Tips for getting started in Semester 2, 2009
Check through the following reminders and tips to help in your LMS preparations towards the coming semester.
All semester 2 LMS subjects will be made 'available' Friday 17 July 2009
Important reminders
On Friday 17 July at 10am all Semester 2 subjects in the LMS will be automatically made 'available' for enrolled students to view.
On Friday 24 July at 10am all previously delivered subjects (eg Semester 1, 2009) will be made 'unavailable' for enrolled students to view.
For more information about 'Available' and 'Unavailable' please see Setting up your subject
This change will not affect your semester 2 subject if you have already made it 'available'.
Index
- Checking enrolled students
- Viewing your subject as a student
- Copyright and the LMS
- Allowing guest access to a subject
- Checking subject links and permissions
- Is your subject copied forward from previous deliveries?
- How to remove content from copied forward blogs or wikis
- How to remove content from copied forward discussion boards
- Archiving your LMS subject site
- LMS Academic support and training events
Checking enrolled students
Check your lists of currently enrolled students, download as a spreadsheet, or printable table. The Student Lists tool is available in the Control Panel of all subjects and communities.
Viewing your subject as a student
A useful way for staff to keep an eye on the student view of their LMS subject is to apply for a Student View account. This account associates with your Unimelb username and will allow you to see every subject you are involved in as a student would.
Copyright and the LMS
Staff are able to present teaching material on the LMS to enrolled students, subject to copyright clearance. Copyright issues arise with the LMS most commonly when:
- communicating third party copyright materials for educational purposes (e.g. making book chapters or journal articles accessible online)
- when opening up a subject for access by non-university persons, ie external users, or guests (public)
- when asking students to contribute online in blogs, wikis or discussion forums if there is a possibility that these materials will be reused by others.
Third party copyright material can be made available on the LMS subject to the statutory licences. Limits and conditions apply when copyright material is available on subject pages, blogs, wikis or discussion forums in reliance of the statutory licences. Access to this material must be restricted to students and can not be made available to external non-University users.
For more detail visit the Copyright Office web pages, starting at LMS specific information.
Allowing guest access to a subject
Subject to copyright subject coordinators may elect to make part or all of their subject site accessible by the general public by using the guest access function of the LMS. Sites that have been made available to the public can be accessed via the subject catalogue. See Guest Access for instructions.
Checking subject links and permissions
Sometimes students will receive a "Document Access Error" message because a link in the subject is broken, or students do not have the correct permissions to read a file. Subject links and permissions should be checked before the start of semester.
The Check CS Link tool in the Control Panel of a subject can be used to check that links to content collection items are valid and permissions are set to allow the current cohort of students to have access. See the check collections link guide.
The access permissions on each file or folder can be examined in the Content Collection and new permissions added as necessary. Click on the Manage Content tab and click on the permissions icon next to each item to check which users can read the file or folder.
Is your subject copied forward from previous deliveries?
Staff are reminded that any previous student contributions in LMS blogs, wikis or discussion forums should not be visible to new cohorts of students in your LMS subject.
If you have any blogs, wikis or discussion forums in your 2009 subject that have been copied forward from 2008, please check that there is no content from previous student contributions, and remove these as necessary.
How to remove content from copied forward blogs or wikis:
Option 1: Clear content from a blog or wiki
- In the Control Panel of your subject select 'Recycle Blog' or 'Recycle Wiki' from the Subject Tools module.
- Check the box next to each blog or wiki to be cleared of content.
- Click Submit and OK on the following receipt page.
(note, this option will clear all content including associated linked pages, but will retain the overall settings and title of the blog or wiki)
Option 2: Remove the entire blog or wiki
- If the blog or wiki is presented as link from a page click Edit View to see the objects on the page.
- Click Remove and OK on the following receipt page.
- Repeat for each blog or wiki to be removed.
Some subjects have subject level blogs or subject level wikis that may be displayed directly from the menu or a via a tool link. These cannot be removed but content can be cleared using the 'Recycle Blog' or 'Recycle Wiki' tool.
How to remove content from copied forward discussion boards
Removing a Discussion Board link from the menu will not remove the discussion board or its content, the individual messages or forums should be removed. In the Control Panel of your subject select Discussion Board from the Subject Tools module to see all discussion boards that exist in the subject.
- Click on the name of the discussion board with copied student content
- Click Remove next to each forum to be completely removed
- OR select each message to be removed by checking the boxes on the left, then click the Remove button on the action bar.
If you require any assistance in determining if your subject has any copied student content or assistance in removing such content, please submit a help desk request via the online form.
Archiving your LMS subject site
Subject coordinators are advised to archive their LMS subjects and associated Content Collection items regularly so that subjects can be restored if content is accidentally deleted during development or teaching. It is recommended that archives are made:
- after significant development has occurred in the subject, or
- if all students have submitted their assignments, or
- if all content is being cleared out of the subject site.
LMS Academic support and training events
A range of LMS training and support events are scheduled through the coming months, and customised sessions can be arranged where appropriate.
A full list of LMS guides, including animated voice-over guides are available