General Information
What is Ice Breaker?
Ice Breaker
(specifically, Ice Breaker Grading) is a product
created and distributed by IBDC. Ice Breaker Grading provides an intuitive
and easy to use Gradebook for instructors. Frustrated with trying to find
an education utility that was both powerful and simple, IBDC has created
their own in Ice Breaker Grading.
What
can Ice Breaker do?
Ice Breaker
Grading’s features include a flexible Gradebook;
unlimited students, teachers, and classes; competent weighting; a student
interface to view grades; remote access for instructors and students; web
grades for parents to view; ‘use at home’ options for instructors;
colorful graphics; and a very easy to use interface. For more specific
descriptions, including pictures, visit our features
page.
How
easy is Ice Breaker to use?
IBDC is confident that
Ice Breaker Grading is the gradebook program commanding the friendliest
learning curve on the market, while still remaining a powerful and useful
product. Designed with ease of use specifically in mind, Ice Breaker Grading
follows a logical layout of screens and options. Many gradebook programs provide
a single window with all available options spread about the screen. This form
of organization, while great for art programs or word processors, only fuels
confusion when used to setup a grade book. Ice Breaker Grading displays
only relevant options on each dialog. Windows are then opened in a
friendly and linear order. Visit the features
page to see some screen shots, or the download
page to try Ice Breaker out for free!
Can I use
Ice Breaker at home and at school?
Certainly! All
you have to do is install a copy of Ice Breaker on your home computer.
Since you can transfer your files between home and school, it will be easy
to keep up-to-date on your work.
How do my
students use Ice Breaker?
Students can use
Ice Breaker to check their grades in all their classes and, in Ice
Breaker Testing, to take tests interactively and see their grades immediately
afterward.
What if my
school doesn’t have a network?
Ice Breaker
will work perfectly fine as a stand-alone Gradebook application on a computer
that is not connected to a network. However, students will not be able to
remotely check their grades (other than through Ice Breaker Web Grades)
or take tests (in Ice Breaker Testing).
Purchasing IBDC Products
How can I
purchase Ice Breaker Grading?
Visit our online
store,
order the version you want, fill in the appropriate information and place
your order! It’s that easy.
Do I get
free upgrades?
You can download
free updates and patches of your version of Ice Breaker from our website;
however, these updates will only work for your version of Ice Breaker
(i.e. if you own Ice Breaker Grading and you download an upgrade for
Ice Breaker Testing, you will not be able to use it).
Can I try
it out before I buy it?
Certainly! Visit
our downloads
page and get a free trial version today.
If my school/district
already owns Ice Breaker, do I still have to buy it?
No. When your school
or district bought Ice Breaker, the License they agreed to covered
all schools and teachers under their jurisdiction. Simply contact the appropriate
school or district administrator and ask to use their Ice Breaker installation
disk, if they have not contacted you already.
How about
if I want to use it at home?
If you bought Ice
Breaker as an individual, you can create a copy of Ice Breaker
to use on your home computer in addition to the copy installed in your classroom.
If you bought Ice Breaker as a school or district, then all teachers
at your school or in your district can make copies for use at home.
Troubleshooting
Why can’t
I install Ice Breaker on the network drive?
If you are a teacher,
make sure you have logged on to your school’s network under you login
ID and that your administrative privileges cover the installation of new software
to the network. Without this privilege, you will be unable to install any
programs to the network drive.
Why does
Ice Breaker quit when I add students/teachers?
If you installed
Ice Breaker to a network drive, the computer you are working on may
not have the required access to the network drive. Make sure that the network
drive is shared with full read/write access; otherwise, Ice Breaker
will be unable to save any data (students, teachers, classes or tests).
Why does
Ice Breaker quit when I make changes to my Gradebook?
Ice Breaker,
like any software program, is prone to error. If Ice Breaker has been
running for a long time, small errors can accumulate and force the program
to close (similar to the way computer operating systems occasionally crash
even though you’ve done nothing wrong). The good news is, these errors
happen only infrequently and all data that you have saved will still be secure.
Some warning signs of accumulating errors are discolored cells in the middle
of your Gradebook and listboxes showing up empty. It is recommended that you
exit completely out of Ice Breaker and restart the program to clear
away these annoyances and ensure that the program will act properly. If, on
the other hand, you notice these errors appearing in a predictable manner
(i.e. “It always happens after I do this . . . ”), please let
us know.
I removed
students at home; why are they still there when I bring my data back?
Ice Breaker
was designed with data security in mind. Since any number of teachers can
use Ice Breaker (and thus share student information), we keep “old”
students in the Ice Breaker list until they are deleted from a computer
at the school, rather than a home or other remote computer.
Why do I
get errors when I load my data from a disk?
If more than one
teacher is using the same backup disk, overwrite errors can occur (i.e. the
data saved by one teacher gets overwritten by another). In order to prevent
this, all teachers must use separate disks to ensure data integrity.
If you are certain that you are the only person using this disk, then either
the data was not saved correctly to the disk (simply resaving the data should
remedy this problem), the disk itself has become corrupt (in which case you
need a new disk), or the data saved to the disk was corrupt.
Why can’t
parents access their childrens’ grades over the Web?
Most likely, Ice
Breaker Web Grades has not been set up properly. To activate Ice Breaker
Web Grades, simply add the following link to your school’s Web page:
<a
href="Directory\IceBreaker.html">Ice
Breaker Web Grades</a>
where “Directory\”
is the pathname of IceBreaker.html. Alternatively, if you do not
feel confident messing with the guts of html, contact a person involved in
maintaining the school’s web site and politely ask them to add it for
you. The web page that you should link to is called IceBreaker.html
and is located in the same folder as IceBreaker.exe (if you do
not know where Ice Breaker was installed at, simply search for IceBreaker.html).
You may also replace “Ice Breaker Web Grades” with any text you
choose. This is the text that will represent the link.
Why doesn’t
my version of Ice Breaker support Testing?
There are currently
two versions of Ice Breaker: Ice Breaker Grading and Ice
Breaker Testing. Ice Breaker Grading is the “basic” application
which helps you to add students to Ice Breaker, create classes and
gradebooks, put students’ grades online, along with many other features.
Ice Breaker Testing will include all that as well as online test creation,
editing and administration. To upgrade to Ice Breaker Testing, visit
our store.
Why won’t
Ice Breaker work on my Windows NT/2000/Macintosh computer?
Ice Breaker
does not currently support these operating systems, and is not likely to in
the near future. IBDC is currently concerned with improving and advancing
our current and upcoming products. If you think our improvements should include
revamping our software to support these systems, or if you have ideas for
features you’d like to see in a new release of Ice Breaker, please
let
us know.
Why don’t
the shortcuts to my networked version of Ice Breaker work?
If you created
a shortcut when you first installed Ice Breaker and then just copy-and-pasted
it to the computer you are working on, the pathname to Ice Breaker
will be incorrect. To create a correct shortcut to Ice Breaker, go
to the computer you will be using it on, go to the directory where it was
installed, right click the file IceBreaker.exe and select “Create
Shortcut” from the options listed.
What should
I do if I find a problem that isn’t listed here?
Tell us
about it! IBDC is committed to the support and continued improvement of our
products; our goal is to help teachers and educators do their jobs as best they
can. If you have concerns about a problem you’ve experienced, or if you
have ideas for added improvements and features for Ice Breaker, tell
us about it.
How Do I . . .
How do I
install Ice Breaker?
You should check
the ReadMe
that came with your particular version of Ice Breaker first, but in general
what you should do is:
- Determine which network drive
is viewable by all computers at your school (if you are installing Ice
Breaker to a network).
- Make sure the drive is shared
with full read/write access for all instructor computers.
- Start the setup program on
the CD you purchased and go through the on-screen instructions.
- Run the program and make sure
it installed correctly.
- Add shortcuts to the appropriate
computers.
How do I
install an upgrade/patch?
You should check
the ReadMe
that came with the particular upgrade you purchased or the patch you downloaded
first, but in general what you should do is:
- Find where the old version
of Ice Breaker was installed to.
- Move the file IceBreaker.exe
into a temporary directory as a backup (as a precaution against a faulty
download or an unsuccessful installation).
- Start the setup program (found
either on the CD you got or the file you downloaded) and follow the onscreen
directions.
- Run the program and make sure
it installed correctly.
As long as you follow these general
instructions, all of the data you already have in Ice Breaker will
remain secure and untouched.
How do I
start using Ice Breaker?
The very first
time you install Ice Breaker, you will need to add yourself as an instructor
to the program. To do this, start up Ice Breaker and click the “New
to Ice Breaker” button. After selecting “New Instructor” from
the next screen, you will be able to add yourself to Ice Breaker. Should
you need more specific instructions, consult the ReadMe
that came with your copy of Ice Breaker.
How do I
add a student?
To add a student
to Ice Breaker, login and click “Students” on the main menu.
Click “Add” and fill in the appropriate information.
How do I
make a class?
To create a class
in Ice Breaker, login and click “Classes” on the main menu.
Click “New” and fill in the appropriate information. Once you have
created your class, you can add students to it from the main list of Ice
Breaker students by clicking on the “Add” button below the listbox
labeled “Students currently in Class” or add assignments by clicking
on the “Add” button below the listbox labeled “Assignments
in Gradebook”.
How do I
let students check their grades?
All you need to
do to let students check their grades in Ice Breaker is create a class
and give them a grade in it. There — you’re done! All they have
to do is log in and click the “View Grades” button.
How do I
let parents check their childrens’ grades?
All you have to
do is add a link to Ice Breaker Web Grades on your school’s web
site. To do this, consult the ReadMe
that came with your copy of Ice Breaker.
How do I
upgrade to Testing?
Just visit our
store,
click on Ice Breaker Testing and get it like you would any other product
online.
IBDC
What is IBDC’s
Privacy Policy?
IBDC does
not redistribute any information you might give us on your visit to
your site. To learn more about the Privacy Policy of Yahoo!, which hosts this
site, go here.
What is IBDC’s
Shipping Policy?
All of IBDC’s
products are shipped through USPS First Class Mail.
What is IBDC’s
Return Policy?
IBDC will
gladly refund or replace your copy of Ice Breaker should it prove physically
defective in any way, including shipping charges. Simply notify us ahead of
time and return the defective product to the address we will provide you.
What is IBDC
working on now?
At the time of
this writing, IBDC is currently putting the final touches on Ice Breaker
Testing. Next on the horizon is a client/server version of Ice Breaker
which will add more easy-to-use features to Ice Breaker as well as
improving on our already streamlined interface.
How do I contact
IBDC?
Go here
to send us your comments, ask us questions, notify us of problems or anything
else. Your feedback is always welcome.
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© 2001 IBDC. All rights reserved.
