast, train, and next to fast, put 1 point.
  4. Click Save.
  5. Note that your new question will be listed on the right side of the screen.
  6. Now that you have created your own question you may want to see what questions are available to you from the test bank. Under step 2 of From the Testing Toolkit, use the drop-down to specify the Adjectives and Adverbs and click the go button.
  7. You have a lot of question sets to choose from. Click the small blue triangles () to preview the full questions and answers. Use the checkboxes to select some question sets and click the Add Selected Items button. Current questions will be listed on the right side of the screen. Questions can be edited by clicking the pencil icons () and deleted by clicking the () icons. Click the done adding questions link at the top of the screen when you have finished. Back at the AssignmentCenter, you will see your new quiz added. You can experiment and take the quiz. Click the Remove button associated with the quiz to Unassign it.

Blogs

When students register for CompClass, they are automatically given a blog to use as a public journal. Other students can post comments, but only the blog owner can make a new post. The most recent blog post appears at the top of the screen, with all others below it.

You can use an instructor blog to keep students up-to-date on class activities. The student blogs can be useful for getting students in the habit of daily writing and reflection. The Communicate component on your home page provides links to your blog and student blogs.

  1. Click the My Blog Link.
  1. Click the link to Add a title for your blog and name your blog – e.g. Instructor Blog for CompClass.
  2. Click the New Post button.
  3. Key in a post title and some text.
  4. Click Submit when finished.

Discussion Forums