KRISTINA, Here are the things that were in the outline that we made when all advisors were together. I am not sure that all of this is in there correctly. There are also some other things at the bottom that need to be included or aligned. The middle part - between the dotted lines - is in pretty good shape, I believe.
Checking sections:
Reviewing Advisees Profile
Reviewing Advisee responses
Reviewing Advisors responses
Strategy Center
NEEDED: Tips for how to best respond to engage in a dialogue. Perhaps post a few examples that seemed to trigger a response.
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INTRODUCTION TO THE CCITL SYSTEM
The Commonwealth Center for Instructional Technology and Learning (CCITL) is a web-based system developed to support Kentucky instructional providers in the selection and implementation of evidence-based strategies for use with students who are encountering learning challenges.
The CCITL system is a dynamic web-based environment based on a series of databases. There are four major components of the CCITL system: the Strategy Center, the Library, the Learning Lab, and Advisors.
The CCITL Strategy Center allows instructional providers to browse or search a database for information about evidence-based practices and strategies. Examples of products in the CCITL Strategy Center include materials, procedures, supporting documents, accommodations, and extensions.
The CCITLLibrary allows instructional providers to browse or search a database for literature related to the evidence-based practices included in the Strategy Center. Examples of literature in the Library include citations, abstracts, and URLs.
The CCITL Advisor component is designed to be an electronic emulation of the face-to-face consultation process. This component allows the advisee to interact with a knowledgeable advisor based on the unique issues related to an individual student or group of students experiencing learning difficulties. A case may be initiated when an advisee has been unable to locate just the right strategy, or have found some strategies and tried them out, but still need help. The purpose of advising is to provide one-to-one assistance via e-mail consultations. The advising process continues until the person seeking assistance indicates that needs have been satisfactorily met. The advising process may be very brief or extend over a period of time depending upon the complexity of the case and the interaction requested by the advisee.
RESPONSIBILITES OF CCITL ADVISORS
2.1 Check the CCITL site daily for unassigned cases or messages from open cases
Log onto the CCITL site daily and select the ADVISORS area to check for new cases that have not been assigned or new messages that have come in from advisees with open cases.
2.2 Monitor discussions with advisees and respond in a timely manner.
Respond to all messages from advisees within 24 hours. Specific strategies for selecting cases, initiating and maintaining discussion, and closing cases are included later in this document.
2.3Update availability and comfort levels at least monthly
Each advisor is responsible for updating availability each month. To update availability, comfort levels, and make any changes in contact information log into the CCITL system and select the UPDATE ACCOUNT button at the top right of the page.
2.4 Monitor case loads and availability
To monitor case loads and availability, advisors log into the CCITL system, select the ADVISORS area, then select the CASE LOADS button.
2.5Keep current on educational issues and terms in the state of Kentucky
Sources of information about issues and terms in the state of Kentucky include:
The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) Website -
Kentucky Teacher -
Items selected and forwarded by CCITL staff
2.6Interact with CCITL administrative staff, content experts, and other advisors
Advisors can always seek assistance from others through direct communication or by inviting them to participate in discussions with advisees. The following links provide access to the profiles of CCITL staff, content experts, and advisors
HYPERLINKS TO SIGNIFCANT OTHERS
GETTING STARTED - THE CCITL ADVISING PROCESS
1. Accepting a Request for Assistance
1.1 How does an advisor know what requests have been made?
When a request for assistance is submitted, an email is sent to all advisors from “”. The message includes an overview of the request and provides a place for you to accept the case if you believe that it matches your knowledge and skills.
1.2 How does an advisor select a request?
When an advisor’s knowledge, skills, interests, and availability match the request, the advisor selects the case by clicking on the “accept this case” link at the bottom on the request.
1.3 What happens if a request is not selected by any advisor?
If a case is not selected by an advisor within 24 hours of submission, a CCITL administrator check availability, case loads, and interests and assigns the case to an advisor. An email is generated to notify the advisor of the assignment.
2. Posting an Initial Response to a Request
2.1 When should the advisor respond to the request?
Advisors are expected to make initial contact by posting a message to the advisee within 24 hours of accepting the request.
2.3After selecting a case, what is the first thing an advisor should do?
Before responding, it is recommended that advisors review the user information in the CCITL system to find out the district, position, grade level and subjects taught, years of experience, certification rank, and how they have used CCITL system previously.
2.4 How do advisors get to the user information?
Open the FileMaker Pro program.
Cancel the splash screen
Under the FILE menu, select OPEN REMOTE
Highlight IP Address 128.163.121.175 in the list
A list of all database options will appear
Select USER.fp5
Select OPEN
Enter password - advstaff
The Layout “staff view” will appear
Enter the name of the person and select FIND
Tip: Setting Up FileMaker Pro. The first time FileMaker Pro is used to access the database this set-up procedure must be used. It is only necessary to do this the first time.
Open the FileMaker Pro program.
Cancel the splash screen
Under the FILE menu, select OPEN REMOTE
Select SPECIFY HOST
Enter IP Address 128.163.121.175
Check PERMANENTLY ADD ENTRY TO YOUR HOST LIST
Select OPEN to complete the process
2.5 How do advisors view the information available in the Strategy Center and Library?
• Open the FileMaker Pro program.
• Cancel the splash screen
• Under the FILE menu, select OPEN REMOTE
• Highlight IP Address 128.163.121.175 in the list
• A list of all database options will appear
• Select strategies.fp5 to view the Strategy Center info or literature.fp5 to view the Library
• Select OPEN
• Enter password - dataentry
TIP: Records available to users on the site have a status of "Ready for Import"; you can use info from the other items that are not marked "ready for import" to support your responses to the user even thought they are not accessible to the user yet.
2.6 How do advisors view the information available in the Learning Lab?
The best way to view the info available in the Learning Lab is to access it via the CCITL system. All items in the hint.fp5 database is displayed in the Learning Lab. Due to the structure of the database, it is much simpler to view it online in the system.
2.7 Can advisors find out if the advisee has submitted other cases?
Advisors can also use the SEARCH feature in the Advisor component to find and view previous cases that have been entered by advisees.
2.8 How is an initial response to a request for assistance submitted?
To post the initial response to a request, the advisor follows these steps:
- Log into the CCITL site and select the link to the ADVISOR area. This leads to the TRACK CASES section that lists unassigned cases, the open and closed cases assigned to the advisor.
- Scroll down to the appropriate case and select VIEW REQUEST to review the case.
- Select CASE DISCUSSION, select a title from the message from the pull-down menu and enter the initial message in the text box. (See Tip #1)
- When you are satisfied with the message, click the SUBMIT button at the bottom of the page to send then response.
Tip #1: On the rare occasion when the CCITL system times out or experiences a “cyber-glitch”, writing being entered into the can be lost lose. To avoid frustration and loss of time, advisors have found it helpful to compose messages in a word process or paste it into the CCITL discussion area when they are satisfied with them.
2.9 What should be included in an initial response message?
Depending upon the nature and urgency of the request the initial message may include:
- A brief introduction of the advisor to establish some personal and professional rapport and provide a sense of the “real person” behind the email.
- Probing questions that will help the advisor understand more about the request.
- Initial suggestions that the advisee might find useful.
- Pertinent links to resources located in the CCITL Library, Strategy Center, or Learning Lab
- Other information and resources
Are there any days you know that you'll be offline or ultra-busy? If so...let the other person know, so that if s/he doesn't hear from you, she knows it's because you're away or you're swamped.
2.10 Can a message be edited once it has been submitted?
Every message that has been submitted in the case DISCUSSION area can be edited by the case advisor, whether the message was posted by the advisor or the advisee. To edit a message, select the EDIT THIS MESSAGE link at the bottom on the message. When the editing is complete, select the SUBMIT button to replace the original message with the edited message.
2.11Is the information submitted by an advisee confidential?
Yes. Advisees are asked not to include any personally identifying information about students in their requests and are encouraged to use fake names or refer to students as Student A, Student B, etc.
In the event that confidential information is included in a request or a subsequent discussion message, keep the information confidential and ask the advisee to edit the message with identifying information and substitute generic information. Notify the project director by email so that the identifying information can be removed by project staff is necessary.
2.12 Is the communication between an advisor and an advisee private?
All discussion between an advisor and an advisee is private to a degree. All messages are stored in the CCCITL system and are periodically reviewed by selected project staff and used for a variety of formative and summative evaluations that are used to improve the system and the quality of the support that is provided.
3. Discussing a Case
3.1How is an advisor notified that an advisee has posted a message to the discussion?
Each time a message is posted to the discussion area by the advisee, the advisor is notified by an email from “do not ”. The message includes the case number and a link that takes the advisor to the CCITL site.
3.2 What does an advisor do if there is an emergency and the advisor is unable to respond to a message in a timely manner?
Contact Kristina by email at or by telephone at 859-509-7496.
3.3 What if an advisor will be not have Internet access for a period of time?
Send an email to advisees with open cases to determine if they can wait until the advisor returns or if there is a need to assign another advisor in the interim. If there is no response from the advisee, contact Kristina so that cases can be monitored during your absence.
3.4 How much support do I provide for the advisee?
Advisors work with advisees to determine the amount and kind of support that is needed by the advisee. The frequency of contact is determined by the nature of the request and the level of interaction from the advisee.
3.5Can a posted message be edited?
Yes, click "Edit this message" and make any changes. Use Submit to save the changes. Caution: these changes are not automatically sent to the advisee. So, you might want to limit your edits to typos or deleting personally identifying information that you mistakenly included.
3.6 What do advisors do if there is a question about legality or procedures involved in the request?
Contact Kristina immediately. She will help determine if a district administrator should be contacted and, if so, will make the contact.
3.7 Can more that one advisor participate in a case discussion?
Typically a single advisor works with an advisee until the specific concern is resolved. There are instances, however, when an advisor brings in an additional advisor to “consult” on the case. To request that an advisor be added to a discussion, contact Kristina to have a person added as a secondary advisor.
3.8 What is the purpose of the case notes? Are advisors expected to use case notes on a regular basis?
The purpose of the case notes is to provide information that can be used for formative evaluation and improvement of CCITL services. Examples of uses for the case notes include time spent on interactions, typical number of interactions per case, types of activities included in discussion (responding, researching, etc.)
3.9 How often are advisors expected to enter case notes?
Advisors are expected to enter case notes following each interaction in the discussion. Completion of the notes is very important because the content of the notes enable CCITL staff to evaluate the mean amount of time spent on each case and to relate the time spent to the complexity of the questions.
3.10Do advisees have access to case notes?
No. Case notes are confidential notes that are only available to the advisor and CCITL staff for evaluation purposes.
3.11How do advisors save the questions and responses in the discussion with advisees?
All communications are saved in the discussion area of the site. At any time an advisor or advisee can print the discussion and request form for a particular case. When a case is closed, the advisor will submit a final report that can be accessed by the advisee. The final report contains the initial request and case discussion as one document. It is suggested to advisees that they print the final report to include in the student's record or teacher files to be referenced when similar situations are encountered.
3.12 How does an advisor return to the case discussion from the advising area?
Advisors can use the TRACK CASES link to review the list of unassigned cases and the open and closed cases assigned to the advisor.
4. Closing a Case
4.1When does the advisor/advisee interaction end?
The advisor and advisee continue posting and reading messages until they mutually agree that the situation is resolved. Some solutions may be reached quickly, but others may take more time. Advisees may be encouraged to collect data or get more information about the situation and report back to the advisor. In all cases, the goal is for the advisor and advisee to agree that the concern has been satisfactorily resolved.
4.2 When is a case closed if there have been no postings from the advisee?
As a general rule, a case can be closed if a period of three weeks has passed and the advisor has sent two or three messages, but received no response from the advisee. However, this decision must be made on a case-by-case basis because of specific circumstances such as holidays, school calendars, weather, or the time needed to try out a suggestion.
Before closing the case, the advisor sends a message to let the advisee know that the case is being closed, but that it can be reopened at anytime.
4.3 How is a case closed?
To close a case the advisors follow these steps.
- Select TRACK CASES area
- Select the appropriate open case
- Selecting the CASE DISCUSSION link
- Select the CHANGE STATUS link at the top of the case.
- Select CLOSE CASE from the pull-down menu
4.4 Who can reopen a closed case?
Both the advisor and the advisee have the option to reopen the case at any time by revisiting the CHANGE STATUS link.
4.5 Why might an advisee elect to reopen a closed case?
An advisee might reopen a case if a change occurs that requires further discussion. Examples may include: inadvertent closure of a case, emergence of a new issue related to the target student(s), or something that was working is no longer working and more help is needed.
5. TIPS AND HINTS
5.2 How does an advisor prepare a file to share with an advisee as an attachment?
Follow these guidelines to make sure that the advisee will be able to open and read attached files:
- Send Microsoft Word files or use the save as function to save files in Rich Text Format (RTF)
- Keep file names to 8 characters or less with a 3 character extension (e.g., filename.ext)
- Do not use spaces or special characters in file names
- Please be sure that a three-letter extension is present for each file name (.doc for Word files or .rtf for Rich Text Format)
5.4 How does an advisor upload an attachment to an advisee?