Instructor FAQs

Quickstart

Follow these steps to get your course up-and-running. Refer to the in-depth topics in this guide for more information about managing your courses and assignments.

1. Request an EarlyEdU Coaching Companion™ account
2. Login to your EarlyEdU Coaching Companion™ URL
3. Create a new course
4. Add Assignments to your course
5. Configure your Assignments
   • Add video to Reflection assignments
   • Add interactions to Play-by-Play Assignments
   • Add questions and answer options to Multiple Choice Assignments
   • Create groups for Community of Reflection Practice (CORP) Assignments
6. Send your students the links to your EarlyEdU Coaching Companion™ site and to the Student Quickstart guide
7. Refer your students to the first set of instructions in the Student Quickstart and ask them to create an account in the Coaching Companion system
8. Once the students have created accounts, add the students to your course
9. If you have any questions, reach out to support@earlyedualliance.org. We’re here to help.

Manage Your Account

How to create a new account

How to login

How to edit account information

How to reset a password

Manage Courses

How to add a new course

How to edit existing course information

How to delete a course

How to add people (students, instructors, teaching assistants) to a course

How to delete people from a course

Manage Assignments

How to open an assignment

How to create a new assignment

How to edit assignment details

How to add/edit the Instructions on an assignment

How to add/edit the Grading Rubric on an assignment

How to delete an assignment

How to add video to an assignment

How to delete a video from an assignment

Manage Comments

How to add comments to a video

How to read comments in an assignment

How to view Play-by-Play comments

Manage Grading

How to enter/edit a student grade for an assignment

How to grade CORP Groups assignments

Manage a Multiple Choice Assignment

How to create a Multiple Choice assignment

How to add multiple choice questions to a video

Manage a Play-by-Play Assignment

How to create a Play-by-Play assignment

How to add interactions to a Play-by-Play assignment

How to edit an interaction in a Play-by-Play assignment

How to copy interactions from another Play-by-Play assignment

How to use interactions to annotate a student's Play-by-Play assignment

Manage a Community Reflection Assignment

How to create a Community Reflection assignment

How to create a CORP group for an assignment

How to add a person to a CORP group

How to copy CORP groups from another assignment

How to delete people from a CORP group

Prepare Video for Upload

How to compress a video

Manage Your Account

How to create a new account

1. If you are faculty with an Institute of Higher Education (IHE) or Stakeholder license, send an email info@earlyedualliance.org
2. Include the name of the IHE/Stakeholder in the subject of the email.
3. In the body of the email you must include your name and email and all the names and emails of any additional faculty you want included as instructors in the tool.

A confirmation email will be sent to your email account.

How to login

1. Go to the EarlyEdU Coaching Companion™
2. Enter the email address used to register the account.
3. Enter the password that was emailed to you.
4. Click the Click here to Login button.

How to edit account information

1. Login to the EarlyEdU Coaching Companion™
2. Click My Account from the home page.
3. Edit the information in the form: email, first name, last name
4. Click the Update button

How to reset a password

1. Click Reset Password on the login page.
2. Enter the email associated with your account.
   • If you do not know what email was used to create the account, send an email to info@earlyedualliance.org
3. Click the Submit The system will send you an email with a temporary password.
4. Use the temporary password to login.
5. From the home page, click My Account on the main menu.
6. Click the Update Your Password bar.
7. Enter a new password in the Enter A New Password field.
8. Enter the same password in the Repeat New Password field.
9. Click the Update button.

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Manage Courses

How to add a new course

1. Click the Add New Course bar on the home page.
2. Enter the requested information in the form: course number, course name, term, and the course begin/end dates.
3. Click the Create

How to edit existing course Information

1. Click the correct course on the home page.
2. Click the Edit Content button under the main menu.

3. Change the appropriate information.
4. Click the Update button.

How to delete a course

As an Instructor, you can delete any course that you create.  However, you won’t be able to delete other courses.

1. Click on the course from the home page.
2. Click the Edit Content button under the main menu.
3. Click the Delete button the lower right of the form.
4. Answer OK or Yes to the browser alert windows that appears

How to add people (students, instructors, teaching assistants) to a course

1. Click on the correct course from the home page.
2. Click the Manage Students
3. Click the Add Participants To This Course
4. Click the Select Users field and click the name of each person you want to add to the course.
5. Choose the Course Role to assign to the group of selected people.
6. Click the Add button.

How to delete people from a course

1. Click on the course bar on the home page.
2. Click the Manage Students tab.
3. Click the Drop Student button to the right of the student's name.

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Manage Assignments

How to open an assignment

1. Click the correct course bar on the home page.

2. Click the Assignments tab.
3. Click the View/Configure button next to the assignment

How to create a new assignment

1. Click the correct course bar on the home page.
2. Click the Assignments tab.
3. Click the Create Assignment bar.
4. You will see a list of the available assignment types. You can use the following graphic and descriptions to choose which assignment type you’d like to add.
   
   
   
   
   • Baseline – allows the student to capture themselves interacting with one or more young learners and is filmed at the beginning of the quarter / course / program. This baseline video allows students to re-watch and reflect as they learn new strategies and skills.
   • Reflection – allows instructors to upload a video and then have students reflect on the action in the video. Use this option to have students comment on a video that you will provide.
   • Upload and Reflection – allows student to upload a video and provide a brief annotation / commentary. The instructor may also comment on this video.
   • Multiple Choice – allows instructors to upload a video and configure multiple choice questions for students to answer. Use this option to assign a multiple-choice exercise based on a video you have uploaded.
   • Play-by-Play with Comments – allows student to upload a video, and the instructor to use Play-By-Play to tag interaction categories with additional comments.
   • Community Reflection – allows the instructor to create Community of Reflection and Practice (CORP) groups of students to upload their own videos, watch their CORP group videos and comment on CORP member videos.
     
5. Click the bar for the type of assignment you want to add.
   
   
   
   
   • Note that the title bar for the assignment expands down. If you would like to close this assignment without saving it, click on the title bar again.
6. Enter the assignment information: Assignment Name, Instructions, Grading Rubric, Open Date, Due Date, Close Date, Points.
7. Click the Create button at the bottom of the form.

How to edit assignment details

1. Open the assignment
2. Click the Edit Content button under the main menu.

4. Click the Edit Assignment bar

5. Change/edit the assignment information in the form.
   • Note that this form allows you to update details for an assignment, such as title and dates. To configure the assignment, for example adding multiple choice questions, see the sections below.
6. Click the Update button.

How to add/edit the Instructions on an assignment

1. Instructions can be edited on an existing assignment, or added when you create a new assignment. The instructions will be displayed when a student clicks the Instructions tab on an assignment.

2. Follow the steps to edit assignment details, and enter the instructions information into the Instructions field
3. Click the Update button to save the instructions information

How to add/edit the Grading Rubric on an assignment

1. Grading rubrics can be assigned to an existing assignment, or added when you create a new assignment. The rubric will be displayed when a student clicks the Rubric tab in an assignment.

2. Follow the instructions to edit assignment details, and enter the grading rubric information into the Grading Rubric field.
3. Click the Update button to save the rubric information.

How to delete an assignment

1. Open the assignment
2. Click the Edit Content button under the main menu.

3. Click the Edit Assignment bar.
4. Click the Delete button.
5. Click Yes or OK in the browser window that pops up.

How to add video to an assignment

1. If your video is over 500 MB, follow the instructions to Compress Your Video before uploading to EarlyEdU Coaching Companion™.
2. Open the assignment
3. Click the Add New Media bar.

5. To add media from the media library, click the Cultivate Learning Media Library bar.
6. To upload a video from your computer click the Choose File button. After you've selected a file, you'll be prompted to add a title for the video. Then click Upload. A progress bar will show the status of the video upload.

7. After uploading, the video will be encoded (the process may take up to an hour.) During this time, do not close the browser window. It is important to verify that the video has encoded before closing the browser completely.

8. Review the file when the encoding is completed.
9. Rotate the image, if necessary, by clicking the Rotate button.

How to delete a video from an assignment

1. Open the assignment
2. Click the edit icon at the top left of the video.

3. Click the Delete button at the bottom right of the form.

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Manage Comments

How to add comments to a video

1. Open the assignment that contains the video to which you want to add comments.
2. To add a timestamped comment, click directly on the video at the time you want to add the comment. The video will pause and display the comments form.

3. Enter your comment and then click the Save Comment button.
4. To enter a general comment, scroll below the video and click the Add Comments bar.
5. Enter your comment in the form that appears and then click the Add Comment button.

How to read comments in an assignment

1. Open the assignment where you'd like to review comments.
2. Scroll past the video to see all comments added to the video.
3. Comments that are linked to a time in the video will display a timestamp. Click on the timestamp to start the video at the correlating time.

4. When the video is first displayed, there is a refresh icon at the bottom.
   
   Click this icon to display the options to Reply | Edit | Delete.

4. Click Reply to add a comment to an existing comment.
5. Click Edit to change the text of your comment.
6. Click Delete to delete your comment.

How to view Play-by-Play comments

Play-by-Play assignments allow you to tag a student’s video with discrete tags know as Interactions. This is a quick way for you to provide feedback on specific actions or attributes in the video. A Play-by-Play Interaction shows up in the comments area, however it has a different look than a generic comment. The Interaction will be tagged with a word or a phrase that you are looking for in a student’s video, as well as an associated color.

1. Add interactions to a Play-by-Play assignment
2. Open the assignment and scroll to comment area. Note the interactions you’ve added to the student’s video.

3. Click on the timestamp to open the video to the point tagged with this interaction.

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Manage Grading

How to enter/edit a student grade for an assignment

1. Click on the correct course on the home page.
2. Choose the Manage Students
3. Find the student in the list. (The student list can be sorted by first or last name, email, or role.)
4. Click the Grade button next to the student name

5. Click the Grade button next to the Assignment

6. Click the Grade Assignment For [Student Name] bar

7. Enter the grade details
8. Click the Submit button
   

Note: A student must be added to the course before adding or editing a grade (see: How to add people to the course).

How to grade CORP Groups assignments

1. Open the CORPS Group assignment for the student you want to grade.
2. Watch the student video and read the comments added by other members of the CORP group.
3. Note that you can access the rest of the CORP group videos by clicking the Group Submissions tab and selecting the student's name from the dropdown list.

4. You can add comments to each student video.
5. To leave a grade, click the Grade Assignment For [Student Name] bar above the course title.
6. Enter a grade for the student

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Manage a Multiple Choice Assignment

How to create a Multiple Choice assignment

1. Follow the instructions to create an assignment, and select the Multiple Choice Assignment

How to add multiple choice questions to a video

1. Create a Multiple Choice assignment
2. Follow the Instructions to add a video to the assignment
3. Open the assignment
4. Click the Create Question bar under the video to start adding questions.
   • Note that the video must be uploaded and encoding must be completed to be able to add questions.

5. Select the time for the video to pause and Instruction Text to display by sliding the left Timestamp Range slider to the correct time.

You can hover over the progress bar at the bottom of the video to see what the time is at any point in the video.

6. Write instructions that will display to the user in the Instruction Text
7. Select time for the question to appear on screen by sliding the right Timestamp Range slider to the correct time.

8. Add text for the question into the Question Text field.
9. Add text for your first answer into the the Answer Options area.
10. Click the Add Answer Option button to add more answer choices.
11. Click on the radio button next to the correct answer.

12. Click the Add button at the bottom of the field to save your question and answers.

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Manage a Play-by-Play Assignment

How to create a Play-by-Play assignment

1. Follow the instructions to create an assignment, and select the Play-By-Play Assignment

How to add interactions to a Play-by-Play assignment

1. Open the assignment that you will add interactions to.
2. Click the Create A New Interaction bar

3. Click on the colored area in the Color field and then select a color from the color wheel for the interaction.
4. Enter text for the interaction into the Interaction field.
5. Click the Create button.
6. Create and add additional interactions one at a time by following steps 2-5 for each interaction on the same assignment.

How to edit an interaction in a Play-by-Play assignment

1. Open the assignment.
2. Click on the pencil icon next to the interaction you want to edit.

3. Change the color or text of the interaction.
4. Click the Update button.

How to copy interactions from another Play-by-Play assignment

1. Follow the instructions to create an assignment, and select the Play-By-Play Assignment type
2. Open the assignment.
3. Click the Copy Play By Play From Another Assignment bar – note this option will not display if you have already added interactions this this assignment.

4. Choose the assignment from which you’d like to copy the interactions

5. Click the Copy button

How to use interactions to annotate a student's Play-by-Play assignment

1. Click the Grade button next to the correct assignment on the course page.

2. Click the Grade button next to the student's name. Students with an uploaded video will show a Status of Completed.

3. Play the student's video, and then click on the video at the time where an interaction should take place.
4. Click on the correct interaction from the options that appear or leave a timestamped comment.

5. Add multiple interactions by repeating steps 3 & 4.

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Manage Community Reflection Assignments

How to create a Community Reflection assignment

1. Follow the instructions to create an assignment, and select the Community Reflection Assignment.

How to create a CORP group for an assignment

1. Open the assignment for which you want to create a CORP group
2. Click the Create New Community of Reflection and Practice Groups bar.

3. Choose students by drag-and-dropping their names from Available Students text box to the Selected Students box.

4. Enter a name for the Community of Reflection and Practice Group.
5. Click the Create button.

How to add a person to a CORP group

1. Open the assignment
2. Click the Edit button next to the correct CORP group.

3. Drag-and-drop student names from Available Students box on the form to the Selected Students box.

4. Click the Update button.

How to copy CORP groups from another assignment

1. Follow the instructions to create a Community Reflection Assignment
2. Open the assignment
3. Click the Copy CORPS Groups From Another Assignment bar.
   • Note that this option will only display if there are no CORPS groups created for this assignment.

4. Choose the assignment from the drop-down list from which to copy the CORP groups. All CORP groups from the selected assignment will be copied over to the current assignment.

5. Click the Copy button.

How to delete people from a CORP group

1. Open the assignment with the CORP group

2. Click the Edit button next to the correct group.

3. Click the “X” by the student's name in the box.

4. Click the Update button.

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Prepare Video for Upload

There are many factors to consider when recording video to produce the highest quality media. Click the button below to review the Video Recording Guide and to learn some best practices for creating your videos.

Click Here To Download The Video Recording Guide

How to compress a video

Video files over 500 MB must be compressed before uploading to the EarlyEdU Coaching Companion™.

We suggest using Handbrake to compress video files.

1. Download Handbrake (https://handbrake.fr).
2. Click on the download button on the home page, and then follow the download and installation instructions.
3. Refer to one of the following guides to use Handbrake to compress your video
   • Video Compression for PC
   • Video Compression for Mac