Forum / Announcements - main entryWhether you are starting from scratch or working with a discussion forum already created, using the forum activity in a topic ideally consists of 5 stages, in a looped process. 1. Plan | 2. Build | 3. Test | 4. Administer | 5. Review || Support
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. Good practice guides and tip sheets
Good practice guides and tip sheets have been developed to support quality in both curriculum design and teaching practice. Good practice guides provide a pedagogical overview and tip sheets provide you with practical strategies and ideas for implementation. Links to fourm-related resources are provided below. Inspirational and engaged teaching | Designing assessment | Incorporating Socratic questions into your FLO site | Providing constructive feedback in FLO | Communication, interaction and collaboration tools in FLO | Facilitating Student-Teacher interaction in FLO | Designing holistic rubrics | Online topic orientation | Rubrics | Providing students with comprehensive assessment information and support in FLO
1. PlanAnnouncementsAnnouncements 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).
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Forum / Announcements - manage a discussion forum
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 postsOnce 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.
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Forum / Announcements - manage announcements1. Plan |
2. Build
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5. Review
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Forum / Announcements - marking a forum
Forums have the ability to be marked. For information on how to enable marking in a forum view Create a discussion forum.
Good practice guides and tip sheets
Good practice guides and tip sheets have been developed to support quality in both curriculum design and teaching practice. Good practice guides provide a pedagogical overview and tip sheets provide you with practical strategies and ideas for implementation. Links to assessment-related resources are provided below.
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 postIf the forum has been set up for ratings, it will
automatically appear in the Gradebook.
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Forum / Announcements - troubleshooting
I'm not receiving forum posts to my emailThere might be several reasons for this problem:
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Gradebook - build and edit a checklist for online marking (assignments and forums)Setting up the Gradebook | Setting up the topic total | Checking your calculations | Grading students work
| Finalising grades for the semester || Support
![]() This entry relates to the Gradebook.
You can design and use checklists to mark assignments and forums online.
See also Mark in FLO using a checklist (assignments) Please note: Currently, the checklist can only be used in marking assignments (not forums).
Build a checklist
Edit a checklistTo edit a checklist (prior to opening the assignment for submissions):
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Student viewStudents can view the checklist (Grading criteria) before they submit their assignment on the Submission status screen:
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Gradebook - build and edit a marking guide for online marking (assignments and forums)Setting up the Gradebook | Setting up the topic total | Checking your calculations | Grading students work | Finalising grades for the semester || Support ![]() 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 guideEdit a marking guide (prior to opening the assignment for submissions)
![]() 3. On the Advanced grading page, click Edit the current form definition 4. Once you have finished making changes, click the Save button ![]() Student viewStudents can view the marking guide (Grading criteria) before they submit their assignment on the Submission status
screen:
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Gradebook - build and edit a rubric for online marking (assignments and forums)Setting up the Gradebook | Setting up the topic total | Checking your calculations | Grading students work
| Finalising grades for the semester || Support
![]() This entry relates to the Gradebook.
You can design and use rubrics to mark assignments and forums online.
Good practice guides and tip sheetsGood practice guides and tip sheets have been developed to support quality in both curriculum design and teaching practice. Good practice guides provide a pedagogical overview and tip sheets provide you with practical strategies and ideas for implementation. Links to assessment-related resources are provided below. Rubrics and marking guides in FLO | Constructive alignment in FLO | Designing holistic rubrics | Negotiated assessment Build a rubric
Edit a rubric
Student viewStudents can view the rubric (Grading criteria) before they submit their assignment on the Submission status screen:
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Gradebook - mark in FLO using a marking guide (assignments and forums)Setting up the Gradebook | Setting up the topic total | Checking your calculations | Grading students work
| Finalising grades for the semester || Support
If you set up a marking guide (an advanced grading feedback form) when you created an assignment or
forum, you can mark online in FLO.
Mark an assignment using an online marking guide
Warning: Feedback comments will NOT be saved unless all the other fields have valid entries.
Mark a forum using an online marking guide
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Gradebook - mark in FLO using a rubric (assignments and forums)Setting up the Gradebook | Setting up the topic total | Checking your calculations | Grading students work
| Finalising grades for the semester || Support
![]() This entry relates to the Gradebook.
If you set up a rubric (an advanced grading feedback form) when you created an assignment or
forum, you can mark online in FLO.
Mark an assignment using an online rubric
Warning: Feedback comments will NOT be saved unless all the other fields have valid entries.
Mark a forum using an online rubric
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Gradebook - mark in FLO using a rubric, marking guide or checklist (assignments and forums)Setting up the Gradebook | Setting up the topic total | Checking your calculations | Grading students work
| Finalising grades for the semester || Support
![]() This entry relates to the Gradebook.
If you set up a marking guide, rubric or checklist (an advanced grading feedback form) when you created an assignment or
forum, you can mark using the feedback form online in FLO.
Good practice guides and tip sheets
Good practice guides and tip sheets have been developed to support quality in both curriculum design and teaching practice. Good practice guides provide a pedagogical overview and tip sheets provide you with practical strategies and ideas for implementation. Links to assessment-related resources are provided below. Rubrics and marking guides in FLO | Constructive alignment in FLO | Designing holistic rubrics | Negotiated assessment
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Gradebook - set up a feedback template for offline or online marking (assignments and forums)Setting up the Gradebook | Setting up the topic total | Checking your calculations | Grading students work
| Finalising grades for the semester || Support
![]() This entry relates to the Gradebook.
Marking guides (or rubrics, checklists, feedback forms) address the assessment criteria and standards of performance. The topic coordinator may provide a marking guide in an assignment or forum. When marking an assignment, you can use either an offline or online marking guide. When marking a forum, you can use one of the online marking guides. Offline marking options Online marking options
Good practice guides and tip sheets
Good practice guides and tip sheets have been developed to support quality in both curriculum design and teaching practice. Good practice guides provide a pedagogical overview and tip sheets provide you with practical strategies and ideas for implementation. Links to assessment-related resources are provided below. Inspirational and engaged teaching | Rubrics | Rubrics and marking guides in FLO
Set up an assignment for offline marking using a feedback template
Uploading a feedback template (usually a Word document) will allow you (later, during the marking process) to download a zip folder containing a copy of the marking guide for each student with the correct naming convention to be uploaded
back into the assignment. FLO refers to these as feedback files. You will then be able to complete the feedback file (marking guide/rubric etc) for each student, zip up all feedback files and
return to FLO in a one-step process.
Set up an assignment/forum for online marking using advanced grading
First, you need to decide which advanced grading method best suits your needs – a marking
guide, rubric or checklist (see examples below). You can experiment with all of them, but once you have set up one type you will lose the settings you created if you switch
to another type (ie you will have to build the new one from scratch).
Please note: The Checklist advanced grading method for marking forums is currently disabled.
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Download FLO - export a glossaryThe glossary tool in FLO/Moodle has no corresponding equivalent tool in Canvas. However, you can export the entries from an FLO glossary as a text file (that you may wish to reuse in Canvas via another tool such as pdf, an H5P object etc). To export content from the glossary tool:
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Glossary - main entryUsing the glossary activity in a topic ideally consists of 4 stages, in a looped process. 1. Plan | 2. Build | 3. Test | 4. Administer | | Support
The glossary can also become a legacy or resource for future topics. It is a product that could potentially be converted into a publishable resource (eg create your own textbook). Good practice guides and tip sheets
Good practice guides and tip sheets have been developed to support quality in both curriculum design and teaching practice. Good practice guides provide a pedagogical overview and tip sheets provide you with practical strategies and ideas for implementation. Links to teaching-related resources are provided below. 1. Plan your glossaryThe glossary tool enables participants (students) to create and maintain a list of definitions or to collect and organise resources/information. If the glossary auto-linking filter is enabled, entries will be automatically linked where the concept works and/or phrases appear within the topic. A teacher can allow comments on entries (eg peer review, additional information). Entries can also be rated by teachers or students (peer evaluation). Ratings can be aggregated to form a final grade which is recorded in the Gradebook. Glossaries have many uses, such as:
2. Build your glossary
You have planned your glossary. Now you are ready to set up your glossary. Students will be able to create an entry and add comments (if you choose Yes), but will not be able to rate an entry without further steps (see Glossary - optional settings).
Create a glossary activity
Optional settingsSee the following links for more options about using the Glossary activity:
3. Test your glossaryTo make sure your glossary works as expected, create a test entry (this can be deleted once you are happy with the result).
Add a glossary entry
4. Administer your glossary
In order to administer your glossary, you can use a variety of functions (listed below). You can moderate entries, set up ratings, import and export entries.
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Support Contact your local eLearning support team |
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Glossary - optional settings1. Plan |
2. Build
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Support
Glossary has some optional settings which you can use, depending on the glossary's purpose and what you want students to do.
Moderate glossary entries before they are published
Set up ratings in a glossaryYou may wish students to rate other students' work (peer assess). If making this part of the assessment, you could then view the ratings and determine an overall rating for a student. Glossary entries can be rated using a scale. By default, only teaching staff can rate glossary entries, though students can be given permission to do so if desired (see step 2 below). Any ratings given are recorded in the Gradebook. If you set up glossaries for rating, the glossary item will automatically appear in the Gradebook. Otherwise, if you want to assess the glossary you will need to manually add it to the Gradebook.
Set up auto-linking in a glossary entryIf the glossary auto-linking filter is enabled, entries will be automatically linked where the concept works and/or phrases appear within the topic.These steps must be repeated for each entry for which auto-linking is desired.
Enable auto-linking in an existing glossary entryTo enable auto-linking in an existing glossary entry, identify the relevant entry in the glossary and select the cog icon to the right of the entry. Enable auto-linking as in step 3 above.
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Glossary - troubleshooting1. Plan |
2. Build |
3. Test
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Support
Questions/problemsStudents can't comment on glossary entriesEdit your glossary's settings. Under the Entries heading, make sure Allow comments on entries is set to Yes.
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Gradebook - add a manual grade itemSetting up the Gradebook | Setting up the topic total | Checking your calculations | Grading students work | Finalising grades for the semester || Support
Manual grade items can be used to record grades for activities that are not undertaken through FLO (eg contribution to tutorial discussion, oral presentation). Most FLO activities you set up will appear in the Gradebook automatically (note that if you set up a forum and want to grade it, you will have to set it to be rated). Steps
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Gradebook - build and edit a checklist for online marking (assignments and forums)Setting up the Gradebook | Setting up the topic total | Checking your calculations | Grading students work
| Finalising grades for the semester || Support
![]() This entry relates to the Gradebook.
You can design and use checklists to mark assignments and forums online.
See also Mark in FLO using a checklist (assignments) Please note: Currently, the checklist can only be used in marking assignments (not forums).
Build a checklist
Edit a checklistTo edit a checklist (prior to opening the assignment for submissions):
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Student viewStudents can view the checklist (Grading criteria) before they submit their assignment on the Submission status screen:
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Gradebook - build and edit a marking guide for online marking (assignments and forums)Setting up the Gradebook | Setting up the topic total | Checking your calculations | Grading students work | Finalising grades for the semester || Support ![]() 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 guideEdit a marking guide (prior to opening the assignment for submissions)
![]() 3. On the Advanced grading page, click Edit the current form definition 4. Once you have finished making changes, click the Save button ![]() Student viewStudents can view the marking guide (Grading criteria) before they submit their assignment on the Submission status
screen:
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Gradebook - build and edit a rubric for online marking (assignments and forums)Setting up the Gradebook | Setting up the topic total | Checking your calculations | Grading students work
| Finalising grades for the semester || Support
![]() This entry relates to the Gradebook.
You can design and use rubrics to mark assignments and forums online.
Good practice guides and tip sheetsGood practice guides and tip sheets have been developed to support quality in both curriculum design and teaching practice. Good practice guides provide a pedagogical overview and tip sheets provide you with practical strategies and ideas for implementation. Links to assessment-related resources are provided below. Rubrics and marking guides in FLO | Constructive alignment in FLO | Designing holistic rubrics | Negotiated assessment Build a rubric
Edit a rubric
Student viewStudents can view the rubric (Grading criteria) before they submit their assignment on the Submission status screen:
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