<![CDATA[IST eClass Support]]> <![CDATA[Switching Your Course Start and End Dates (Course Management bloc...]]>
NOTICE: Please be advised that the content of this article may only be relevant for users concluding the final stages of course work on eClass or for users on the eClass External system. The eClass Learning Management System is currently in a read-only state that prohibits new courses, enrollments, and users from being added to the site. Credit courses and co-curricular courses at the UofA are now being delivered on Canvas, and full articles on how to use Canvas can be found here.


This feature in eClass allows instructors to view their course visibility at a glance and to view or change the access dates for students in their courses using the Course Management block. This article outlines how to use the block.

Course visibility is normally determined automatically by the course access dates specified when requesting an eClass for credit sections (see the article Student Access to Your Course for more details on that step of the course request process). Your students will gain or lose access to your course at 12:01 am on those dates. Once those dates are set, they can subsequently be viewed or adjusted inside your live eClass course using the Course Management block. It is also possible to manually change course visibility at any time.

This block can only be added to a course by course instructors, designers, or TAs. The block is visible to all administrative roles but cannot be seen by students, auditors, or guests.

The Course Management block can be moved to the top of the 'Block Drawer' to make the course visibility status more noticeable.

The Block Drawer can be closed or opened by clicking on the arrow as shown below




Once the Block drawer is open, you can toggle the Edit mode ON to drag the blocks to where you want them to be.



Changing your Course Access Dates

  1. In the COURSE MANAGEMENT block, click the Edit button



  2. You can change dates either using the day, month, and year dropdowns...



  3. Or using the calendar icons



  4. If your selected start date or end date will change the current course visibility (eg. course currently open and a new start date in the future is selected,) when you click Save changes you will see an alert that your changes were saved.


     

If the Course Management block is not present in your course, either because it has been inadvertently removed or you are in a non-credit course, it can be easily (re)added:

Adding the Course Management block

  1. Once inside your course, toggle Edit Mode on at the top right of the course page
  2. Click Add a block at the very top of the Block Drawer on the right




  3. Select Course Management.

The page should refresh and there will now be a block titled COURSE MANAGEMENT at the very bottom on the right-hand side block drawer. This will show whatever dates you specified during your initial course request (or will be empty if you requested a non-credit course). You may drag the block to move it up to place it where ever you choose it to be.

 

 

]]> <![CDATA[Transferring Content Between Courses]]>
NOTICE: Please be advised that the content of this article may only be relevant for users concluding the final stages of course work on eClass or for users on the eClass External system. The eClass Learning Management System is currently in a read-only state that prohibits new courses, enrollments, and users from being added to the site. Credit courses and co-curricular courses at the UofA are now being delivered on Canvas, and full articles on how to use Canvas can be found here.

Introduction:

You can copy material from another course only if you are registered as an instructor in the other course.

Content can be copied into your course during the course request process, and this is the best and preferred method.

The course request system can copy your content from any existing eClass courses that you are an instructor for. You can access the system by going to https://eclass.srv.ualberta.ca/portal/ and clicking the 'Request your course in eClass' button on the left side.

There are some situations when you may want to use an alternative method of transferring content:

  • If you have already requested your new course;
  • If you want the content from more than one other course to be used in your current course;
  • If you have already requested your new course and added content to it that you want to keep;
  • If you want to start your new course clean and add only a few files from a previous course.

In these cases, you can use the procedure below to copy selected content from one course to another, but be cautious as there is no way to reverse the transfer once it is completed. For example, if all you want to copy is a single quiz or another item, we recommend that you contact the IST eClass Support team to discuss the best approach to meet your needs.

Using Import

To use the Import function, you must be an instructor in both the course where the content is (source) and in the course where you want the content to go (destination). Go into the destination course, click on the More tab at the top of your course page and click Course import/Export.


Select a course to import from:

Then select the source course from the list of available courses. If the desired course is not displayed, enter a part of its title into the search box and click Search to locate and then select it:

Image: search dialog

Include activities and resources:

Once the target course has been selected, typically, instructors will need to include 'Include activities and resources', 'Include blocks', 'Include filters', and 'Include question bank'. Others may be needed if you have a special circumstance, but contact eClass Support if you have something unusual.

Note that Include activities and resources, will include, Assignments, Quizzes, Forums, Pages, and other similar activities.

Be very cautious if you are copying only some content, and be certain about what you are selecting. If you mean to copy only one item, and you copy a whole course, there is no way to undo it.

If copying a whole course, leave the selections, and click Next to proceed:

Select specific activities and resources:

The next step is to select the resources or activities in your source course that you wish to import into the destination course by checking the box beside them (or deselect items not wanted). You can uncheck entire topics by clicking the bolded topic headings.

Review selections:

Review your selections carefully to ensure that you are not copying more than you want: there is no way to undo the import once you click Perform import:

Notes:

  • Imported activities will keep their original settings. For example, a quiz that closed in 2022, will not be accessible by students unless you change the Timing setting.
  • Check the availability of all imported activities.
  • The import process can only bring content into the topic number where the original content resided. Content in Topic 1 of the source will be copied into Topic 1 of the target. You may need to move and rearrange items in your new course.
  • If your target course has only 5 topics and if you try to import a file from Topic 10 in your source course, the item(s) will appear under an Orphaned activities section which can be restored by adding topics until you reach the topic number.
  • To add more topics to your course, click on Edit mode at the top right of your main course page then scroll to the very bottom Click on Add topic. Your course must be in Topics format.
  • Importing the entire content of a course will also import any customizations made to the source course's gradebook if the target course's gradebook has not yet been customized. If you need to copy over a customized gradebook only from another course, please contact eclass@ualberta.ca.
  • Importing automatically-graded activities (e.g., quizzes, assignments, etc) will produce a new gradebook item for that activity.
  • Important: Instructors should be aware that importing a single quiz from one course to another will also import the ENTIRE question bank from the previous course. There are some different processes available to instructors who need to copy quizzes. See our article Creating and Managing Large Question Banks for more information or contact the IST eClass support team for information on which is the best process for your needs.
]]> <![CDATA[Copying Content Off of eClass Courses]]>
NOTICE: Please be advised that the content of this article may only be relevant for users concluding the final stages of course work on eClass or for users on the eClass External system. The eClass Learning Management System is currently in a read-only state that prohibits new courses, enrollments, and users from being added to the site. Credit courses and co-curricular courses at the UofA are now being delivered on Canvas, and full articles on how to use Canvas can be found here.

If you know that you will lose access to an eClass course and wish to retain the content from the course, you have several options depending on the type of content and your role in the course. This article describes the various options for copying content off of eClass available to the different user roles on the site. 

If you are a student in a course:

  • For content you have contributed (e.g., forum posts) or submitted (e.g., assignment submissions), you can export content directly to one of the 2 available portfolio services: Google Docs or Google Sites. For more information on this process, Creating and editing an ePortfolio.
  • For content uploaded into the course as an external file type (e.g., MS Word, PDF, etc), you can copy any files in the course to your local computer via the normal browser processes for saving files - right-click (cmd-click) and select "Save-as" a file.
  • For native eClass course content (page resources, tab displays, content section headings, etc.), you can highlight any desired content on the browser page and paste it into a text editor such as MS Word or a Google Doc.

If you are an instructor in a course:

For individual content items, all the same processes available to students listed above can be used to copy content. In addition, you may:

  • copy any or all the content from a course into another course on eClass using the Import workflow described in Transferring Content Between Courses.
  • save a backup of a course to your local machine. Backups are not human-readable and can only be restored into another existing Moodle installation, into an eClass course, and can be manually imported into Canvas. Instructors cannot back up activities (forums, assignments) including student submissions. Additional details on the backup process, including importing backup files into Canvas available here.

Backing up your eClass course:

  1. On your course main page, click on the More tab, then on Course Import/Export.



  2. From the dropdown list, select Backup



  3. Keep the default Backup settings and click on Jump to final step. If you would like to save only part of your course, click Next to choose which specific topics, resources, and activities from your course will be backed up.



  4. Once the backup has been created, select Continue. This will take you to the Restore course page where you can manage your backups.



Under the section titled User private backup area, you should be able to see and Download the backup file that was just created.


Restoring a backup in eClass:

  1. This file is not human-readable but can be restored into an eClass course at any time to view the content. No student or user data is included in the backup file including forum/announcement posts and assignment submissions.

    If you have already backed up the course previously, you may always access the 'User private backup area' by clicking Course Import/Export > Restore.

    Backup files created using this mechanism can also be imported into Canvas.
]]> <![CDATA[Detailed Features of the eClass Mobile App ]]>
NOTICE: Please be advised that the content of this article may only be relevant for users concluding the final stages of course work on eClass or for users on the eClass External system. The eClass Learning Management System is currently in a read-only state that prohibits new courses, enrollments, and users from being added to the site. Credit courses and co-curricular courses at the UofA are now being delivered on Canvas, and full articles on how to use Canvas can be found here.

The eClass mobile app, currently in a public beta release, offers faculty, students, and staff easy access to eClass course content. The app is available for download here.

This article describes some of the differences between the app and regular desktop access as well as the main expected uses for the app. Overall, the app should be thought of as a tool for students and instructors to access course content on-the-go. 

Please note, that there are some major differences between the functionality in the mobile app and the regular browser-based experience:

  • Instructors should not plan to perform any major administrative functions using the app such as constructing their courses or grading students.
  • Students may encounter issues viewing content on mobile and should not plan on using the mobile app as their sole option for accessing eClass.

General Interface Differences:

  • The Dashboard page (course list) uses a standard version that is missing many of eClass’s customisations including re-ordering, highlighting, and hiding.
  • Course content is displayed one section per page with options added for navigating between sections.
  • The different course formats available in the regular browser view are not available in mobile. Note that this may drastically change the display of content between the browser version of eClass and the app.
  • The online text editor has a different look and includes a different set of options.
  • The right-side blocks available in the desktop view are not available in the mobile view.
     

Student Activity Differences:

  • Forum posts and replies can be added through the app by clicking the large green plus icon near the bottom right. Files and photos from the device can be attached to a post and as assignment submission (but cannot added through the system editor within posts.)
  • Quizzes can be taken using the mobile app with an alternative for offline delivery. Note: quizzes containing the ‘All-or-Nothing Multiple Choice’ question type cannot be completed in the app.
  • Many of the U of A’s custom developed plugins are not yet available in the app but instead display a link to launch the mobile browser view of that tool. These include:
    • Tab display
    • Group peer assessment
    • Anonymous forum
  • LTI external tools do not function reliably including Zoom meeting links.

Instructor / Course Administration Differences:

  • Many administrative functions are not possible in the mobile app including adding or changing course participants, viewing or modifying groups, viewing course usage reports, creating or editing course content, and modifying the gradebook setup.
  • No grading table is available for instructors. Student grades can be viewed (not entered) by clicking Participants > [Student name] > Grades.

Known Issues:

In addition to the above known functional differences, there are a number of known bugs and issues in the app functionality that are under investigation or which are already being repaired (some by Moodle HQ and some by the eClass team). These include:

  • Many of the blocks in the right-hand block drawer, including the "Library Resources" block, will not display in the app.
  • Styling and display of activity completion restriction messages on course content items.
  • The ‘Add New Discussion’ button in forums that do not yet have posts is not currently working (posts can be added via the green plus icon).
  • Improving display for custom local activities and resources by replacing the generic puzzle piece icon with actual existing icons.
  • Android navigation back button and the bottom application navigation options do not function consistently.
  • Android app looks for any installed audio recording apps for doing audio recording submissions. Fails when none are detected.
  • Embedded google drive videos will not play.
  • Kaltura video content will only load on the second attempt.
  • Some filters, such as the MathJax filter for displaying mathematical notation, may not display properly.
  • At the top of a course, a student might see a percentage bar. This relates to the percentage of activities that are able to be marked as complete that are marked as complete. This does not relate to course completion or the grade that you have on the course. 

 

]]> <![CDATA[Archiving Courses from Your Course List ]]>
NOTICE: Please be advised that the content of this article may only be relevant for users concluding the final stages of course work on eClass or for users on the eClass External system. The eClass Learning Management System is currently in a read-only state that prohibits new courses, enrollments, and users from being added to the site. Credit courses and co-curricular courses at the UofA are now being delivered on Canvas, and full articles on how to use Canvas can be found here.

If you have been teaching in eClass for a number of years or are an administrator involved in numerous courses per term, you may wish to remove courses from your Course Overview list. You can now accomplish this easily through the self-serve archiving process available in the Course Management block.

Note: This process is only available to course instructors and administrators. Students and other users are restricted to hiding any unwanted courses.

As a best practice for the ongoing maintenance and health of eClass and to reduce the numbers of available courses in your class lists, we are encouraging instructors to archive any old courses that they no longer require access to.

Please be advised that if you use this process on a course, you will no longer be able to access the content from that course or be able to copy the content forward into new courses. This process affects all users in the course, so please ensure that you have informed and gathered consensus from all other course instructors before submitting a course for archiving.

If you need to restore a course that has been archived, please contact IST eClass Support at eclass@ualberta.ca to initiate the manual restore process.

To use the course archiving feature:

  1. Enter the course you wish to archive and locate the block titled Course Management on the right hand side colum. (If you do not see the block, follow the steps in this article to add the block.)

  2. Click Archive this course in the block.

    Click Archive this course

    Note: If your course is from a past semester, you can click on Archive this course near the bottom center. Current and upcoming courses cannot be archived. To delete any current or upcoming courses, please contact IST eClass Support at eclass@ualberta.ca.

  3. If you are co-instructing your course, please note that it is your responsibility to inform all other course instructors that they will also be losing access to the course materials and that they will be unable to copy content from this course into new courses.

    Confirm

  4. Once you queue your course for archiving, it will be archived within 24 hours (the process runs over night). If you change your mind about archiving before the process runs, you can undo the removal by returning to the block and clicking Do not archive!.

    Do Not Archive
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