Faculty

Accommodation Information Management (AIM)

NOTE: To ensure that you do not miss important e-mails sent via AIM, we encourage you to either:

  1. Add the domain "post.accessiblelearning.com" to your safe sender list (click here for Outlook 365 instructions), or
  2. Regularly check your junk mail folder.

    OA and Faculty will use AIM throughout the interactive process. This is beneficial as AIM:

    1. Generates course-specific accommodation letters which students request electronically. After students submit their requests, AIM automatically e-mails the letters directly to instructors. Students are still expected to communicate with their instructors in order to implement their accommodations.
    2. Streamlines the exam scheduling process, allowing students to submit requests and faculty to submit proctoring information electronically. This new feature phases out the paper "proctor sheet". 
    3. Instructors will only need to complete one Testing Agreement per course section each semester (not one for each student for every individual test, as it was prior to summer 2019) Testing Agreements can be copied for multiple sections of the same course.
    4. Includes the ability to add course coordinators as an additional or replacement instructor, providing flexibility for departments in how accommodation requests are managed in common courses.
    5. Includes an "Instructor Portal,” which allows faculty and course coordinators to see an overview of and process all received accommodation requests in a course without relying on e-mail.
    6. Includes an "exam upload" feature for Instructors to easily and securely submit exam materials. This new process meets all Winthrop University information security standards.
    7. Provides OA with a robust exam scheduling system for more efficient coordination and better service for the university community. 

 

USING AIM

OA and Faculty will use AIM throughout the interactive process. Please enter the AIM Instructor Portal to see an overview of all the students in your class who have requested their Letter of Accommodation (LOA). You will also have the ability to identify how many students receive a specific accommodation in your course(s). This can aid you in developing universally designed materials for the class that are accessible and usable by all. 

For students using the OA Test Center, faculty will need to complete an Alternative Testing Agreement and upload the exam prior to the student’s appointment. Appointments will not be finalized without both components.

 


 

AIM TUTORIAL DOCUMENTS

 

How to Complete an Alternative Testing Agreement (PDF-909KB)

How to Retrieve a Completed Test from AIM (PDF-920KB)

How to Upload a Test into AIM (PDF-649KB)

Instructor Portal: How to View Accommodations (PDF-1169KB)

 


 

AIM TUTORIAL VIDEOS

 

Instructor AIM  Portal – Alternative Testing (Part I) (Completing and Modifying an Alternate Testing Agreement)

    Greetings from the Office of Accessibility at Winthrop University. The Alternative Testing Part 1 tutorial will guide you through completing and, if necessary, modifying an Alternative Testing Agreement.
    There are several benefits to using AIM in testing. First, only one Alternative Testing Agreement per course section has to be completed. No longer are you required to fill out a form for every test that a student is taking at the OA Test Center. Once completed, the agreement can even be copied to other course sections! Also, you can easily view all the students who requested to use accommodations in one place.

    So, let’s begin the Alternative Testing Agreement process by logging into the Instructor AIM Portal (https://bachelor.accessiblelearning.com/Winthrop/Instructor). Your log in credentials are the same as you would use to access your Winthrop e-mail and Wingspan account.

    After logging in, read the reminders in the yellow box, then click the “Continue to View Student’s Accommodations” button. Proceed to the “Alternative Testing” link found on the left side under “Views and Tools”. In the “Specify Alternative Testing Agreement” box, click the drop down menu and select a class to complete your agreement for. Click the “Continue to Specify Testing Agreement” button. A series of questions will appear for you to answer. Please answer all questions completely or your agreement will not submit. If you require a final exam in whatever form, whether remote or in-person, we need that information. Several students receive “paper-based” testing accommodations due to the impact of screen time on their disability that necessitate Test Center proctoring for finals. We have the capability to remotely proctor students with this accommodation using Blackboard Collaborate. We can provide more information regarding our remote proctoring process upon request. Take full advantage of the text boxes to let us know what your students need. We particularly ask that you specify the calculator type, such as scientific calculator, and list if any calculator type is prohibited, such as the T I Inspire CAS. When you have finished the form, click the “Submit Alternative Testing Agreement” button.

    If you have multiple sections of the same course, you can even copy the agreement information from one section to another. To do this, first complete an Alternative Testing Agreement for one of your sections. Next, go back into the “Alternative Testing” tab on the left side. Find the “List Alternative Testing Agreement” box located directly below the “Specify Alternative Testing Agreement” box. Use the drop down box to select the class you have already completed the agreement for. Then, use the drop down box in the “Copy To”, line to select the class you want the agreement copied to and click the "Copy" button. This same section can also be used to modify an existing agreement. If you need to make a change, use the drop down menu in the “Select” line and then click the “View” box. This will allow you to update your answers.

    In the instance you need to change the directions for only one exam, for example only allowing calculator use on exam 2, click the “Alternative Testing” link and go to the yellow box “Step 1-Select Action”. Use the drop down menu to choose “Specify Exam Instructions”. Next, select the applicable students and test date in “Step 2-Select from the Following Courses”. Lastly, click “Confirm Your Selections” in the “Step 3-Confirmation” box. When directed to the open text box, please explain why the exam is different than what you put on the Alternative Testing Agreement. Then, click the “Submit Exam Instruction” button.

    As this video comes to a close, we would like to leave you with a couple of reminders. You must click the “Continue to Student Accommodations” button to acknowledge you have read the reminders each time you log into the Instructor AIM Portal. The options on the left side will not appear until you complete this step. Completely answer any questions that have a red astrix or your agreement will not submit. Before exiting your screen, scroll up and down to make sure no error messages are present.

    Thank you for viewing our tutorial. If you have questions, contact us via phone at 803/323-3290, option 3 OR e-mail us at: testcenter@winthrop.edu. We can even have a Zoom session with you to work out any issues together. Use our contact info to set up an appointment. Please view the Alternative Testing (Part 2) video to learn how to use AIM to upload tests and retrieve completed tests.

 

Instructor AIM Portal – Alternative Testing (Part II) (Uploading and Retrieving a Completed Test)

    Greetings from the Office of Accessibility at Winthrop University. This video is Part 2 of the Instructor AIM Portal – Alternative Testing tutorial. We will go over how to upload a test into AIM and how to retrieve a completed test.

    So, let’s begin by logging into the Instructor AIM Portal using the web address https://bachelor.accessiblelearning.com/Winthrop/Instructor. Your log in credentials are the same as you would use to access your Winthrop e-mail and Wingspan account.

    After logging into the Instructor AIM Portal, click the “Continue to Student Accommodations” button near the bottom of the screen to acknowledge you have read the reminders. Go to “Alternative Testing” on the left side, then select “Upload File to Exams” in the “Section 1-Select Action” box. Place a check mark in the box next to each applicable student and test date in the “Step 2-Select from the Following Courses” box. Then click “Confirm your Selections” in the “Step 3-Confirmation” box. This will take you to a new screen that will allow you to browse for the file you want to upload. Once you have selected the correct file, click the "Upload Exam" button.

    A message with a green check mark will appear at the top of the screen that says “Exam was successfully uploaded” if there were no issues. As the message states, only one file can be uploaded at a time and you will have to go through the file upload feature again to add additional items, such as a formula sheet. You can also verify a file was uploaded by going back into the “Alternative Testing” tab and scroll to “Step 2” and click “View Detail” by the student’s name to see if your exam is there and opens properly. You may also submit your test electronically as an attachment to: testcenter@winthrop.edu, but please note we would prefer tests to be uploaded to AIM due to enhanced security measures.

    With the Instructor AIM Portal, we can securely upload completed tests from students who have used the Test Center. AIM will automatically send you an e-mail to alert you when a completed test is available for retrieval. We recommend that you do not use the code that is provided with the initial e-mail since you only have a 20 minute window from the time the e-mail is sent to use that particular code. Instead, we suggest you go through the following steps to receive a new code. Log into the Instructor AIM Portal. Acknowledge you have read the reminders by clicking the “Continue to View Student Accommodations” button near the bottom of the screen. Choose “Alternative Testing” on the left side. Above the “Specify Alternative Testing Agreement” box on the top right side, there are three options. Select the “Completed Exam Files” option. Scroll near the bottom and select “View” in the row with the student’s name in the “Completed Exams” section. Once you click “View” it will send a code to your Winthrop e-mail account. Enter that code into the box and then click "Verify Code". The code is only good for 20 minutes, so it’s best to complete the process right away or you will have to go through the steps above again.

    Thank you for viewing our tutorial. If you have questions, contact us via phone at 803/323-3290, option 3 OR e-mail us at: testcenter@winthrop.edu. We can also offer live help by Zoom to work out any issues together. Use our contact info to set up an appointment. Please view the Alternative Testing (Part 1) video to learn how to complete and modify an Alternative Testing Agreement in AIM.