Staff Training Booklet

“He who dares to teach must never cease to learn.”

Anonymous

INTRODUCTION

Obami is a social learning network. It applies social media to the virtual learning

environment, enabling teachers, learners and parents to connect, create, share and learn.

This booklet has been put together to guide teachers through the Obami platform, from

account set up to the creating and sharing of user generated content.

It has been designed to demonstrate how Obami can be used in order to promote knowledge

building, communication, creativity, collaboration and critical thinking (21st Century Skills),

and is structured upon the principals of the basic learning cycle, as represented in the

diagram below.

Broken into 5 modules, this booklet presents the theory behind Obami’s tools and features.

It will:

guide you through the practical application of the platform

require completion of mini challenges,

support learning using online materials (like video and feedback forms),

give you a space for your own notes

On completing the training session, you will be ready to undertake a competency certification

that demonstrates your understanding of the platform’s benefits and capabilities.

At the end you should be professionally developed in a digital sense, and inspired & capable

of creating a learning legacy!

Theory

Pedagogy Assessment

TRAINING RECOMMENDATIONS

Whilst this booklet can be used by itself or in reference to isolated applications, it is

suggested that formal training be carried out – by the Obami Team, a registered partner, or

the school’s own administrator - so that hands on support is available.

Session 1

Focus: Basics, Knowledge Building, Communication

Content: Module 1-4

Duration: 2 hrs

Type: Group work, with facilitator

Session 2

Focus: Creativity, Collaboration, Critical Thinking

Content: Module 5

Duration: 2 hrs

Type: Group work, with facilitator

Session 3

Focus: Certification

Content: Module 6

Duration: 30 mins

Type: Individual work, facilitator to award certificates to successful participants,

Obami to award Obami Certified Digital Badge.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Getting set up...

1.1 Registration - IMPORTANT

1.2 Basics - IMPORTANT

1.3 Sharing, Categorising, Commenting

1.4 Account – IMPORTANT (and accessible via mobile)

Searching for content and people on Obami...

2.1 Search

Connecting with others...

3.1 Contacts - IMPORTANT (and accessible via mobile)

3.2 Contact Lists

3.3 Portal Groups

Communicating with those you’ve connected to

4.1 Messages - IMPORTANT (and accessible via mobile)

4.2 Notifications – IMPORTANT (and accessible via mobile)

4.3 Chat

Creating Content

5.1 Newsfeed

5.2 Events

5.3 Media

5.4. Resources

5.5 Blogs

5.6 Widgets

5.7 Portals - IMPORTANT (and accessible via mobile)

5.8 Assignments - IMPORTANT (and accessible via mobile)

MODULE 1: SET UP

1.1 Registration Wizard

When first accessing Obami (www.obami.com), with the username and password that your

school administrator provided you with, you will be taken through a “sign up wizard” – this

will help you in setting up your account.

The sign up wizard will include:

The option to “merge accounts”

Click “No” if this is the first time you are accessing Obami

Click “Yes” if you would like to add another account (ie. it may be that you are a

parent as well as a teacher at your school, or perhaps you teach at 2 different

schools).

For Teachers...

Step 1: Confirm your personal details.

Step 2: Add your teaching details regarding the subjects you teach and the grades/

years/ levels at which you teach them.

Step 3: Confirm your classes. You can “rename” them here, and “split” them if

necessary (e.g. Grade 9 Maths Grade 9 Maths Set A and Grade 9 Maths Set B).

These classes will form “Official School Portals” (refer to Section 3.3 for more info on

portals).

Step 4: Agree to Obami’s Terms & Conditions and complete your registration.

For Learners...

Step 1: Confirm your personal details.

Step 2: Confirm your school and your grade... If your grade is incorrect, contact your

school administrator with a request to update it.

Step 3: Select your class teacher (a class teacher is someone who oversees things like

registration, attendance and so on). You also need to select your subjects and the

teachers that take you for them.

Step 4: Agree to Obami’s Terms & Conditions and complete your registration.

For Parents...

Step 1: Confirm your personal details.

Step 2: Search for, select and add your child or children. They will be sent a Parent-

Child request, and on confirming it from within their own accounts, they will be linked

to your account.

Step 3: Agree to Obami’s Terms & Conditions and complete your registration.

For Others...

Step 1: Confirm your personal details.

Step 2: Agree to Obami’s Terms & Conditions and complete your registration.

Login to Obami and complete the sign up wizard.

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1.2 Basics

The Obami framework is made up of 5 main areas...

1. Navigation bar housing all of the main application icons, which are, from left to right:

Logo – clicking this will direct you to your login landing page

My Account - clicking this will reveal 3 options…

a. View Profile - clicking this will take you to your Obami Profile.

b. Account Settings - clicking this will take you to your account settings where you

can update things like your personal details, your school information and the

look and feel of your Obami account

c. Logout - it is recommended that you always log yourself out of Obami when you

are finished using it

My News – your live feed to share and access info on all that’s happening in and

around school

My Portals – mini website groups, based on classes, sports teams or clubs and

departments

1 2 3

4

5

My Assignments – for creating, setting, undertaking, marking (and even auto-marking)

homework, worksheets, projects, quizzes, tests and exams. Can also be used to set

questionnaires, surveys, feedback forms and permission slips

My Events – for personal, social and schools events, assignment tracking and more

My Blog – daily, weekly or sporadic posts on the various ideas and subjects that

interest you

My Media – for photos and videos from class, art portfolios, an album from the school

tour

My Resources – a resource repository, stored in files according to the people and

groups you want to share with

My Widgets – third party apps for embedding in Obami - mini games, weather reports,

daily quotes and countless other educational tools from around the we

My Contacts – to connect with and organise the people that you interact with in the

classroom, the sports field, the rest of your school and beyond

My Chat – to hold real-time conversations with any of your online contacts

My Messages – like your own web-based email with all your Obami contacts

My Notifications – to keep you posted on yoru Obami account activity (things like

comments, invitations and so on)

Search – to find great content and search for other users on Obami. Refer to 2.1 for

more.

2. Page tools, including...

- Print this page

- Set as my homepage

- Report this as unsuitable content

3. Social bookmarking tools, including...

- Facebook

- Twitter

- Email

- Obami Share

Clicking these will share that page link with the respective social network, an email

contact or your Obami newsfeed.

4. Admin tab – only viewable if you have been set as an administrator for your school

Feedback tab – clicking this will display a text box in which you can enter and submit

a message or question for the Obami Team

Invite tab – clicking this will display Facebook and Twitter icons that, when clicked,

will allow you to send out invitations to your friends and followers on the respective

networks.

5. Main Content area – this is the part of Obami that will change, depending on the page

you’re on. It’s where you consume and create content.

Familiarise yourself with the Obami framework by clicking through to each application or

working in pairs and asking each other what each of the apps are

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1.3 Rules of Thumb

Sharing... Whenever you create and post content on Obami, you have the option to share it

at various levels. This includes...

Public

- for anyone browsing the World Wide Web to see (if they search for it via web search

tools like Google or Bing)

- for anyone registered on Obami to see (if they search for it via Obami’s search

tools)

- for your contacts to be notified via their newsfeeds

Obami Community

- for anyone registered on Obami to see (if they search for it via Obami’s search

tools)

- for your contacts to be notified via their newsfeeds

Custom or Invite Only

- for only your selected Contacts, Contact Lists or Portal Groups to be notified via

their newsfeeds (or received as an invitation in their Notifications inbox)

Private

- for your eyes only

Your school administrator may have restricted some of the sharing capabilities available to

you. You will only see the options that are relevant to you.

Categorising... This is how you can make sure that your content is displayed in the relevant

searches. Use the Category and Sub-Category drop-downs (Academics, Cultural, General,

Personal Development, Schools, Social Awareness and Sports) to do this.

Tags are another way to categorise. Tags are keywords that help to classify content, making

that content more easily searchable further down the line.

Commenting... When adding content to Obami, you (as the content creator) have the option

to allow those with whom you share that content, to make comments on it. You will be

notified of any comments on your content via an Obami notification, as well as by email (if

your email notifications have been set up to do this).

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1.4 Account

Your Obami account includes...

Profile Picture A virtual representation of yourself (you can upload a picture from your

computer directory, or change it to one that you’ve previously uploaded by clicking through

to your My Media area, Profile Pics folder)

Account Information It is recommended that you change your password every so often so

as to ensure the safety of your account.

Personal Information Personal details will not be shared with anyone beyond your school

network, unless you have allowed this specifically.

School Information This is in line with what you entered upon registration. Ensure that

your school details are always kept up-to-date.

Medical Information This is not visible by anyone else on Obami, except for your school

administrator, or your parent (if your account is linked to a parent’s). It has been included in

the case of an emergency.

Information This allows you to keep your profile updated with your interests and activities

so that Obami can provide you with a more personalised experience when using the

platform.

Notification Settings You are able to specify which notifications are sent via email so that

you can stay on top of any activity taking place within your account.

Mobile Settings This area is your gateway for topping up virtual credits that can be used to

send SMSs. From here, you are also able to specify which types of user groups are able to

contact you via SMS.

Design Settings Obami allows you to modify the look and feel of your account by offering 5

different themes for you to choose from. You can customise your account further by

uploading your own background.

Ensure that all your account information and preferences are up to date before uploading a

profile picture, selecting a favourable theme and adding your own background.

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MODULE 2: SEARCH

2.1 Search

Obami lets you search for content that has been uploaded by you and others (provided you’ve been permitted access to see their content). By default, you will search across All of Obami but, you can also refine your results on the Advanced Search page. Content can be searched for using the following criteria...

- Matched word(s) within a Title - Matched words within the body of the Content - Tags, which are keywords that have been associated with content - Filtering by Category and a related Sub-Category

Use the tick-boxes to search multiple types of content at the same time.

Run a search for any type of content by applying category and sub-category drop-downs.

Compare this to a title or tag based search.

Users can be searched for by username, first name or surname. Alternatively, member

searches can be carried out by applying any of the drop-down filters to the search.

These filters include...

- Gender

- User Type

- Subject (according to Obami’s default subjects)

- Grade (according to Obami’s default grades)

- School

- Portal Groups (limited to those portals that you are part of)

- City (this field works using auto-complete text)

- Country

Find another teacher at your school by running a user search... try to search for them in 2

different ways...

1) using their username, first name or surname

2) not using any of the above

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MODULE 3: CONNECT

3.1 Contacts Connecting to the right members of your school is an important part of the process in getting set up. It will take just a short while, and Obami helps by automating relationships between teachers and learners. This can happen in ant of the following 5 places...

1. When learners select their teachers in their Sign Up Wizard

2. When learners select their teachers from their School page within their My Account area

3. When teachers add a learner from their My Contacts area Navigate to My Contacts > click the Add Contact(s) button > select the person’s organisation from the drop-down list > enter their firstname, surname or username > click the black Find button > select the relevant person from the results > click the Add button

4. When teachers add one of their learners from the learner’s Profile Enter the person’s firstname, surname or username in the search field > select the Members item from the drop-down list > click the Go button > click on the relevant person from the results > click the Add as Contact button > select the type of relationship that person should have with you > click the Add button

5. When teachers add one of their learners, or a number of learners, to one of their Contact Lists

Navigate to your My Contacts > click on the Contact Lists tab > click the Add New List button > give your list a Title > click the Save button > click the Manage button > click the Add Contact(s) button > run a search for the relevant people you’d like to connect to > click the Find button > select the people you'd like to connect to > click the Add Selected button

Other than that, relationships can form between 2 individuals (at the same school, or at different schools) when one of those users sends a contact request and the other accepts that contact request. Contact requests can be sent from 3 areas...

1. From within the My Contacts area, by clicking the Add Contact(s) button 2. From someone’s Profile by clicking the Add as Contact button 3. By adding someone to one of your Contact Lists

Accepting (or declining) contact requests can be done from 2 places...

1. From within the Pending Contacts table within the My Contacts area 2. From a contact request Notification within the My Messages area

In some instances, users might not be able to connect with other users – this is due to security permissions, as set by a school’s administrator.

Add teachers from your school as contacts – try doing so in at least 2 different ways. Has

anyone added you – how do you accept or decline them?

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3.2 Contact Lists

Contact lists are an easy way of organising contacts into manageable groups. These will

make communicating or sharing content on Obami even more convenient.

Contact lists are your personal groups. Nobody other than the list creator is able to

send/share with that list.

Contacts lists are created in the Contact Lists tab within the My Contacts area. Simply click

the Add New List button (give your list a Title) and then click the Manage List button,

followed by the Add Contact(s) button. From here, you will be able to search for users and

add them to your list.

When teachers create a contact list, anyone from their school community that they add to it

that is not already a contact of theirs, will be automatically made their contact (so as to save

teachers’ time).

When other users create contact lists, anyone from their school community that they add to

it that is not already a contact of theirs, will be sent a contact request. Only on accepting

that contact request, will that user be added to the list.

Create a contact list relevant to your real life school interactions (e.g. Staff or Drama Group)

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3.3 Portal Groups

Portals are mini websites hosted within Obami. Think of them as a central space for things

related to a class, a grade, a team or any other school group. They can also be used for

collaborative project-work.

Different to contact lists, portals also act as social groups, whereby anyone that creates or

joins a portal will be able to share content with, or send messages to, the entire portal

(unless the portal creator specifically chooses not to let everyone share stuff with the portal

group – this can be done on the portal Member’s page).

The My Portals area is where you can access and also build your own portals and portal

groups (by clicking the Create Portal button).

Only teachers and school administrators are able to create or set portals as Official School

Portals, which are portals that represent school classes, grades, departments or teams. They

allow any of your school members to communicate with such groups, without having to join

the group(s) first.

While learners have to manually join Official School Portals that are relevant to them (i.e.

their classes and so on), teachers will notice that the classes they created in their sign up

wizard will be listed in their My Portals area, as well as under their Official School Portals

tab.

Click through to one of your portals, and through to the Members page, where the portal

group members are listed. From here, teachers are able to invite or add anyone from their

school community directly to the portal.

Non-teachers can only add others to their portal by means of invitation. This needs to be

manually accepted by the recipient - via the Notifications tab within the My Messages area –

in order to become a member of that portal.

For portals that have their sharing set to either “Public” or “Obami Community” invitations

can also be sent out to one’s contacts, contact lists or portals. Additionally, anyone who

searches for the portal will be able to join it themselves by clicking the Join button within the

portal.

Invitations are only sent out on publishing a portal.

Read more in Section 5.8 about how portals are the simplest and most powerful way of

creating and sharing content.

Create a portal and invite the contact list that you created in Section 3.2.

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MODULE 4: COMMUNICATE

4.1 Messages

Sending Messages... Obami messaging is similar to email, allowing for text formatting and

attachments. You can send messages, as well as SMSs and emails to any of your contacts,

contact lists and/or portal groups via the New Message tab within your My Messages area.

These messages can also be sent by going to a contact’s profile and clicking the Send

Message button that appears beneath their profile picture.

SMS messages are restricted to 140 characters. Sufficient credits are required in order to

send an SMS to each of your selected recipients. Credits can be purchased via EFT from your

My Accounts area on the Mobile tab. It is not necessary for you to know each of your

recipients’ phone numbers as SMSs can be sent to the contacts or groups that you select.

You are also able to include non-Obami members by entering their phone number in the

Additional mobile numbers field. Note that Obami’s SMS functionality is limited to outbound

communications only and each message is appended with the sender’s username.

Sending emails via Obami does not require that you enter in each of your recipients’ email

addresses although you are also able to send to non-Obami members by entering their email

addresses in the Email addresses field. Obami’s email functionality is also limited to

outbound communications only and each message is appended with the sender’s username.

If you compose a message and are not yet ready to send it, you can save it by clicking the

Save button. This will save the message in the Drafts tab within the My Messages area.

Any messages that are sent will be recorded in the Sent Messages tab within the My

Messages area. Sent messages can be forwarded on to others.

Receiving Messages... The New Message counter displayed at the top of your Obami

account will alert you to any new messages. Clicking this will take you through to your

Obami message Inbox.

New messages are depicted by an envelope over the sender’s profile picture which, when

clicked, will display the message content. Messages with an attachment will show a paperclip

over the sender’s profile picture. You can also read the message by clicking the View button.

Replying to the message sender or to all recipients of the message, or forwarding the message

on to others can be done by clicking the Reply/Reply All/Forward drop-down from within the

message inbox, or clicking through to the message and Replying/Forwarding from there.

New messages are also communicated via email (if your email notification settings in your My

Account area are set up to receive such notifications).

4.2 Notifications

Obami separates system notifications from messages so that you are always kept abreast of

activity happening within your Obami account. The New Notifications counter displayed at

the top of your Obami page will let you know when you have a new notification. Clicking this

will take you through to your Obami Notifications inbox.

Obami notifications include:

- Contact requests

- Comments made on one’s content

- Event invitations and updates

- Portal invitations and updates

- Portal administration rights

- Set and marked assignments

Obami notifications are also sent to users via email, in line with the email notifications

settings within one’s My Account area.

Send an Obami message to one of your contacts. Upload a resource from your computer hard

drive to act as an attachment. Reply to any messages that have been sent to you.

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4.3 Chat

Obami’s Chat application supports real-time interaction through instant messaging.

Opening Chat can be done by clicking on the Chat icon. This will launch a chat window,

which will give access to a drop-down list of all your contacts that are currently online.

Clicking on a contact’s name will launch a conversation panel and enable real-time

conversations to take place. You are also able to add more people to a chat, creating a group

chat – perfect for tutoring or distance learning.

Users have the option to adjust their online status to “Available”, “Busy” or “Away” by

selecting from the status drop-down on the top right hand side.

Copies of your past conversations are stored in a list to the right hand side of your chat

window within Previous Conversations.

Login to Chat and start a conversation with any of your online contacts. Add another online

contact to your conversation

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MODULE 5: CREATE

5.1 Newsfeed

Your Obami Newsfeed is where it’s all at. Information about activity on the site – relevant to

you – will be streamed through into what are called Newsfeed Posts. These are image and

text updates that detail activity by you, your contacts and the portal groups you are a

member/administrator of. When clicked, you are directed through to the content relevant to

that update.

From your newsfeed, you are able to post a wide variety of content, including...

- Status updates

- Links

- Photos (or images)

- Videos

- Resources

Your My Bulletin section is the same as your My News section... the only difference is that

your bulletin board contains only your posts and not all those of your contacts or the portal

groups that you are a part of.

Navigate to your newsfeed and post a news status update, link, image, video, resource or

widget – be mindful of whom you choose to share it with and what you categorise the post as. Then,

refresh your newsfeed to see what your contacts have posted, before adding a comment to

something they have shared with you.

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5.2 Events

Obami’s calendar is interactive, and will help to keep you up-to-date on all events happening

in and around your school.

To add an event to your My Events page, click the Add Event button. This will present the

fields required to add the event’s details, such as a Title, Start & End Times (or perhaps an All

Day event), Location and Notes.

For Multi-Day events, you will need to provide an End Date. And, if the event occurs on a

regular basis (i.e. daily, weekly, monthly, etc), you can set it as Recurring, where you will be

presented with various options to choose from.

You can also upload an Image to represent your event, and include a pre-programmed

Reminder via email or SMS (you will need to ensure that you have enough SMS credits,

which can be purchased via EFT from your My Account > Mobile area).

You can categorise your event, for easy searching later on, by category, sub-category and

tags.

After adding your event, you will be able to choose whom you would like to share it with, or

send invitations to. You will be prompted to choose from Obami’s sharing control options.

Add an event and invite others to join. Experiment with recurring events, especially if you are

involved with an event that takes place on a regular basis (like cycle tests or sports fixtures).

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5.3 Media

Obami’s media application allows for the uploading, storing and sharing of media files, like

your photos and videos.

Those you choose to share a media album with will have access to it via their newsfeed. If

you set the sharing controls to “Public” or “Obami Community” then all your contacts will be

able to see that album, and anyone running a User or Content Search may come across that

content too.

To upload media to your My Media area, simply click the Add New Album button, which will

prompt you to choose sharing settings and provide your album with a Title before selecting

the relevant photo/video from your computer hard drive (by clicking the Upload bar).

Multiple file uploads can be done on some Internet browsers that have flash installed.

Alternatively, you can upload pre-created zip files.

You can categorise your media albums, for easy searching later on, by category, sub-category

and tags.

To add more photos or videos to an existing album, simply click the Edit link that is placed

over the album’s cover.

Clicking on the album will direct you through to thumbnails of all your media files. From

here you can select individual or multiple files to move to another folder, rotate, download or

delete. You can also click through to view each individual file, which you can set as the

album cover, set as your profile picture, move to another folder, rotate or delete.

Create a media album and add a photo/video to it. Note that your Internet bandwidth may be

strained if large groups carry this out at the same time.

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5.5 Resources

You can upload, store and share a number of different resource files, like Microsoft Word

documents, Excel spreadsheets, Power Point presentations, PDFs and audio files, amongst

others.

Anyone you choose to share a resource folder with will have access to it via their newsfeed. If

you set the sharing controls to “Public” or “Obami Community” then all your contacts will be

able to see that resource folder. Anyone running a User or Content Search may come across

that content too.

To upload resources to your My Resources area, simply click the Add/Upload button, which

will prompt you to choose sharing settings and provide your resource folder with a Name

before selecting the relevant files from your computer hard drive (by clicking the Upload bar).

You can assign a Title to each of your resources as well.

You can categorise your resource folder, for easy searching later on, by category, sub-

category and tags.

To add more files to an existing folder, simply click the Edit link that is placed over the

folder’s thumbnail, or click the thumbnail and then the Edit/Upload button.

Clicking on a resource folder will direct you through to thumbnails of all your resource files.

From here you can select individual or multiple files to move to another folder, download or

delete. You can also click through to view each individual file, which you can move to another

folder, download or delete.

Create a resource folder and add one or more different types of files to it. Note that your

Internet bandwidth may be strained if large groups carry this out at the same time.

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5.6 Blogs

You can create and share blog posts, which are periodic web entries on subjects that are

relevant to you.

Those you choose to share a blog folder with will have access to all blog posts within it via

their newsfeed. If you set the sharing controls to “Public” or “Obami Community” then all

your contacts will be able to see that blog folder. Anyone running a User or Content Search

may come across that content too.

To create a blog in your My Blogs area, simply click the Create button. You will then be able

to give your blog a title, and determine the folder that you want to file this post in. If adding a

new post to a new folder, remember to categorise it, by category, sub-category and tags, for

easy searching later on.

Once that is done you will be able to add content to your blog post.

Adding content to a blog post is done through the use of Items. These come in the form of...

- Paragraphs

- Images

- Videos

- Resources

- Widgets

- Polls

- Message Me’s

- Embedded PDF’s

- Websites

- RSS Feeds

Select the relevant item type when you click the Add Item button and populate your blog

post.

You can change the order of your content items by dragging and dropping the individual

items. Simply click the thin, coloured bar that appears above the content item that you

would like to move, and drag it to the preferred space.

Once you have finished adding content to your blog post and you are happy for others to see

it, you will need to publish your blog by clicking the Publish button.

Note that there are 3 different modes when working with blog posts:

1. Edit (allowing you to add, update and arrange content within the post)

2. Preview (showing you what your most recent changes to the blog post will look like to

others viewing it once you have published it)

3. Live (showing you what others viewing your post are able to see at that exact point in

time)

To see all the blog posts that are filed within a blog folder, click the blog folder thumbnail.

You can also create a new post from this view, by clicking the Create Post button.

You can share a blog with any of the portal groups that you are a member of. Simply click

the Share button at the bottom of the page displaying the blog posts within the folder. The

portals you belong to will appear. Select the relevant portal from the list and your blog will be

added to the Shared Content page of that portal.

Create a new blog folder and add a blog post to it. Add and arrange different types of content

before publishing it for others to see.

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5.7 Widgets

Widgets are third party applications that you can add to your Obami account - things like

weather reports, newsfeeds, videos, games, etc. These can be sourced from the likes of

Google Gadgets or Widgetbox Widgets.

To add a widget to your My Widgets area, simply click the Add button. Then set the widget’s

sharing options, categorisation and tags. You will also need to paste the copied code or embed

script into the Widget Code window.

Those you choose to share a widget with will have access to it via their newsfeed. If you set

the sharing controls to “Public” or “Obami Community” then all your contacts will be able to

see this widget. Anyone running a User or Content Search may come across that content too.

Because widgets are developed by 3rd parties, and hence may contain inappropriate content,

every widget that is added to Obami needs to be approved by the Obami Team. This may take

up to 48 hours.

Visit Google Gadgets and search for a widget – once found, copy the script and paste it as a

widget in your Obami account.

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5.8 Portals

Portals are mini websites/wikis that are hosted within the Obami website. They are a great

tool for sharing content and encouraging interaction amongst real life school groups – like

classes, sports teams and departments. They can also act as wikis, whereby multiple users

are able to add and edit the portal’s content.

As covered in section 3.3, anyone that joins a portal will become a member of that portal

group and will be listed on the Members page of that portal.

There are 4 ways to join a portal...

1. Through the Sign Up Wizard when teachers first login (this is limited to official school

portals that are created by teachers)

2. By accepting an invitation, sent to one’s Notifications inbox, after a portal has been

published

3. By being added by a teacher at your school

4. By searching for a portal and clicking the Join button when viewing the portal

To create a portal in your My Portals area, simply click the Create Portal button. Then give

your portal a Title and choose which organisation or school it should be listed under (this is

applicable to users who have merged accounts from more than one organisation).

Teachers are able to specify whether their portal is an “Official School Portal”, meaning that

anyone within the school is able to see it.

You will then be taken to the Edit mode of your portal. Clicking the Portal Settings beneath

the portal’s title (and then clicking the Edit button) at the top of the page will give you access

to your portal’s general settings – things like the categorisation, age restrictions, the portal’s

badge and background as well as header (image size: 890 x 100 pixels).

Just like a website, you can add pages (by clicking the tab that shows a +) and sub-pages to

your portal. There are several templates available to help with the layouts of your portal’s

pages and sub-pages. Select the layout for each page that will best suit your content. You

can drag and drop pages and sub-pages in case you need to re-arrange the order of them.

Adding content to a portal page is done through the use of content Items. These come in the

form of...

- Paragraphs

- Images

- Videos (uploaded directly there or embedded from YouTube)

- Resources

- Widgets

- Polls

- Message Me’s

- Obami Profiles

- Embedded PDF’s

- Websites

- RSS Feeds

Content that is added to your portal pages or sub-pages can be ordered by dragging and

dropping the individual content items (simply click the middle of the thin, coloured bar that

displays above the content, and drag it into the preferred space).

Once you have finished adding pages and content to your portal and you are happy for

others to join it, you will need to publish your portal by clicking the Publish link.

Note that there are 3 different types of modes when working with portals:

1. Edit (allowing you to add, update and arrange content, as well as manage who has

access to the portal)

2. Preview (showing you what your most recent changes to the portal will look like to

others viewing it once you have published it)

3. Live (showing you what others viewing your portal are able to see at that exact point

in time)

Portals also provide a page for shared content, so that anyone who is part of a portal is able

to share content from other parts of Obami with that portal – like a blog, an event, or a

resource folder. This page can be hidden via the Portal Settings.

On the Members page, the portal creator can set any of the portal members as portal

administrators so that others are also able to add and edit content within the portal, as well

as manage who else has access to that portal. This page can be hidden via the Portal

Settings.

Create a customised portal, and add pages as well as sub-pages to it. Add and arrange different

types of content before inviting one or more of your contacts to join the portal (don’t forget to publish it).

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5.9 Assignments

Assignments can be used for a multitude of reasons, from setting homework, projects, tests

and exams, to gaining feedback from, or carrying out research amongst your learners, their

parents, or anyone else.

They are split into 4 types:

1. Assignment Templates - created by you, or other teachers who have shared with you

2. Set Assignments - those assignment templates that have been set by you, with access

to the list of respondents, their responses, and tools to comment and mark each of the

assignments that have been submitted

3. Due Assignments - those assignments set for you by others, yet to be submitted

4. Submitted Assignments - those assignments submitted by yourself, with access to

your submitted responses, model answers, marks and comments (as permitted in the

assignment settings)

Create an Assignment... To create an assignment template in your My Assignments area,

click the Create Template button. Give your assignment template a Title and select an

assignment Type, along with the usual categorisation and sharing options. Note that sharing

an assignment template relates to who else can access the template and set it for their own

contacts or groups to undertake (you will always be credited for being the original template

creator).

Once you have saved your assignment settings, you will be directed through to the

assignment body, where you are able to add sections and questions by clicking the respective

button. It is possible to order the questions by dragging and dropping them (simply click the

middle of the thin, coloured bar that displays above the question you’d like to move, and

drag it into the preferred space). The Preview button displays the assignment as it would

look to those who are set to undertake it.

Adding Questions... Obami allows questions to be added as well as answer types, model

answers and model answer explanations be specified. This all takes place on the left hand

side of the Add Question window. The right hand side is designed to replicate the left hand

side so as to present a preview of the question.

After choosing the relevant section in which a question appears, questions can be added into

the Question Description field. (If no section has been added, this can be ignored.)

Images, videos and other files can be added as resources (or attachments) to questions. This

can be done by clicking the Upload bar beneath the question description.

Obami offers a variety of answer types, namely...

- * Short Text (which gives a little text field in which respondents can add a 1 word

answer)

- Long Text (which allows respondents to add extensive text, which can also be

formatted)

- Image (which allows respondents to upload a picture from their computer’s hard

drive)

- Video (which allows respondents to upload video from their computer’s hard drive)

- * Single Choice (which allows respondents to select only one answer from a number

of possible answers)

- * Multiple Choice (which allows respondents to select one or more answers from a

number of possible answers)

- Resource (which allows respondents to upload a file from their computer’s hard drive

or from their Obami resource folders)

Model answers (and model answer explanations) can be added and shown to users after they

submit an assignment or their marks are released. Those answer types listed above and

marked with a *, allow auto-marking, meaning the assignment can be set to mark itself, if

model answers are supplied. Assign marks to the question if necessary. You also have an

option to assign weighted and/or negative marking for single and multiple choice type

answers.

Clicking the Preview button at the bottom of the Add Question window will update the right

hand side of the window.

Once happy with the question, you can click the Save button.

Setting the Assignment... Once you are happy with your assignment template, you can set

the assignment for others to undertake. You can also set an assignment template that you

have copied from another user.

To set an assignment, click the Use button which is displayed over the assignment template

thumbnail (or at the top of the assignment template itself). Then insert the Available From

and Due dates, as well as the respective times for each.

Beneath the assignment dates is a list of assignment settings. Options include:

- complete an assignment in one sitting (e.g. a test or exam)

o this will force submission of the assignment after the allocated time has expired

(time remaining will display on screen to the person undertaking the

assignment)

- show (model) answers after a user has submitted the assignment

o if left unticked, you can also release model answers to everyone at the same

time later on

- auto-mark where possible (only for those answer types marked with *)

o release marks after a user has submitted the assignment

if left unticked, you can also release marks to everyone at the same time

later on

o share marks and answers with parents

this would be limited to learners who have parents associated with their

accounts on Obami

if left unticked, you can also share marks and answers with all parents

at the same time later on

- send SMS alerts with assignment marks to parents

o this requires sufficient SMS credits

- include assignment outcomes

o this allows you to prompt a message as soon as the assignment is submitted,

and allows you to assign bespoke messages depending on the mark achieved by

the person undertaking the assignment (if/when marks are released)

Click the Select Users button to choose who will undertake the assignment from your

contacts, contact lists and portal groups. You can set the assignment for the Obami

community, in which case anyone on Obami can undertake it, as well as those who you

specify should undertake it.

If you choose to set the assignment to a Portal, anyone who joins that portal from then on

will also be set the assignment.

Then select whether you are publishing the assignment to individuals or to teams. If you

select Publish to Teams you’ll need to create and name your teams before selecting and

adding the members to each. You can specify a team leader for each team that you create.

Once this is done, you can Publish the assignment, which will...

- Send a notification to your recipients’ telling them of the assignment

- Add the assignment to your recipient’s newsfeed

- Add the assignment to your recipients’ calendars (and their parents’ if connected to a

parent account)

Undertaking the Assignment... Those you published an assignment to will be able to

access it by clicking through from 4 different places:

1. Their notifications inbox

2. Their newsfeed

3. Their list of events

4. Their Due Assignments tab within their My Assignments area

Assignments can only be undertaken on or after the Available From date and time.

Those assignments that were set to be completed in one sitting cannot be saved, and the

system will force submission for those who fail to submit their assignment before the

designated time is up.

Depending on the other settings, and after users have submitted assignments, they may be

able to view model answers and model answer explanations, along with their marks. The

assignment would also move from the Due Assignments page to the Submitted Assignments

page.

Marking Assignments... Keep track of assignments that you have set by clicking on the

relevant assignment thumbnail on your Set Assignments page.

This will direct you to a list of all those for whom the assignment was set, displaying marks

of those who have submitted the assignment and had the assignment marked (by yourself or

the system).

Assignments that have not been submitted cannot be viewed, while assignments that have

been submitted, but not yet marked, can be viewed and marked manually by clicking the

View Assignment button. This will direct you to the individual’s (or team’s) assignment where

marks can be allocated and comments for each response added.

Obami also provides the functionality to export assignment marks as well as assignment

response as Csv files (which are compatible with Excel). This can be done by clicking the

respective buttons on the page that lists all submitted assignments.

Create an assignment with at least 3 different question types. Set it for one or more of your

contacts, and once they have submitted it, mark the assignment and release the marks (if not

specified to do so automatically).

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MODULE 6: CERTIFICATION

Undertake the Obami Certification assignment that will be set for you and your training group

Alternatively, contact the Obami Team to enquire about Obami Certification.

And that’s that! Now go forth...

connect, create, share and learn.

Obami Networks

© 2014