Tool options - quiz and surveyFLO ecosystem | Tool options (specific purposes) || Support These tools are available in FLO. For external tool options, contact your local eLearning support team.
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Database - create a database activity (step 1)
First you have to create the activity (steps below). This provides the 'shell' for the activity. Then you will need to build the database (fields and searchability) (step 2) and create templates to aid usability (step 3). When setting up the conditions for adding entries, you can decide whether entries need to be approved, and whether/who to give ratings to entries (if ratings are used for marking).
Steps
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Assignment - create a group assignment
Group assignments are used when students work on an assignment in teams and upload one submission per team. Note: Before creating your group assignment, you will need to organise your students into groups and add these groups to a grouping. 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 group-related resources are provided below.
Create a group assignment
Create an assignment (for file submissions) and make the following adjustments to the settings.
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Setting | Description |
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Students submit in groups |
Set to Yes to create a group assignment (this will activate the next three settings) ![]() |
Require group to make submission |
If enabled (Yes), students who are not members of a group will be unable to make submissions ![]() |
Require all group members submit |
This setting is enabled if Require students to click the Submit button is Yes in the Submission settings. This setting controls whether every member of the group must click the Submit button, or whether one member can 'submit' on behalf of the group:
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Grouping for student groups |
Choose the grouping you wish to use for the group assignment. Select the grouping that you created when you organised your students into groups.
Important: It is vital to have your students in the right group/grouping. If you do not include a grouping for this setting, FLO will take your entire topic as a group, so the first student to submit will be submitting for everyone and their
assignment submission will be visible to everyone. If this isn't set up correctly it cannot be changed once someone submits – you need to recreate the entire assignment.
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Assignment - create an assignment as a take-home exam
The assignment tool in FLO can be used to deliver take-home exams. In this format, students get access to the exam question/topic at a particular time, then need to submit (either by uploading a file or by typing text directly into FLO) by the due date. 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 resources that relate to take-home exams are provided below.
Create an assignment as a take-home exam
Create an assignment (for file submissions) and make the following adjustments to the settings:
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Engaging content - pollingStudents 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. 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 polling-related resources are provided below. Design principles for creating engaging digital content
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Sourcing and creating digital content
FLO Active Quiz
Active Quiz is designed for in-class quizzes. The quiz uses questions from the question bank, questions can be timed/not timed, grades are reported back to the Gradebook. You can view student responses in real time to offer in-class discussion about the
results. Students can use any device. Group quizzing is supported.
Good for
Useful features
Cautions
Tips
Help resources
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Quiz - provide quiz feedback at quiz and question level
Providing feedback is an excellent way to increase student engagement when they attempt and review a quiz. Feedback can be customised to address particular student responses to a question, the question more generally, or the total score achieved by the student. It can be delivered during the quiz, after the attempt but before the quiz has closed, or after the quiz has closed. The amount and quality of feedback you provide will depend on the quiz's purpose.
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 quiz-related resources are provided below. The three types of feedback – specific, general and overall
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Database - main entryUsing a database activity in your topic is one way to allow students to create content
and share it with others. Using the Database activity in a topic ideally consists of 5 stages, in a looped process.
1. Plan | 2. Build | 3. Test | 4. Administer | 5. Review || Support
The database entries need to be exported/imported separately if you want to use the database in another site (eg the topic's next version) – only the database shell will be copied over. Contact your eLearning support team. 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 database-related resources are provided below. 1. PlanThe success of the database activity is in the planning. Once students begin adding content (entries), it can be tricky to change the fields, so thinking ahead is key. What is the intended purpose of the database activity?
The structure of the entries is defined by the teacher as a number of fields. The visual layout of information when listing, viewing or editing database entries is controlled by templates. When creating a database for the first time, it can be helpful to think about it like an Excel spreadsheet. The teacher creates the columns (fields), and students and/or teachers add rows of content. 2. BuildOnce you have planned your database fields, you are ready to set up your database.
3. TestThe database activity is a highly customisable and very versatile tool, so it's important to test what you've built thoroughly before releasing the activity to students. Ask your local eLearning support team
to check your Database for you (especially if this is your first time). It is best to amend mistakes before students add entries.
4. AdministerWhen setting up your database activity, you can enable a number of optional settings. Some of these settings require administration by a teacher:
To encourage students to add entries, you could add an initial entry to model good practice, setting a standard and ensuring that instructions are not misunderstood. You could add the first entry in the Test phase). This is equivalent to making the first post in a forum. The fields you set up when you built the database will also prompt students as to what to add to create an entry. Students like examples and will engage more promptly with the tool. You can see how many students have contributed on the topic homepage:
5. ReviewHow did your database activity go? Would you set up the activity differently next time round? Talk to colleagues and/or your local eLearning support team to get ideas for improvement.
If you are happy with the activity and you want to use the content in a future topic version/other topics, you can ask your eLearning support team to roll over or import the database activity. The entries will need to be exported/imported separately.
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Video - options for recording guest lecturesThis entry relates to a range of tools used to build videos. Most of our resources are designed to help you make videos for your topics. This entry is to help guest lecturers make videos for topics they don't have access to. Because guest lecturers may be from outside the University this page
includes programs that Flinders does not support, as most of our supported programs would need to be purchased. We have included links to help documentation for all programs included below.
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 lecture recording-related resources are provided below.
Scenario 1: The speaker is from outside Flinders University
Option 1: They use a program they are comfortable withIf they already have a program they already use in their workplace (a strong possibility if they are from another university), they can use that.
Once they've recorded the video they can upload it to a cloud storage service like OneDrive, Google Drive or Dropbox and share a link for you to download the video. You can then upload it to My Media.
Option 2: They may have access to program that will create a video
There are some commonly available programs that can produce video: PowerPoint:
Keynote (Macs only)How To Export A Keynote Presentation As A QuickTime Video – With A Voiceover (you'll need to scroll down the page a little to see
these steps)
Mobile phoneIf they are only recording themselves speaking they can record themselves on their mobile phone, and upload it to a cloud
storage service like OneDrive, Google Drive or Dropbox and share a link for you to
download the video. You can then upload the video to My Media.
They could also use their phone to record an audio recording, which you can also upload in My Media.
Option 3: Film them on campus
If it is convenient for them to come to campus you can film them in a quite spot on campus using your phone, or record them in the Multimedia recording studio. You can then upload the video to My Media. Teaching spaces equipped with recording facilities can be used to record video and other presentations.
Option 4: Record a Collaborate session
Guest lecturers can record video in Collaborate without needing a FAN. The methods we've mentioned above facilitate a more polished
video but this will do when no other alternatives are available.
Scenario 2: The speaker is from Flinders, but does not have access to your topic.
Option 1: Kaltura or Camtasia
Kaltura and Camtasia are the video-creation programs supported by Flinders University.
Option 2: Film them on campus
You could film them in a quite spot on campus using your phone, or record them in the Multimedia recording studio.
You can then upload the video to My Media. Teaching spaces equipped with recording facilities can be used to record video and other presentations.
Option 3: Other programs
Please note that the following options are not supported by the eLearning teams. Staff could use the either of the following programs, upload it to My Media, then make you a co-publisher so
you can add it to your FLO site.
PowerPoint
Keynote (Macs only)How To Export A Keynote Presentation As A QuickTime Video – With A Voiceover (you'll need to scroll down the page a little to see
these steps)
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Forum / Announcements - create separate discussion forums for groups in a topic
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. 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 group-related resources are provided below.
Create a group discussion forum
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Assignment - purpose and settingsGood 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 assignment-related resources are provided below. Designing assessment | Rubrics and marking guides in FLO | Scaffolding assessment in FLO
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Blog - main entryBlogs are a specific type of social networking tool which is presented as a website with regular entries including commentary, descriptions and links to digital resources such as videos and images. Using the blog activity in a topic ideally consists of 5 stages. 1. Plan | 2. Build | 3. Administer | 4. Review || Support![]() The blog tool in FLO (OU blog) is intuitive for users (there is a 'New blog post' prompt and the user can use the HTML editor to add/edit their post entry). Blogs are usually organised as a chronological series of postings created by the author/s of the blog (the student/s). You may want to prompt students what to blog about (this might be assessment information), either in the introduction or somewhere else in the FLO site depending on the blog's purpose. A blog can be used for formative assessment (eg reflections) or summative assessment (eg a final account of their learning). 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 blog-related resources are provided below. Inspirational and engaged teaching | Providing constructive feedback in FLO | Communication, interaction and collaboration tools in FLO
1. PlanWhat is the purpose of the blog – what do you want students to do using this tool?
2. BuildOnce you have determined your blog's purpose, you can set it up.
3. AdministerTo administer the blog you can view how users are participating, as well as set up a grade for the blog.
View the participation of a user
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Troubleshooting |
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Training/Support Contact your local eLearning support team |
No known issues with this tool |
Topic administration - non-award (short) courses1. Build |
2. Settings
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| 4. User management
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5. Reports
|| Support
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 assignment-related resources are provided below. Supporting students to successfully engage with the topic | Culturally responsive digital learning This entry relates to topic administration.
It is possible to create a non-award (short) course in FLO using existing infrastructure. FLO can provide the same functionality to deliver non-award (short) courses as is available for award topics. The key difference is because non-award (short) courses do not exist in 'upstream' systems, eg. Student Management System, then some process is less automated than what is possible for award topics. This page outlines what is available in FLO to support non-award (short) courses. The Online Learning and Teaching team can assist with:
1. New courses: Request learning design advice (contact your local Learning Designer)
2. Create FLO site (Service One request)
Manual enrolment with FAN (College administration responsibility)
FAN sponsors are staff members authorised to request the creation of FANs for non-award students. AccessNow allows the creation of FAN accounts by sponsors. See existing sponsors on the Find a sponsor in your area (login) page, or contact IDS (8201 2345 or Service One) and request to be added to as a sponsor. More information on how to create a FAN is available on the AccessNow website.
3. Skills development
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eLearning equipment booking storeThe eLearning store is an online booking system for all Flinders staff. 1. Bookings | 2. Equipment || Support
The eLearning store is an online booking system for all Flinders staff where they can book equipment for short loan periods (from one hour to a few weeks) 1. BookingsThe eLearning store is available at https://elearningstore.flinders.edu.auIt is available for all Flinders staff (academic or professional) and uses Okta to authenticate. 2. EquipmentItems that can be booked include:
Video chat kits are also available for booking. These include:
The following equipment is also available:
These kits are available for loan to academic staff for use in desktop video conferencing, virtual classroom sessions (eg Collaborate) or recording short videos for FLO. You can book the kits via the online store.
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Topic administration - preview as a student (switch role to)1. Build |
2. Settings
| 3. Editing
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5. Reports
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This entry relates to styles and layout, topic administration,
and any situation where you set up activities and resources.
FLO allows you to preview your content and activities as a student would. This is particularly useful when checking the setup and design of your topic (the building and testing phases).
Steps
If an activity or a module has group restrictions, you won't be able to access it if you switch your role to a student, as those restrictions will apply to you too. Hence, if there are restrictions based on groups, you should add yourself to that particular group for a complete student experience. This should be done prior to switching your role to a student.
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Video - add captions
Why use captions?In addition to being an important requirement for accessibility, captions have been shown to be beneficial for the learning of all students. A study conducted by Oregon State University in 2015 found that "more than half of students are using closed captions in their educational videos at least sometimes" and that students who did not report having disabilities "use captions almost as frequently as those who did". The respondents in the study "expressed strong agreement that captions help [them] focus, retain information, and overcome poor audio", that captions were "helpful learning aids" and that they helped "students with comprehension, accuracy, engagement, and the retention of information transmitted in course videos." (Read more about the study in this Educause review article, or find the full study.) You're able to add captions to all videos in Kaltura. However, if you're working with a student who has a Disability Access Plan (DAP), you should seek advice from a Disability Advisor at Health Counselling and Disability Services to discuss the student's needs and whether particular captioning services or requirements are included in the student's DAP.
Steps to request machine generated captions for a videoThe Kaltura video platform in FLO allows you to to request machine generated captions. Once you make a request, the captions are added to your video within approximately 30 minutes.
![]() You can edit the captions to fix any inaccuracies – see below. Steps to edit machine generated captionsOnce the captions been attached to your video, you should edit them for accuracy. At the moment the machine-generated captions have an accuracy rate of about 70%. The caption accuracy will vary depending on things like:
Steps to delete a caption fileIf you want to delete the entire caption file from a video, you can do this but be aware that you cannot recover or re-order those captions once deleted. Depending on why you're deleting the captions, it may be a good idea to download and keep a copy of the file, in case you want to re-upload them in future. To download the caption file (in case of future use)
Note: if you want to delete immediately after downloading, skip to step 3 below.
To delete the caption file
What to do if you've deleted the caption track and need to reinstate itIf you accidentally delete the caption track, at the moment you cannot reorder the machine generated captions within the tool. If you go back into the Captions Request section (via the Actions drop-down menu), you'll still see the previous caption order you submitted. Although the request is listed here, you can't recover the captions. This listing is now simply a record of the request and you'll notice that the status indicator next to Completed is red, not green. If you try to re-order the caption track, you'll see this error message:
You now have two options if you need to reinstate the caption file:
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Feedback - Touchpoint survey
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:
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.
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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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Troubleshooting |
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Support Contact your local eLearning support team |
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Blocks - main entryBlocks are a navigational tool in your topic and can provide quick links/access points for students.
1. Plan | 2. Build || Support
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. PlanSome blocks are standard in topics, as part of the college template or starter site. Others you will need to add yourself. You can also move blocks up/down to emphasise important
ones.
The Activities block is particularly useful if you have lots of activities and resources in your topic, as it is a navigational tool for students. Types of blocks
2. Build
Add blocks to your topic
Add a teaching team blockThe teaching team block lists the names, photos and optionally contact details of the teaching team. Your block is included in the FLO sites so you will not have to create it yourself unless it has been deleted. Note: To add/alter your profile picture displayed in the Welcome block, see how do I upload a profile photo.
Change your user image (via the Topic welcome block)
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Topic administration - Student equivalent (was Auditing student) in FLO1. Build |
2. Settings
| 3. Editing
| 4. User management
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5. Reports
|| Support
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 assignment-related resources are provided below. Culturally responsive digital learning | Supporting students to successfully engage with the topic This entry relates to topic administration. In FLO the role of auditing student has been renamed to ‘Student equivalent’, in order to try to avoid confusion. The term auditing student has a very specific meaning. According to policy, auditing students are not permitted access to FLO. Therefore, asking for someone to be given access to FLO as an auditing student is a conflicting request. The ‘student equivalent’ role has the same permissions in FLO as a student role. Requests for users to be added to FLO topics using the ‘student equivalent’ role can be sent to your college eLearning support team via Service One. ‘Student equivalent’ may be an appropriate role to assign in the following situations:
Additional references
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Assignment - download assignment submissions/feedback files and grading worksheet (offline marking)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 assignment-related resources are provided below. Providing constructive feedback in FLO | Rubrics and marking guides in FLO | Scaffolding assessment in FLO | Marking in FLO using the assignment tool
If you are marking offline (having set this up when you created the Assignment activity), there is a 3-step process: download (internet access required), mark (no internet access required – this is the 'offline' part), upload (internet access required). Your options in the drop-down menu for 'Grading action' will depend on how you have set up the assignment.
Download assignment submissions for marking offline
On Windows computers You will need to extract the files out of the zip by clicking Extract all files in the toolbar (instructions may vary depending on what version of Windows you are using).
By leaving Show extracted files when complete ticked a window will open containing the files you extracted, ready for use. On Mac computers Go to Downloads and double-click on the zip file. The file will automatically be decompressed by Archive Utility into the same folder the zip file is in. Tip – once you have extracted (saved) the contents of the zip, ensure you mark student work in the selected folder. This will make it easier for you to zip up the files once you have finished marking.
Download feedback filesIf you include a feedback file (eg marking guide, rubric) when you create the assignment, FLO will generate a file for every student (by including their FAN at the front of the file name). The download process is the same as for submissions (above) except that you choose Download feedback files in a zip from the Grading action menu:
Download the grading worksheet
Note: If you are saving files anywhere outside of the University network (eg USB drive, Dropbox, Google Drive), please make sure you take regular backups of your work.
Next stepOnce you have finished marking, you will need to upload the marked files and grading worksheet.
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