Module 1 – Creating a welcoming course for students This guide is for staff managing or delivering a course in Learn. It looks at how to make your course welcoming to students by adding a welcome message, course information and details of how and when course staff can be contacted. It is the first in a series of three introductory modules, and covers:

1. Course Structure1.1 Overview of the course structure and left-hand menu1.2 Building a left hand menu structure1.3 The ‘Tips for Staff’ contextual help tool

2. Welcome2.1 Welcome and Learning Outcomes

3. Course Information3.1 Course Outline3.2 Timetable3.3 Course Handbooks3.4 Course Contacts

Learn FoundationsTo enhance students’ use of the Learn VLE (virtual learning environment), the University is investing in improvements over the next few years that will make it easier for students to find course specific materials and ensure Learn is used more consistently across the University. These improvements are being delivered through a multi-year service improvement programme called Learn Foundations. The Learn Foundations project is introducing minimum standards to Learn through the application of a new structure and more consistent terminology that will make it easier for students to access resources as well as offering training and support to academic colleagues in how to use Learn effectively. These improvements will enable Edinburgh to address accessibility issues and promote positive equality and diversity. The new structure is being offered to all Schools over a three-year period, with around one third of Schools adopting the new structure for the start of teaching 2019/20.

Digital skills training – making the most of Learn

If your School is adopting the new Learn Foundations structure for Semester 1, you can use the guidelines here to edit items. If you have not adopted the new structure, you can still follow these guidelines to incorporate good practice in your course. The aim is to support all users of Learn with training and resources that can be tailored according to need and enhance the use of Learn.

If you require this document in an alternative format, such as large print or a coloured background, please phone Paul Smyth (Learning Technology Advisor)

on 0131 651 1261 or email LearnFoundations@ed.ac.uk

July 2019

Building a course that works well for studentsA course should challenge learners; however, this challenge should lie in the learning process where knowledge and skill sets expand, not in the access to that learning.

Learn needs to be used consistently to support student learning and meet student expectations. The wide range of disciplines taught at Edinburgh means that flexibility is also required and that staff may wish to tailor their use of Learn to their own pedagogical approach. The structure aims to increase consistency without being too prescriptive.

The structure establishes clear expectations for students on where to find learning materials, assessment information, help and support, and enables students to focus on learning rather than looking for information. For staff the structure means reduced time spent setting up courses and creating content areas, and deciding where to upload materials and how to draw them to students’ attention.

1.Course Structure1.1 Overview of the course structure and left-hand

menuThe left-hand menu is split into three sections, each containing three content areas:

Course Administration:Contains Welcome, Course Information and Announcements

Learning and Teaching: Contains Course Materials, Resource list and Assessment

Help and Support: Contains Course Contacts, Have Your Say and Help and Support

The new structure has been designed after extensive usability testing with students and staff. To retain consistency in terminology across courses, the left-hand menu item names should not be changed. When adding items to your course, we recommend that you add them within an existing content area to keep the left menu standardised.

This guide shows you how to set up the Course Administration section, focusing on content in the Welcome and Course Information areas.

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1.2 Building a left hand menu structureIf your course does not have the structure applied and you are starting with an empty course, you can build your course as follows.

Tip: Check Edit Mode is ON to ensure all of the edit options are available. This is found in the top right area of the window.

The student preview tool, located beside Edit Mode, allows an instructor to view a course as a student would. This can be useful to check settings such as adaptive release and making content unavailable. There is also a link to make the course unavailable to students.

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How to build a left hand menu structureContent Areas are used to organise content such as folders, items and files. Tool links create a link to specific Learn tools such as course contacts, announcements and discussion boards.

Add new content areas: 1. Click on the Add symbol in the top left of the menu area, Select Content Area2. Name the content area Welcome 3. Tick the Available to users box to make the item instantly visible on the course menu4. Click on Submit (a grey square indicates that the content area is empty)5. Now add a content area for Course Information and Course Materials

Add tool links:1. Click on the Add symbol in the top left of the menu area, Select Tool link2. Name the content area Announcements3. Select Announcements from the drop-down list, 4. Tick the Available to users box to make the item instantly visible on the course menu5. Click on Submit6. Now add a tool link for Course Contacts

Add dividers:1. Click on the Add symbol in the top left of the menu area2. Select Divider and a divider line will appear at the bottom of the course menu3. Hover over the left side of the divider line and when the 4-head cross appears, drag the

line up until it is just below Announcements4. Add another Divider under Course Materials

1.3 The ‘Tips for Staff’ contextual help toolThe structure contains contextual help panels to provide support to staff. These are visible at the top of each content area, but only when edit mode is on. Students cannot see them, and they can be hidden from your own view when they are no longer required.

2.Welcome The first area of the left-hand menu covered in this guide is the Welcome area.

The Welcome area includes a content area containing a content item called Welcome and Learning Outcomes. A personal overview of the course should be added here as text or a video. An introduction to the teaching staff with a biography, photo or video message should also be included.

2.1 Welcome and Learning Outcomes

If you have the structure applied then an automated welcome message pulls in the user’s name and course name and should not be edited. If it is deleted or edited by mistake, or if you do not have the structure applied, then the text can be recovered using the instructions in ‘How to add a Welcome and Learning Outcomes content item’ on the next page.

A line to indicate where course level editing should begin has been included to avoid deletion of the automated message: [//Remove this line and edit any text below//]

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How to minimise Tips for Staff

1. The tips can be minimised: Select the arrow in the top right of the section. 2. They can also be deleted: Select the item’s menu, the select Delete from the menu.

We advise that you do not delete the tips as they may be required by someone else working on your course.

If you copy and paste from Word or a website, you will inadvertently bring in a lot of formatting information which can mix the font and font sizes. The best way to avoid this is to copy your text into Notebook, and then into Learn which will strip out everything but the plain text.

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How to add a Welcome and Learning Outcomes content item

1. Go to the Welcome content area2. Click on Build content from the top tab, then click on Item3. In the Name box, type Welcome and Learning Outcomes 4. In the Text box, type

Welcome to @X@course.course_name@X@

Hello @X@user.full_name@X@, we are pleased to welcome you to the @X@course.course_name@X@ module.

5. On the next line type ‘Learning Outcomes’, then highlight the text and make it Bold6. Keep this window open to add the Learning Outcomes.

Learning Outcomes, as defined in DRPS, should be added if they have not been pre-populated. Learning Outcomes can be copied from DRPS to a text editor, so as to remove formatting, and then pasted from the editor into Learn.

How to copy the Learning Outcomes from DRPS to a plain text editor

1. Open a course in DRPS2. Scroll down to the Learning Outcomes section

3. Highlight and copy all the text in the Learning Outcomes section (use Ctrl c to copy)4. Paste (use Ctrl v to paste) the copied text into a plain text editor:

a. On a PC you will have Notepad installed (search for it using the Start menu)b. On a Mac you will have TextEdit in your Applications/Utilities folder. You can use

'Spotlight' (the magnifying glass icon at the top right of the screen) to search for it if you prefer. When you open TextEdit make sure you select Format > Make Plain Text from the menu before you proceed.

Note: This process may remove/alter the automatic numbering from the list of Learning Outcomes. These will need to be fixed after they are copied into Learn.

You will come back to the plain text editor in the next steps to copy the text from here.

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How to copy the Learning Outcome from the plain text editor into Learn

The text in the plain text editor will not have any HTML formatting so we can copy and paste it from there to Learn.

1. Go to the Welcome section from the left hand menu2. Click on the dropdown menu next to the Welcome and Learning Outcomes item title3. Select Edit

4. The editor pane can be made full screen by clicking on the Full Screen icon on the top right. Click on the same icon to return to the reduced view.

5. Go to the text editor, highlight and use Ctrl c to copy the text6. Go to the learn editor pane, use Ctrl v to paste the text under Learning Outcomes7. If the numbering is lost, you will need to reinstate this by highlighting the text to be

numbered and click the Numbered List icon on the toolbar

8. Click on Submit

3.Course InformationThe second area of the left-hand menu covered in this guide is the Course Information area.

The Course Information area includes a content item called Course Outline which contains the course description, as defined in EUCLID, and links to timetable information.

3.1 Course OutlineThe course outline including the course description, as defined in DRPS (Degree Regulations and Programmes of Study), should be added here if the course has not been pre-populated. Although the information may already exist in a course handbook, it can take students a long time to find specific information there especially if they are using mobile devices. Pulling out the most-used information to the Course Outline area will make it easier for students to find, and create a more positive student experience. Providing guidance and information on workload and expectations can help students to prioritise effectively.

The Accessible and Inclusive Learning Policy that seeks to increase the accessibility and inclusivity of learning and teaching for all students can be found on the Institute for Academic Development webpages and states that a course outline should:

Indicate the broad content of the course and outcomes Tell students the course’s methods of assessment: e.g. essay, exam, group project Indicate the core texts: those which they are expected to read Make it clear that there will be more information to follow: you should indicate what

information will be provided, when and how.

Link to policy: https://www.ed.ac.uk/files/atoms/files/accessible_and_inclusive_learning_policy.pdf

Please follow the guidelines outlined within this policy.

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How to add the Course Outline content item

1. Go to the Course Information content area2. Click on Build content from the top tab, then click on Item3. In the Name box, type Course Outline 4. In the Text box add the Course Description from DRPS (follow the same steps as for

copying Learning Outcomes)5. Click on Submit

3.2 Timetable

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How to add the Timetable informationHyperlinks should be embedded using descriptive text which describes the target of the link. Assistive technology can easily pull up all the links on a page which can help users quickly find what they are looking for.

1. In Course Information, create an item with the name Timetable and add text as below:

If you are looking for your class times for this course, these can be found via your University of Edinburgh calendar (links provided below):

View your calendar in Office 365 Information about Student Timetables

2. Highlight View your calendar in Office 365 and click on the Insert/Edit Link icon

3. A pop up window then opens. Enter the full URL to Office365 (as below) into the Link Path field:

https://login.microsoftonline.com/login.srf

4. In the Target field select Open in New Window5. In the Title field enter View your calandar in Office 3656. Click on Insert

7. Highlight Information about Student Timetables and click on the Insert/Edit Link icon8. A pop up window then opens, enter the full URL to Timetabling (as below) into the Link

Path field:

https://www.ed.ac.uk/timetabling-examinations/timetabling/personalised-timetables/student-timetables

9. In the Target field select Open in New Window10. Click on Insert

3.3 Course Handbooks

If a course handbook is used it can be uploaded here. The file should first be checked to ensure it is accessible (See How to use accessibility checkers below).

Good practice: Add content as an ‘item’ and then insert a file to it as this allows for alternative text (‘alt text’) to be added. Alt text defines what this file is, and is particularly helpful for a visually impaired or blind user using assistive technology such as screen readers.

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How to upload a file to Learn

1. All content uploaded to the VLE must be accessible so before uploading a file, check that it is accessible (see ‘How to use accessibility checkers’ guidance on the following pages).

2. Select Build Content, then Select Item.3. Select Insert File from the formatting toolbar on the editor.

4. Use the Browse options to attach the file.5. Give the link to the file a meaningful name.6. Add alternative text to describe the purpose of the file.7. Select Submit when finished.

3.3.1 How to use accessibility checkers

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AnnouncementsYou can send time critical information via the announcement tool to your students. You can also set an expiry date for messages that are only relevant for a limited period of time. You can also pre-write and schedule your announcements, and use them year on year if you wish.Announcements can be emailed to students as a further method of capturing their attentionYou can add files to announcements and also add internal links by browsing to the folder you want to link to.

Announcements for:

Time specific information Important information that is not only sent out to students, but also is displayed on the

homepage of the Learn course Directing students to a specific part of the site or section of materials to focus their

learning

Email could be used for general information, welcoming to the course and contacting specific users or groups

How to use SensusAccess

SensusAccess is a self-service solution that enables you to convert electronic documents into a range of alternate formats including audio books (MP3 and DAISY), e-books (EPUB, EPUB3 and Mobi) and digital Braille. Less accessible documents such as image only PDF files, PowerPoint Presentations and JPEG pictures can also be converted into more accessible formats.

More information on SensusAccess can be found by searching the University’s webpages, or using the link below to the Student Disability Service webpages under Supporting students > Accessible technology.

https://www.ed.ac.uk/student-disability-service/staff/supporting-students/accessible-technology

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How to use accessibility checkers: Microsoft Word and PowerPoint

The Microsoft accessibility checker (available in 2013 and later versions) scans the document and opens the Accessibility Checker task pane which shows ‘Errors’, ‘Warnings’ and ‘Tips’ about the document content that may be problematic for users with disabilities.

1. Select the File tab2. In the info section, select the Check for Issues drop down3. Select Check Accessibility to launch the task pane

4. A list of errors and warnings may appear5. Select an item in the list to see what to fix and how to fix it6. Select the X in the upper right corner when finished

For more about making documents accessible see the link at the bottom of the accessibility pane.

3.4 Course Contacts Adding course contacts can make it quicker for students to find who to contact with course specific questions. Information about office hours, phone numbers and links to professional background pages can be added, and you can include when to expect a reply to emails to manage student expectations.

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How to use accessibility checkers: Adobe Acrobat Pro

Acrobat Pro provides tools to ‘Make PDFs accessible’ and to ‘Check accessibility’ of documents (available in 2017, DC and later versions).

The ‘Make PDFs accessible’ action walks you through the steps required to make a PDF accessible. It prompts you to address accessibility issues such as a missing document description or title. It looks for common elements that need further action such as scanned text, form fields, tables, and images. You can run this action on all PDFs except dynamic forms (XFA documents) or portfolios.

1. Choose Tools > Action Wizard.2. From the Action List, click Make Accessible.3. The right-hand pane changes to display each task included in the Make Accessible action,

as well as the instructions to execute the action.4. Select the files that you want to apply the Make Accessible action to. Select Add Files to

select additional files or a folder to run the action on.

Image-only PDF

A document that contains non-text content is not accessible. If the document appears to contain text, but doesn't contain fonts, it could be an image-only PDF file. Use optical character recognition (OCR) to recognize text in scanned images.

1. In Acrobat Pro, Select Tools > Enhance Scans.2. In the secondary toolbar, choose Recognize Text > In This File.3. Select the pages you want to process and select Recognize Text.

Tagged PDF

If this rule check fails, the document isn't tagged to specify the correct reading order.

1. Select Tagged PDF on the Accessibility Checker panel, and then choose Fix from the Options menu. Acrobat automatically adds tags to the PDF.

Adobe have online guides with further information on accessible PDFs - search the Adobe support pages for ‘Accessibility’.

3.4.1 How to resize an imageHow to resize an image

There are various free tools to resize images. A simple tool is to use Paint which can be found on all Windows computers. To resize a photo in Paint:

1. Right click on the image and select Open with, then Select Paint.2. If the image is not square then use the crop tool to crop it to square:

a. From Select choose Rectangular Selection from the drop-down menu.b. Drag a square over the image area to be kept, select Crop.

3. Select Resize, Select Pixels, set horizontal and vertical to 150 x 150.

4. Ensure Maintain aspect ratio is not selected.

5. Set the dimensions to 150 x 1506. Select OK to save as a new photo to

upload to your profile.7. If you would like to add a Personal Link,

type the URL for a contact's home page.8. Select Submit.

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How to create or edit a contact

1. On the left menu, select Course Contacts. 2. To edit an existing contact, access the item’s menu, select Edit from the menu.3. To create a new contact, select Create Contact, and add the Profile Information. The

Office Location, Office Hours, and Notes fields have a 255-character limit.4. Select Yes to make the profile available to students. If you select No, none of the

information provided as part of that Contact item appears to students.5. Select Browse to search for an image to attach to the profile (optional). This image is

included next to the profile on the Contacts page. The image size must be 150 x 150 pixels (See How to resize an image below).

6. If you would like to add a Personal Link, type the URL for a contact's home page. Note that this must include the http:// or https:// portion of the URL

7. Select Submit.