Getting started

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Seven things you can do before starting the #OCL4Ed workshop

  1. Consult the overview summary of our learning environment.
  2. Register accounts for the websites we will use for this course. If you don't have one of the following accounts, please create one before joining the course. Detailed instructions are provided on this page.
    • An account on our Moodle site to receive course announcements via email and to post to discussion forums.
    • A WikiEducator account for Microblog posts using WENotes (WikiEducator notes).
    • Alternatively an account on identi.ca or Twitter should you want to use these alternative microblog services for peer-to-peer interactions, and
    • An account on the ask.oeruniversity community-based question and answer forum.
  3. Bookmark the recommended pages in your browser. This will provide easy access to the most important pages for this course.
  4. Consult the getting started instructions. There is a short welcome video and suggestions for ways you can access the course materials.
  5. Read through the FAQs for the #OCL4Ed course and if you are new to microblogging pay particular attention the FAQs for the microblog activities.
  6. Introduce yourself. Post a short introduction and take a few minutes to meet a few fellow participants by reading their introduction message. (You will need to login with your Moodle account to post an introduction message.)
  7. Familiarise yourself with the course materials. Visit the #OCL4Ed course homepage, spend a few minutes and click on a few of the navigation links to familiarise yourself with the layout and structure of the course materials.

Note: Further help and assistance is provided on the FAQ page for this course.



Contents

An overview of the OCL4Ed learning environment

The learning environment for the OCL4Eed online workshop uses three sources:

  1. Learning resources
    • You can choose to work through the self study tutorials on
      • WikiEducator or
      • Our Moodle version
    • The question and answer support forum called Ask OERu
  2. Interaction tools - You can post thoughts and interact with fellow students using:
    • Microblog posts for short interactions including:
      • Identi.ca
      • WENotes (WikiEducator Notes) or
      • Twitter
    • Moodle discussion forum posts for more detailed responses.
  3. OCL4Ed Aggregated feed which generates a timeline of: microblog posts (identi.ca, WENotes, Twitter), discussion forum post in Moodle, and new support questions, answers, and comments from Ask Oeru. (This is an important resource for gaining an overview of what is happening in the course).

The graphic below provides a visual representation of the different technologies used for OCL4Ed. Participants should read and work through the self-study learning resources. Share your thoughts and ideas with fellow learners using the interaction tools including your preferred microblog service and the Moodle discussion forums. Keep up to date by visting the #OCL4Ed aggregated feed regularly on the course homepage as this provides a succinct summary of all the relevant posts from the interaction technologies. Further information to guide your choices us provided below.

Overview of the OCL4Ed learning environment

Guidelines for using the learning environment

Resource Usage recommendations
SELF-STUDY MATERIALS
OCL4Ed tutorials using our Moodle site
  • Use our Moodle site if you prefer a more sequenced and structured learning experience. Click on the links for each session working from top to bottom as you progress through the materials.
  • This is a good option for learners who are new to online learning.
  • You will not require a login to access the materials (if you click on the Login as Guest button when first visiting the site), however you will not be able to post to the Moodle discussion forums without a registered account and current login session.
OCL4Ed tutorials on WikiEducator
  • Use WikiEducator for navigating the course materials if you are more experienced in navigating wiki websites and prefer more flexibility and autonomy to guide your learning experience.
  • Does not require login to access the materials
  • The course materials section on the OCL4Ed homepage provides quicklinks to the tutorials for each session.
  • You can access the course schedule page from the Workshop Schedule link in the navigation template displayed at the top of your screen.
Ask OERu
  • Ask OERu is a community based question and answer forum for content and technology related help.
  • We recommend that you visit the Ask OERu forum if you are looking for answers about the OCL4Ed course. After searching, if you don't find what you are looking for, ask a question.
  • For help and instructions on using Ask OERu, consult the help tutorial.
  • Visit Ask OERu when you are prompted to do so in the course materials.
INTERACTION TOOLS
Microblogs
  • You may choose any one of the following Microblog services for your posts: image:Identica_Icon.png identi.ca, twitter or WEnotes
  • You will need to Create an account for the Microblog service you choose to use.
  • Post a microblog entry when you are prompted to do so in the course materials. Remember to include the hastag "#OCL4Ed" in all your posts.
  • We encourage you to share your thoughts using microblogs at any time during the course. Ask questions, reply to Microblog posts from your fellow learners.
  • Remember that you are limited to 140 characters -- if you would like to say more, use the Moodle open forum option for more substantive communications.
  • For more information on using Microblogs visit Ask OERu
Moodle discussion forums
  • Post to the discussion forum using our Moodle course when prompted to do so in the course materials. These dedicated forum threads are embedded within the corresponding sessions of the course.
  • You can post to the Moodle open forum at any time. Make sure that your opening sentence in the forum captures the essence of your post because the aggregated feed is based on your opening sentence. Your opening sentence is what will attract visitors to your forum post.

Create an account on our Moodle site and register for the course

The Moodle site is used to send email notifications about the course and to access selected discussion forums. Participants can also use this site to access the course materials.

Creating an account and registering for the course is a two step process.

Create an account on our Moodle site (if you don't already have one)

  1. Go to the course web site address: http://moodle.wikieducator.org/course/view.php?id=71
    The login screen.
    1. Enter the course web site url here. (http://moodle.wikieducator.org/course/view.php?id=71).
    2. Click here for a new account and follow the instructions on screen. Note you will receive an email verification containing a link to activate your account. You must activate your account before trying your new login.
    3. Once you have a Username and password, this is where you would normally login.
    4. If you forget your password, click here.
  2. Using the "Create new account" button (#2 in the image at right), register a new account on Moodle for WikiEducators. (This is the Learning Management System we are using for the OCL4Ed 2012.12 course.)



Enrol in the course

See enroll link under settings in Moodle course
  1. Once you have created your account and confirmed your email, go to http://moodle.wikieducator.org/course/view.php?id=71.
  2. On the left hand side of your screen under the settings block, click "enrol me for this course".


Create an account on WikiEducator, identi.ca or Twitter for microblog posts

We will use microblog posts as the main communication channel for peer-to-peer support during the course. You may choose your microblog service provider or use an existing account if you have one. Just include the tag "#OCL4Ed" in your post to ensure that its is included in our aggregated feed for the workshop. Consult the FAQs for more information on using Microblog posts for the course. You have three options.

WikiEducator users

WEnotes is a feature used to post microblog notes directly from WikiEducator:
  1. Create an account on WikiEducator
  2. You must be logged in to WikiEducator before you can post a WEnote
  3. Go to the #OCL4ED course homepage where you will find a text area in the Microblog feed box. Type your note and click on the "Post a WEnote" button.

identi.ca users

We will use the identi.ca as our preferred microblogging service for this course. As an OER course, we prefer to use identi.ca because posts are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license. You will learn more about Creative Commons during this workshop. (Twitter users can mirror identi.ca posts to their twitter accounts.
See: Instructions for creating an identi.ca account.

Twitter users

Participants are most welcome to use their existing Twitter accounts or they can sign up for a new account.
See: Instructions for creating a Twitter account.

The identi.ca and Twitter feeds are aggregated onto one page: side-by-side aggregated #OLC4Ed feed.

Alternatively you can use the combined identi.ca, twitter and WEnote feed - You can also post notes directly from this page when logged into WikiEducator.

Bookmark recommended pages in your browser

This is a two step process;

  1. Visit the pages we recommend you should bookmark for the course.
  2. Follow the instructions for your specific browser.

Recommended pages to bookmark

Instructions on how to bookmark a webpage

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