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Chapter 7: What can Students do?

Contents

Chapter 7: What can Students do? ........................................................................................... 1

How Students Complete an Assignment ................................................................................ 1

Completing a Text Activity ..................................................................................................... 3

Completing a File Drop Activity .............................................................................................. 5

Completing a SCORM Activity ................................................................................................ 7

Completing a Quiz Activity ..................................................................................................... 7

Sending a Message to a Teacher ............................................................................................ 8

Submitting an Assignment ..................................................................................................... 8

How Students Personalise their Dashboard ........................................................................ 10

Changing the Dashboard Settings ........................................................................................ 11

Changing the Dashboard Layout .......................................................................................... 12

Adding a Media Widget to your Dashboard ........................................................................ 12

Adding a Calendar Widget to your Dashboard .................................................................... 16

Adding a Notes Widget to your Dashboard ......................................................................... 18

Adding an External Link Widget to your Dashboard ............................................................ 19

Co-curricular Sites ................................................................................................................ 22

Creating and Sharing Co-curricular Sites .............................................................................. 23

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Chapter 7: What can Students do?

Students are important to the overall success of the Frog VLE. Students do not have access

to as many features of Frog as teachers or admin users. For example, a student cannot

create a new Site, he or she will have to ask a teacher or admin user to create a Site

initially and then the teacher or admin user will have to share that Site with them. Students

cannot edit/create users or groups. Students do not have access to the Booking Calendar,

Community Site, and Lesson Resources.

One of the most useful features of your Frog VLE is the Assignments feature. An

assignment is initially created by the teacher and then distributed to the student using the

assign function. Students will receive a Notification when an assignment is sent to them.

The student then has a set amount of time to complete and return the assignment back to

the teacher for marking.

Remember! Only users logged in as a student can complete an assignment.

How Students Complete an Assignment

When an assignment is issued by a teacher, the students will receive a messsage in their

notifications panel. The notifications icon displays the number of unread message the

student has.

The student will need to click on the Notifications panel, and then click on the description

relating to the assignment.

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The student will then be directed to the Assignments application window.

All open assignments will be listed here, so the student may have to click the Next button

to find the one refered to in the notification. The date in the Issue column indicates the

date the teacher sent the assignment. The date in the Due column indicates to the student

when the assignment is due. They can submit it before that date, however, the date will

turn red if it becomes overdue and the student will no longer be able to complete/submit

the assignment.

Moving the cursor over the assignment title will display the instructions for the

assignment.

Assignments that have been submitted (complete) have a green tick next to them and can

no longer be amended.

To open an assignment, click on the assignment name.

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The student will now see the Site that the teacher used for the assignment. If the

assignment task does not appear upon opening they may need to click on the tabs at the

top on the page.

Completing a Text Activity

The Text Activity is a large textbox that displays the instructions in the panel above. The

student has to enter their answers directly into the text box.

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The student needs to read the question at the top of the Text Activity window. Then enter

their text into the text box below.

Once the student has entered all the information into the text box, it is important to click

on the Save Activity button located underneather the text box. At this point the

teacher will be able to see that they have started the Text Activity section of the

assignment.

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Completing a File Drop Activity

The File Drop activity allows the student to upload files back to the teacher. Depending on

the settings set by the teacher students can view their own uploads or the files uploaded

by their group. Students can also be permitted to delete their own files once uploaded.

Students should read the question above the File Drop window.

They should prepare their document and click on the Upload button. This will launch the

File Uploader.

Students then need to click on the blue Choose Files button to select a file from their

computer to upload.

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They should then choose the file they wish to submit from their computer and click Open

to upload the file.

When their file has finished uploading the status indicator will turn green. They then need

to click the Done button.

Once the student has uploaded their files, they will need to click on the Submit

Activity button. At this point the teacher will see that they have submitted the File Drop

section of the assignment.

Note: If they close the assignment window now they will not have completed the

assignment, so the teacher cannot see or mark the work. They can, however, come back

to the assignment at a later time to modify or add further files.

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Completing a SCORM Activity

To launch the SCORM activity click on the SCORM widget on the page. The SCORM Player

will play in a new browser window.

Once the SCORM activity is complete, it will be necessary to click on the Frog VLE browser

tab to return to the Frog VLE.

Completing a Quiz Activity

The run the Quiz, click on the Launch Quiz button on the page.

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Sending a Message to a Teacher

Should the student need to contact the teacher about the assignment, for example, for

further clarity on the task or perhaps to request an extension on the due date, they can

post a message on the teacher’s wall. The number displayed on the icon represents the

total number of messages posted on the wall so far, that relates to that assignment. If the

number in the icon has increased, then there is a message waiting to be read.

Students click the message wall icon next to the assignment name to view the message

wall.

To add a message to the wall click the Post button. All posts made by both the student

and the teacher will be displayed here on the same wall.

Submitting an Assignment

When a student is confident that all their work is complete, they need to click on the

Complete Assignment button in the Frog Bar.

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If requested they must complete the Self Evaluation to assess their understanding of the

task or question that has been given.

They may also choose to write comments in support of their self-evaluation. The

comments should be typed into the Your Comments box.

Finally, they need to click on the Complete button to send their work. The work will be sent

to the teacher for marking and they can no longer make any further changes. The

assignment has now been Submitted.

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How Students Personalise their Dashboard

Your Dashboard is the first page that appears when students log into the VLE. It can be

customised to display the school calendar, RSS Feeds, or notifications. They can also add

personal items such as photos, videos or links to their favorite websites. Different Themes

can be choosen to change the look and feel of their Dashboard to inspire and motivate

them for the day ahead.

To edit the Dashboard, they must click on the Edit button on the left side of the screen. This

will display the Content Panel.

The Content Panel contains three options:

Layout – This will change the number and position of

the layout boxes on the Dashboard.

Settings – This allows the student to change the Name

and Theme of their Dashboard.

Widgets – Widgets can be dragged onto the page to

add content such as text, video and pictures.

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Changing the Dashboard Settings

To change the name on the Dashboard, click on the

Settings tab.

Enter the name into the Name box of Site. It will

automatically update on the name section on the

Dashboard.

To change the Theme of the Dashboard, click on the

small arrow on the right and select a new theme.

Scroll down the menu, and click on the theme

required. This automatically switches to the

Dashboard theme chosen.

Note: The Theme is not to be confused with the

Background found in the Preferences area. The theme

selected will always be displayed on top of the

background image unless the Transparent theme is

chosen.

Click the Save Changes button to save your changes.

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Changing the Dashboard Layout

In the Content Panel, click on the Layout Tab.

From the numbered buttons, students should select

the number of layout boxes they want on a page.

They can select between one to four layout boxes on

a page.

Here, students can choose how the contents of the

layout boxes will be displayed on their dashboard.

When they click on a particular layout, the page will

automatically be updated with the new layout.

Adding a Media Widget to your Dashboard

In the Content Panel, click on Widgets.

They will now see all of the Widgets that are available

to them. Each Widget is identified by its unique name

and icon. A Widget is an application that allows

content to be displayed to the viewer. This is achieved

by simply dragging each Widget into an layout box on

a page and configuring its settings.

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Students should click on a Widget and drag it into a layout box on the Dashboard. Make

sure a blue box appears underneath the Widget icon before releasing the mouse button.

Widgets can only be positioned inside layout boxes (a rectangular box with a dashed line

surround).

Double clicking on the icon displays the settings for the Widget.

Note: Some Widgets may not display any settings when double clicked. This is because

there are no user settings available for the Widget.

In the case of the Media Widget, they can select a file to upload onto the page. They will

need to have the file located somewhere on their computer. i.e. on the hard disc, memory

stick or SD card.

Note: We recommend that the file size of images used should not exceed 2MB as this will

result in excessive refresh times when loading the page. Often pictures taken from digital

cameras can be large. Setting cameras to take small picture sizes suitable for the internet

or resample the image to make it smaller first in a suitable graphics package would be

ideal.

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Students now need to click on the Upload

button in the Choose Media section to launch

the File Uploader.

Then click on the Choose Files button to access

files on their computer. Choose a file to be

uploaded.

Select the image file then click on the Open

button.

Once uploading is complete the status bar will

turn green. Click on the Done Button to finish.

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The image will now appear on the page.

To save the settings to the Dashboard, click the Save

Changes button.

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Adding a Calendar Widget to your Dashboard

Students may find it useful to have their calendar displayed on their Dashboard. The

Calendar Widget is a simplified version of the calendar application found in quick launch

and is great for displaying important events and activities at a glance on the Dashboard.

Select the Calendar Widget and drag it onto the page. Make sure that the layout box turns

blue before releasing the Widget.

Now they need to double click on the Calendar in the

layout box. On the Content Panel, students should

choose their own personal calendar from the

Calendar to display drop down menu.

Students should now select the number of events /

activities to be displayed in the calendar by selecting

5, 10, 15 from the Max Events to Display drop down

menu.

Note: They will need to save the Dashboard and exit out of Edit mode before any calendar

events are displayed.

To save the settings to the Dashboard, click the Save

Changes button.

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Click on the X to exit Edit mode.

If there are up-and-coming events in their calendar, they will now appear on their

dashboard.

Now they can click on the Edit button on the left to continue editing the

Dashboard.

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Adding a Notes Widget to your Dashboard

The Notes Widget allows students to add notes to their dashboard such as reminders,

lists, email addresses etc.

Select the Notes Widget and drag it onto their page. Make sure that the layout box turns

blue before releasing the Widget.

Double clicking on the layout box displays a Notes text box in the Content Panel.

Any text typed here will be instantly displayed in the

notes Widget. The formatting icons underneath the

text box allow students to change the colour, format

and style of text.

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The Notes Widget will now display the text they have entered.

Save changes by clicking on the Save Changes button.

Adding an External Link Widget to your Dashboard

Adding an External Link Widget to their dashboard allows students to open up their

favourite website with just a single click. Multiple links can be added to the Dashboard to

make finding them quicker and easier.

Select the External Link Widget and drag it to onto the page, ensuring that the blue box

appears before releasing the Widget.

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Double clicking on the layout box displays the options

for the Text Activity Widget in the Content Panel.

Enter the name and URL of the website.

Note: If the students find the link does not work, check

that the prefix http:// or https:// has been included

with the full web address.

Students have the option to display an icon with their link.

If they would like to display an icon, they have three options on locating an image;

1. Students can use the upload button to locate an

image on their computer’s hard disc or USB stick.

2. They can use the Import Resource button to locate

an image that has been previously uploaded into the

Resource Manager within the VLE.

3. They can use the Search to find a suitable image

located on Pin-Point. Type the search text in the box

and then click the Pin-Point button.

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Students should select the image to use from those displayed in Pin-Point and click on

Use. This will add the image to their link icon.

They can also enter a brief description for the Site.

They can use the description to remind them of what

the Site contains.

Students should remember to save changes to their

Site by clicking on the Save Changes button.

Click the X button to close their Dashboard.

The external link will now be placed on their dashboard with their selected icon. Clicking

on the icon will open the link in a new browser window.

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Co-curricular Sites

To enhance and promote student engagement students can be tasked with the

responsibility of building co-curricular sites such as clubs and societies. Allowing students

to create co-curricular sites has many benefits for both the student and the teacher;

encouraging VLE usage, cutting down the teacher’s workload and motivating them to

source, verify and create content for their site.

You may want to discuss the initial layout with the site with the student(s) in advance.

Have them submit mock-up pages, ideas, photographs etc. A great idea is to assemble a

team of students, assigned to each site. In the team can be photographers, writers, proof

readers and an overall editor, similar to how a newspaper is created. Weekly editorial

meetings can be held to ensure the site is kept up to date.

As a security measure students cannot create their own sites; a teacher must create one

for them thereby giving the teacher overall control. This guide will take you through the

setup process of creating and sharing a site with a student.

A typical site created by the teacher may look something like this. At this stage the site will

not contain any content. This will be for the students to add after it has been shared.

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Creating and Sharing Co-curricular Sites

To create a site, click on the Quick Launch icon in the Frog Bar and click Sites.

The Sites area in the Resource Manager will open. Check to make sure My Sites is

selected.

Click on the New Site button.

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Type in the name of the site, and then add a brief description of the site underneath. (The

students can edit this later if necessary)

Click the Next button.

Select a Theme and an Icon for the site.

Click Next to continue.

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This section allows you to add tags to the site.

Select Co-curricular from the drop down menu. This will place the site in the Co-curricular

section of Sites in the Resource Manager.

Click the Add button to Tag your selection.

Select an appropriate Co-curricular group.

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Click the Add button to Tag your selection.

Now select a Form Group from the list.

Click the Add button to Tag your selection.

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In the keywords box, type in a word that you think someone would enter into a search

box when trying to find the site.

Next, click the Add button to Tag your selection.

Note: Tags can be added later as content and pages are added. For example, if a

Manchester United fan page is added then a Manchester United Tag can be applied to

the site.

Click on the Create Site button to create the new site.

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The new site will appear in the Resource Manager in My Sites. Click on the Co-curricular

Sites section on the left to check that it appears in that section also.

Click on the category icon.

Double click on the site to open it.

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Click the Share button on the Frog Bar.

In the Share or Assign window click on the Share option.

If you want to make any changes to the Tags for the site you can do it here, otherwise

click the Next button to continue.

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Type in the name of the person or group you are allowing to edit the site.

Once they appear in the list, click on the name to select it and then click the Add button to

add them to the list.

From the drop down list located to the right of the individual user or group, select the

option Can edit & manage. Selecting this option means that the student will be able to:

Have full editing access - add Widgets, add/delete content, add/remove pages, rename

the site, change the Tagging settings and re-share the site to other users on the VLE.

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Click on the Public button to allow other users in the school to view the site.

Ensure that the Public drop down menu is set to Can Contribute. This allows all users to

use interactive elements such as forums, walls and file drops.

Click on the blue Share button to begin sharing your Site.

Your site will now be visible to everyone and will appear in the Co-curricular Sites section

of the Resource Manager. Only the students named can edit the site.

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