This entry relates to the list of External tools

The Readings tool allows you to assemble materials of all types – physical books, ebooks, online or digitised book chapters, scholarly articles, videos, newspaper articles, websites, and more – in a structured, comprehensive resource list. 

1. How does Readings work?

You can put any number of resource types into your readings list including (but not limited to):

• books and book chapters
• streaming videos
• government reports
• blogs
• websites
• lecture slides
• an image from the Online Collections Catalogue (Flinders University Museum of Art)

2. Where can I find it?

Readings is added to every topic. If it has been removed from your topic, please contact your eLearning support team.

3. What can I do in Readings?

• Build your readings list from:
• the Library collection
• online browsing
• databases
• your own personal collection
• Manage and update all your readings lists in one place, throughout the teaching period
• Structure reading lists to your own teaching practices
• Monitor student engagement through system analytics – view reports to see what citations students are looking at, see full-text access views, and when students are accessing resources

The Library will:

• appropriately source licensed resources and manage copyright compliance
• automatically add resources from Flinders' licensed subscriptions
• maintain links and access

Support

• View the Readings Workshop FLO site for written instructions
• Contact the Learning Access Team via the Readings query in Service One (Education Services).

The Statement of Assessment Methods (SAM) lists the assessment requirements for each topic. SAMs for each topic are found in that topic's FLO site but are edited in Flex.

Where to find the SAM for your topic

The SAM is located in the Assessment module in each topic:

It shows any available SAM for your topic. If 'not available' appears in the 'Link to SAM' column, this means your SAM has either not been created or is currently in draft format and not yet published.

Where to go for SAM's support

Please visit the dashboard in FLEX  https://flex.flinders.edu.au.   This contains a complete guide for all of your SAM’s questions

Students provide responses to questions or surveys. Polling can be synchronous or asynchronous. Synchronous or real-time polling in class allows you to display and analyse the results immediately. Asynchronous polling can be used prior to a teaching session where you collect and analyse results to inform delivery of your class.

FLO Active Quiz

Good for

• Delivery of time-boxed questions (synchronous)
• Multiple poll questions in one session where the availability of each question is controlled by the teacher
• Use in-class to check understanding of materials during presentations to allow for clarification
• Use in-class to explore class views on issues for discussion

Useful features

• Active quiz is a synchronous (real-time) timed quiz
• Multiple choice (MCQ) and True-False questions will generate a dynamic histogram of answers, making them good for polling
• Functions in group mode

Cautions

• In a live classroom setting, be careful what your screen is displaying – questions other than MCQ and T/F will display identified student answers

Tips

• Create a QR code of the Active quiz URL. Insert into your lecture presentation to make it quick and easy for students to access
• Advise students in advance to have a suitable device. Have students log into FLO at the beginning of the class

Help resources

• Active quiz

FLO Choice

Good for

• Asynchronous use (eg asking a question pre-class to explore class views on issues for discussion)
• Single in-class question where time-boxing of answer is less important
• Use at beginning of class before presentation commences
• Use at end of class to determine comprehension

Useful features

• Designed as a single question asynchronous (not real time, students working on it individually at own pace/time) polling activity
• Can be used in a live setting (synchronous/real time)
• Can display a histogram of responses
• Results can be exported
• Can be run in group mode

Limitations

• Teacher will need to refresh their screen to display the choice results
• Limited layout and styling control
• Only one question per choice activity

Tips

• Generate a QR code form the choice URL. Add to lecture slide to take students directly to the poll
• Advise students in advance to have a suitable device. Have students log into FLO at the beginning of the class

Help resources

• Choice (poll/survey)

Good for

• Asking multiple questions, including free text
• Asking the class what material they would like further clarification on in tutorial or revision sessions

Useful features

• Can deliver more than one question
• Designed for surveying, responses can be anonymous
• Can be used as a live activity in class
• Results of some question types can be displayed as a histogram

Limitations

• Teacher needs to refresh the results page to see incoming responses
• Limited layout and styling control

Tips

• Create a QR code from the feedback activity's URL. Place the QR code into a lecture slide to make it efficient for students to get to the activity on a mobile device
• Advise students in advance to have a suitable device. Have students log into FLO at the beginning of the class

Help resources

• Feedback

1. Plan

The feedback tool enables a teacher to create a custom survey for collecting feedback from participants using a variety of question types including multiple-choice, yes/no or text input. Feedback responses may be anonymous if desired, and results may be shown to all participants or restricted to teachers only.

Feedback activities may be used to:

• provide formative feedback about student learning (for example the Touchpoint survey)
• evaluate a topic, helping improve the content for later participants
• enable participants to sign up for events, etc.

Example: Touchpoint survey

This short survey is designed as a ‘snapshot’ to provide formative feedback about student learning. You can use it once or more in your topic to see how students are going with their learning.

You can request the Touchpoint survey  from your eLearning support team and change the questions to suit your needs.

2. Build

You have planned your feedback. Now you are ready to set up your feedback. Below are instructions for creating a feedback activity and adding questions. Alternatively, you could ask your eLearning support team to add the Touchpoint survey to your topic, and alter the questions if you need to.

Create a feedback activity

1. Turn editing on using the green button – this button is available top left of screen on the topic homepage
   
   
   
2. Go to the module where you would like the Feedback activity to appear
   
   
3. Click the Add an activity or resource link at the bottom of the module
   
   
   
4. Select Feedback from Activities tab
   
   
   
5. Give the feedback a Name and Description(optional)
   
   
   
6. Open the Availability section and set an opening and closing date
   
   
   Timeline block: The 'Allow answers from' date will show to students in the Timeline block.
   
   
7. Under Question and submission settings, set the Record user names option to either Anonymous or User's name will be logged and shown with answers
   
   
   
8. Under After submission, set the Show analysis page to Yes if you want students to see a summary of responses, otherwise leave as No
   
   
   
9. Click Save and display
   
   

Add questions to a feedback activity

1. In the feedback activity, click Edit questions
   
   
   
2. Using the Select menu, choose the type of question to add
   
   

   
   

   The types of questions are as follows:

   • Longer text answer
   • Multiple choice
   • Multiple choice (rated)
   • Numeric answer
   • Short text answer

   
   

   You can also add information and structural elements such as

   • Page break
   • Captcha
   • Label
   • Information
3. Complete the required information and click 
   
   

3. Test

Once you have set up the activity, ask your local eLearning support team to check it for you (especially if this is the first time you have set up this activity).

4. Administer

These instructions include the use of the Touchpoint survey.

View the results of a feedback activity

1. Click the feedback tool from the topic page 
    
   
   
2. To view an analysis of submitted responses, select the Analysis tab 
    
   
   By default, the responses from all participants will display in this view.  
   
   To view only the results submitted by members of a specific group, select that group from the drop-down menu. The option to view groups is only available if groups have been enabled in the administration settings of the activity (feedback administration>edit settings>common module settings) 
   
   
3. To view responses on the individual level, select the Show responses tab 
    
   If the survey is not anonymous, it is possible to view the set of responses submitted by each respondent. Filter by group or by first or last initial, then click on the date beside the respondent's name 
    
   Anonymous surveys responses can also be viewed at the individual level. Anonymity is maintained by the removal of the student's name, which is replaced by a response number.  
    
    
   
4. To export responses, select the required format and click Download
   
   
   

5. Review

How did your feedback activity go? Would you set up the activity differently next time around? If you used the Touchpoint survey, did you make changes to your topic during the teaching/learning process? If yes, were the changes successful? Talk to your colleagues and/or your local eLearning support team to get ideas for improvement. 

This entry relates to the Feedback activity.

The Touchpoint survey is a short survey designed as a ‘snapshot’ to provide formative feedback about student learning. The survey can be added to your topic early, mid and late (eg weeks 3- 4, 7, 11 or equivalent, depending on the topic structure), or just once in the topic. It prompts students to voluntarily and anonymously give feedback about their experience of the topic so far. 

The questions are:

• How are you going with this topic so far?
• Is there any topic content (covered so far) that is not clear to you?
• Are you having any difficulties with the topic? If so, what?
• Could anything be improved about this topic or the teaching?

These questions can be easily altered to suit your needs. The data provides formative feedback about where students are at, to allow adequate time to make changes to teaching if needed. It also helps reinforce that students are an active part of their own learning. The data from the survey remains with (is stored in) the topic.

Use the Touchpoint survey in your FLO site

1. Make a request to your local eLearning support team to have the tool added to your FLO site
2. Unhide the tool (you can also edit/add questions if you like)
3. Prompt students to use it via an announcement
4. Later, click into it and check responses using the Show responses tab at the top (in the Analysis tab you can also Export to Excel)
5. Think about what the results means for topic design and teaching
6. Thank students and summarise your response via another announcement (to reward their efforts)
7. Make any adjustments to the topic accordingly

Anyone with a Flinders FAN can log into FLO. Each topic has a FLO site automatically created. Staff may request other sites (eg for courses, collaborative projects, committees) by contacting the eLearning support team in their college.

A link to the FLO login page is provided in the Quick links menu in the top banner of the University website or via Okta. Otherwise, type https://flo.flinders.edu.au/ into your browser address bar; this link will redirect you to Okta to sign in. Once signed in you will be redirected to FLO. 

Table of contents

1. Layout

• My FLO homepage
• Blocks

2. Customisation

• My FLO page customisations
• Profile customisations (includes photo)
• Preferences settings

3. Topics

• Find your way around (FLO features)
• Edit content in a topic (includes add a block, and add/delete a module)
• Customise the My Topics block (My FLO)
• Create starred topics for quick access (My FLO)

4. Browser compatibility

5. Log out

1. Layout

My FLO homepage

When you first log in to FLO, you will see the My FLO homepage. The My FLO page lists every topic you have a role in. Your topics are arranged in a Card layout under My Topics.

You can also see the items and topics that you have most recently accessed.

Blocks

The standard layout of the FLO homepage (My FLO) consists of blocks on the right of the screen, with the content on the left. A block is a widget that can provide a link to a feature, or can aggregate content from different areas of the site. Blocks available from My FLO can link you to upcoming assessments and latest announcements.

In your topics, the blocks can be accessed from the Topic Blocks button in the banner (top-right corner).

The blocks panel is divided into three columns. Column 1 has the Topic Links, Clock and Activities blocks. Column 2 has the Teaching team block and Column 3 has Lecture recordings and other blocks you would like to include.

2. Customisation

• My FLO page customisations
• Profile customisations (includes photo)
• Preferences settings

My FLO page customisations

To control which topics appear on your dashboard, you can star or remove them:

1. Under the topic click on the three dots
2. Choose Remove from view to hide the topic
3. Choose Star this topic to add it to your Starred list. You can access the starred list from the filter in the top-left corner of the My Topics block (FLO remembers the last filter you chose each time you come to this page).

Profile customisations (includes photo)

Every user in FLO has a profile page that is displayed to other users. To edit your profile click the picture next to your name and select Profile from the drop-down list, then the Edit profile link in the user details box.

You can edit your location, time zone and add a description about yourself. Your name and email address will be automatically added.

You can also add a picture of yourself or something you want to be identified by. You can by scrolling down to the User picture section do this by clicking the add button or drag and dropping a picture into the box with the dotted lines. You can also provide a description for the picture. Adding a picture gives you a 'social presence' in FLO and will show in some FLO activities (eg forum posts) and the Teaching Team block.

Click the Update profile button  to save your changes.

Preferences settings

Preferences, available through the profile menu, allow you to control settings that primarily control how you receive information from FLO. The following settings are available:

3. Topics

FLO topics consist of resources (eg lecture notes, files, URLs, and video files) and activities (eg assignment dropboxes, quizzes, discussion forums).

• Find your way around (FLO features)
• Edit content in a topic (includes add a block, and add/delete a module)
• Customise the My Topics block (My FLO)
• Create starred topics for quick access (My FLO)

Find your way around (FLO features)

Tools for managing learning (such as the Gradebook) can be used to record and monitor student progress In the Flinders My Topics area – this is a listing of all the topics you have access to and you can decide how you would like to view your topics – in progress, past, future or starred topics.

The standard layout for each topic consists of content (modules/weeks) in the centre, navigation menu on the left, and topic blocks in the banner image.

The top module can be used for resources that are needed throughout the semester and do not sit specifically into a weekly module, or one of the modules included in the starter site.  Note: If you are using a Collapsed topic format, the user cannot collapse the top module, and so consideration should be given to the number of resources in the top module to avoid a long scrolling experience. 

Edit content in a topic

Edit week/modules and activities/resources

With editing on, next to each activity you will see an Edit drop-down menu. This menu will allow you to move, hide, duplicate or delete the activity. 

A week/module or activity/resource can be quickly renamed using the pencil icon and moved easily using the move icon.

Note: If you using a weekly format and change the default module titles by renaming them, remember to check that date-specific resources like lecture recordings appear in the correct location before teaching begins.

Add a block

There are various blocks you can add to a topic. See the list in Add a block located at the top of the page in Topic Blocks:
    

When you have finished editing, ensure that you Turn editing off.

Add/delete a module

1. If deleting a module, delete all of the contents of the module. Otherwise, skip to the next step.
   
2. Scroll to the end of the FLO topic homepage, and select either the add or delete option.
   
3. If adding a mdoule, change the module name using the pen icon, and move to the position you want it (eg below Module 0) using the icon at the left of the module name
   

Customise the My Topics block (My FLO)

The My Topics block has filters to help you find your FLO sites. The following filters are available:

All – All your FLO sites, (except for any you have hidden)

In progress – All sites currently running (e.g. the topics you are currently teaching in)

Future – Topics you will be teaching in the future. Topics will move to In progress at the start of the semester

Past – Topics where teaching has finished

Starred – Topics you have marked for easy access (see below)

Removed from view – Topics you have removed from the All filter.

Whenever you log in to FLO, you are taken back to the filter you last chose. If you find that you are suddenly missing a topic, this can probably be fixed by checking which filter is selected.

Create starred topics for quick access (My FLO)

To access frequently used topics, you can 'star' a topic, which makes it easier to filter when you log in to FLO.

1. First, click on My Topics list in the navigation menu:
   
   
   
   
2. Scroll down and find the topic you would like to star
   
   
3. Click on the three dots
   
   
4. Click on Star this topic
   
   

Your topic will now appear in Starred, when you filter the list under My Topics.

4. Browser compatibility

FLO is compatible with any standards-compliant web browser. We regularly test FLO with the following most up-to-date browsers:

Desktop: Chrome | Firefox

Mobile: Safari | Chrome

For the best experience and optimum security, we recommend that you keep your browser up to date.

5. Log out

1. Click on your profile menu
   
2. Click on Log out
   

This troubleshooting guide relates to the FLO Interface.

Questions/problems

• FLO sends me too many emails
• The file I want to upload is too big
• I can't delete the topics links block
• When I delete the announcements it keeps coming back
• What is the FLO starter site?

FLO sends me too many emails

You can control which email notifications you receive from FLO by locating your name (once logged in) in the toolbar/banner at the top of the screen. Use the drop-down arrow to go to Preferences, then Notification preferences. From here you can disable email notifications for particular activities.

The file I want to upload is too big

FLO has a default upload size of 50MB per file. You can change this using the following steps:

1. On your topic's home page, click on the Topic Management button
   
   
   
   
2. Click on the Cog icon
   
   
   
   
3. Select Edit settings
   
   



4. Scroll down to the Files and uploads section and select the topic size you require from the Maximum upload size drop-down list (if using Video we recommend using MyMedia instead of increasing the file limit)
   
   
   
   
5. Click Save and display to apply changes

I can't delete the topic links block

This block provides key information to students about the topic and cannot be removed.

When I delete the announcements it keeps coming back.

The announcements activity is a key part of communicating with students on FLO and cannot be removed.

What is the FLO starter site?

The FLO starter site is a pre-configured starting place for a FLO topic and can be customised to work with the needs of a course or topic. Read more about the FLO starter site.

This entry relates to the FLO interface.

Once you have built, adjusted the settings, and edited your topic in preparation for student access, you can preview it as a student to see what it looks like from a user perspective (rather than as an administrator).

• How sites are created
  • Shared topics
  • Course sites
  • Short courses
    
• Topic settings
• Topic coordinator/teacher role options
• Change your topic format
• Upload a banner to your topic (separate entry)
• Change the maximum upload file size available in your topic
• Turn on completion tracking in your topic
• Manage groups in your topic
• Recover deleted items using the Recycle bin (separate entry)
• Dates and times in FLO (separate entry)
  
• Roles in FLO (separate entry)
• Editing your topic
  
  • Adding a new activity or resource
  • Moving activities, resources and blocks
    
• User management
  • View a list of participants
  • Contact a student (messaging tool)
  • Download a list of student list FANs (for emailing)
    
• Reports

1. How sites are created

Topics are automatically created in FLO using data from Student Two. If your topic does not appear, contact your local eLearning support team for assistance. Staff have access to topics 77 days prior to the teaching start date, with students getting access 7 days before the start of teaching. See:

• Topic production cycle for information about topic rollover and access
• Preparing for teaching in FLO for tasks you may need to do leading up to and during teaching.
• Technical checklist for online teaching is designed to help you optimise your FLO site for online students with slow internet.
  

Both staff and students have access for 730 days after teaching finishes, except when a student withdraws or a staff member is removed from the teaching team in Student Management.

Shared topics

A shared topic combines several cohorts (topic availabilities) into one FLO site.  View more information and guidelines

Course sites

Depending on its purpose, a course site may be set up to support students across topics/programs and/or staff. View more information and how to set up

Short courses

It is possible to create a non-award (short) course in FLO using existing infrastructure, though some processes are less automated than what is possible for award topics. View more information

2. Topic settings

You can do many things under the Topic management menu.

• Topic coordinator/teacher role options
• Change your topic format
• Upload a banner to your topic (separate entry)
  
• Change the maximum upload file size available in your topic
• Turn on completion tracking in your topic
• Manage groups in your topic
• Recover deleted items using the Recycle bin (separate entry)
• Dates and times in FLO (separate entry)
  
• Roles in FLO (separate entry)
  
  

Topic coordinator/teacher role options

The Topic management panel can be opened by clicking the button (cog icon) on the main menu. As a teacher, you will see more options than a student. It gives you access to activities, the question bank, badges and user links. If you are on your topic's home page, you will also be able to access topic administration features (through the Actions menu ).

Change your topic format

You can use different formats to change the organisation and structure of your topic.

1. On the homepage of your topic, open the Topic management window and click the Actions menu cog
   
   
   
   
2. Select Edit settings in the drop-down list
   
   
   
3. Under Topic format, change Format to either Grid format or Collapsed modules. See examples of topic formats (Example FLO sites)
    
   Collapsed modules – shows your topic in a format where modules can be toggled/collapsed (recommended).
   Grid format – shows your topic in a visual grid format (alternative format, requires images and may have additional rollover tasks each semester).
   
   
4. Select the number of modules you require
   
   
   
5. In the Hidden modules section, select your preference ( Hidden modules are completely invisible is recommended)
   
   
   

Upload a banner to your topic

A banner is designed to give a face to your site and make it recognisable to your students. The banner is visible on top of the site, as well as on the topic 'card' on the MyFLO page.

Change the maximum upload file size available in your topic

This is managed in the Files and uploads section. By default, topics are set at 40MB but can be changed to accept files up to 2GB. If you need to upload video/audio, please follow the Kaltura (My Media) process.

Turn on completion tracking in your topic

This setting controls completion tracking topic wide. By default, completion tracking is not enabled.

Manage groups in your topic

A group or grouping can be used on two levels — topic level and activity level. When the group mode is switched on at the topic level this is the default for all activities in the topic (including filtering in the gradebook and in participants/enrolled users pages). To enable group mode in a topic, follow the steps below.

1. In the Groups section, select either Visible groups or Separate groups
   
   Separate groups – Each group can only see their own group, others are invisible.
   Visible groups – Each group works in their own group, but can also see other groups. (The other groups' work is read-only.)
   
   
   
2. If Force group mode is set to Yes, the Group mode setting is applied to every activity in the topic. Group mode settings in each activity are then ignored.
   
   
3. Assign a default grouping (if required)
   
   Note: Students can see the membership of any group, so don't name groups based on extensions, grades, language proficiency or medical conditions.

3. Editing your topic

In this section, we go through the editing within the topic using an activity, resource or block.

1. To begin editing your topic, click the Turn Edit On button
    
   
   
2. To add a new activity or resource, click the Add an activity or resource link that will now be available at the bottom right corner of each module 
    
   
   
3. The activity chooser window will open – it has tabs for different views:
   

   Starred – any activity or resource you (the teacher) 'star' as a favourite or frequently used activity
   All – all  Activities and Resources together
   Activities – only Activities
   Resources – only Resources
   
   

4. To edit existing activities and resources, select an option from the Edit menu that appears as a drop-down list alongside each item and click Edit settings
   
   
   
5. To change the name of an activity or resource, you can also click the Edit title button. Press Enter on your keyboard to save the new title
   
   
   
6. To move activities and resources up and down the page, hover over the Move resource icon and then click and drag the item to its preferred location. Activities and resources can be moved both within and between modules
   
   
   Blocks can be moved in a similar fashion. Click the Topic Blocks button to view existing blocks. Blocks can be positioned in Column A, Column B or Column C by clicking and dragging using the Move block icon. A block can also be moved up and down within the same column.
   
   
   

4. User management

In the User management section, you can do a variety of tasks relating to users in your topic.

• View a list of participants
• Contact a student (messaging tool)
• Download a list of student list FANs (for emailing)
  
  

View a list of participants

You can view a list of all users in your topic on the Participants screen.

1. Open the Participants screen via the Participants link in the Navigation menu (left of your screen)
   
   
   Or open the Topic management window and select Participants in the User Links section
   
   
   
   
2. A list of participants will show
   
   
3. You can use the search filter to find participants in the FLO site based on:
• Name
• Student ID or FAN
• Role (e.g. student, tutor)
• Group name
• Who currently has access (active)
• How long they have been inactive
  
  

1. Open the Participants screen via the Participants link in the Navigation menu (left of your screen)
   
   Open the Topic management window and select Participants in the User Links section
   
   
   
   
2. A list of participants will show
   
   
3. Use the search filter to find participants with a particular role, inactivity, or membership to a group
    
   
   
4. Select individual students by clicking in the box alongside their name 
    
   or tick the Select all box at the top of the list
   
   
5. Select the required format from the With selected users... drop-down list
    
   The .csv or .xlsx file can be opened in Excel.

5. Reports

You can view a wide variety of reports in your topic. Available reports:

• Competency breakdown – allows teachers to view the competencies of each student in their topic, along with their ratings
• Dates – allows you to filter by activity and change the dates for multiple activities all on the one screen
• Engagement analytics – provides information about student progress against a range of indicators
• Logs – provides logs for the topic activity for users, these can be generated by selecting any combination of group, student, date, activity, actions and level
• Live logs – provides live logs for the topic including time, user name, topic, component, event name, description, origin and IP address
• Activity logs – shows the number of views for each activity and resource
• Topic participation – a report for a particular activity can generate a list of who has participated in a given activity, and how many times. This can be filtered by role, group, and action (view or post).
• Resource activity – this report details a list of activities showing the number of views, students, not accessed and last accessed
• Statistics – generates graphs and tables of user activity

View Reports - main entry for more information. You can also contact your local eLearning support team.

This entry relates to the Forum activity.

You can create a discussion forum in any topic module. Note: The Announcements forum is included in all topics (you do not need to create it).

• Set up a forum
• Set up ratings in a forum
• Whole forum grading
• Rating individual posts
• Create separate discussion forums for groups in a topic (separate entry)

Set up a forum

1. Turn editing on
   
   
2. In the module where you want to add the forum, click Add an activity or resource 
   
   
   
3. Select Forum and click Add
   
   
4. Give the forum a Name and Description
   
   
5. Select Forum type from the drop-down menu:
   
   • A single simple discussion – A single discussion topic which everyone can reply to (cannot be used with separate groups)
   • Each person posts one discussion – Each student can post exactly one new discussion topic, which everyone can then reply to
   • Q and A forum – Students must first post their perspectives before viewing other students' posts. For students to be able to post to a Q and A forum, a teacher must first post a question for students to respond to
   • Standard forum displayed in a blog-like format – An open forum where anyone can start a new discussion at any time, and in which discussion topics are displayed on one page with 'Discuss this topic' links
   • Standard forum for general use – An open forum where anyone can start a new discussion at any time
     
     
     
     
6. Enable Availability (if required). If enabled, students will retain their ability to view the forum outside of the dates supplied, but will be prevented from further posting. Choose the Allow posts from (open) and Due date (close) dates. Note that the Allow posts from date will not block students from replying to posts. If you want students to reply during a specific period, use the 'Display period' instead. The 'Display period' settings are located under 'Advanced' when writing or editing a post. Note the Due date will not stop students from posting or replying to discussions. Use the cut-off date to set a hard due date where students will not be able to post or reply to the discussion after the date chosen.
   
   You can also set a date time for an individual forum to show/hide in the Display period section of a forum post.
   
   


Timeline block: The 'due date' will show to students in the Timeline block.


7. In the Attachments and word count option, select Yes to enable (if required), and set a maximum number of attachments and the size
   
   
   
8. In the Subscription and tracking section, set the subscription mode and the read tracking (optional or off)
   
   
   
9. In the discussion locking section, you can automatically lock a discussion after a specified time has elapsed since the last reply
   
   
   
10. If required, students can be blocked from posting more than a given number of posts in a given time period. This restriction can prevent individuals from dominating discussions
    
    
    
11. Select an Aggregate type for the forum to appear in the Gradebook. If 'No ratings' is selected the activity will not appear in the Gradebook
    
    Ratings can be restricted to items within a selected date range, select your aggregate type and tick the Restrict ratings to items with dates in this range: and select the date range.
    
    
12. Group mode can be selected in Common module settings
    
    
13. Click Save and display

Set up marking in a forum

There are two ways to mark a forum in FLO:

• Whole forum grading allows you to mark a student’s entire contribution to a forum as a cohesive whole
• Ratings allow you to rate individual forum posts and choose how those ratings aggregate to a final score
  
  

Whole forum grading

1. Create or edit a forum and open the Whole forum grading settings
   
   
2. Choose Point or Scale from the Grade menu
   
   
3. Choose Checklist, Marking guide or Rubric from the Grading method menu. For more information about these options, view our resource on setting up a feedback template
   
   
4. Click Save and display
   
   
5. Once you have saved your changes, click on the cog icon in the top right corner of the page, and then select Advanced grading
   
   
   
6.  On the Advanced grading page, select Define a new grading form from scratch
   
   

Rating individual posts

1. Create or edit a forum and open the Ratings section
   
   
2. Set the Aggregate type: 
   • Average of ratings (default) – useful if there is more than one post/one marker
   • Count of ratings: The number of rated items becomes the final grade. Note that the total cannot exceed the maximum grade for the activity
   • Maximum rating: The highest rating becomes the final grade;
     
   • Minimum rating: The lowest rating becomes the final grade
   • Sum of ratings: All ratings are added together. Note that the total cannot exceed the maximum grade for the activity
     
     
3. Set the Scale:
   • if set to Scale, the Scale will automatically be set to Non-graded pass so no Maximum points can be set
   • if set to Point, you can set the Maximum points (default is 100)
     Note: You can leave the default at 100, as if you set the weighting of the final grade for this assessment in Gradebook, the grade will be automatically scaled down
     
     
4. If you tick the box Restrict ratings to items with dates in this range: you will need to set the dates
   • From: The date and time that ratings can begin being submitted – this could be a few days before the forum closes
   • To: The date and time that ratings will no longer be accepted – this could be the forum close date
     

This entry relates to the Forum activity.

You can create separate discussion forums for groups of students in a single forum activity (you don't need to create a separate forum activity for each group).

Note: Before creating your group discussion forum, you will need to organise your students into groups and add these groups to a grouping. 

Create a group discussion forum

1. Turn editing on 
   
   
2. In the module where you want to create the forum, click Add an activity or resource  
   
   
3. From the Activities tab, select Forum 
   
   
4. Give the forum a Name and Description
   
   
5. Apply other settings as necessary (see Set up a forum)
   
   
6. Under Common module settings, change Group mode to Separate groups to give each group their own private forum, or Visible groups to create a forum for each group and allow other groups to view (but not post to)
   
   
   For the Grouping setting, select the grouping containing the groups you want to use for the forum
   
   
   
7. Click Save and display
   

This entry relates to the Forum activity.

Once the forum is made available to students (via the Forum settings), you may want to do one or more of the following actions, depending on the forum settings.

• Export an entire forum, or part of a forum
• Export a discussion thread
• Export a single post

Export an entire forum, or part of a forum

1. Open the forum, then click on the cog icon in the top-right corner of the page (parallel with the title of the forum). Select Export from the bottom of the list
   
   
2. You can choose to export the entire forum or add filters to export part of it:
• Specific students
• Specific discussion topics
• Posts within a particular date range
  
  
3. Choose a file format. The default file format is a CSV file, which opens in Excel, but there are other file formats you may prefer. Note that all the export options show data in a tabled layout.
   
   
4. Under the Export options section, make sure that both boxes are ticked (these make the exported file easier to read).
   
   
5. Click the Export button

Export a discussion thread

1. Open the forum and open the discussion topic you wish to export.
   
   
2. Above the first post, select Mahara ePortfolio from the File Download menu, then click on the Export whole discussion to portfolio.
   
   
   
3. You will be asked if you want to confirm if it is in HTML (a web page) or Leap2A format (a Mahara compatible format), then confirm the export.
   
   
4. The exported HTML file will download to your computer. The exported Leap2A file will be available in Mahara.

Alternatively, if you want to export the discussion topic without sending it to Mahara, you could print the page as an Adobe PDF file.

Export a single post

You (or a student) can export a post to a portfolio.

1. Find the post you wish to export
   
   
2. In the bottom right-hand corner of the post, click on the Export to portfolio link.
   
   
   
3. Select Mahara ePortfolio from the Select destination menu
   
   
4. You will be asked if you want to export the post as a HTML file (a web page) or Leap2A file (a Mahara compatible format). Then click Next.
   
   
5. Confirm your export by clicking Continue
   
   
6. The exported file is now available in Mahara.

You can also copy and paste the post’s text into Mahara. While this easier, be aware that it doesn't carry across the post date and time, so won’t be suitable in all situations.

Forum and Announcements are the same activity. However, you do not need to add a discussion forum for Announcements as this activity will already be set up in your topic. The difference between Forum and Announcements is that announcements are for teacher use only – students cannot add a discussion post or reply to an announcement. When you set up a forum in your topic, students can interact with you and other students.

Announcements are a way of generating social presence/active teaching in your FLO topic. You can provide information to all students using the 'Latest announcements' block on the topic homepage. This is handy for important information (eg changes to lecture/tutorial times, assessment reminders). Remind your students to check their emails regularly. 

Forums enable participants to have asynchronous discussions (ie discussions that take place over an extended period of time). Discussion forums provide opportunities for social presence and can foster a community of practice in your FLO topic. Participation in the forum could contribute to an assessment grade, and could also indicate problem areas. Participants can subscribe to a forum to receive notifications of new forum posts. 

1. Plan

Announcements

Announcements are a timely, active element in the topic – use them to post reminders, pose challenging questions, generate curiosity, answer a common FAQ, or respond to 'muddy points'. Announcements are posted to all enrolled students in the topic within 30 minutes of posting (assuming that they have not disabled email notifications in their personal preferences).

Forum

Discussion forums can have many uses, formal and informal:

• a social space for students to get to know each other (eg a 'student lounge')
• discussing topic content or reading materials
• preparing for an assessment item, or as an assessment item (this can reduce emails to staff)
• troubleshooting (a great way to foster a community)
• continuing online an issue raised in a face-to-face session
• a 'help centre' where tutors and students can give advice
• teacher-only discussions (using a hidden forum)

Suggestions to help with planning:

• Talk to teaching peers about issues around forum participation and assessment.
• Decide what marks to assign to the forum (it could be a non-graded pass or a percentage).
• Give students a rubric/marking guide that shows them what effective participation means – criteria could include originality, scholarly argument, type of interactions between students and demonstration of critical thinking skills (quality), as well as the number of posts and word length.
• Decide whether to use peer assessment (ratings) – this approach could help create a sense of community and deepen learning: 
• Ask your local eLearning team to set up the forum to allow peer assessment.
• Decide on the range of ratings (eg 5 which means students can rate each other on a scale of 1-5)
• How might students give feedback other than just a rating? It might be to reply to the rated post saying why they think it is worth x, and their own response. This is forum etiquette anyway when replying to posts (‘I don’t agree with…’ etc) and helps develop a critical but constructive approach.
  
  

2. Build

Announcements

You do not need to build the Announcements forum activity as it will already be set up in your topic. It will likely be sitting in Module 0.

Forum

Forum posts can be rated by teachers or students (peer evaluation). Ratings can be aggregated to form a final grade which is recorded in the Gradebook.

• Create a discussion forum (includes how to set up ratings and groups)
  
  

3. Test

You could ask your eLearning support team to check the settings for your forum, to make sure it serves the purpose you had in mind in the planning stage.

4. Administer

Announcements

• Manage announcements (post)

Forum

View some tips for fostering a community and facilitating/monitoring a discussion forum (PDF file).

• Manage a discussion forum (view, post, rate, give feedback, show/hide posts)
• Marking a forum
  

In FLO (tracking tips)

• Track and analyse the discourse – monitor for quantity and type (Activity report / Topic participation report). 
  
• View a student's posts for an overview of how they are tracking in the topic (how often they post, whether they start a discussion etc)
  
• Exporting forum posts
  
  

5. Review

The observations you note whilst the forum is running will help you fine-tune it for the next iteration of your topic, for example:

• Would a different forum type be better?
• Did students participate as much as you wanted? If not, why not?
• Did student feedback tell you anything? (eg Touchpoint survey, class discussion, emails)

This entry relates to the Forum activity.

Once the forum is made available to students (via the Forum settings), you may want to one or more of the following actions, depending on the forum settings.

• Add, delete, or move posts
  
• View a student's posts
• Post a question to a Q and A forum
  
• Reply privately to a post
  
• Control how long forum posts are visible

Add, delete or move posts

Once a discussion forum is open for student posts, teachers will need to manage the forum – moderate posts (eg around  netiquette, 'muddy' points/teachable moments, drifting conversations), assess forum participation, rate posts etc. Students may also need to manage their and others' posts – follow the conversation, export their posts, use them in an eportfolio/for an assignment etc.

Staff can delete, move or export posts. Students can delete (their own post, within a 15-minute time frame) or export their posts.

Add a post

1. Click on the forum
   
   
2. Click the Add a new discussion topic button
   
   
3. Add a Subject and Message
   
   
4. Click on the Advanced link to:
• add an attachment
• set dates when the topic should or should not display
• pin the topic to the top of the forum
  
• post the topic instantly (there is a 15 minute period before notifications are sent to students)
  
  
5. Click Post to forum

Delete a post

Teaching staff may want to delete a post if it is inappropriate (eg flaming).

1. Click on the post you want to delete in the Discussion column
   
   
2. In the next screen, click on the Delete option in the right-hand corner of the post
   
   
3. You will be asked if you are sure you want to delete the post. Click Continue to delete the post, and any replies to that post.
   
   
4. Check in the post list screen to make sure it has been deleted
   

Move a topic

You can move a topic to another forum where it is more appropriate/relevant (eg a query about assessment may belong in a forum set up especially for this rather than where it has been posted).

1. Click on the topic you want to move in the Discussion column
   
   
2. In the next screen, in the top right-hand corner of the post click on the pull-down menu next to the Move button
   
   
   
3. Choose the forum you want to move the topic to, and click Move
   
   
4. Check in the original forum and the forum you have moved the topic to, to make sure the topic has moved
   

View a student's posts

A teacher can view the posts of a particular student and see all posts or any discussions started by that student. This is a useful feature if you want to provide feedback on a student's posts or see how often they are posting in a forum/s. 

1. Click on the Participants link in the Topic Management panel (under User Links)
   
   
   
2. Click on the student's name (this will load their profile)
   
   
   
3. Click Forum posts
   
   
   
4. You should see a list of the student's posts and the name of the forum/s the posts were made in – you can click the options Permalink, Show parent, Edit, Split, Delete, Reply or Export to portfolio
   
   

Post a question to a Q and A forum

1. Enter the forum by clicking on the activity on the topic homepage
   
   
   
2. Click Add a new question
   
   
   
3. Enter a question Subject and Message
   
   
   
4. Press the Post to forum button
   
   
5. The student will be able to view the question by clicking on the discussion Subject, and can post a response by hitting the Reply button. To see the other responses, they must first post their own.
   
   
   
   
   

Reply privately to a post

You can reply privately to a student’s post to give individual feedback within a forum. To reply privately, commence a reply as normal, and tick the Reply privately box underneath the text box.

 

Students can not reply back to a private reply you have left. If you need to initiate a discussion with a student, use a different communication method.

You restrict student access to the forum in the Availability section of the forum settings, when you are setting up the forum. Once the forum is open to students, you can also set the dates when a topic is visible (or not visible).

1. If creating a new topic, click on the Advanced link and open the display period.
   
   
2. If the topic has already been created, open the topic you wish to restrict, then click on the Edit option below the post
   
   
   
3.  Open the Display period tab, and select the Enable boxes to set dates for displaying the post (show/hide)
   
   

This entry relates to the Forum activity.

Each topic contains an Announcements forum. Only staff members are able to post into this forum and students will be sent an email copy of each message posted into this forum, assuming that they have not disabled email notifications in their personal preferences. Posting an announcement is an easy and reasonably effective way to communicate important information to students.

You could post an announcement:

• when students get access to the topic (usually 1 week prior to topic commencement), as a welcome/orientation
• when assessment item due dates are approaching, to support students being on task
• when a guest lecturer is presenting, to encourage students to attend

Post an announcement – steps

1. In your topic, locate the Announcements forum (usually in module 0) 
   
   
2. Click on Add a new topic
   
   
3. Enter a Subject and Message
   
   
   
4. Select Pinned (under Advanced, see image above) if you'd like the message pinned to the top of the list
   
   
   
5. Select Post instantly (under Advanced, see image above) if you'd like the message to be emailed and made visible to students instantly. If post instantly is not selected, the post will be emailed 15 minutes later, giving you time to correct any mistakes you make after posting (depending on the students forum email digest settings in their profile)
   
   
   
6. Select Post to forum
   

This entry relates to the Forum activity.

Forums have the ability to be marked. For information on how to enable marking in a forum view Create a discussion forum.

• Whole forum grading (individually) - mark a student’s entire contribution to a forum as a cohesive whole
• Whole forum grading (by group) - mark a student’s entire contribution to a forum as a cohesive whole by group (useful when grading a particular group)
  
• Rate a forum post - rate individual forum posts and choose how those ratings aggregate to a final score

Whole forum grading (individually)

If the forum has been set up for grading it will automatically appear in the Gradebook. 

Whole forum grading allows you to view all of a student’s posts in a particular forum and mark them as a whole, using either a numerical mark (Simple direct grading) or advanced grading methods (Checklist, Marking guide or Rubric). To do this:

Whole forum grading (by group)

If the forum has been set up for grading it will automatically appear in the Gradebook. 

Whole forum grading allows you to view all of a student’s posts in a particular forum and mark them as a whole, using either a numerical mark (Simple direct grading) or advanced grading methods (Checklist, Marking guide or Rubric). To do this:

Rate a forum post

If the forum has been set up for ratings, it will automatically appear in the Gradebook.

1. Go to the forum, open a forum post (click on the link) and rate it using the drop-down rating box. (In the example below, the scale is out of 5). To give written feedback, add a private reply.
2. You could sample one post for rating, or go into each post and rate them all (depending on the marking/assessment strategy). If the marking strategy involves marking multiple posts, be aware of the aggregation method used:

• Average or ratings: the mean of all ratings given
• Count of ratings: the number of ratings given is the mark
• Maximum rating: the highest rated post determines the mark awarded
• Minimum rating: the lowest rated post determines the mark awarded
• Sum of ratings: all ratings are added together, and the total is the mark awarded
  
  

3. If you wish to moderate the mark awarded, staff with the Teacher and Topic coordinator roles can override the grade using manual grading.

This entry relates to the Forum activity.

• I'm not receiving forum posts to my email
  
• Students can't post to a Q and A forum
• How do I control how long forum posts are visible? (links to 'Manage a discussion forum')
  
  

I'm not receiving forum posts to my email

There might be several reasons for this problem:

• You may not be subscribed to the forum/s
  
• You may not have your forum tracking set properly
  
• You may be receiving daily digests
  
• Your forum notifications may be disabled

You may not be subscribed to the forum/s

You will need to subscribe to forums before you receive new posts in your email. (Note: everyone in the topic is subscribed to the Announcements forum by default.)

1. Click on your profile picture/name (grey toolbar top of screen)
   
   
2. Click Preferences
   
   
   
3. In the User account area select Forum preferences
   
   
   
4. In the Forum auto-subscribe section select Yes: when I post, subscribe me to that forum discussion
   
   
   
5. Click Save changes

You may not have your forum tracking set properly

When you are notified of a forum post, you can choose whether this should mark the post as read for the purpose of forum tracking. 

1. Follow steps 1 and 2 above
   
   
2. In the Forum Tracking drop down list select Yes: highlight new post for me 
   
   
3. In the When sending forum post notifications drop-down list select Do not mark the post as read – this will ensure when you receiving notifications posts are not marked as 'read'
   
   
   
4. Click Save changes
   

You may be receiving daily digests

By default, users receive forum posts compiled into a single email sent daily, usually overnight. (The exception is Announcement posts, which are sent out within 30 minutes.) You can change your notification settings to receive individual emails.

1. Follow steps 1 and 2 above
   
   
2. In Forum preferences section, change Email digest type to No digest (single email per forum post)
   
   
   
3. Click Save changes

Your forum notifications may be disabled

You can choose to turn off forum notifications. To turn them back on:

1. Follow steps 1 and 2 above
   
   
2. In the User account area select Notification preferences
   
   
   
3. In the Forum section, make sure all four Email boxes are set to On
   
   
   
4. Click Save changes
   
   

Students can't post to a Q and A forum

For students to be able to post to a Q and A forum, a teacher must first post a question for students to respond to.

Below is the student view of a Q and A forum without a teacher-initiated question. Note that it does not yet have buttons where students can post a reply.

This entry relates to the Gradebook.

You can design and use checklists to mark assignments and forums online.

• Build a checklist
• Edit a checklist
• Student view
  

See also Mark in FLO using a checklist (assignments)

Build a checklist

1. Before you can build a checklist, you need to set up the assignment/forum for online marking using a checklist

2. Give your checklist a name (required) and description (optional)
   
   

3. Add a name for your group in the Click to edit group area
   
   

4. Add a description for your item in the Click to edit item area
   
   

5. To add more items, click the +Add item button
   
   

6. To add more groups, click the +Add group button
   
   

7. Select options for your checklist
   
   

8. Click the Save checklist and make it ready button
   

Edit a checklist

To edit a checklist (prior to opening the assignment for submissions):

1. Open the activity
   
   
2. Select Advanced grading from the Actions menu cog

 

3. On the Advanced grading page, click Edit the current form definition
    
   

4. To edit, click on the group name or checklist item (see step 3 onwards under Build a checklist above). To delete an item, click the cross icon
   
   
5. Once you have finished making changes, click the Save button
   

---

Student view

Students can view the checklist (Grading criteria) before they submit their assignment on the Submission status screen:

This entry relates to the Gradebook.

You can design and use marking guides to mark assignments and forums online.

• Build a marking guide
• Edit a marking guide
• Student view
  

Build a marking guide

1. Before you can build a marking guide, you need to set up the assignment or forum for online marking using a marking guide

2. Give your marking guide a name (required) and a description (optional)
   
   

3. Add a name for the criterion in the Click to edit criterion name area
   

4.  Add a description for students – type in the Click to edit area. You can also add a description for the markers (if required)
   
   

5. Allocate a mark for the criterion, type a number into the Click to edit area for Maximum score
   

6. Click the Add criterion button to add extra criterion
   
   

7. Move your criterion up and down using the arrows, or delete (x)
   
   

8. At Frequently used comments, type in the Click to edit area to enter a comment, then click the +Add frequently used comments button until you have finished entering the comments you want markers to use
   

9. Select options for your marking guide
   

10. Click the Save marking guide and make it ready button
    
    

Edit a marking guide

1. Open the activity
2. Select Advanced grading from the Actions menu cog

This entry relates to the Gradebook.

You can design and use rubrics to mark assignments and forums online. 

• Build a rubric
• Edit a rubric
• Student view
  

Build a rubric

1. Before you can build a rubric, you need to set up the assignment/forum for online marking using a rubric

2. Give your rubric a name (required) and a description (optional)
   
   

3. Add criterion in the Click to edit criterion area
   
   

4. Add performance standards in the Click to edit level areas
   
   

5. To add more performance standards, click the Add level button
   
   

6. Add marks per performance standard – click the points areas
   
   

7. To add extra criterion, click the Add criterion button
   
   

8. Move your criterion up and down using the arrows, or delete (x). You can copy a criterion (with performance standard and marks) via the duplicate icon – the copy will appear at the end of the list
   
   

9. Select options for your rubric
   
   

10. Click the Save rubric and make it ready button
    

Edit a rubric

1. Open the activity

2. Select Advanced grading from the Actions menu cog
   
   

3. On the Advanced grading page, click Edit the current form definition
   
   

4. Once you have finished making changes, click the Save button
   

Student view

Students can view the rubric (Grading criteria) before they submit their assignment on the Submission status screen: