USER GUIDE FOR STUDENTS ON ACCESSING AND USING THE COMMON ROOM

Transcription

1 USER GUIDE FOR STUDENTS ON ACCESSING AND USING THE COMMON ROOM An easy to follow guide on how to use the common room webpages of the new IRO website. Logging in Page 2 Re-set your password Page 3 Accessing the Common Room Page 5 Accessing Discussion Boards Page 6 Add a reply to discussions Page 7 Contact a Tutor Page 8 Submitting coursework Page 10 How do tutors contact me Page 12 Retrieving messages Page 15 Archiving messages Page 16 Contact us Page 17 1

2 Logging in To gain access you will need an IRO membership number. If you don t already have one you can join online by selecting the Join Now button in the top right hand corner of the webpage at As an IRO member you will be given a Username and Password which will enable you to access the Common Room area of the website. This are is only accessible to IRO students and tutors. Click on the Login button in the top right hand corner of the webpage. Type in your username and password. Click the Log In button. 2

3 Re-set your Password If you have forgotten your password click on: Lost your password? Enter your username and click Get New Password 3

4 A message will be sent to your address with a link to re-set your password. The screen will look like this when you have successfully logged in 4

5 Accessing Common Room Once you are logged in click the Common Room button. The Common Room looks like this: You will see a list of Discussion Boards for your course level, your specific cohort and general discussion. This enables you to communicate with tutors and students studying on your cohort, stydying at your level and all students studying on IRO courses. 5

6 Accessing Discussion Boards Select a discussion board To start a new discussion click Add Topic Type a topic name and a discussion point and then click Submit Topic 6

7 Add a reply to a discussion To reply to a discussion click Add Reply Type your response and click Submit Reply There are two options available to a topic or reply: Lock this topic will lock that topic, so no more messages can be posted. This is generally used if you just want to make a one-way announcement without any further comments being allowed to be posted on that topic. Pin this post will pin the topic to the top of the topics list, so that it still appears at the top even after new topics are posted. This is useful for important announcements or rules that you always want displayed. IMPORTANT New corespondence on the discussion boards will not send a notification to your e- mail address. If your message is important please send it to the tutor using the Message a Tutor area. The message area generates an notification and the recipient will know that there is a message that requires their attention. 7

8 Contact a tutor To contact tutor privately click Go to the Tutor Message area You will be taken directly to your inbox which looks like this: As displayed in Firefox The number here shows there are unread messages The number next to your name shows which messages are unread As displayed in Internet Explorer 8

9 Click Start New Conversation Scroll down the list to find your tutor and click on their name (Certificate are highlighted in yellow, Diploma in green and Degree in blue - Certificate are towards the top of the list, Diploma in the middle & Degree at the end). Please note a tutor may be involved in 1 or more of the courses Type your subject and message and click Submit. 9

10 Submitting Coursework This is done via the Tutor Messaging area. Send a message to your tutor following the steps in the Contact a Tutor section on page 8 of this guide. When you have completed your message you then need to attach your documents by selecting Click to upload files A new window will open. Click Browse to select document you want to attach When you have selected your file click Upload File(s) If upload is successful you will see a success notification: 10

11 Close the file upload window. Click Submit to send the message with the document attached. IMPORTANT File names must only contain alphanumeric characters, dashes and underscores. 11

12 How do tutors contact me? Tutors may contact you via the website in 2 ways: Via the forums: Tutors post information on the course forums for students to review / download 12

13 Via the Tutor/Student Messaging area: Tutors will contact you individually via the messaging area, in the same way as you contact a tutor see the Contact a Tutor section on page 8 of this guide. You will receive an alert , to the address you have registered with us, advising you there are messages for you in your messaging area on the IRO website. 13

14 Feedback on work submitted will be via the Tutor/Student Messaging area: Simply click on the attached document to download. 14

15 Retrieving messages Log in to website and go to the Common Room. Select Go to Tutor Messaging Area ; you will be taken to your inbox The number in brackets is the number of unread messages that you have. Click on a message to read it and all previous communications within that conversation. To reply to a message type your response in the Content box. Click Post Message If the message sends successfully the following notification will appear. 15

16 Archiving Messages After you have read a message you can archive it so that it doesn t sit in your inbox. To archive a message click the archive button on the left of the message. This moves the message to your archive folder. When a message is in your archive you are still able to read it by clicking on it. You cannot send a reply to a message that is in the archive. If you need to reply to an archived message click the restore button on the left of the message. This will put the message back in to your inbox where you will be able to reply to it as normal. 16

17 Contact us Thank you for taking the time to read this, we hope that it is helpful. If you experience any difficulties or have any questions please contact us! Tel: