To view the Minimum System Requirements, please go to: http://www.riverdeep.net/pro_development/techsupport/minimumsystem.jhtml

Download the User Guides and Documentation from: http://www.riverdeep.net/pro_development/userguides/lms_downloads.jhtml, or click the link from your Login page. This User Guides are available in Acrobat Reader format.

Check to see if you have any pop-up blocker software installed, you need to uninstall it. Turning it off in your menu bar will still not allow you to run TU.

You may use dial-up, but of course if you have DSL/Cable it will run much faster. To check your connection speed:

1. Go to http://www.teacheruniverse.com, and click Login to Courses & Assessment on the right side of the screen.
2. Do not Login, instead click the blue button that says SPEED TEST.
3. Click Run Test.
4. If your result states 14.4 or 28.8 you will have problems running Teacher Universe. You need to use a 56k connection or higher.

Occasionally, Macromedia will update Shockwave and Flash players. If you have Automatic Update turned on, you will see a message asking you if you wish to update your shockwave player. If you haven’t been experiencing problems, you do not need to update your player. Clicking Cancel will not disrupt your system. It is a good idea, however, to keep your plugins up-to-date by installing updates.

You must also have the latest Flash Player installed to view courses properly. http://www.macromedia.com/downloads You can download this from the same location. Once you install the Shockwave and Flash players, close all your browser windows, then run Netscape. If you have browser windows open while installing, the plugin will not work until you close and restart Netscape.

1. Please click here to view the New User Instructions for creating a login and password. http://www.riverdeep.net/pro_development/resources/new_user_create.jhtml

An ACCESS CODE is the unique code assigned to each contract upon the purchase of Teacher Universe products. You must obtain a valid ACCESS CODE by either contacting your school administrator, or a Riverdeep sales representative.

You create a unique Login ID and password when you create a new account. You would add an ACCESS CODE to your account to gain access to courses and assessments after purchasing them.

1. Make sure that you are not trying to login on the Riverdeep.net home page.From http://www.teacheruniverse.com, click Login to Courses and Assessment on the right side of the screen.
2. Double-check the spelling of your login and password. Keep in mind that they are CaSE SenSItiVE.
3. Use the "Forgot your Password" link on the Login screen.
4. Contact the Teacher Universe technical support department via one of the following methods:

• Email: tusupport@riverdeep.net
• Call toll free: 1-877-248-3224 and listen for the Technical Support option.

• If the error says: “Login ID has already been used.” You will have to go back and select a different login ID.
• If the login ID that caused the error was your email address, make sure you entered it in correctly.You also may have already created an account with that ID. See the FAQ regarding lost passwords.
• If the error says: "The Contract ACCESS CODE you used is not valid." You must re-enter the ACCESS CODE you were given very carefully.

1. From the http://www.teacheruniverse.com/ home page, click Login to Courses and Assessments.
2. Next to the password field, click the link “Forgot Your Password?”
3. Enter your email address (must be the same as your email address in your profile).
4. Click the Recover Password button.
5. Check your email account after a few minutes. The password will be emailed to you.
   

1. Login to the professional Development Management System using your existing account.
2. Click the Profile button at the top right of the screen.
3. Scroll to the bottom of your profile until you see “You may enter a new ACCESS CODE below.”
4. Type your new ACCESS CODE into the field and click “Accept new Contract ACCESS CODE.”
5. If the ACCESS CODE was valid, you will see a confirmation that it was added successfully. If not, go back and type in the ACCESS CODE very carefully.
6. Your Active ACCESS CODE will appear at the top of the Courses menu. Select the ACCESS CODE name you just added. The courses you have access to should appear!

1. Login to the professional Development Management System using your existing account.
2. Click the Profile button at the top right of the screen.
3. Scroll to the bottom of your profile until you see “You may enter a new ACCESS CODE below.”
4. Type your new ACCESS CODE into the field and click “Accept new Contract ACCESS CODE.”
5. If the ACCESS CODE was valid, you will see a confirmation that it was added successfully. If not, go back and type in the ACCESS CODE very carefully.
6. Your Active ACCESS CODE will appear at the top of the Courses menu. Select the ACCESS CODE title you just added. The courses you have access to should appear!

First, make sure someone else was not logged in to the PDMS using that computer. If someone simply minimized the browser window after logging in, anyone sitting at that computer would have access to their account. This is why it’s important to click Logout after you’re finished. Clicking Logout ensures that nobody can access your courses, assessments or report information after you’ve left the computer.

If this is not the case, you may have an issue with your network proxy server. To remedy this, perform the following:
1. Contact your network administrator and find out if your network proxy server has the latest updates and patches applied.
2. If this does not work, please contact tusupport@riverdeep.net.

Licenses are typically issued for 12 months, but this depends on what has been purchased by your school or district. To view the expiration dates of your courses and assessments, login to your account, then click your profile button in the upper right hand corner. At the bottom of your profile screen, click the Contract Name to view Start and End dates.

No. Providing teachers and school administrators with the accountability data, now required by NCLB, is at the heart of the TU system. The data-driven, online TU system is the best way to provide accountability data on a school, district, or state's professional development program.

Please see our Minimum System Requirements page for complete information.
http://www.riverdeep.net/pro_development/techsupport/minimumsystem.jhtml

Yes, you may need to disable your desktop security software in order to download the plugins. Check with your school network administrator, or call technical support if you require assistance.

Setup of your online contract occurs within 48 hours of your signed purchase order being received by Riverdeep. Access instructions are then automatically emailed to your program administrator, who will then distribute to all participating teachers. You may then follow the instructions to create your online account and access your courses, assessments, and portfolio.

Yes, the sidebar buttons and other course features will not function properly with most anti-pop-up software. You will need to disable or uninstall your anti-pop-up software before using Teacher Universe Online Courses.

You can contact technical support via phone (1.877.248.3224, or email.)

Online Courses are available in 3 areas:

• IntegrateOnline Series – over 25 interactive courses help teachers successfully integrate the latest technology into the classroom.
• Riverdeep Courseware Integration Series – 3 available courses help teachers maximize success with the Riverdeep Destination Series and the Learning Management System.
• Core Curriculum Series – Promoting PreK-3 Literacy is the first of this series that focuses on pedagogy and helps teachers learn to create an effective learning environment for students to develop literacy skills.

After you login, click the Courses button on the left side of the screen. When the courses menu comes up, you will see the New User Orientation course listed first. Click the course link, New User Orientation to learn how to navigate courses.

The course you want to view requires that you take a diagnostic assessment. Click START in the “Diag” column next to the course name to begin the assessment. These assessments are generally quick. If you don’t know the answer to a question, simply don’t answer it and click the Submit button. When the assessment is finished, the course link will become active. Also, before starting a course you must first complete the New User Orientation course first.

Your contract for that course may have expired. Click the (i) information button next to the course name. You will see the status of your contracts and when they expire.

The amount of time spent on a course will vary according to each individual's Assessment Path as well as the particular course. Viewing and interacting an entire course typically takes between 5-10 hours. Click the (i) Info button next to each course for more detail.

Your assessment reports will describe the appropriate courses for you based on your scores. If these courses are available in your contract, then open each one from the Course selection screen. It is recommended that if you scored in the 100 range on your Diagnostic Assessment then you should start with the 100 level courses, etc....

After you launch a course, click the Course Contents button at the top left corner. A table of contents for your course will appear. You can jump to any topic by clicking on the topic name.

If you are viewing a course and wish to launch a different course, click the Exit button in the top left corner. The course window will close, and you will be returned to the course selection menu.

Yes. This prevents you from having more than one course window open at a time, saving system memory and resources.

Yes, the amount of time you spend in each course is recorded. The course will automatically stop recording time if there is no activity. This prevents you from accumulating time when you are not working. If the system remains idle for 30 minutes, your account will "time-out," and you will need to Login again upon return.

The next time you Login and open that course, it will bring you right back to the page that you were last viewing.

After you open a course, click Course Contents in the top left corner of the screen, and then select My Assessment Path. Topics in which you have shown proficiency turn blue, recommended topics remain green. The course will now only go through the topics that are recommended for you, blue topics are skipped as you move through the course by clicking next.

Open Course Contents. If a topic has a blue dot by it, you have already viewed it. A blue arrow will indicate the topic that you are currently on. After you select My Assessment Path, be sure to complete all recommended topics (green) before taking the Post Assessment. See the Reports section for more information on viewing your course usage.

The courses begin with the sound disabled by default. You must click the small speaker icon in the upper right corner of the course screen. If you still do not hear the audio after enabling the speaker icon, follow the steps in the online Help section. http://lms2.teacheruniverse.com/guide/manual/help_login.htm If you still do not hear the audio, contact technical support.

Click the speaker icon in the upper right hand corner to activate or deactivate the narration.

We suggest viewing courses through a 56k modem or better connection. If you’re on a school or district network, you might be trying to view courses during a peak usage time (a time where hundreds or thousands of computers in your district are trying to access the Internet through the same gateway). The only remedy for this is using the district network during non-peak hours.

AssessOnline measures your understanding of Technology Integration and the use of technology applications in the classroom. The assessment items align to ISTE/NCATE Standards for Basic Endorsement in Educational Computing and Technology Literacy. AssessOnline is not a "high-stakes" test, but rather helps teachers learn what they know and don't know if order to become proficient with technology integration.

All the assessment scales are adaptive, meaning that AssessOnline adapts the difficulty of the questions to the specific skill level of each test taker. If you answer correctly, the test questions become more difficult and enable you to achieve a higher score. If you answer incorrectly or leave questions unanswered, the test questions become easier. Many major national testing programs prefer adaptive scales to non-adaptive ones because they allow accurate measurement of an individual's skills using relatively few questions. In addition to being adaptive, AssessOnline also draws questions randomly from a large item pool. Each test taker may experience an entirely different set of questions each time they take an assessment. Using an adaptive design not only reduces testing time while increasing accuracy, but it also has the added bonus of asking teachers questions right at their ability level.

Comprehensive Assessments (available from your AssessOnline selection screen) each contain 72 questions and generally take about 1-1.5 hours to complete. Course-Specific Assessments (available from your Course selection screen) each contain 6 questions and generally take about 10 minutes to complete.

Each question is performance, not survey-based. You will answer a variety of question types, including clicking the correct location, sequencing, multiple choice, and multiple response.

The Diagnostic and Post Assessments are performance-based assessments which determine which technology skills the teacher is proficient in and which ones they should focus on. It is used to individualize they online courses: course topics that they are proficient in can be skipped, and topics that they need more work on will be recommended.

All of the information needed to answer the assessment questions are found in the corresponding courses. The assessment content covers both the introdudctory and the intermediate courses. If you have taken the introductory course and then you take the post assessment, your question level may have risen and you are now seeing questions from the intermediate course. This means your score, and your knowledge have grown.

The "hotspot" questions recognize all correct answers on the screen (eg.  the copy button on the toolbar, or "Copy" on the pull down menu).  If you select either place on the screen, your answer will be counted as correct.

If you do not know the answer to a question be sure NOT TO GUESS! If you happen to guess correctly, AssessOnline will assume that you are proficient in this area and it will not be part of your recommended topics. If you do not know the answer, simply skip the question.

It is recommended to take the Post Assessment at the completion of each course. You may however take the Post Assessments when you complete all of the courses.

If you do not know the answer to a question be sure NOT TO GUESS! If you happen to guess correctly, AssessOnline will assume that you are proficient in this area and it will not be part of your recommended topics. If you do not know the answer, simply skip the question.

No, some courses do not contain corresponding Diagnostic or Post Assessments. If an "n/a" appears in the "Diag" column, no assessment is available.

Following the assessment, you can view your assessment results in the Professional Development Management System by clicking the "report" link or button. Your score on each scale will range from 100 to 300, with 300 being the highest possible score.

Only you and your designated administrator(s) can view your individual assessment results. The administrator can also view the aggregated results of your entire group.

No. Your scores can range from 100 to 300. Scores in the 100 range means you are at the introductory level, the 200 range means you are at the intermediate level, and 300 means you are at the advanced level.

There is no passing score unless your school or district sets one. The assessment provides you with the information you need to improve your skills and understanding of how to integrate technology into your everyday teaching.

No, this test is similar to an SAT or ACT test - if the correct answers were given out, it would compromise the integrity of the test questions.

No, if you experience a computer crash or a frozen browser window, you will be able to enter the assessment again and begin where you stopped without any loss of data.

FOR INTERNET EXPLORER

1. Go to the Tools menu [IE 5+] or the Edit menu (earlier versions).
2. Select Internet Options.
3. Click the Advanced tab.
4. Scroll down to either the Java or Microsoft VM group.
5. Check all boxes in this group.
6. Click Apply.
7. Select the Security tab.
8. Click the Default Level... button.
9. Move the slider to Low.
10. Click OK. Close your browser and reopen it.

1. Go to the Edit menu.
2. Select Preferences.
3. Click on Advanced.
4. Ensure that the Automatically load images and Enable Java boxes are checked.
5. Click OK.
6. Close the browser and reopen it.

We suggest viewing assessments through a 56k modem connection or better. If you’re on a school or district network, you might be trying to view courses during a peak usage time (a time where hundreds or thousands of computers in your district are trying to access the Internet through the same gateway). The only remedy for this is using the district network during non-peak hours.

First, make sure someone else was not logged in to the PDMS using that computer. If someone simply minimized the browser window after logging in, anyone sitting at that computer would have access to their account. This is why it’s important to click Logout after you’re finished. Clicking Logout ensures that nobody can access your courses, assessments or report information after you’ve left the computer.

If this is not the case, you may have an issue with your network proxy server. To remedy this, perform the following:
1. Contact your network administrator and find out if your network proxy server has the latest updates and patches applied.
2. If this does not work, please contact tusupport@riverdeep.net.

Teachers can view Assessment Reports that show their Diagnostic Assessment scores, their highest Post Assessment Scores, and the corresponding gain. Detailed Assessment Reports also show the level they have achieved, their areas of proficiency, recommended areas of study, and the ISTE standards correlation. Individual Course Reports show their hours of usage, corresponding assessment scores, and detailed views of which topics have been mastered and which have not.

Designated administrators can view aggregate data at the school or the district level. Summary and detailed reports are available on Assessments, Courses, and Portfolios (Lesson Plans, Essays and College Credit applications). Administrators can also drill down to view individual teacher reports.

Teachers and administrators can view reports online, anytime by logging in to their Teacher Universe account, and clicking the Reports button.

Each participating teacher has access to a personal, online portfolio containing items they create such as lesson plans, Integrate Projects, and essays. Teachers can access their Portfolio from the Teacher Universe home page, or from inside the Professsional Development Management System.

As a performance assessment of their developing technology integration skills, teachers can submit their Integrate Projects, which contain technology-rich lesson plans, and sample student projects for review and grading.

Integrate Projects are evaluated by trained Teacher Universe Educational Consultants, and scored on specifically designed rubrics. For more detail on the Integrate Project grading criteria, please see the Professional Development Portfolio Guide available from: http://www.riverdeep.net/pro_development/userguides/lms_downloads.jhtml

With the purchase of an IntegrateOnline Annual License, users receive access to all areas of the Professional Development Portfolio, have the ability to submit their Integrate Projects for grading, and are eligible to apply for graduate credits. There is no additional cost. Individual course subscribers may not submit projects for Portfolio Review.

Go to http://www.teacheruniverse.com, and then click on the Integrate Projects link in the left hand navigation bar.

The grading process is typically completed within one week of you submitting your complete project. You will recieve and email indicating that your project has been graded, and may log back into your account to review your completed rubric.

Yes. In order to successfully submit your lesson for grading, you need to have 3 sample student project files attached. (Ex. Spreadsheet, presentation, and html file)

Be sure that the files you are trying to upload do not exceed 3 Mb, and that file names do not include special characters such as ~!@#$%^&*().

You can access your portfolio as long as you have a valid Teacher Universe account. The file attached to your lesson plans will only be kept on the Teacher Universe servers for no longer than 12 months.

It is a free online tool for creating Technology-Rich, Standards-Based Lesson Plans. You can access the Lesson Planner from the Teacher Universe home page, OR from inside your Online Portfolio.

You do not need to be logged in to use the Online Lesson Planner, but if you want to save your plans in your portfolio you must log in.

It is very easy to use the Standards Locator to enter your State Standards into your lesson. While inside the Lesson Planner, click the "Go to Standards" link, select the state or national link, find the appropriate standards, and copy and paste them into your Lesson Plan.