MarkBook Trillium Interface

MarkBook^Ž section 11-2

MarkBook's Transfer to Trillium

Exporting Grades, Comments, Learning Skills, etc. to SRB Trillium Reports

There are two ways to move MarkBook summary data into Trillium. These may be used simultaneously by a school. The first is a copy/paste process. For the second technique, Asylum Software has created a separate program for the purpose of enabling each teacher to generate a delimited file to export their MarkBook class data to Trillium electronically. This program is in each user's MarkBook directory and it can be launched at any time. The generated file(s) will also reside in the MarkBook directory and can be re-opened to edit or complete. Submit the file over the network, as an attachment to Email, or on diskette. We recommend that any school using this Trillium transfer circulate copies of section 4-4, section 4-7, section 4-8, and this section 11-2 to teachers. MarkBook clients may copy print and copy any pages from this web site.

COPY PASTE TECHNIQUE

This technique takes advantage of multi-tasking on a Windows computer. That is, it's possible to run both MarkBook and Trillium's data entry window simultaneously on the same screen. With multi-tasking, it's also possible to move data between two open applications. If teachers have password access to Trillium's entry screen, MarkBook will copy/paste all data into it. This technique is best for small classes, split classes (i.e. more than one course code in the same class group), and classes not set up electronically. However, it will work with all classes - there are entire school districts that use this technique for all classes.

Trillium's comment space is limited to 458 characters. This figure may be set in MarkBook under Setup/Comments to warn a user if the comment exceeds that limit. Once comments have been completed in MarkBook as described in chapter 10, launch Trillium, provide your passwords, and move to the Mark Entry by Course screen as per the following image.

Moving to Trillium's data entry screen.

Each teacher must select the desired course using the Course/Section toggle as in the upper center of the next image. The class list will appear at the left. There are three students in this fictitious ICS3M1-02 class. Now launch MarkBook, open the same class, select Comments in the upper menu bar, and select Transfer Mode. MarkBook will shrink to a partial screen on top of the Trillium screen. Move your mouse over the top bar (where it says Computer Studies - COMMENT SET etc. in this example), hold down the left click key, and use the mouse to move the MarkBook frame to any convenient location such as the lower right of the screen as shown. Alt-Tab will switch between screens. The second student in the class has been selected on both screens. Her current mark is shown on the MarkBook frame. Click in the Mark cell on the Trillium screen to type it in. Use Alt-Tab to restore MarkBook on the screen. Then click the Copy button to the right of the MarkBook comment to store that comment in your computer's clipboard. Click the mouse once in the empty Trillium 'Comment for ....' space and paste the comment with Ctrl-V. Click the Trillium Learning Skills tab and fill these in. Select the next student in Trillium and in MarkBook and repeat.

Transfering Comment to Trillium

ELECTRONIC TRANSFER TECHNIQUE

The second way to move data into Trillium is with the MarkBook Transfer (MBT) program. The program is a separate execute file and it may be accessed with its own icon. Note the book with the arrow in the upper left of the next image. As with all of our transfers, it's available free from Asylum Software. To download it, click on the link near the bottom of this page. This program may be launched independently, or it may be called from MarkBook if it's located inside the MarkBook directory on your computer.

To use this transfer, the school or district must also acquire the Trillium User Interface Utility, aka "Trinterface" software, from SRB Trillium. Additionally, each teacher must have set up or updated their class file using Trinterface as described in section 4-7 and section 4-8. The PersonID number is one of the key fields going back to the Trillium data base. Without it, the data will not be imported back into Trillium. Import this number as MarkBook's Special Use field, as described in section 4-7. If the class was not created or updated from Trinterface with the Special Use number, the user must employ the Copy / Paste technique above.

The transfer execute file must be set up for Trillium. If not already done so, launch it and click on the Setup button (lower left corner in the Asylum Software image below) and then select Trillium plus the district and report types from among the options. Note the version number for this MBT program: Ver. 7.1.0117

Setting Up the Transfer Programme for Trillium

Setting Up the Transfer Programme for Trillium

Launching the Trillium Transfer Programme

When launched, the MarkBook/Trillium export opens with the following screen and asks the teacher/user to look for a specific class folder. However, once set up as per the previous image, launch the transfer program by selecting the Reports option in the drop-down menu bar in MarkBook. Click on Transfer to Trillium. If launched directly from MarkBook, the following screen will be by-passed and the user will go to the next screen automatically. The teacher will likely have several current classes. The selected class folder in this example is PHG2DO-02 and the data is stored in a MarkBook folder called MBPHG2DO-0202. Note that this location of the class folders can be set as the default using the Save as Default Path button. Once the desired class is selected, click Next.

Selecting A Class

The user is now prompted to select the type of report if not already done. The Public - English choice comes up as the default. Click on another selection to change the default.

Selecting Type of Report

Select a Grade Level from the pop-down menu in the previous screen. Click on a choice from the menu. Secondary is shown in this example.

If the teacher has previously worked on a Trillium file for this class, the unfinished file will appear in the Continue Working On ... window. In this case, open this existing file - PHG2DO-02.MTF - for the purpose of editing it or to complete it. Note the options to update the marks and/or update the attendance if these have changed. In either case, click on Start New File or Continue to move to the next screen. If the user wishes, they may delete the unfinished file by selecting it and clicking the Delete button.

If the user clicks Continue, this next screen will be by-passed. However, if Start New File was selected from the previous image, this next screen appears. The Course and Section will appear automatically and are based on the import code used to build/update the class. (If this class was not built or updated electronically from Trillium's Interface Utility, as described in section 4-7, then this file will not import into Trillium). Select among the options on this screen. If most students are designated as IEP, ESL, or ELD, check the appropriate cell. Choose the Mark Set being used to pull the grade and the comment file already built. Click Next.

The Transfer Program's Selection of Data

The Transfer Program's Selection of Data

This transfer program pulls the grades and comments for each student from the class folder as per the next image. Or, if Continue was selected in the Do You Want to... image above, the data from the partially completed file is loaded into the transfer program and displayed as follows.

Secondary Report and File Generator

The export program draws data from the MarkBook user's source files previously identified. At the top, there is a scrollable list to move through the entire class student by student. The student number appears. No items on this screen are written back to the user's MarkBook class folder. Attendance is summarized automatically. The grade, 87% in this example, is editable but this will NOT re-write the user's source data. Editing may be necessary based on modal or "most consistent" analysis. Fill in the IEP, ESL, and ELD cells as appropriate. The attendance numbers may be edited as well.

Immediately under the student's name, the teacher has the opportunity to edit the course code and section. Use this to change the course code of the whole class or of selected individuals within the class. For instance, a Co-operative education teacher may have one class of 80 students and every student has a unique course code. In this case, check the Apply edit to this student only cell and type the course code. If unchecked, any change made will apply to all students. Move to the next student and type their course code. Continue until finished. Similarly a teacher with a split class (two or more course codes in the same class) can edit the course code for selected students.

In the Learning Skills frame, use any of the four buttons to flood-fill the five skills. Or, use the five pop-down menus to select skills one at a time. The sixth Learning Skill, Use of Spoken French, is enabled only if a French district was specified in setup.

In the Comment frame, the paragraph constructed in MarkBook is displayed. Or, create it here. However, construction in MarkBook, as described in section 10-1 and following, enables the user to spell-check this comment and to pre-determine if it fits the Trillium report. This comment of 328 characters is well under the 458 character limit for the Trillium secondary report. If 458 is exceeded, the text turns from black to red to warn the user. The teacher must edit the comment down to make it fit. Once edited, the comment will save in the user's Trillium export file but it will NOT over-write the user's MarkBook source file. Uncheck the Large Font cell to reduce the font size the comment.

Once each student has been dealt with, click on Save Working File and Exit to store a partially completed file, or on Save Report File to generate a delimited file for submission to Trillium. In the former case, the program will create a storage file with all data as built so far. The user will return to this file using the Continue Working On ... window in an image above. In the latter case, this program will scan the entire class and warn the user about defects such as missing data. Should there be any problem with the data such as a missing skill, an oversized comment, etc., this program will identify those deficiencies and not permit the creation of the export file until each deficiency is corrected.

If your district uses Version 2 of Trillium, then Trinterface will accept multiple course codes in one file. In other words, each teacher may submit all of their students together in a single file. If any Version 1 of Trillium is being used, teachers must submit one file for each course code.

Submit the files over the network, as an attachment to Email, or on diskette through the school's computer secretary. If you wish, create a destination path to save the file into a pre-defined location on the network. For instance, if the network manager wished all teachers' files to be automatically directed to w:\_reports, create a file called MBT_DESTPATH.CFG using Notepad. Type the path as per the following image. Save this file in the same directory as the transfer execute. The execute file will not create this file - it must be done manually.

Manual: Go to section 11-3 to see MarkBook's export to MarkBook Admin Edition.