CS4 and Student Information Systems and Grade Books

[JroB]

Are there any student information system programs which manage student data
(names, addresses, phone numbers, etc.) which work with CS4? I don't want to
have to enter in all the student information for each program . . .

Are there any grade book programs which will take the information from CS4
automatically-graded (or manually-graded) assignments -- like Jackson
Software's GradeQuick?

Does anyone on the CS4 / MSTF task force know anything about "Schools
Interoperability Framework" -- SIF (www.sifinfo.org)? I think I've seen
something about CS4 working with a "SIF agent."
http://classserver.msn.com/SIF/install/ -- but I'd like to know more about it.

Could Class Server 4.0 be made to work with an open source programs like
Centre or Drupal -- (http://www.miller-group.net/) or
(http://drupal.org/about)?

[David Gorbet [MSFT]]

OK, lots of questions here.

Basically, Class Server has an API that can be used to integrate it with a
provisioning data source like a student information system, and with a
gradebook, but there is no out of the box built-in functionality to make
this "just work." As a result, customers who have an integrated system have
generally had to hire a system integrator like NuSoft or SolutionsIQ to do
the integration work for them.

Class Server 4.0 comes with a provisioning tool that will take student
information in Excel format (or XML spreadsheet format) and provision Class
Server with it, so if you can get your information into that format, you
should be able to get it into Class Server with a nightly batch process or
something like that. The documentation for CSProvision is in the Start Menu
on the server where you installed Class Server.

Regarding SIF, Class Server does have a SIF agent, but the SIF standard (at
least at the time the agent was written) doesn't support things that are
essential to provisioning Class Server, like a student password and userid.
This resulted in many customers who wanted to use SIF to have to do a lot of
customization to get it to work. In my opinion, it's more effort than it's
worth using SIF with Class Server. It's much easier to just use the Class
Server API to do the integration, or use CSProvision for a more low-tech
solution. I understand that the SIF standard has evolved since CS 4 shipped,
so it is conceivable that SIF is more usable now than it was, but I know
that the SIF agent has not been updated, so there would still be quite a bit
of work for someone to either find or write a custom agent for Class Server.

Probably not the answer you had hoped for, but that is the situation. I'm
afraid that SLK will not improve significantly on the situation from a
provisioning/reporting perspective. SLK will be much easier to provision and
to get data out of, but it will still require some custom development work
to integrate it with other systems.
--
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Post by JroB
Are there any student information system programs which manage student data
(names, addresses, phone numbers, etc.) which work with CS4? I don't want to
have to enter in all the student information for each program . . .
Are there any grade book programs which will take the information from CS4
automatically-graded (or manually-graded) assignments -- like Jackson
Software's GradeQuick?
Does anyone on the CS4 / MSTF task force know anything about "Schools
Interoperability Framework" -- SIF (www.sifinfo.org)? I think I've seen
something about CS4 working with a "SIF agent."
http://classserver.msn.com/SIF/install/ -- but I'd like to know more about it.
Could Class Server 4.0 be made to work with an open source programs like
Centre or Drupal -- (http://www.miller-group.net/) or
(http://drupal.org/about)?

[gopal]

can i use API of class server to interact my LO which is package in
IMS format(simple packaging+imsmenifest.xml)

Post by David Gorbet [MSFT]
OK, lots of questions here.
Basically, Class Server has an API that can be used to integrate it with a
provisioning data source like a student information system, and with a
gradebook, but there is no out of the box built-in functionality to make
this "just work." As a result, customers who have an integrated system have
generally had to hire a system integrator like NuSoft or SolutionsIQ to do
the integration work for them.
Class Server 4.0 comes with a provisioning tool that will take student
information in Excel format (or XML spreadsheet format) and provision Class
Server with it, so if you can get your information into that format, you
should be able to get it into Class Server with a nightly batch process or
something like that. The documentation for CSProvision is in the Start Menu
on the server where you installed Class Server.
Regarding SIF, Class Server does have a SIF agent, but the SIF standard (at
least at the time the agent was written) doesn't support things that are
essential to provisioning Class Server, like a student password and userid.
This resulted in many customers who wanted to use SIF to have to do a lot of
customization to get it to work. In my opinion, it's more effort than it's
worth using SIF with Class Server. It's much easier to just use the Class
Server API to do the integration, or use CSProvision for a more low-tech
solution. I understand that the SIF standard has evolved since CS 4 shipped,
so it is conceivable that SIF is more usable now than it was, but I know
that the SIF agent has not been updated, so there would still be quite a bit
of work for someone to either find or write a custom agent for Class Server.
Probably not the answer you had hoped for, but that is the situation. I'm
afraid that SLK will not improve significantly on the situation from a
provisioning/reporting perspective. SLK will be much easier to provision and
to get data out of, but it will still require some custom development work
to integrate it with other systems.
--
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Post by JroB
Are there any student information system programs which manage student data
(names, addresses, phone numbers, etc.) which work with CS4? I don't want to
have to enter in all the student information for each program . . .
Are there any grade book programs which will take the information from CS4
automatically-graded (or manually-graded) assignments -- like Jackson
Software's GradeQuick?
Does anyone on the CS4 / MSTF task force know anything about "Schools
Interoperability Framework" -- SIF (www.sifinfo.org)? I think I've seen
something about CS4 working with a "SIF agent."
http://classserver.msn.com/SIF/install/ -- but I'd like to know more about it.
Could Class Server 4.0 be made to work with an open source programs like
Centre or Drupal -- (http://www.miller-group.net/) or
(http://drupal.org/about)?

[David Gorbet [MSFT]]

I'm afraid I don't understand the question.
--
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Post by gopal
can i use API of class server to interact my LO which is package in
IMS format(simple packaging+imsmenifest.xml)

Post by David Gorbet [MSFT]
OK, lots of questions here.
Basically, Class Server has an API that can be used to integrate it with a
provisioning data source like a student information system, and with a
gradebook, but there is no out of the box built-in functionality to make
this "just work." As a result, customers who have an integrated system have
generally had to hire a system integrator like NuSoft or SolutionsIQ to do
the integration work for them.
Class Server 4.0 comes with a provisioning tool that will take student
information in Excel format (or XML spreadsheet format) and provision Class
Server with it, so if you can get your information into that format, you
should be able to get it into Class Server with a nightly batch process or
something like that. The documentation for CSProvision is in the Start Menu
on the server where you installed Class Server.
Regarding SIF, Class Server does have a SIF agent, but the SIF standard (at
least at the time the agent was written) doesn't support things that are
essential to provisioning Class Server, like a student password and userid.
This resulted in many customers who wanted to use SIF to have to do a lot of
customization to get it to work. In my opinion, it's more effort than it's
worth using SIF with Class Server. It's much easier to just use the Class
Server API to do the integration, or use CSProvision for a more low-tech
solution. I understand that the SIF standard has evolved since CS 4 shipped,
so it is conceivable that SIF is more usable now than it was, but I know
that the SIF agent has not been updated, so there would still be quite a bit
of work for someone to either find or write a custom agent for Class Server.
Probably not the answer you had hoped for, but that is the situation. I'm
afraid that SLK will not improve significantly on the situation from a
provisioning/reporting perspective. SLK will be much easier to provision and
to get data out of, but it will still require some custom development work
to integrate it with other systems.
--
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Post by JroB
Are there any student information system programs which manage student data
(names, addresses, phone numbers, etc.) which work with CS4? I don't
want
to
have to enter in all the student information for each program . . .
Are there any grade book programs which will take the information from CS4
automatically-graded (or manually-graded) assignments -- like Jackson
Software's GradeQuick?
Does anyone on the CS4 / MSTF task force know anything about "Schools
Interoperability Framework" -- SIF (www.sifinfo.org)? I think I've seen
something about CS4 working with a "SIF agent."
http://classserver.msn.com/SIF/install/ -- but I'd like to know more
about
it.
Could Class Server 4.0 be made to work with an open source programs like
Centre or Drupal -- (http://www.miller-group.net/) or
(http://drupal.org/about)?