CACWT Orientation Quick Guide

Please make sure your computer is ready to take the courses offered through CACWT. Courses use a variety of Web resources that require a good Internet connection and an up-to-date browser. Please check that you meet the following computer requirements before progressing into course modules:

• Use any standard-supporting browser (e.g., Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari) from the past few years. View Blackboard Help Browser Support to learn which desktop browsers and versions are supported (opens in new window). Please note that Internet Explorer is not a supported browser for the Ultra/Blackboard experience, which this site is using.
• Some takeaway documents and other resources in courses are provided in PDF format. If you don't have a reader, you will need to install one to view these documents. Visit Adobe's site to download the Adobe Acrobat Reader DC software. 

This quick guide is organized into the following topics:

• Login Information.
• Basic Navigation of the Learner Dashboard.
  
• Basic Navigation of a Blackboard Learn Course.
  
• Training Day Access Expectations.
• In-Depth Navigation of a Blackboard Learn Course.
• Additional Trainee Resources.

As an existing employee, if you’ve already taken training through your RTA, you will have an account created in the system. In order to ensure we are all ready to use the CACWT system, the first thing we will ask you to do is log in to CACWT to 1) validate your account and 2) navigate around a bit and become familiar with the platform. To help you with the initial log-in and validation process, we have provided detailed instructions below.

Disclaimer 1. IMPORTANT: If you attempt to log in and do not have an existing account, you will not be able to log in. Please contact your County Workforce Development Supervisor/Training Coordinator. Once your account has been created, you will then be able to follow these same instructions to log in for the first time.

Disclaimer 2. For LA County learners: If you have an existing account and encounter difficulties when logging into the system, please ensure you are using your employee ID number (a 6-character phrase beginning with either a lowercase "e" or uppercase “E”) as the username credential.

To access the system follow the instructions listed below:

1. Go to ​ https://cacwt.dss.ca.gov
2. Log in with your County Agency issued email address and default password.
   (If your email address is not recognized by the system, please contact your County Workforce Development Supervisor/Training Coordinator. If you forgot or are unsuccessful using the default password use the ​ Forgot Password​ feature.)
3. You will then be prompted to change your password (this step will take place during your first login and every couple of months for security).
4. In addition, if your account has multi-factor authentication turned on you will receive an email with a 4-digit pin which you will be asked to enter to confirm your account. (If you do not receive the account validation email please contact your County Workforce Development Supervisor/Training Coordinator):
5. User login complete.

If you encounter login issues, please refer to Disclaimers 1 and 2 before reaching out for support on tawk.to.

1. Once you are logged in, you will see the Learner Dashboard and you can navigate to any of the tabs within the dashboard. (The components of the Learner Dashboard are also explained through video in this article: https://californiachildwelfaretraining.tawk.help/article/navigating-trainee-dashboard.) 
1. Learner Dashboard:​ By default, upon login, the learner dashboard is visible including four enrollment panels.
1. Active Courses panel:​ Training courses that you are currently enrolled in will show up here.
1. Evaluations tab:​ Evaluations required for course completion credit will display underneath the course box of an active course that is near completion.
   
2. Completed Courses panel:​ Once you have completed ​all​ requirements, the course will move here.
3. Pending Courses panel:​ Instructor-led training courses that you’ve been enrolled in ahead of time will appear here until actual course start date. Important: You are not officially enrolled in courses showing in this panel until they move to the Active Courses panel. Some courses in this panel will have prerequisite courses that will need to be completed beforehand for the course to move to the Active Courses panel.
4. Learning Paths panel:​ Some training courses may be part of a larger training series, and are typically taken in sequence (e.g., Common Core, Supervisor Core). Those courses will show up here.
2.  Register for Course: This module allows learners to access the CACWT course catalog and register for courses open to self-registration. Note: Some courses are not open to self-registration and you may need to reach out to your County Training Coordinator if you would like to request enrollment in such courses.
3. Request Credit: ​This module can be used to send a request for credit for any training hours completed outside of the CACWT System (e.g., conference attendance, or a webinar you attended).
4. Withdraw from Course: This module gives learners the ability to drop a course if they need to.
5. Print Transcript: The module provides learners the opportunity to view or download a transcript of trainings they've completed.
6. Help: This feature connects you to the CACWT help desk.
7. Edit Account: ​This module is managed by your county LMS administrator.
2. When you click on a course in the Active Courses panel, you will be sent to a new screen in the Blackboard course delivery component.
3. Courses are delivered in two formats: Instructor-led training and self-paced training (i.e., eLearnings).

A. Navigation bar/Course Tools: Select the Content, Calendar, Discussions, Gradebook, and Messages tabs to easily access those tools. The Content page is the default screen you will see when you enter a course. A more detailed explanation of the Course Tools are provided further in this article.

B. Details & Actions: View course information and tools with these options:

• Roster: Access basic profile cards and match faces to names. ​All course members appear in the roster​, and you can't remove yourself. More on the Roster.
• Attendance: If your instructor uses the attendance feature, you can access your records. ​More on your attendance grade.
• Groups: ​View or join course groups​ your instructor has created.
• Announcements: ​ View course announcements​ your instructor has posted.

C. Course content: All of your course content (Trainee Guide, supplemental handouts, etc.) appears in the main part of the page. When you open a piece of content, it slides out in a layer on top of the Course Content page. Close layers to navigate back to a previous spot in your course. ​ More on content in your courses.

D. New activity: An activity icon appears when new activity occurs in a course conversation for assignments, tests, and documents. The activity icon also appears to indicate new discussions.

You can find additional information about Blackboard for students at this link: https://help.blackboard.com/Learn/Student.  

1. Log in to the CACWT system by going to  https://cacwt.dss.ca.gov
2. Log in using your county email address and the password you selected when you validated your account.
1. If you have forgotten your password, use the forgot password feature on the sign-in screen. ​
3. When you log in, you will see your Learner/Trainee Dashboard. Access the correct​ course for the TRAINING DAY from your dashboard by clicking on the name of the course​. This will open a new tab and take you from your dashboard into the course within the Blackboard Learning Management system.
4. A ​ new tab​ for your course will open.
1. You will need to join the live session by clicking the Zoom link in order to get to your trainer​.
2. Download your training materials by expanding the “Training Materials” tab - you will find your Trainee Guide and any handouts there.
5. Your trainer will inform you when it’s time to complete your evaluations.
1. Simply go back to your Dashboard by returning to your Learner Dashboard tab at the top of your browser window.
2. The link to access evaluations is ​on the bottom of the course title. Click on this link to open the list of evaluations for the course. Note: There may be a couple minutes delay in the release of course evaluations immediately after a course is completed.
1. First you will complete the “Pre Evaluation”, if there is one available for that course.
2. When you have submitted the pre-evaluation  and​ your Trainer has marked you as “Attended” for the training day, you will be able to complete the additional evaluations.
6. Your training course will move into the Completed Courses panel when all requirements have been fulfilled. Once the course moves to the Completed Courses panel you will have access to the course completion certificate and the course should be reflected on your Learner Transcript as complete.

Now, we are going to navigate into a Blackboard course with more detail. Blackboard courses use Course Tools as the main navigational tools to switch between course areas. These tools are located under the Course title as a navigation bar. Use this to jump between the Content, Calendar, Discussions, Gradebook, and Messages features. When you first enter a Blackboard course, you will see the Content area of your course tools by default.

You will notice that some of the Course Tools have the same name as tools found in the base navigation: specifically, Calendar, Grades, and Messages are universal tools. Accessing one of these tools from the base navigation will give you access to the global view of it, showing you the tool's information for all courses that you are enrolled into. When you access these tools from the context of a course, you will see only information that relates to the specific course you are viewing. 

In this topic, we will review each of these tools. Here is an introduction to each of them.

• Content: As you navigate into various course tools, you can return to the course content by clicking the Content tab. The Content page is the default screen you will see when you enter a course. There are three main areas on this page as explained in the Basic Navigation of a Blackboard Learn Course section of this article:
• The Navigation (Course Tools) bar.
• Details & Actions.
• Course Content.
• Calendar: The Calendar tab in Course Tools will jump you to the course Calendar. The functionality of Calendar within the course is very similar to the one within the base navigation. The only exception is that from within the course, you can see only events specific to the course you are viewing. In order to view your other course calendars, you will need to access the course you wish to view or navigate to the global Calendar in the base navigation.
• Discussions: Discussions is the central location for accessing and participating in all discussions that are located within a course. Each discussion is an area where users discuss a topic or a group of related topics. Teachers also have the ability to organize Discussions into folders. You can participate by navigating to Discussions, navigating to the course activity, or responding from the Activity Stream. You can also add new Discussions from the Discussions screen.
• Gradebook: Here you can access posted grades, view the activities in the course, and review your submissions, grades, and feedback. Don't forget that grade information can also be viewed and updated through the base navigation from within Grades and Activity Stream.
• Messages: As discussed earlier in this course, the Messages feature can be accessed from with courses and from the base navigation. Use this feature to message your teacher as needed as well as classmates.

Follow the link to watch this video to learn how to use Course Tools to navigate your courses. Link: https://youtu.be/DFvfvfUUMeM.

The structure and look of courses can vary. Teachers build the course learning experience by structuring the Course Outline into a structure that makes sense for the content they will be delivering to students. The most common choices for course organization are chronologically (such as weeks) or topically by content subject. A less common structure is by tool type.

Some schools require courses to have a consistent look and organization. Some do not. Expect that courses will vary in how they are structured because all teachers teach differently. Courses commonly include a combination of the following elements:

• Syllabus
• Announcements
• Calendar
• Communication Tools
• Grades
• Course Lessons
• Lectures
• Tests
• Assignments
• Multimedia

These items provide content to your course but don't require you to submit anything. For example, you teacher may want you to view a file or visit a specific website.

• Folder: Folders can contain any other item type, even other Folders as they can be nested within each other. You can expand and collapse the Folders to control the display of the content visible on the outline at any given time.
• Learning Module: Similar to a folder, it provides navigation links in the upper left and upper right areas of the screen to back up or advance to other course pages.
• Link: This item displays a website, which will open in a new tab/browser.
• File: This item provides you with a file to download or view online.
• Document: Documents are viewable on the site and allow you to view a variety of media as text, inline videos, links, and images.
• Content Market: This resources may be materials, assessments, or ebooks.

These items will require you to interact with the system to submit work, such as an assignment of a test.

• Test: This is an online quiz that may be graded.
• Assignment: The assignment feature allows you to submit your work online for papers, reports, research, etc.

These features are interactive in nature and require your participation. For example, your teacher may create an area for you to have discussions with other students.

• Discussion: This is an online discussion that allows you to communicate with other students and the teacher. These may be graded or not.

CACWT Knowledge Base: https://californiachildwelfaretraining.tawk.help/

CACWT Video Tutorials: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNYfSDZN2XUq6wiAUfDL4wjoVHMN5eIZM

CACWT Implementation and Support Dashboard: https://sites.google.com/berkeley.edu/cacwt-dashboard

Blackboard Learn Help for Students: https://help.blackboard.com/Learn/Student