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GuideforUsers–EducateTogetheronlinecoursesNovember2011

TechnicalRequirements 2

Loggingonforthefirsttime 3

ProfilePage 4

HomePage 5

Startingyourcourse 6

Forums 8

Wehopethisuserguidewillhelpyoutogetthemostoutofyourcourse.Ifthereisinformationyoucan'tfindhere,pleasecontactusatinfo@educatetogether.ie.

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TechnicalRequirementsWehavedesignedourcoursessothattheyareeasytonavigate,evenforpeoplewithlimitedexperienceinusingcomputersandtheinternet,andbasicequipment.ToaccessallofthecontentinEducateTogetheronlinecoursesyouwillneed:• BroadbandConnectiontotheinternet• Anup‐to‐dateinternetbrowser(FirefoxworksbestwithMoodle,butInternetExplorer,

ChromeorSafarishouldalsobefine)• AdobeReader• AdobeFlashPlayer(Version9orlater)• WindowsMediaPlayer/Quicktime/VLCplayerforviewingvideocontent• AccesstoYouTubeandotherinternetsites• Speakers(EitherBuilt‐intoyourPC/MACorexternalonesthathavebeenpluggedin)*To

testifyouhavebuilt‐inspeakers,playapieceofmusiconyourcomputer.Ifyouhavenomusiconyourcomputeralready,trythiswebsitehttp://www.live365.com/stations/john262?site=webandclickplayinthelefthandcolumn.Ifthisdoesn’tworkwithinaminutethenyouprobablydon’thaveinbuiltspeakersandwillneedtogetsome.(NB:Doublecheckthatyourvolumeisturnedup!)

• Headphones(theseareoptionaltoimprovetheclarityoftheaudioitems)• MicrosoftWord(orothersimilarprogram,eg:OpenOffice)

Ifyoudon’thaveanyoftheabove,pleaseseethelistofsolutionsbelow.

MicrosoftWord DownloadOpenOffice(free)http://download/openoffice.org

AdobeReader Download(free)http://get.adobe.com/readerAdobeFlashPlayer Download(free)http://get.adobe.com/flashplayerBroadbandConnection ContactInternet/PhoneLineProviderInternetBrowser DownloadFirefox(free)http://www.mozilla.comSpeakers/headphones Thesecanbeboughtatmostelectrical/musicstores.Make

sureyoucheckwhichkindwillplugintoyourcomputer.Accesstointernetsites Pop‐upwindowsmaybeblockedonyourwebbrowser.This

canbechangedinthesettingsofyourbrowser.Ifyouareunsurehowtodothis,gotoHelpinthemenuofyourbrowser.Clickthisandtypeinblockedpop‐upwindowsandfollowtheinstructionsonhowtounblockthem.SomeschoolsblockaccesstoYouTubeandsomeothersites.SchoolsthatusetheNCTEbroadbandserviceneedtoselectLevels4,5or6ofcontentfilteringtohaveaccesstoYouTube.

MediaPlayers DownloadVLCPlayer(free)http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

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Loggingonforthefirsttime

1. Gotohttp://learning.educatetogether.ie2. ClickonCreateNewAccountintheLOGINboxnearthetopofthescreenontheright.3. Youwillbetakentotheregistrationpage,whereyoumustenterinformationinthefields

markedinred.• UserName*: Enterausername.Youcoulduseyourfirstandlastname,forexample.• Password*: Createapassword.Thismusthave:

o Minimumof8characterso Atleast1digit(0‐9)o Atleast1lowercaselettero Atleast1UPPERCASELETTERo Atleast1non‐alphanumericcharacter(!,?,*,#,£,€,<,>,^,&,$,etc.)

(*NB:Itmaybehelpfultomemoriseorrecordthispasswordsomewhereasyouwillneediteverytimeyoulogin.)• Emailaddress*:Youenterthistwice• FirstName*:Enteryourfirstname• Surname*:Enteryourlastname• City/Town*:Enterthecity/townyoulivein• Country*:Selectthecountryyouliveinfromthelist.• School/Organisation*:Enterthenameofyourschool.• RollNo.:Enteryourschool’srollnumber.• BoardofManagementcourserequiredinformation:Enteryourinformationbyselecting

fromthedropdownmenus.• SitePolicyAgreement:pleasefollowthelinkandreadthisinformationabouthowwewill

managetheinformationyougiveus,andourpolicyforthesite.Thenticktheboxtoindicatethatyouagreetothispolicy.

Afteryouhaveregisteredonthesite,youcanloginatanytimebygoingtohttp://learning.educatetogether.iefromanycomputerandenteringyourusernameandpasswordintheboxontherighthandsideofthescreen,nearthetop.

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ProfilePageYoucanviewyourUserProfilepageatanytimebyclickingonyournameattheverytopofthescreen,ontheright.Yourprofilepageshouldlooklikesomethinglikethis:

Fromhereyoucanviewyourcoursesandwhenyoufirst/lastloggedin.Therearethreetabshighlightedgreeninthepictureabove.

• ClickingonProfileallowsyoutoviewyourprofilehowothersseeitwhentheyclickonyournameontheirhomepage.

• Youcanchangeyourpasswordorwritemessagesfromhere.• EditProfileallowsyoutocustomizeyourprofileandkeepyourinformationup‐to‐date.

Inthissectionyoucan:o Change/Edityourname,emailaddress,cityand/orcountryo Decidewhetheryouwishotheruserstoseeyouremailaddressornoto Changeyourpreferredlanguageo Add/Edit/Changeyourdescription,pictureand/orlistofinterestso ChangeyourboardofmanagementinformationEditProfilealsogivesyoutheoptiontochangeadvancedsettingsbyclickingoneorbothoftheShowAdvancedbuttons.Ifyouknowwhatyouaredoingforanyoftheotheroftheseadvancedsettingsyoucancustomizeaway,ifnot,thesearealreadypre‐settoallowforoptimumusageanddonotneedtobeadjustedifyoudon’tfeelcomfortablealteringthem.

• EducateTogethercoursesdon'tcurrentlyrequireyoutousetheBlogtab,butthisallowsyoutocreateblogsandviewyourblogsorblogsyouarecurrentlyfollowing.

Atanytime,clickingonthewordeducatetogetherinthetoplefthandcornerofthescreen(highlightedinredinthepictureabove)willtakeyoutoyourhomepage.

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HomePage

Thispageisnowyourhomepage.Thismeansthatwhenyouloginnexttime,youwillbetakenstraighttothispageratherthanyourprofilepage.Ifyouwanttoviewyourprofilepageagain,simplyclickonyournamehighlightedgreeninthetoprightcornerofthepicturebelow.YourHomePageisyourmainpagefornavigatingyourwayaroundthemoodlecourse.

• The‘MyCourses’blockontheleft,highlightedblueinthispicture,isyournavigationcolumn.Thisallowsyoutoseethecourseyouareenrolledinandtogettoitdirectlyfromthere.Youcanalsogointoyourcoursebyclickingonthelinks(blueunderlinedwriting)withthetitleofthecourseyouwant.

• Thecolumninthemiddlehighlightedredshowsthecoursesthatareavailabletoenrolin.TheenrolmentkeyfortheBoardofManagementtrainingcoursehasbeensentbylettertotheChairpersonoftheBoard.

• Forfreeresources,suchastheLearnTogetherResourceBank,simplyclickonthelinktoenter–noenrolmentkeyisneeded.

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StartingyourcourseWhenyouclickthelinktoyourcourseandonceyou’veenteredyourenrolmentkey,youshouldgetapageliketheonebelow(withoutthecolourcoding).

Attheverytopoftheimageyouwillseehighlightedinyelloweducatetogether>BOM1.Thisisyour“breadcrumb”path.Thisworksmuchthesamewayasyourcomputerwillwhenyougointoyourfiles(ie:C://user/mydocuments/sampledocument.doc)toshowyouwhereexactlyyouareinthesite.Youcangobacktoanypointinthepathwaybyclickingthewordoftheplaceyouwanttogo.Clickingeducatetogetherwilltakeyoubacktoyourhomepage.Thisisaneasywayofjumpingtoaparticularsectionwithouthavingtoconstantlypressthe‘back’buttononyourbrowser,whichmaynotalwaystakeyouwhereyouwanttogo.Theboxesyouseetoontherightandleftofyourscreenarecalledblocks.Whilethelayoutoftheseblocksmayvaryslightlyfromcoursetocourse,thefollowingblockswillusuallybeavailable.Left‐handcolumn(highlightedpinkhere):

• Contactyourtutor.Thisusuallyappearsonthetopleft.Itwillletyouknowthenameofyourtutorthisweekandifyouclickonthelinkbelowtheirnameyoucansendthemamessage.

• Administration.Thishasaquicklinktoyourprofile.Italsohasasectionongradesforfeedbackaboutyourprogressinthequizzes.

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• People.Thisshowsyouwhoisonyourcourse.Therearelinkstootherparticipants’profiles,whereyoucansendmessages.

• SearchForumsallowsyoutolookforaspecificforumratherthangoingtothegenerallisttoselectone.

• InActivities,youcanseewhatassessmentsandassignmentsyouhave,seetheforumsrelevanttoyourcourseandhavealookatthelistofresourcesavailabletoyou.

• Attheverybottomyoustillhaveyourcoursesnavigationbar.Again,thismakesyourEducateTogethermoodlecourseseasytomakeyourwayaroundandisbetterthanconstantlypressingthe‘back’buttononyourbrowser.

Righthandcolumn(highlightedorange):

• ThefirstboxisyourCourseMenu.Thisisfornavigatingwithinamodule.Thiscanbeusedtojumptocertaintopics.

• NextistheEducateTogethernews.Thisisupdatedwiththelatestpostsfromthehttp://www.educatetogether.iewebsite.

• Messagesletsyouseethemessagesinyourinbox• Onlineusersshowsyouwhoisonlineinthelastfiveminutesandwhoyoucantalkto.

Thecentresection,highlightedhereingreen,iswhereyourcourseisdisplayed.Thissectionwillincludethecontentandactivitiesforyourcourse.Youcanshowand/orhidedifferenttopicsbyclickingonthe‘box’iconinthetoprighthandcornerofeachtopic.Atthebeginningofthefirstmoduleofeachcourse,therewillusuallybeaForumforGeneralNewsandAnnouncements.Informationaboutgeneralcourseadministration,dates,etc.willbepostedherefromtimetotime.Readdownthroughthematerialclickingonanylinkeditems(highlightedblue)whentheycomeup,andrememberingthatyouwillneedtoturnupyoursoundorputin/onyourearphones/headphonesdependingonwhattypeofitemyouareaccessing.Youcantellthetypeofitembythesymbolbesidethelink.

ResourceDocument.Thisismostlytextandimages,butmayincludedembeddedvideo/audio.

Video.Thiswillneedaudiodevices.

Quiz.Thisdoesnotneedaudiodevices,butgenerallyrequiresagoodthink!

Presentation.ThisiseitherPowerPointorslideshowandmayrequireaudio.

Forum.Thisiswhereyoucandiscuss/debateaspectsofthecoursewithothersparticipants.

PdfDocument.Thesearegenerallyimagesofapublishedarticle.

Audio.Thiscanvaryfromradiopiecetoasoundbiteandneedsaudiodevices.

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DownloadableDocument.Thisdocumentwillneedtobesavedonyourcomputer.

ExternalResource.Thisisalinkthatwilltakeyoutoanotherwebsite.Itshouldopeninanewpagesoyouwon’tlosewhereyouareinthecourse.

Forums

Duringthecourseyoumayneedtomakepoststotheforums.Youshouldautomaticallybesubscribedtoalltherelevantforumswhenyoustartthecourse,butifyouarenotyoucansubscribetoaforumbysimplyclickingthe‘Subscribe’buttonhighlightedinpinkbelow.YoucanalsosubscribebyclickingonthebuttonundertheSubscribecolumn,highlightedingreenbelow.

Ifyouarefinishedacourseandnolongerwanttoreceivenotificationsofnewposts,youcanunsubscribe,byclickingthe‘Unsubscribe’linkorclickingthebuttonundertheSubscribecolumn.