Faculty - Frequently Asked Questions

What is an ePortfolio?
An ePortfolio is an electronic version of the traditional physical portfolio. In the past teacher education candidates have used traditional portfolios (folders, boxes, 3-ring binders, pictures, cassette tapes, etc...) to document student work as part of their approved teacher education program. With an electronic portfolio, information can be stored digitally on a computer hard drive and/or server. This electronic information takes up very little physical space and is easily accessed and shared via the Internet using Livetext.

An ePortfolio offers several advantages over the traditional portfolio, these include:

• Easily accessed (using your Livetext account and the Internet)
• Easily shared (since the information is digital you can share your eportfolio with others)
• Multimedia capable (you may add video and audio clips to make your portfolio a rich multimedia experience)

What is Livetext?
Livetext is a private vendor that has been selected to provide the backend technology (servers, programming, and databases) to support for the EIU electronic portfolio initiative as part of the EIU Unit Assessment System. Livetext was selected based upon the quality of services that they can provide to students, the quality of assistance they can provide faculty, the ability for students to continue using their ePortfolio after leaving EIU if they so choose, and the fact that numerous other Illinois four- and two- year institutions use Livetext, which will aid in portability. Livetext works on a system where students purchase and own a software license with the company.

How do I get a Faculty Livetext account?
To obtain a LiveText account, faculty must attend a faculty training session and contact either Dr. Teresa Freking or Doug Bower. No purchase is necessary for faculty, but training is required in order to receive faculty password to access an account.

How do I log in and log out of Livetext?
Once you have your Livetext userid and password you may login to Livetext by clicking on the Login to Livetext link at the top of this page.

Log in Procedure
Wherever you have Internet access, you will be able to log in to your LiveText edu solutions™ member account. Follow these instructions to log in to your account.
1. Access http://college.livetext.com from a web browser.  
2. Enter your Username and Password.
3. Click the Login button.
When you have successfully logged in to your account, your MyDesk workspace will appear.
Log out Procedure
Remember, once you log in, your account will continue to be logged in for 24 hours or until you explicitly log out. To protect your account information and the material that you have created, it is important that you log out of your account when you are finished using LiveText. The preferred log out method is to click the logout button located on each page. You should never remain logged in on a computer that others will be able to access. We advise that you log out of your account whenever you are not actively using it and to close all browser sessions.

How do I change my Livetext Password?
In order to change your livetext password, first log in to your account. Once you are on the MyDesk page, find the category that says My Account and click on it. This will pull up a page with many user options. Select the edit option next to the area that has change password in it. This will allow you to change your password.

What if I forget my Livetext Password?
Currently the only way for you to obtain a forgotten password is to contact LiveText directly at 1-800-LIVE-TEX or complete a support form available at: http://college.livetext.com/misk5/forgot Livetext will provide you with a new password via email if it matches your account information. You will have to reset your password once you login for security purposes.

Where can I get Livetext help?
You can obtain assistance from LiveText by either visiting the EIU livetext lab hours (click here), or by emailing LiveText’s tech support at support@livetext.com. Also, feel free to click the help option at the upper, right-hand corner of the Livetext web page once you have logged in to your LiveText account

What are templates and how do I use them?
Templates are pre-constructed outlines of projects, lesson plans, etc., that both E.I.U. and LiveText have created in order to assist you. To access these templates, you must first log in to your account and be on your MyDesk page. Once there, click Create > Document. Once you select what type of document you wish to create, you can make a selection from the template menu and view the actual template on the right-hand side of the screen.

How do I assess a student assignment turned in to Livetext?
In order to assess any document, your student must share it with you as a reviewer. Once that has happened, the reviewer/assessor, must log in to their personal LiveText account. Once on the MyDesk page (under Collaboration), click on the Reviews option. When this new page appears, the submitted assignments should appear.

Select the desired document to be assessed by clicking the review link under the actions column. The assignment will appear with several options at the top (in a green highlighted area). Choose the assess option. A pop-up menu will appear that will present a number of documents with which you can assess the assignment.

In the Materials menu, select the area from which you want to choose your assessment tool. Once you find the appropriate tool, click the use link. (if your computer blocks the pop-up, click temporarily allow pop-ups).

The document to be assessed will appear once again. Here you can review the document section by section. You can enter text into the provided text-boxes in each section after clicking the review options for each section. Once you are finished reviewing this assignment, simply click the submit option at the top of the page.

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