On Saturday, May 19, 2012 from 1:00 am to 7:00 am EDT and Saturday, May 26, 2012 from 3:00 am to 7:00 am EDT, our MyLab/Mastering Registration and Enrollment will be down undergoing scheduled maintenance.

During this time, if you or your students attempt to register or enroll, you will receive a “down for maintenance” page stating the anticipated return-to-service time.

This does NOT affect access to your MyLab course itself – it will only affect the registration and enrollment process during these hours. You and your students will still be able to sign in and continue to work in your existing courses.

A: If your summer course duration is less than 31 days, please contact your Pearson Representative to discuss whether disabling the temporary access option for this course is the best option for you. Be sure to have your course ID available so your representative can facilitate the process to disable this option, should you choose to do so.

The estimated completion time is 24 hours from the time your rep submits the request.

Please Note: You should not distribute the Course ID to your students until after receiving confirmation that temporary access has been disabled. Otherwise, some students may be able to access the course using temporary access while others will not.

This year, Pearson sponsored the 34th Annual American Marketing Association (AMA) International Collegiate Conference and Case Competition. Over 1,400 students competed in competitions that tested their marketing, sales, and business skills in a variety of ways.

Check out what participants had to say about the event in this video!

The annual Case Competition is open to undergraduate teams at schools that have an affiliated AMA Collegiate Chapter. The AMA Case Competition is a yearlong project that is meant to bring together top marketing students. These students compete by developing and presenting a strategy for a real-world marketing problem at the competition.

For Students the key takeaways from the competition include:

• Working as a team on a problem in a real world marketing situation
• Participating in discussions with executives of the sponsoring organization
• Refining their skills in marketing and leadership
• Learning to apply skills to hypothetical situations
• Challenging their strategic thinking skills
• Earning rewards and recognition for their Chapter

The top ten finalists presented as representatives for top agencies pitching to a client. After a full day of presentations, judges found it difficult to rank the top chapters because of the thoroughness of analysis and professionalism exhibited from all groups. The team from the British Columbia Institute of Technology took first place for their well developed plan and pristine presentation skills. Following in second place was University of Pennsylvania, University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire, and University of Wisconsin – Whitewater. Aurora University, Hofstra University, Portland State University, Southern Connecticut State University, Texas State University – San Marcos, and the University of Arizona took third place.

Congratulations to all Case Competition top finalists, competitors, and conference attendees!

Whether you are preparing for that last exam or getting ready to set up your next course, your Customer Experience team has added some great topics to the weekly Virtual Classroom (powered via WebEx) schedule just for you!

MyManagementLab, MyMarketingLab, MyIBLab, MyBizLab and MyBcommLab Instructors! Your time is precious this time of year and we understand that, so you will now find that most sessions are now condensed to just 30 minutes!

Preparing for Final Exams and winding down the term? Check out these sessions!

• Create a practice test to prepare your students for your final exam! (30 minutes)
• Learn how to use weights to save time calculating final grades and how to export them to your LMS! (30 minutes)
• Learn how to copy your course for fall and save time! (30 minutes)

Setting up a MyLab course for the first time? Tips on matching your syllabus to your MyLab course ? We have the sessions for you!

• Where do I start? How do I begin to set up my course? (60 minutes)
• Course Creation and MyLab Navigation. (30 minutes)
• Matching your syllabus to your MyLab Course. (30 minutes)
• Tips on how to include MyLab in your syllabus and the first day of class! (30 minutes)
• Learn how to set up assignment parameters and due dates. (30 minutes)

For those with “burning questions”, check out the Office Hour Sessions:

• Office Hours: Get your Questions answered! (30 minutes)

Click the Register Today Button to see and register for our current sessions. (Be sure to Click on Show All Meetings to see all upcoming sessions!)

Q: How can I see when a student last logged into my course?

A: The Search/Email by Criteria feature located in the More Gradebook Tools drop down menu is a useful tool that can help you do a number of things.

You can use this tool to search by work activity and find out when the last time students logged into the course. This is especially useful around the end of the term. For example, a student might claim that they completed a specific course assignment, but no record in the Gradebook exists for it. While 99.9% of the time if there is no record in your Gradebook, the assignment was not completed, searching for the student’s last login in is a good way to potentially prove it and not let the student just blame the “internet gremlins.”

Other uses of this tool include searching for students whose overall score is below a certain threshold. You might do this around the drop/add period to help advise students. Conversely, you might search for students, whose average is above a certain threshold, praising them for their hard work.

Check out this short video on how to use Search/Email by Criteria to see the last time students logged into your course.

Have you ever used this tool? How so? What other ways could you use this in your class? Login and comment to share your feedback.

Click here to review our upcoming schedule (make sure to click View All Meetings) and register today for “Learn how to copy your course for fall and save time!” All times are Eastern.

Thousands of instructors are currently teaching with MyOMLab New Design and we are excited to be releasing the remainder of courses (i.e. all authors, titles & editions) for immediate use! Here are highlights of the great new features and the functionality available with MyOMLab New Design.

• One Place for All of Your Courses. Instructor and Student Users in New Design canregister, create, and access all of their Pearson courses from one convenient online location. Students have one Pearson portal for all their courses, making it easier to get everyone registered in YOUR course!
• An Enhanced Pearson eText. Available within the online course materials and offline via the iPad app, the enhanced eText allows instructors and students to highlight, bookmark, and take notes.
• Advanced Communication Tools, including email, discussion boards, chat, and ClassLive.
• More Customization Options, to provide additional ways to share documents, add content, and rename menu items.
• Temporary Access, offering students a seventeen-day grace period as they wait for Financial Aid.

Starting July 14, 2012 all new MyOMLab courses will be MyOMLab New Design Courses. If your present course is not in MyOMLab New Design, you should finish your course and make sure to create your next one in MyOMLab New Design.

If your present course is not in MyOMLab New Design and will not be over by July 14, please contact your Pearson Representative. They will assist you and your students on how to complete that course without interruption.

To get started with MyOMLab, go to www.pearsonmylab.com and log in with your existing user name and password. After July 14, logging in at www.myomlab.com will take you to New Design, as well. After logging in, you can:

• Create your course – Show Me How
• Import your old assignments – Show Me How

Video: Transition to New Design
This video highlights the key difference between your old courses and your New Design Course.

Live Online Training
Register for online training where you will be taken through New Design and have an opportunity to ask questions. Click the “Show All Meetings” link to see all upcoming sessions!

MyOMLab New Design Instructive User Guide
View the Instructor User Guide that contains information on all aspects of managing your New Design Course

MyOMLab First Day of Class Handout
Download a handout that you can customize with your own Course ID and then distribute to your students for easy enrollment into your course.

New Design How to Videos
Watch other videos to learn more about how to work in New Design.

Whether you are administering your final exams, or adding scores to your Gradebook using the Add Offline Items feature, here are some timely resources to answer all of your “How Do I?” questions regarding finals.

Creating Online Tests?

• Question Pooling: Learn how you can use Question Pooling to increase the integrity of your online tests and quizzes.

• Incomplete Settings: When you create a quiz or a test, you have options if a student is not able to submit the assignment. Consult this section of the online help for all the information regarding incomplete attempts.

You may have noticed the new Save for Later option available for Quizzes and Tests. This is a great new option for letting your students start and then save an assignment to continue later. Be advised that if you use this option, your students must work in a linear fashion and cannot go back to look at questions once they have moved on. This is to prevent students from researching answers.

Adding Scores to Your Gradebook?

• Most final exams are still given offline. If that is your case, learn about Adding Offline Items to the Gradebook to see how you can upload the scores of your final exam to your MyOMLab Gradebook.

Help Your Students Study!

• Manage Incompletes: The Manage Incompletes function will submit zero points for assignments that students do not complete. It also allows students to review incomplete assignments from their Results tab for studying purposes. If students are telling you they can’t review an old assignment, you should manage your incompletes.

Power User Tip: Remember to export all of your grades once the course is finalized. Check out this article for performing an Advanced Export to get you started!

Additional Resources for You:

• MyOMLab in New Design User Guide: Our searchable user guides offer step-by-step instructions and links to training tutorial videos, so you can read how to do something and then watch it being done!

• LIVE WebEx Training Sessions: Attend a MyOMLab training session.These are intimate virtual training sessions led by experienced users who can offer advice. Click Show All Meetings to see the complete list of available sessions.

Click here to review our upcoming schedule (make sure to click View all Meetings) and register today for “Learn how to use weights to save time calculating final grades and how to export them to your LMS!” All times are Eastern.

Click here to review our upcoming schedule (make sure to click View All Meetings) and register today for “Create a practice test to prepare your students for your final exam!” All times are Eastern.