Getting started

Five things you must do before starting the AST1000 OERu course

Register for the OERu AST1000 course using the OER Foundation's Moodle website (See Step 1 below) Formally enrol and pay for assignment assessment services at the University of Southern Queensland if you are seeking certification for your learning. Academic volunteers and informal learners are not required to pay for assessment services. (See Step 2 below) Register accounts for the websites we will use for this course and familiarise yourself with the AST1000 learning environment. (See Step 3 below) Familiarise yourself with Ask.OERu -- our technology for peer-based learning support. (See Step 4 below). View the Welcome video and read the course-guide carefully. If you have any questions, visit the FAQ page.

Step 1: How to register for the OERu AST1000 course and introduce yourself

You will need a Moodle account to receive course announcements via email and to post to discussion forums. Enrolling for the course is a three step process: Create an account on our Moodle site if you don't already have one (see below for detailed instructions) and Click on the Enrol me in this course link for AST1000 on Moodle (see below for detailed instructions). 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.) (Consult the OERu Privacy and Terms of Service)

Step 2: How to formally enrol and pay for assessment services for AST1000

If you decide to formally undertake the assessment associated with AST1000 it is necessary to complete an online enrolment and make payment by credit card for each of the assignments for the course at the University of Southern Queensland. (You can pay individually for each assignment according to the specified dates for payment). The information we require is more extensive for the first payment than for subsequent payments. To register and pay for assessment of the assignments click on the following links and complete the details. Online payment: Assignment 1 (AUD50) - One week before assignment due date, last date for payment is 9 August, 2013. Online payment: Assignment 2 (AUD50) - One week before assignment due date, last date for payment is 13 September 2013. Online payment: Assignment 3 (AUD100) - One week before assignment due date, last date for payment is 5 October 2013. Please note that payment for Assignments is due ONE week before you submit the assignment. Please refer back to the schedule of dates for each assignment. (Consult the OERu Privacy and Terms of Service)

Step 3: How to register accounts for the websites we use and familiarise yourself with our learning environment

If you don't have one of the following accounts, please create one before participating in the course. A WikiEducator account for Microblog posts using WENotes (WikiEducator notes). Alternatively an account on Google+ 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. Consult the overview of our learning environment. Carefully read the guidelines for using the learning environment. Bookmark the recommended pages in your browser. This will provide easy access to the most important pages for this course. (Consult the OERu Privacy and Terms of Service)

Step 4: How to use Ask.OERu

Ask.OERu is a community-based question and answer forum we will be using for learner support for this course. If you need instructions on using the technology, please consult the following tutorial pages: Create an account Updating your profile Overview of Ask.OERu Using tags Finding answers Asking a questions Earning karma points Earning badges

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=69

The login screen.
1. Enter the course web site url here. (http://moodle.wikieducator.org/course/view.php?id=69).
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.

1. 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 #AST1000 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=69.
2. On the left hand side of your screen under the settings block, click "enrol me in this course".
   

An overview of the AST1000 learning environment

Key points

You have a choice for accessing the learning materials for this course: Direct access via WikiEducator using the StudyDesk for AST1000. This option is suited for learners who prefer more autonomy and freedom to navigate through the course materials, but requires more experience in navigating open websites. Access via the OER Foundation's Moodle instance, which provides a more structured learning sequence. This option is suited for learners who prefer step-by-step instructions. Many learners and community volunteers will use both options for accessing the materials during the course. Experiment and see what works best for you. Read the summary of the learning environment and corresponding guidelines below to see how the different components of our learning system fit together.

The learning environment for the AST1000 online workshop is based on three main sources:

1. Learning resources
   • You can choose to work through the study units from:
     • the StudyDesk on WikiEducator or
     • our Moodle instance of the course (see below for recommendations for helping you to choose)
     • Open access readings and open educational resources. (See suggested list of reference materials)
     • Regional Relations Repository for sharing valuable OER and open access resources you find.
2. Interaction tools - You can post thoughts and interact with fellow students using:
   • The question and answer support forum called Ask OERu
   • Microblog posts for short interactions including:
     • WENotes (WikiEducator Notes)
     • Twitter or
     • Identi.ca
   • Moodle discussion forum posts for more detailed responses.
   • Optional personal blog for selected reflections you would like to share publicly.
3. AST1000 Aggregated feed which generates a timeline of: microblog posts (WENotes, Twitter, identi.ca), discussion forum posts in Moodle, and new support questions, answers, and comments from Ask.Oeru. (The Aggregated feed 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 AST1000. 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 #AST1000 aggregated feed regularly. This provides a succinct summary of all the relevant posts from the different interaction technologies. Further information to guide your choices is provided below.

Overview of the OERu learning environment for AST1000

Guidelines for using the learning environment

Resource	Usage recommendations
SELF-STUDY MATERIALS
AST1000 study units 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.
AST1000 study units using the StudyDesk 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 key resources section on the AST1000 homepage provides quicklinks to the Course Guide, and StudyDesk.
Regional Relations Repository	Learners are invited to enter and share references to valuable OER resources they find using the Regional Relations Repository. Submit resources for the Regional Relations Repository when prompted to do so in the learning materials. Visit the Regional Relations Repository regularly to see if there are any references to support your own learning.
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 AST1000 course. Remember to use the "AST1000" tag for your searches. 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. Reward your community of volunteers and peers by voting for good questions and answers.
INTERACTION TOOLS
Microblogs	You may choose any one of the following Microblog services for your posts: 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 "#AST1000" 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 Visit the Aggregated feed regularly.
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 AST1000 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 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. 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 and is our our preferred microblogging service because it is maintained by the OER Foundation:

1. Create an account on WikiEducator
2. You must be logged in to WikiEducator before you can post a WEnote
3. Go to the AST1000 course homepage where you will find a section to post a WENote which will be integrated into the aggregated feed. Type your note and click on the "Post a WEnote" button.

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.

identi.ca users

OERu learners may use identi.ca as a microblogging service for this course. (Twitter users can mirror identi.ca posts to their twitter accounts.)

See: Instructions for creating an identi.ca account.

Microblog posts using WEnotes are combined in the Aggregated #AST1000 feed for the course.

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

• AST1000 homepage in WikiEducator (Use the navigation links on the top of your page and quicklinks listed in the Key Resources section.)
• Course homepage in Moodle
• Aggregated #AST1000 feed - You can also post notes directly from this page when logged into WikiEducator.
• Ask OERu question and answer forum for the AST1000 course.

Instructions on how to bookmark a webpage

• Google Chrome
• Firefox
• Internet Explorer (called favorites)
• Safari