New and Changed Functionality in Learning Central

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Click that to add the event – it will appear in your students .... that you discuss with them before changing the them
New and Changed Functionality in Learning Central Notifications and Global navigation This feature brings together any and all alerts active on your account so that they can be seen and acted upon from a single location. It’s found in the top right hand corner of the screen and should contain your name (if it doesn’t you are probably accidentally logged into someone else’s account – log out and back in again). The number displayed (33 in the image above) indicates the number of notifications you have. Click your name to open the Global Navigation menu.

Navigation This will give you access to your modules; those you have recently visited are at the top and the other below. Click any of these to go to the module. You can change to organisations, or access the settings menu using the same panel. The settings menu will allow to change many things about your profile, including what notifications you receive. For more detail, see next page.

Notifications Notifications are displayed on the black, left hand panel. They come from a huge range of sources, from submitted surveys to alerts that your students have missed deadlines or haven’t logged in at all. Overview: This launches a full page view of the calendar tool and of any recent posts made in any of your modules Posts: Alerts you to any new posts that have been made in your modules’ discussion boards Updates: The updates page has a wide variety of updates about other activity in your modules. It is here that information about completed surveys, missed deadlines, new blog posts, newly available modules, announcements or wikis that require

grading is displayed. You will probably see a lot of updates here. Individual updates can be dismissed or opened. Dismissing it removes the update from view, and open takes you to the item in question In the top right, a cog icon allows you filter the types of updates you can see. Click ‘Save’ at the bottom to see your changes Retention Centre: The Retention Centre is designed to highlight students who might be struggling. Early identification and intervention may help them stay on their programme and improve student retention. It is based on a series of simple rules that can be customised. However, it will be more or less useful for identifying at risk students depending on the module, how it is used, and of course the student themselves. The retention alert settings can be modified in the module. More detail later in this document. Calendar: Displays any events added to the module calendar. This does not include any events in your other calendars, but the Learning Central calendar can now be exported to other calendars. This is explained more fully later.

Changing your notifications Open the Global Navigation menu, and then select Settings, the ‘Edit Notification settings’. This will open a page that will allow you to change some general settings, some specific settings for specific modules, or specific settings for all modules/organisations. Click the link for the area you want to alter, and then select/deselect the notification items you wish to change, and their mode of delivery. Once complete, click ‘Submit’.

The Retention Centre This works on a module by module basis and you will need to go to the module you wish see the data for. Once there, open the Control Panel, then Evaluation, and finally ‘Retention Centre’. Clicking this will display all the information in the Retention Centre. The main part shows a list of students, and the four criteria used to assess risk. Coloured dots are used to denote risk factors:

You can click these dots (or student name) for each student to receive more information, or to monitor them more closely. You can also communicate with them via the Notify button. The rules that govern these columns can be altered. In the top right hand corner, click the ‘Customise’ button. From here you can edit the existing rules by click the down arrow by the rule and selecting ‘Edit’. You can also exclude them from the analysis. Add new rules via the Create Rule button.

Quicklinks Quicklinks are a simple and accessible way to navigate around the site. In the top left of every screen, you’ll find a small icon with some chain links. Clicking this will open a window that displays all the links and navigation options on the page.

Logging Out It is important to log out after each Learning Central session to prevent anyone else getting access to your account. The log out button is now located in the top right of the screen and looks like the power on/off button you will find on many electronic devices.

Calendar The calendar in Learning Central is now much more useful. Previously it only existed in Learning Central, so you had to go there to see what was in it. This version can be exported in the standard iCal format, so it can be imported into your other calendars, making it available with your email or on your mobile devices. The Calendar can be accessed via the Global Navigation menu, or the Tool panel on the left of the home page. Each of the modules you are involved with will have colour coded entries in the diary. You can turn which you see on and off using the panel on the left, as well as later the level of detail and time period shown. Simply untick the relevant boxes to remove those from the calendar. You can add events to the calendar from modules you are teaching by going to that module, to the control panel, to module tools and then ‘Module Calendar’. In the top right hand corner there is a plus sign. Click that to add the event – it will appear in your students calendars. You can add events from the Calendar tool you accessed via the Global Navigation menu, but these will only appear in your own calendar.

Exporting you calendar Underneath the colour coded list of calendars, locate the export button and click it. You will get a long URL that you should copy (using Ctrl + C or right-click then clicking copy). This link can then be used to import the calendar into others. In Lotus Notes, the process is File > Import > Change the ‘Types of File’ to Calendar Format > Paste your link in > Click Import In Gmail, open Gmail, open the calendar > Other Calendars > Import Calendar > Choose file > Paste the link in > Click Open

Please note that this is a static data import; new events will not be automatically added to your calendar.

Changes in you modules Announcements Previously, most modules use the Announcements page as the home page. This page has been removed and amalgamated with other useful information, so that it all appears together on the new ‘Home’ page This means that you may have to use a different method to create and manage announcements. In order to access the Announcements tool now, go to the module, then to the Control Panel, then to Module Tools, and finally Announcements. From here you can create and manage announcements as previously.

Home The Home page is a portlet page that brings together information in your module so that it is accessible in a single location. It is also where announcements now appear. Changes to you make to the page will apply to all your students. You can add new portlets to the page, click the ‘Add Module Portlet’ in the top left to see the list of available portlets. The position of the portlets can be changed by placing your mouse cursor in the title bar and dragging the individual portlets around the page.

Content, Structure and Templates This year, module content has not been rolled forward to the new modules. This decision, agreed by the PVC for Student Experience and Academic Standards, has two purposes. The first is to allow a removal of the large amounts of legacy material that affects system performance and user experience. This also provides an opportunity to review and update learning content. The second reason is to allow the implementation of module templates that will provide a more consistent experience for students. You can copy material from your previous year’s modules simply. There is a guide on how to do this available here: Copying content items between modules. It is also possible to copy sections or tools of the module. This is useful for for copying things like tests across. Copied tests will need to be reactivated in the module. It is also

possible to copy whole content areas in this way, as well as settings. Do be aware that this will affect the template your school has created. Copying all or part of a module

Learning Central assessment features You can now give special rules or exemptions for students in tests. For example you can give individuals or groups additional time or more attempts. Another new feature give you more control over what feedback is given and when. Specifics are contained in this document: Creating tests in Learning Central

Inline assignment marking A new feature is the ability to add feedback to student work electronically, so that you add the feedback to their work through the Learning Central interface. Students can then collect their feedback and grades through the same method. This functionality is similar to the existing Grademark tool, but with some advantages (and disadvantages. A guide to using this tool is available: Inline assignment marking.

Rubrics or marking grids Although not a new feature, you may not be aware you can create and use rubrics/marking grids in Learning Central for student work. These can be useful for students in pinpointing where they did well or poorly in their assessments. Rubric guide

General Interface advice Between module navigation One very useful feature is a quick way to switch between modules you are teaching. Instead of having to return to the home page, you can now move to a new module from the current one.

In the top left, click the house icon to open the list. You can pick from modules you have recently visited, and below, other modules you have access to.

In addition, if you are in a tool (e.g. Grade Centre, discussion board etc.) in the current module, you’ll be taken to the same tool in the new module. If you navigate to a new module while in a content area, you’ll be taken to the module entry page.

Theme choice Learning Central comes with a selection of themes for your module, which change the colour scheme for everyone using the module. With the edit mode on, there is a colour chart segment in the top right of your screen. Click it to open the available themes.

The theme you chose will be seen by everyone else using the module, staff and students alike. Your colleagues can also change the theme themselves. It is important, therefore, that you discuss with them before changing the theme, and also checking with your School in general to see if there is a policy for consistency in themes.

You should also only use themes that do not cause problems for students with accessibility issues. Good contrast between text and background will help students with dyslexia. It is not currently possible to create your own themes.

Edit mode/student view As an instructor, you can turn switch the edit mode off, giving you an effective ‘student’s eye view’ of your module. This is useful for determining not only the visual aspect of content, but whether they can see course menu items or things you have hidden. If you find that you cannot interact with the menus and things you usually do don’t work, it is probable that you have turned edit mode off and forgotten to turn it back on again.

The edit mode switch is located in the top right hand corner of your screen. Click the ‘ON’ button to turn the edit mode off & enter student view. When it is turned off, click the ‘OFF’ button to turn it back on. As a member of staff, you will be able to see the control panel no matter which mode you are in.

When you are using the student view mode, be aware that for the purposes of adaptive release rules, it is not possible to assign group memberships or scores to yourself. Therefore you will not be able to check the visibility of items that rely on members or Grade Centre scores.

Course Menu Opening & closing the Course Menu. The Course menu & control panel are visible by default, but it is possible to hide them from view. If this panel is closed, all you will see will be the module content. To reopen the course menu & control panels, click the think grey strip at the left of the screen.

To close it again, click the same strip, which is now located between the content panels and the course menu.

Collapsing and expanding the course menu. If you want to hide all the items in the course menu, or expand the menu having collapsed it, use the arrow at the top left of the course menu.

Working with course menu items The course menu items are the links that go to your tools and content. Once created (covered later) you can move, rename, delete or hide them. Move your mouse over the item to reveal the options. The double-headed arrow on the left allows you move the item. Move your mouse over the arrow, click and hold. You can drag the item up and down the list. The single down arrow opens a menu, with option to rename the link, hide the link or delete the link. Click on these to use them

IMPORTANT Deleting the link will also remove the content of the link. You will receive a warning, but if you click OK, what you delete is not recoverable. Instead, consider hiding the link until you are sure you there is nothing in it you wish to retain

Some item types will have different options: External link types allow you to set a course menu item to open another site, and feature an option to open the site in a new window, rather than the main panel. Generally this is a good idea. Module link types allow you to change the location they are linking to

Course menu item icons There are two icons that may be displayed in the menu. The first is a dashed line box (top). This indicates that there is no content in it. Students are not shown links where there is no content. The second is a box with a dash through it, which indicates that you have not made it visible to students. Therefore they will not see the link.

Adding new items to the course menu Click the ‘+’ icon in the top left to open the Creation menu. Various new areas can be created from here. Click the relevant item to create it.

Content areas are the ‘normal’ areas, to be populated with quizzes, documents, links to journals, videos and whatever other rich learning content you provide. Portlet pages allow you to build pages filled with tools or gadgets for your students, for example links to calculators, thesaurus or alerts

Blank pages allow you to write whatever long text you would like, and add attachments.

Tool link allows you to link to some of the tools from the course menu. Such tools include blogs & wikis, grades, podcasts and much else. Links to ‘Announcements’ are an example of a tool link. Some of these tools can also be created as content items in a content area, and you may find they function differently when linked as a tool from the course menu.

External links link to sites outside of Learning Central - journals, news stories or professional body websites, for example. You will need to enter the full address, including any http:// etc parts. It’s good idea to copy and paste these for accuracy.

Module links link to other places in a module. For example you could link to a specific document or assignment from here. Clicking Browse will open a map of your module, allowing you to locate the resource you wish to link to

Subheaders and dividers give you the chance to better organise your course menu. Once created, they can be moved to the correct position in the same way as other links.

Changing the course menu view

It is possible to change how the course menu appears.

The first icon, 4 horizontal lines, is the standard ‘list’ interface.

The second, folder shaped icon, shows a hierarchical structure, and is useful for finding things in large modules.

The third, squares overlapping, open the course menu in a new window

The fourth refreshes the course menu

The fifth, with opposing arrows, is a menu for re-ordering the course menu if the drag and drop method does not work for you.

Module entry page The house icon on the right will take you to the entry page for you module. This can be altered in Customisation in the Control Panel