Creating materials in InterLearn

• Getting started
• Becoming Familiar with InterLearn
• Creating your materials - The Administration Interface
• Where to get help
• Appendix 1 - Create a Module: Options
• Appendix 2 - Create a Section: Options
• Appendix 3 - Create an Activity: Options
• Appendix 4 - Create an Activity: Response Requirements

Getting Started

A teacher wishing to use InterLearn will need to become familiar with the my.monash portal, and InterLearn's Administration Interface and Student View, as discussed below. Additionally, teachers may need to be familiar with the tutorial management system. This is a tool within the my.monash portal rather than part of InterLearn, and will be particularly useful for units with large student numbers that need to be separated into smaller groups for online work. Information about the tutorial management system is available in the document entitled "Tutorial Management and InterLearn".

To begin working with InterLearn you must login to the my.monash portal. The portal is located at http://my.monash.edu.au and you will need to enter your AuthCate username and password. If you are not sure of your AuthCate username and/or password please contact the ITS Helpdesk on +61 3 9905 1777. 

Becoming familiar with InterLearn

At the top of every InterLearn page (excluding the forum or news pages) in both the Administration Interface and the student view are the following links. These navigation links should be used in place of the browser's Back and Forward buttons.

• interlearn home
• interlearn schedule
• search responses
• interlearn contacts
• admin home
• my.monash home - will return you to your personal my.monash home page
• my.monash logout - will log you out of my.monash

If the InterLearn unit includes a discussion forum and/or a news board two additional links will appear.

• forum
• news

The Student View

The "student view" refers to the interface of InterLearn that the students see and interact with, and can be found at http://my.monash.edu.au/interactive/interlearn/unitcode (where "unitcode" is replaced by the unit code of the subject, eg. LAW3400). Staff also use the student view to look at how the materials are presented to students, to complete a sample answer, to view the list of contacts, or to search for student responses to non assessable, shared activities. The navigation in the student view is exactly the same for students as it is for teachers with the exception that the [admin home] link does not appear. Each of the screens that constitute the student view are explained below.

InterLearn home

This screen provides an outline view of the modules and sections for the unit. The module heading will be shown with the module description beneath it. A bulleted list of section short names and headings will follow, with each heading linked to the section page. A sample [InterLearn home] screen is presented below.

InterLearn Schedule

The [interlearn schedule] provides an overall snapshot, in table format, of the InterLearn materials and the student’s personal progress through the assessable activities. The first column of the table displays the module heading and the timeframe that should be allowed to work it, with a row per module. The second column displays the section heading, the short description and a link to each of the section’s activities, with a row per section. The third column provides students with an indication of their progress through the assessable activities. 

Assessable activities that have not been attempted appear as a link with a red cross preceding it. When a response to the activity has been saved, a green tick replaces the cross. It is important to note that the tick simply represents that a response exists, it does not indicate anything about the student’s perception of the level of completion or quality of the response. Where there are no assessable activities for the section, this is noted.

A sample [InterLearn schedule] screen is presented below.

Section Page

The section page is where the student will spend most of their time working within InterLearn. On it are displayed the section heading, followed by the section description and the section's activity or activities. A horizontal line separates each activity on the page. At the top of each page are [<<back] and [forward>>] navigation links which will be active when there is more than one section within a module, and which will move the student from section to section in a linear way. A partial section page is reproduced below.

Each activity shows the heading, the level of sharing for the response, whether it is assessable, and date limits for response completion and the activity description. Where the activity is a textbox or feedback type the textbox is displayed. Underneath the box is the date on which the response was last modified, a button labelled "Save response", and for a feedback box type activity an additional button labelled "Send feedback". As can be seen in the image below, additional information is provided between the last modified date and the submission buttons for a feedback box type activity, including the name of the newsgroup where the response will be recorded.

Shared activities are displayed with an additional link between the textbox and the submission button(s), entitled "Search for other responses to this activity". Clicking this link will conduct a search for all other student responses to the activity.

All members of the student's group can view responses to shared activities. Only the student can view responses to individual activities, unless they are assessable. Using the Assessment tool, responses to all assessable activities can be accessed by the teaching staff associated with the group.

Upon completion of the response, the "Save response" or "Send feedback" button must be clicked before attempting another activity, searching for another response or clicking on any other link. If the "Save response" or "Send feedback" button is not clicked before any of these activities, the response will be lost and the activity will have to be repeated.

Responses are limited to approximately 400 words (a total of 4000 characters). Where a response is saved that exceeds this limit only the first 4000 characters will be saved, and an error message will be returned at the top of the page. The error message will be followed by a copy of the text that exceeded the 4000 character limit. Students are then able to refer to their entire original response and amend it to fit within the specified limit.

Search Responses

A key driving force behind the development of InterLearn was the desire for students to be able to learn from one another and to reach a shared understanding of concepts. The ability to search responses to shared activities is one way that this can be achieved. The [search responses] screen provides four search options.

1. Search for all responses made to one shared activity by all students.
2. Search for all responses made by one student to all shared activities.
3. Search for the response made by a given student to a given activity.
4. Search for a keyword within responses made to a given activity.

A sample [search responses] screen is presented below.

Only one kind of search may be performed at any one time, and the "search responses" button at the end of the search option being used must be clicked. Where searching by name choose the student name (or username where the student name is not provided) from the drop down box. Where searching for activity choose the activity name from the drop down box. Option 4 requires the word to be searched for to be typed into the textbox provided.

The keyword search is case sensitive and will return only responses that contain the exact word or words as they were typed into the textbox. Responses containing variations of the word, for example shoes when the keyword given was shoe, will not be returned, nor will responses in which the word was incorrectly spelt.

Search Results

The [search results] will state the total number of responses that contained the search criteria and then will display the matching responses. Each response is preceded by the name and username of the respondent, and is followed by the activity heading and the date and time the response was saved. The responses are displayed with the oldest (or first completed) response at the start, and a solid line separates each response. A sample [search results] screen is presented below. Only responses from other members of your group will be displayed.

InterLearn Contacts

[interlearn contacts] is a list of the staff and students who are members of your group within InterLearn. Each student will see the teaching staff associated with their group and the other student members of their group, as determined in the Tutorial Management interface of the portal. Where no groups have been created using the Tutorial Management interface, each student will see all other students enrolled in the unit as well as all staff associated with the unit.

Each name is linked to the person's email address to facilitate easy communication between participants. Where student names are not available their AuthCate username will be displayed instead. Clicking on a name will open an email composition screen within the my.monash portal, through which an email to be sent directly to the person.

As stated above, where there are no groups being used in the InterLearn portion of the unit, the list of staff will be a complete list. This means that it may include University and/or faculty technical staff involved in the maintenance of the InterLearn unit.

News

The news forum was intended for staff to inform students of pertinent information to the unit. Those who are able to view the news forum will be dependent upon how it was created (see the document entitled "Adding news or a discussion forum to your InterLearn unit"). Generally however, the teaching staff will be able to post and delete messages, while students should be able to read but not post or delete messages appearing on the news forum. When the [news] link is clicked, you are taken out of InterLearn to a different section of the portal that displays newsgroups. The InterLearn navigation will no longer appear and the standard portal navigation will return. For complete instructions on how to use newsgroups within the portal see the document entitled "Guidelines on using newsgroups with the my.monash portal".

Forum

The discussion forum was intended as a place where staff and students can communicate with one another. Those who are able to view the forum will be dependent upon how it was created (see the document entitled "Adding news or a discussion forum to your InterLearn unit"). Generally however, the teaching staff will be able to post and delete messages, while students will be able to read and post messages but not delete them. When the [forum] link is clicked, you are taken out of InterLearn to a different section of the portal that displays newsgroups. The InterLearn navigation will no longer appear and the standard portal navigation will return. For complete instructions on how to use newsgroups within the portal see the document entitled "Guidelines on using newsgroups with the my.monash portal".

Creating your materials - The Administration Interface

The Administration Interface is where you will find documentation to assist you in using InterLearn, where you can create and edit materials, and where you access student assessment. It is located at: http://my.monash.edu.au/interactive/interlearn/unitcode/admin.

You will need to have editing rights to the unit to access the Administration Interface. Check or request your editing access at the Manage Teaching Commitments page at http://my.monash.edu.au/interactive/manage_subject/. When you have editing rights for the unit, click the "Manage InterLearn" link on the Manage Teaching Commitments page, go to the address above, or click the [admin home] link within the student view. This will take you to the Administration Interface.

At all times within the Administration Interface you can go to the student view by clicking the link "Go to student’s view" in the top right of the screen, or using any of the navigation links. Directly below the unit name will appear a series of links, dependent on where you are within the Administration Interface. These links will act as a location indicator, with the bold non-linked text indicating where you are within the Interface and what steps you took to get there. You can use the links to go back any number of steps at once. Below is an example of what this would look like if you were in the area where you create or edit a section.

Management Home

Within the Administration Interface, click the link entitled "Create a series of activities for UnitName". This will take you to the [management home] screen which lists all of the module, section and activity headings when they are created. From here you can create a new module, or edit or delete an existing module, section or activity. A partial [management home] screen is presented below showing the structure of the materials.

The hierarchical nature of InterLearn means that you must create a module first, then a section within that module, and finally, if you wish, an activity within the section. That is not to say that you cannot create all of your modules first, and then your sections and then your activities, just that you cannot start with activities or with sections. To begin creating your materials click the link entitled "Create a new InterLearn module for this subject".

Module Management

The module management screen presents all options available when creating a module. The options are presented in the left column of the table. Items that have an asterisk [*] next to them are required fields and must be completed in order to successfully create the module. The right hand column for a new module indicates that there are no sections within the module as yet, and if you are editing a module it will list all sections that have been created within it. The module management table is reproduced below.

All modules must have a heading and a position. The position reflects in what order the modules should be displayed. This means that if you wish to insert a new module between existing modules you can do this by changing each module's position reference. It is suggested that you change them from the last to the first in order to avoid having two modules with the same number while you are editing. The hurdling feature is currently disabled and should be ignored. The description and timeframe are optional items, which appear on the [interlearn home] and [interlearn schedule] pages respectively. A full and complete description of each option, their required formats and where they will be displayed in the student view is presented in Appendix 1.

When you have completed all relevant options, you must click the "Save changes" button to create the module. If you fail to complete a required item you will be returned to the screen you were editing and an error message will appear at the top of the screen telling you which item you failed to complete. If you fail to complete more than one required item, each one will be displayed one at a time until all are complete.

When the changes have been successfully saved and the module created, the table will reload on the screen and the text "SUCCESS: the changes have been saved" will be displayed under the heading "Module Management". The right hand column of the table will now have a link within it entitled "Create a new InterLearn section for this module".

Section Management

To create a new section you must go to the "parent" module within which you wish to add the section and click the link entitled "Create a new InterLearn section for this module". This will take you to the section management screen, a sample of which is presented below. As with the module management, the options to create the section are presented in the left hand column of the table, with required fields indicated by an asterisk [*]. The right column will indicate that there are currently no activities contained within the section.

As with a module, the section heading and position are required, and the position is used for the same purpose. The heading will be displayed in the [interlearn home], [interlearn schedule], and section pages. The short name appears only in the [interlearn home] screen, preceding the heading. The description will appear on the section page below the heading, while the short description appears in the second column of the [interlearn schedule] between the heading and the list of activities. A full and complete description of each option, their required formats and where they will be displayed in the student view is presented in Appendix 2.

When you have completed all relevant options, you must click the "Save changes" button to create the section. If you fail to complete a required item you will be returned to the screen you were editing and an error message will appear at the top of the screen telling you which item you failed to complete. If you fail to complete more than one required item, each one will be displayed one at a time until all are complete.

When the changes have been successfully saved and the section created, the table will reload on the screen and the text "SUCCESS: the changes have been saved" will be displayed under the heading "Section Management". The right hand column of the table will now have a link within it entitled "Create a new InterLearn activity for this section". The section heading will now also appear in the right hand column of the module management table.

Activity Management

Activities can only be created from within the section that will act as the activity’s "parent". To create an activity click the link entitled "Create a new InterLearn activity for this section" within the section management table. The activity management screen will appear containing a table. The left column of the table contains the options for creating the activity, while the right column of the table presents the options relating to the response that students will be required to provide. Required items are indicated by an asterisk [*]. A sample activity management table is presented below.

As with modules and sections, the heading and position for an activity are required. The position is used to determine the order in which the activity is displayed on the section page relative to other activities within the section. The activity heading appears on the section page to indicate the start of the activity, on the [search responses] screen in the drop down boxes, and where appropriate, in the assessable activities column in the [interlearn schedule]. The activity short name appears in the second column of the [interlearn schedule] beneath the word "Activities".

The activity description appears on the section page beneath the heading. The start date, where it has been applied, will appear beneath the description in place of the textbox until the start date has been reached, after which it will not appear at all. The submission date, where it has been applied, will appear in square brackets beneath the heading, along with either "individual" or "shared" to indicate the level of sharing for the activity.

To set an activity so that only all members of a student's group may search for their response, choose "tutorial" or "group" from the drop down box, otherwise choose "individual". If you require the activity to be assessable and/or marked online, you must set it as assessable.

To create a textbox only type activity:

You must say "yes" to a response box and click the circle next to "Text box". You can set the size of the textbox to be displayed on screen. Note however, that the actual display size of the textbox will vary depending on the browsers, screen resolution, and font size being used, so you cannot guarantee how it will look.

To create a feedback box type activity:

You must say "yes" to a response box and click the circle next to the "Feedback box". In this case the size of the box cannot be changed. In the "Newsgroup" box type in the name of the Collabra newsgroup you wish to use. Enter only the part of the name after "news://collabra1.monash.edu.au/". For example, if the full name of the group is "collabra1.monash.edu.au/classes.buseco.mkt.mkt1120.forum" you should only type in "classes.buseco.mkt.mkt1120.forum". If you wish students to be able to post a response anonymously, you must check "yes".

A full and complete description of each option, their required formats and where they will be displayed in the student view is presented in Appendix 3 and Appendix 4.

When the changes have been successfully saved and the activity created, the table will reload on the screen and the text "SUCCESS: the changes have been saved" will be displayed under the heading "Activity Management". The activity heading will now also appear in the right hand column of the section management table.

News and/or Forum

To include the "news" or "forum" elements in your InterLearn environment you will need to follow the procedure for requesting a newsgroup within the portal, taking note of the special requirements for an InterLearn newsgroup as described in the document entitled "Adding a newsgroup to your InterLearn materials". Newsgroups can be created from the Manage Teaching Commitments page of the portal.

Editing Existing InterLearn Materials

If you wish to edit any of your existing modules, sections or activities you should select them from within the structure display at the [management home] screen by clicking on the relevant heading. To delete a module, section or activity click on the [delete] link on the right of the heading. Note that when you delete a module all of its "children" (ie. sections and activities) are also deleted. Similarly deleting a section will delete all activities within it. You will be taken to a confirmation screen as once an item is deleted it cannot be retrieved.

If you wish to add an additional module you must return to the [management home] screen and click on the link entitled "Create a new InterLearn module for this subject" under the heading "Management options".

If you wish to add a new section to an existing module, click on the module heading in the structure display on the [management home] screen. In the right hand column of the "Module Management" table will be listed the existing sections, followed by a link entitled "Create a new InterLearn section for this module". This link will take you to the "Section Management" screen.

If you wish to add a new activity to an existing section, click on the section heading in the structure display on the [management home] screen. In the right hand column of the "Section Management" table will be listed the existing activities, followed by a link entitled "Create a new InterLearn activity for this section". This link will take you to the "Activity Management" screen.

Remember that if you wish to include a module between existing modules in the structure you must change the position elements for all modules to follow the one you wish to add. You should do this before adding the new module to ensure that you do not duplicate position numbers. This applies equally to sections and activities.

Where to get help.

If you are having any difficulty with using InterLearn, you should first contact your faculty based technical  staff. If they are unable to help, you can contact the my.monash portal enquiries team at http://my.monash.edu.au/feedbackform.html.

Appendix 1 - Create a Module: Options

Appendix 2 - Create a Section: Options

Appendix 3 - Create an Activity: Options

Appendix 4 - Create an Activity: Response Requirements

HTML Fragment - a HTML fragment is part of a complete HTML document, in that it does not include the headers and footers that are required in a HTML document. Text within a HTML fragment must be formatted using HTML tags in order to be displayed correctly. That is, if you wish to have paragraphs within your text and to include bold, then you must format the text using the HTML paragraph tag (ie. <p>text</p>) and the bold tag (ie. <b>text to appear bold</b>). A guide to creating HTML fragments is presented in the document entitled "Basic HTML for InterLearn authors".