SAMES platform. Student Guide TABLE OF CONTENTS. Login and enrollment 3 Login to the SAMES platform 3

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1 UTG/University of The Gambia Pôle de Dakar / IIEP SAMES platform Student Guide TABLE OF CONTENTS Login and enrollment 3 Login to the SAMES platform 3 Registration to the SAMES s platform 3 Forgotten your username or password 4 Presentation of the homepage after your connection 5 Module s homepage 6 Layout of the information on the page 6 Format of the courses 7 Be carefull: layout customization... 7 User s profile 8 Change your profile 8 Group s activity 12 Messaging methods 13 Course s content 13 Resources 13 Activities 14 Communication tools 15 Forums 15 «Chat» or chat room 17 Be careful: popup windows blocker Messaging 22 Activities with evaluations 25 Forums 25 Online tests 25 Assignment 26 Grades displayed 30

2 Dakar, May 2015 Martine Boulanger IIEP/Pôle de Dakar SAMES Platform 2 Student Guide

3 Login and enrollment Login to the SAMES platform The platform s Internet address for the SAMES training is the following: The platform s homepage includes: - the 1 st SAMES training module who is delivered during the first face to face event - the SAMES 7 training s distance modules, - the list of the users online, meaning the ones connected to the website, - a short presentation of the training - the present Student Guide. (Log in) Links to SAMES Modules Registration to the SAMES s platform Anyone who would like to have access to one of the modules of the SAMES training must previously register to the SAMES s platform. If you are already enrolled as stated in the mail that you have received during the first face-to-face event or by , mail that showed you as mentioned in the chart below your username and password. Username : Password : CODES xxxxx (your username) xxxxx (your password) The enrolment s procedure to the platform is the same for all. You click on the link Log in (on the homepage top right corner). On the page that just opened and that you can see below, enter your username and password then click on the Log in s button. SAMES Platform 3 Student Guide

4 During your first visit on the website, you will be asked to complete your profile, meaning that you have to give information about yourself: last name, first name, address, etc. We have inserted all the data that we have in our possession; it is now up to you to validate and/or complete. A person who is not classified as a teacher, a student or person in charge of the training can be allowed to have access to the website. In order to be done that person has to send an to the training administrator (anjie@utg.edu.gm) writing down as the object: SAMES platform connection guest and in the main message: Last name: First name: Country: Institution: Function: The guest access gives access to the resources but not to the activities whether they are online or face to face. Forgotten your username or password You are registered, you have received this sheet, but you have forgotten either one of your access codes that give you access to your courses. Do not panic, just click on the link that says Forgotten your username or password? This opens the window showed on the following page, which offers you to help fix the problem by inserting either your username or your address. Then you click on OK. A new password will automatically be sent to you by . SAMES Platform 4 Student Guide

5 Presentation of the homepage after your connection Once you are connected, the only major difference is that you will see on the top right of the page that you are connected under the name xxxxx and also that you have access to all the links related to the SAMES training. It s indicated (on the top right corner of the page) that you are connected under the name and the link that follows this quote allows you to modify your profile (see the section Modify your profile). Below you will find the courses in which you are enroll that is the eight modules of the SAMES training. Some guidelines are given for each course, the tutor or tutors who will guide you online, the people or/and designing institutions of the modules and the general objectives. Click on General and educational demographics to open the first module who will be delivered by distance. SAMES Platform 5 Student Guide

6 Module s homepage Layout of the information on the page The different information are organized in columns and sections. The courses documents and activities can be found in the largest column on the left. In the right column, first, to avoid problems with the time differences a clock shows you permanently the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), who is the hour in Banjul. On this platform, all the time indicators, such as the time for the module 1 start chat, will be publish in UTC. The other sections placed in the right column offer you tools and links for the course follow up. So, you can find under the headings: - Latest news: the latest released short paragraphs on the activities information s forum used by administrator and tutors to give you information on the course events. This section highlight the information s posted by administrator or tutors in the forum entitled Information on activities (first entry in the right column) - Upcoming events : reminders of the assignments due dates - Online user: a list of people who are on this page or who was on this page during the last five minutes - Navigation : links to other parts or pages of the platform (home page with site page, personal information under My profile, courses where you are enrolled in My home, summary of the main parts of the current course - Administration: student s grades statement, individual activity report, change of the individual data (profile, password, registration). SAMES Platform 6 Student Guide

7 Format of the courses The documents and activities are in the left column and divided in notepads. The first notepad of this left column is systematically reserved to the activities information s forum and to the FAQ forum (which allows you to exchange among you or with the tutors) as well as to the activities and/or crossed information for the entire module (complete course documents, bibliography, ). The following notepads correspond to a series of numbered activities to do and their registration within the timeframe. Be carefull: layout customization Some small icons that you can use on the platform will bring big changes in the layout of a page on the platform. For example in the right column, you have on the right beside the section name two little icons. The first ( ) allows to hide the navigation menu. As you can see in the picture below, once activated you only have the name of the SAMES Platform 7 Student Guide

8 section and two icons on the right. To get back the navigation menu you have to activate the new first icon ( ) on the right. The second icon ( ) allows you to put the navigation menu in the dock. When you click on, the all the navigation menu disappears, including title. You have to scan your screen to find where this dock is. As shown by the picture below, the dock is on the left of your page. A navigation tab has appear there. I placed three sections in the dock, as you can see with the picture on the left; it allows me to see the linked menus when I want by placing my mouse on the tab. Now, if you want to replace Online users in the previous place, you have just to activate the first icon ( ) in the right of this small window to undock the section. Therefore, you can arrange the layout of the left menu, as you want. From my point of view, to put some sections in the dock can be very convenient if you have a small screen because you have not to scroll down your screen to see some sections. Just remember what you did or take little time to read the balloon tips linked with the icons that explains you what will be the platform answer if you click on. For example, if I click on this icon ( the picture on the right, the platform will place the Main menu block (or section) in the dock and if I stay one second on the icon the balloon tip appears. ) in User s profile Change your profile At all time and from the moment you connect yourself, you have the possibility to change your profile. Just click in the right column in the section ADMINISTRATION on the option My profile settings. The option opens a menu where you have a link named Edit profile (see the picture on the next page). Click on this link. SAMES Platform 8 Student Guide

9 Doing this you open a new page (see the picture below) where you are invited to modify or update your settings or information. Some entries that appear in red are mandatory and you will find them displayed out of hand, others are optional you can find them by clicking on the link Expand all (on the right under your name). Some guidelines to complete your profile address: on the other hand can you please indicate here the address where you would like to receive the mails relative to the training and make sure that all year long you have enough memory space. display options for this address - Hide my address from everyone: only the teacher has access to your address. - Allow everyone to see my address: all the users of the platform can see your address. - Allow only other course members to see my address (option selected in the example and recommended): only students and teachers of the courses have access to your address. format options - Pretty HTML format : allows a better page setting but not supported by all navigators, SAMES Platform 9 Student Guide

10 - Plain Text: more deprived display but mails are lighter (option recommended if your Internet connection is low). digest type options: indicate here what type of information you would like to receive from the forums. - No digest (single per forum post): you will receive a mail each time a person posts a contribution in the forum (option recommended), - Complete (daily with full posts): you will receive a daily mail that regroups all the contributions of the forums, - Subjects (daily with subjects only): you will receive a daily mail with only the contributions object (allows you not to be overwhelmed with mails and to have information on what is going on in the forums). Forum auto-subscribe options - Yes: when I post subscribe me to that forum: participating to a forum registers you automatically and you receive messages on it (option recommended so you will received information on the follow up of your mails). - No, do not automatically subscribe me to forums: participate to a forum does not automatically register you. Forum follow up options - No: don t keep track of posts I have seen: displays all the message identically, - Yes: highlight new posts for me: reminds you when there are unread messages (option recommended if you want to know what has happened since your last access to the platform and you have not say yes to the previous option). Text editor options - Default editor : - TinyMCE HTML editor: option recommended but this editor could not be supported by all navigators, it is better that you test it before making your choice (it is absolutely compatible with the Firefox navigator which is already installed in the virtual campus, that you can download for free on the following address and put at your disposal on the SAMES CD Rom) - Plain text area: to write or copy text without possibility of formatting it. The following fields concern you, more personally they invite you to indicate the city you live in and its time zone (UTC for The Gambia) and your working language. Under Description, describe yourself briefly. Enter your function here, the institution and service you work for. You have thus completed all the mandatory fields. If you wish, you can stop there. We nevertheless suggest that in order to improve the interpersonal communication you take a few moments to fill in the following entries (so click on the link Expand all). By cliking you opened four new sections. In the section User picture (see the picture net page) you have just to drag and drop the picture who will represent you on the platform. SAMES Platform 10 Student Guide

11 In the section Additional names (see the picture below), fill these information if you want and if you have. Under Interests, you will enter information on the things who interest you in keywords form and each keyword separated by a comma (see the picture below).. Finally in Optional section (see the picture next page) under: - Web page: indicate the address of your personal web page if you have one. For the others entries give your log in information for the instant message services with which you are registered. This will allow you to exchange outside of the platform on personal or delicate subject. PS: most of these services allow you to chat and telephone online. All you have to do is to subscribe (or to have an account with the service provider), then download and install them. - Log in ICQ : SAMES Platform 11 Student Guide

12 - Log in Skype : - Log in AIM : - Log in Yahoo : - Log in MSN : Please, enter your phones numbers because from experience we have realized that it is helpful to fix problems that you might encounter and that it is also very helpful for the group activities. When you have finished click on the Update profile button on the bottom of the page. Group s activity All members enrolled in the courses have access to the same activities but the teacher can separate its group into many sub groups to facilitate the communication between the persons. This will systematically be the case in this training when it will be about working the countries data. The groups activities are done in the forums and chats in the section reserved to the group activity. The students of a group will be able to see the contributions of all members of the groups but they can only post their own contributions within their group. These activities concern the manipulation and/or presentation of national data. SAMES Platform 12 Student Guide

13 Messaging methods In the section ADMINISTRATION on the option My profile settings you have also to configure the messaging methods. As you can see in picture on the right). Click on the link Messaging. The new page gives you a long list of tick s boxes that allows you to make a choice between Popup notification (see the warning about popup blocker page 18) and for all the messages published for you on the platform. An advice, activate systematically the box if you know that you cannot come regularly on the platform. Therefore, you will receive all the news you need to follow the course by mail. However, please open your box regularly. You are in a distance learning, if you want to know what happens, you have to use distance communication tools. From my point of view, the best choice is to select, as shown in the picture above, Popup and When I m logged in and When I m offline. In this I m informed when I m on the platform and I keep the information with the copy by mail and when I m offline I receive the information by mail. Please settle your notification methods for Personal messages, Assignment, Forum. Course s content Resources Resources can be of different types: internet s documents, text document, or a link toward a document (pdf, word, excel, pressed file). They are placed in the activities sections and the icons before them inform you on the type of resources. pdf document text resource link to a site file s content Or a link to a word document calc document excel document compressed file SAMES Platform 13 Student Guide

14 unkown file (often a SPSS or PSPP file in the SAMES training) Activities The activities are also diversified and the icons before them give information on the type of activities offered. Chat Forum Assignment Bibliography Survey Quiz Chat: «chat» or discussion room Forum: each module has its own forum where everybody can step in to ask and/or answer questions. Assignment: handing in of the works by registering the files or online Bibliography: arranged references made available allowing to emphasize the course Survey: at the end of each module we will ask you your opinion on the module, on the teacher Quiz: allow the teachers to design and set quizzes on the module content to control your acquisitions For example (see the pictures below), we are here we are in the module 1 (General and educational demographics). This part of the NAVIGATION section on the right shows you the resources and activities linked to the pedagogical objective Identify the problems with measuring tools. We have there 9 resources and 1 activity for the week, an assignment. Each name of resource or activity is in fact a link that allow you to open the page dedicated to this resource or activity. But you can also find the same links in the left column with a little more details. Left column Right column SAMES Platform 14 Student Guide

15 Communication tools Forums Forum The forum is a space for the all group to exchange. The involvement in a forum goes through sending one or more contributions within a discussion. A forum can include various discussions subjects. A forum is offer in each of the seven modules that form the training. It is open to all students during the whole period of the module. The teachers, tutors, students users, can create as much conversation subjects as they want (button Add a new discussion topic) and participate to all subjects. This action opens the boxes that you can see next page. You have always to write the subject and the text of your Message in the boxes Subject* and Message*. Because subject will be the discussion topic, try to make it accurate. If you are accurate in your questions, you will received accurate and quick answers. Otherwise, the answer will probably ask for more details. SAMES Platform 15 Student Guide

16 As you see in the picture above you can also add an Attachment to your message. Like in the section User picture you have just to drag and drop your file in the section where is drawn a down-facing arrow. If you select Mail now, your message is sent directly to students and tutors. If you activate the button Post to forum, you have thirty minutes to modify your message before sending. In the picture below (where I have made question and answer) for example, a student (M. Boulanger under Started by) has opened a discussion on how to choose the trendline (title under Discussion). She has received one answer (number of answers under Replies) Monday, 27 April 2015 (under Last Post you can see that M. Boulanger has also made the answer at 6:04 PM). By clicking on the subject of discussion (here Group work on population data: How to choose the trendline?) you obtain the list of the exchanges on this subject or in this discussion. You can display the replies (as illustrated on the right side) on a nested manner (Display replies in nested forms), or flat either with oldest first, either with newest first, or inversely or on a threated manner (Display replies in threated form). If you have a look on the picture below, you have there a discussion displayed on a nested manner. To add your contribution or to give your own answer, all you have to do is choose a message and click on the link Reply. This action opens the section below where have just to SAMES Platform 16 Student Guide

17 write the text of your message. The menu over the box where you write allows you to format your text. Here also, you can change or delete your contribution during the 30 minutes following its publication. If you wish to modify or delete your contribution passed this deadline you will have to speak with your teacher or the administrator who are the only one authorized to do it. All the messages published in a course are automatically sent by mail to students and tutors involved in the course. «Chat» or chat room Chat The chat (pronounced «tchat») or chat room is a direct communication room. The chat shows in real time the list of persons connected and the messages posted with the name of the author. Unlike the forum, the messages posted in the chat room are kept only during the connection time. To participate to a chat, you only have to click on the chat link. Opens a window such as the one shown below where all you have to do is to click on the link Click to enter the chat now. If you experience troubles with the regular chat you can try to participate with the second link Use more accessible interface, but this interface is less useful because you have to refresh yourself to follow the conversation. A new window opens (Or not. See the warning below). SAMES Platform 17 Student Guide

18 Be careful: popup windows blocker This type of window is called a popup window and many browsers forbid the opening of popup windows because they are often linked with advertising. If the chat window do not open, you have to look at your browser. When I open the options of my browser (Mozilla) I can see (see the picture next page, sorry it is in French) that popup windows are blocked, but also that I can create exceptions (button Exceptions on the right). I click on this button. A new window opens (see the picture below) where I write the address of the SAMES site and click on the button Autoriser (it will mean Allow). You can see that now the opening of popup windows is authorized on the site who host the SAMES training platform. SAMES Platform 18 Student Guide

19 Therefore, I am now in the chat room. A message on left side indicate the hour of my entering. Tab indicate me that I am in the Module 1 chat room. To send a message, go to the last line on the left (before the button Send). Write your message without take care of his length and when finished, click on the button Send or press on key Enter on your keyboard. SAMES Platform 19 Student Guide

20 Your message will be display on the window above and all the chat participants can see it. If you use the link Use more accessible interface exchanges take place also in a popup window but a little different (see the picture below). SAMES Platform 20 Student Guide

21 Here you write your message in the line under Send message, you click on the button Submit to publish and on the button Refresh to see all the messages or only new if you use the tick box Show only new. Finally, with the link View past chat sessions, you have an access to the exchanges held during a chat session. You will find as an example on the following page a piece of a chat session that was held during a training activity (French version) in the year On the new platform the exchanges in the chat room will appear like in the picture below. On the left you have the messages sent by the participants, on the right you can see the people who are in the chat room. SAMES Platform 21 Student Guide

22 Messaging To communicate quickly with students or teachers involved in a course, you can also use the Messaging tool. Anywhere you are in the platform, you can (see the picture on the right), by clicking (in the right column) on the link My profile have access to the link Messages who allows you to use instant messaging to send messages to an individual. By clicking on Messages I open the window below on the left I can see if some of my contacts are online or offline. For the moment, because the platform do not run, I have only 2 contacts Nafi Aidara and Aminata Njie who are both offline. To get a new contact, I will use the the box in the left part before the button Search people and messages. If, for example, I want to have individual exchanges with Momodou Mustapha Fanneh, scientific supervisor of the SAMES training, I write his name in this box and click on the button Search. If he is enrolled on the platform, his profile will appear and you have just to click on the plus sign on the right to add Dr Fanneh in your contacts. You have only access to history of the messages sent by people who are in your contacts. SAMES Platform 22 Student Guide

23 So, I know that I have already had exchanges on the platform with Aminata. If click on his name, I can discover (see the picture following page) in the same window but on the left part my exchanges with Aminata. And to send a new message go to the box Message (see the picture below) who is after this history. Write your new message in the box and click on the button Send Message to send it to your contact. If your contact is not on the platform, he will receive a copy of your message by mail. For example, I have received by mail a copy of the message sent by Aminata on 5 th May 2015 because I was not on the platform. Every message received through the platform will be displayed this (see the picture next page) New message sent from name of your contact and SAMES Platform 23 Student Guide

24 you can see at the end that it is a copy, you have also the link that allows you to go direct to the reply, once logged in of course. If you are online and you send a message to a people who is also online, you have just to click on the small envelope on the right of the name of the person in the section ONLINE USERS. If you was not online and you have a new message when you log in: A small window (picture below) will indicate you that you have New messages and how much. You can Go to messages or Ignore. This is a popup window (see the warning about popup blocker page 18). If you click on Go to messages you can immediately who has sent this message and read it by clicking on the name of your contact. SAMES Platform 24 Student Guide

25 Activities with evaluations Forums During the creation of a Forum s activity, the teacher can decide to make it an evaluated activity. So he appoints most of the time a deadline and a grading and evaluation s list. Online tests Test A test comes in the form of a series of questions posted on a same page. It can include multiple choice questions, true or false questions, matching exercises, short answers questions (key in of a word or expression), etc. It can also be timed. After clicking on the link corresponding to the test that you want to do, the page that opens, shown below, invites you to do the test. A priori, seeing the reactions of the students to the registered tests during the first year of the training no evaluation of this type will be scheduled. We nonetheless explain to you how to do this type of evaluation. The following page offers you to respond to the questions one by one then to send them. SAMES Platform 25 Student Guide

26 All the students results to the tests are saved in their file and can be seen by the teacher (or the tutor) and the student himself/herself. Assignment Assignment The assignment is a distance activity and it works by uploading the document in the uploading space. The teacher issues the subject, the instructions and the deadline and choose the evaluation method. The student writes down his/her document on a word processor tool or else and drag and drop the finish document on the platform via the homework interface. The teacher evaluates the works of the students, gives the grades and put his comments. When you click on an assignment uploading space, in the first box under the name of the assignment, you have a reminder of the instructions and deadline. Under Submission status, you can if you have submit a file or not and, if yes, if your file has been graded by the teacher. To submit a file use the button Add submission. SAMES Platform 26 Student Guide

27 By doing this, you open a new space named File submission (see the picture below) where you can drag and drop your file. Once your file uploaded on the platform, click on the button Save changes. You are back on the previous page but his appearance has changed. You can see your file is on the platform but considered as a draft. As draft, you can still edit your file by using the button Edit submission. If or when you have finished, use the button Submit assignment. Once this button used, you will not be able to make any more changes. SAMES Platform 27 Student Guide

28 It is the reason why, if you use this button you will be asked on a new page (see the following picture) Are you sure you want to submit your work for grading? If yes, click on the button Continue. When you do that, as shown by the picture below, you re the platform highlights in green that your file has been submitted for grading and you can also by clicking on Comments (0) add a comment to your submission. SAMES Platform 28 Student Guide

29 You will also receive a mail (as shown in the picture below) to warn you that you have submitted a file in Uploading space : Assignment xxxxx. As student, I have done my work. It s now to the teacher to download my, file, grade it and give me his feedback. I received a mail from the platform my assignment on demographic data was graded. When I open the uploading space, I can see the grading status now highlighted in green and, under Feedback, I can see my grade and the teacher feedback comments. Waw, bad grade!) it seems that I uploaded a bad file. Homework «off line» It also exists on the platform a possibility for the teacher to program a homework without using the document s deposit s function. The student completes an activity off platform, but the teacher uses the platform: - To issue the instructions, the deadline and the evaluation s method, - To send out the evaluations or the notes. The notes are thus incorporated to the student s final report and will be added to the other grades of the course. SAMES Platform 29 Student Guide

30 Grades displayed Grades When you click in the right column under ADMINISTRATION, on Grades, you can obtain a chart with the list of all the graded activities of the course and for each the scale and its grade. As an example, as shown below, we have 3 activities graded for the module 1 and my user report says me that only one of my assignment is graded. The grade obtained is 2, 10% of the grade for this assignment. In SAMES training, we do not use range and course total because grades are weighted. You have also access either by the dropdown menu on the top left, either by the link Overview report under Grade administration to a report who summarize the grades obtained in the whole training. The given information appear like shown by the picture below. Do not use this because this information is on course total that we do not use. SAMES Platform 30 Student Guide