Information Technology Services

• How do I manually add a student to my roster file?
• The PRS software doesn't seem to respond to the students' entries.
• Students get 0 for grades!
• Can I upload my PRS gradebook directly into the Blackboard gradebook?
• What if a student loses a transmitter?
• PRS Links

Scenario: You've had your students register their units in your Blackboard course, and downloaded the roster file from your Blackboard control panel. Now a student tells you that his/her PRS number isn't showing up on the screen or it is the wrong number.

1. Open PRS and make sure the File > Preferences > Default data directory is pointing to where you have your files stored.
   
   
2. Choose the Classes main button in PRS, and then highlight the class roster file you're using.
   
   
3. Highlight the student from the class list.
   Note: If you get an error message because you cannot edit a RF class that is running, use the RF > End Class command to end the RF class.
   
   
4. Doubleclick on the student's Clicker ID and change it to the new ID.
   You can change any of the student information you see by doubleclicking on the information and changing it.
   
   
5. NOTE: If the student doesn't exist in your roster anywhere, the student probably didn't enroll/register him/herself into your PRS course on Blackboard. Either ask the student to do so, or add him/her manually using Add Name To Roster. If you add a new record, be sure to store his/her NDSU ID in the PRS Student ID field. You may need to use the Show Student ID button on the screen to do so.

This can happen for multiple reasons:

• Make sure your Customer ID is correct - Go to File > Preferences and make sure the Customer ID is set to 5y?UMF.
• Sometimes we've had to restart the PRS receiver and/or the workstation when this happens, but you need to restart it/them from complete power down status.
• If only one or a few students are involved, it might be because:
  • They are powering off their transmitters between questions to save battery. This doesn't work because they are no longer joined to the RF class after powering down.
  • They are not hitting the Enter key after typing the answer in.
  • They never joined the RF class for that session.

If students are getting all zeros for grades, it is usually because they do not have their NDSU ID entered into their transmitters as the ID. Instructions on how to enter the ID into the RF transmitters are found on the "Student Resources" page.

NOTE: It is very important that the students do not enter the leading zeros of their NDSU ID when entering it into the transmitter. This didn't matter with PRS version 4.3, but it does from version 4.4 on.

From within the PRS software, go to the Gradebook tab and highlight your gradebook in the file list on the left. Then choose Export Gradebook. From the popup window, choose the Blackboard with lowercase netid option and save the exported gradebook somewhere you can find it.

Log into Blackboard and go into the Control Panel of your course. Choose the Gradebook and Import Gradebook options. Browse for the PRS gradebook you save in the previous step. Then follow the prompts. You can choose to create a new item in the Blackboard gradebook or use an existing item. If you want to upload the grades for all the students, be sure to choose the Select All option.

You can upload single PRS sessions into your Blackboard gradebook, or you can upload the total column from PRS to Blackboard, thereby combining multiple PRS scores into one uploaded score per student.

The student should:

1. First check the room(s), local lost and founds, and the instructor(s) in case the unit was found and turned in.

2. If he/she still can't find it, contact Nancy Lilleberg (nancy.lilleberg@ndsu.edu, 231-7140, IACC room 250B) or the Help Desk (231-8685, IACC 150) to report it lost. Sometimes they are found and turned in to ITS.

3. If they need to replace their unit before it is found and turned in, they will have to purchase another one and return to the Register PRS tool in the Blackboard course and register your new PRS ID number. The instructor will also have to change the roster file to reflect the student's new id number. This can be done easily in the PRS software (see first item on this page). The student will also need to put his/her NDSU ID into the new transmitter as the ID.

4. When lost PRS units are turned into the Help Desk, ITS will look at the stored NDSU ID to see who originally owned the lost unit and contact that person via email to pick it up.

Link to the PRS online presentation