Caucus

Description
Caucus offers a complete computer conferencing system, with access to e-mail and HTML links, 24 hours a day. Caucus' computer conferencing on the Web can add versatility and increase the success of communication methods by blending conversation and education without time constraints, thus allowing participants to contribute at their convenience.

It's also a good way of keeping a history of lessons and conversations that are easy to use and keep up with, and yet easy to structure and find things in.

Key Advantages
For instructors:

• Allows you to contribute to a conference item with text, graphics, audio, video, links to information and more
• Allows you to position online conversation as a key environment for collaboration
• Allows you to efficiently manage and coordinate administrative tasks, freeing up classroom time for more teaching and learning activities

For students:

• Allows access to course materials anytime, anywhere
• Allows collaboration with other students
• Allows students to engage in course-related activities in a single environment
• Teaches students new technology skills

Key Features

• Provides detailed information about which students read and commented on what material
• Conversations are not limited by space and time. Many conversations can go on in parallel for days or weeks. Talkative students cannot dominate and quiet students can participate at their own comfort level
• Moderate, prompt, edit or even rearrange discussions, post assignments and evaluate students’ participation in class
• E-mail all of your students with specific announcements or send them automatic e-mail notifications of new material
• Post new material and ‘hide’ it until you are ready for your students to see it

Innovative Uses
Innovations for course related functions:

• The "Who Has Seen" page lets you find out which conference participants have seen the current item and how much of the item (i.e. how many responses) each person has read. This is a good way to be sure that others in the conference are up to date

Innovations for non course related functions:

• “Pre-discuss” issues that would otherwise come up for the first time at faculty or other meetings
• Post announcements that would otherwise take up meeting time

Getting Started

1. Logging into Caucus will require a UANet ID
2. Name your conference with one word, not including spaces. Dashes and underscores are permitted
3. Make conference purpose clear and set rules for participation
4. Decide if you want an open or closed conference. If your conference is closed, you will have to obtain member usernames and add them to your member list. You can leave it open until students join, then close it
5. Do you want your conference to be read-only or will you allow members to post responses?
6. Minimize the number of items, especially initially
7. Will you allow users to edit their own responses?
8. Make sure your conference is listed so students can see conference name. This can be changed later

Conferences are created by the Caucus Manager at the request of a conference organizer. Current UA faculty and staff (conference organizers) can set up a new Caucus conference by logging into Caucus Center and clicking on new conference request form located toward the bottom of the page. You will be directed to the form page and, after form submission, will be contacted with confirmation regarding your new Caucus Conference. You can then begin customizing your conference.