MyLO includes a powerful tool known as Quicklinks. This tool allows you to link to a range of items inside and outside of your MyLO site. You can use this tool to create links pretty much anywhere in MyLO including Announcements; Descriptions of Modules and Items;  HTML Pages; Discussion posts; and feedback in Assignment Submission Folders, Rubrics and Quizzes.

As a general rule, if you can see this icon when creating or editing something, you can use the Quicklinks tool!

In this post, we show you how to insert a Quicklink. including how to choose linking options, in five (5) steps. We then provide a summary of the types of items you can link to, and the best target behaviour to use with each item type. 

How to insert a Quicklink and choose your linking options

Step 1

When editing an item in MyLO, place your cursor where you would like the link to appear.

Step 2

Select the Quicklinks tool. It should appear towards the top left of the editing window and will be the third icon from the left hand side.

Step 3

The Insert Quicklink window will open. Select the type of item you wish to insert a link to (for example, here we have selected Content).

Step 4

Work your way through until you have found the item you wish to link to. Select the pencil icon to the left of the item.  This allows you to insert a meaningful link text, and control the target behaviour of your link. If you’ve gone too far, use the left-facing arrow symbol (within the Insert Quicklink window) to go back as many times as needed until you reach your preferred option, or press the Cancel button to start again.

NOTE: You cannot select a specific tool or a Content Module to link to. You can only link to  items within Tools or Modules. For example, you cannot link to the Assignment Submissions Folder tool, but you can link to an Assignment Submission Folder within the tool.

Step 5

You should now see two options. You can change the default Title text (usually the name of the item) so that it is more meaningful to students. To do this, simply replace the text in the Title field. You can also change the Target. By default, this will be Same Frame. However, we have found that this target behaviour does not work well with many item types. To see if you should change the Target behaviour for a Quicklink, refer to the table towards the end of this page.

TIP: If using the New Window Target behaviour, include the following phrase at the end of your link Title so students know what will happen when they click on the link: (opens in new window). For example: Access the Week 1 Checklist here (opens in new window).

Once you have chosen your options, select the Insert button. Your Quicklink should now appear in the editing window. Continue to edit as normal and don’t forget to Save your work regularly!

Item types and target behaviours

Please note that we have excluded some Quicklinks options as they do not function effectively or are rarely used at UTAS.

Item Type	Recommended Target Behaviour	Notes
Assignments	Whole Window	Link directly to an Assignment Submission Folder.
Calendar	Whole Window	Link to a Calendar item.
Chat	Whole Window	Link to a Chat room. If you haven’t already created a room, you will have the option to Create New Chat.
Checklist	Whole Window/New Window	Link to an existing Checklist, or create a new one by selecting Create New Checklist. It can be useful to open a Checklist in a new window if students need to work through the Checklist whilst completing other activities on the MyLO page where you placed the link.
Content	Same Frame	Allows you to link to items seen in Modules in Content. Note that you cannot link directly to a Module (folder) using this tool. Some staff find it easier to have a Materials module that they upload class materials to (e.g. Powerpoint Presentations and PDFs). They then use the Content Quicklink, rather than uploading files ad-hoc via the Unit Files Quicklink tool.
Discussions	Whole Window	Allows you to link to Forums (best when you have several Group Topics in the one Forum) or individual Topics.To link to a Forum, locate the Forum, and select it. You will see the Forum name, along with all the Topics included in the Forum. Select the small + icon that appears to the right of the Forum name. You cannot link to a thread using this method, though that is possible using the Url Quicklink option.
External Learning Tools > MyMedia Recordings (ALP)	Whole Window	Creates a link to your Echo360 Section, or to an individual recording in your section (Class). Once the Quicklink is created, you will need to save/preview your item, so that you can follow the link that you have created. You will then need to select the Section/Class you wish to link to take students to. Further instructions are available here for linking to a Section, or here for linking to a single recording (Class).
External Learning Tools > MyMedia Recordings (ALP)	Same Frame	Web Conferencing – creates a link to the Web Conferencing tool, so students can then launch the 24-7 room (by selecting the Join Room) or a session (by selecting the session name).
Quizzes	Whole Window	Note that students will receive an error message if they try to follow this link before the Start Date or after the End Date has been reached. You may like to mention this in the link text. For example: Please note that you will receive an error message if you try to access the Quiz before DATE/TIME or after DATE/TIME)
Surveys	Whole Window/New Window	If students have already completed the maximum number of attempts, they will see a message saying they have no more attempts left.
Unit File	New Window	Allows you to select a file from the Manage Files tool (if you have already uploaded the file to MyLO) OR to upload a file from your computer. Uploading a file from your computer via this Quicklink tool will NOT allow you to choose a Target behaviour. We have found this problematic in some cases. You may find it easier to upload files to Manage FIles before linking to them. Alternatively, upload them to a Module (folder) in Content, and link to them using the Content Quicklink.
Url	New Window	Allows you to link to a web address (URL). This is typically used to send students to a website outside of MyLO.
Equella Select or Add Item	No choice	Allows you to create and link to a new item in the university’s Digital Copyright Management System, known as Equella. You can also link to existing items. This system is generally used to house student readings (like PDFs of a chapter from a book or an article) that are not already available via the UTAS Library.
Web Conferencing	N/A	DO NOT USE: Use External Learning Tools option instead.

This page details common student questions and details strategies you can use to alleviate the number of questions you receive via MyLO Discussion posts and emails.

QUESTION: Will lectures be recorded? Where are the recordings?

• Include the following information in your Unit Outline (perhaps under Details of Teaching Arrangements).
  • whether or not lecture recordings will be captured;
  • when recordings will be made available (usually within an hour of a face-to-face lecture ending);
  • how recordings will be made available (e.g. via Echo360); and
  • where students can access the recordings. Be specific about the location of recordings. ‘You can access recordings in MyLO’ is fairly vague. ‘You can access recordings from our unit MyLO site by selecting Content from the toolbar, then select Recordings from the Table of Contents‘ is far more specific.
• Ensure that your students can find the recordings easily in MyLO by placing the link/s in an obvious location and labelling the links/s clearly. Many templates include a specific folder in Content in which a link to the unit’s Echo360 section can be placed (for example, in a folder called Recordings). Alternatively, you might like to provide links to individual recordings when relevant, for example, in Module or Weekly pages in Content. Try to make the link names meaningful: by default, when you create a link to a Section or individual recording (Class), MyLO will use the link title, MyMedia Recordings (ALP). You may wish to change this to something like: Access recordings for this unit or Access this week’s lecture here.
• If you only intend to provide a link to a Section, instead of links to individual recordings, consider renaming your lecture recordings in your Echo360 Section, and placing them in a logical sequence.
• Many students request downloadable recordings: the setting to allow downloads is on by default but the option appears only if you give students access to the ‘list of all recordings’. Talk to your local support team for more information.

QUESTION: Why is there no sound in the lecture recording/why is there no recording this week?

• Get students in the classroom to remind you to take the microphone off mute and switch your radio microphone (if using)!
• Record with both the lectern microphone and radio microphone (where available). This is especially important if you tend to move around the room or away from the lectern.
• Have a back-up plan in place for recordings that lack quality (or any) sound, or for recordings that fail. For example, record the session with a small recording device.  and let students know what the plan is — i.e. let them know that if a recording fails for some reason a backup will be made available within (X) days.
• Check for past recordings that are high quality. They could be used as a back-up for failed lecture recording. You can download these from an old unit Section or share them from you Library to your unit’s Section. Your local support team may be able to help you edit out extraneous content to make a succinct, reusable recording.
• Consider flipping your approach and pre-recording a sequence of short lectures that are used across several iterations of your unit.
• If something does go wrong, let the students know as soon as possible via Announcement or Email. Let them know your back-up plan and when they can expect to see the replacement materials online.

QUESTION: What is the format of Assignment X?/ What is included in the word count? / How many pages? (etcetera)

• The most common student questions relate to assessment.
• Look through Discussion posts (or old emails) from past units to see if there are FAQs that you can address in advance. Include answers to these FAQs with the details of an Assessment Task. Many MyLO sites include an Assessments or Assessment Resources folder in Content that you can add this sort of information in the form of a PDF or web (HTML) page.
• If you have taught a few iterations of the unit (or similar units) you may be able to identify common spelling, grammatical, formatting or referencing errors that students should avoid. You may wish to provide examples of these and how to avoid them.
• If your assignment has specific formatting requirements, it is handy to provide a student guide together with other assignment details. Some staff have provided Word Documents as templates (e.g. with margins, styles and headings already set up).
• There are frequent requests for ‘exemplar’ assignments. A good-quality example of the writing genre and the format required may be useful to those unfamiliar with a certain approach to writing. There are many great, free resources on the web that may find it useful to provide links to.

QUESTION: What is included in the word count? Is there a  leeway on the word count?

• This is a very common question! Make it clear (in the Unit Outline and in any related Content folders in your MyLO site) exactly what is included in the word count, and the leeway (e.g. 10% under or over) that you may be willing to accept.

 QUESTION: How do I submit my assignment? Where can I submit my assignment?

• Check that you have set up an Assignment Submission Folder for collection of  the Assignment.
• Check that the Start, Due and End Dates for the Folder are correct: when folders are copied over from a past delivery of a unit, the old dates still apply.
• Though students can usually access the Assignments tool by selecting Assessments, then Assignments, from the MyLO toolbar, this may not be immediately obvious to them. You can easily include a direct link to an Assignment Submission Folder in a Module (folder) in Content, Announcement, Discussion post or HTML page using the Quicklinks tool.

QUESTION: Where is the grade/feedback for Assignment X? When will we get our grades?

• Provide an estimate of when students can expect to find their grades for each assignment and where they will find feedback in MyLO. If you don’t know in advance, tell students you will let them know as soon as possible. A good way of doing this is to send out an Announcement or Email shortly after the due date, thanking students for their submissions; advising them of when they can expect their feedback. Once you have completed marking and moderation, you may wish to alert students to the availability of their grades and feedback using the same method.
• Students may find it difficult to locate their Grades and Feedback, especially if they are new to online grading. The templates linked here include step-by-step instructions, including screenshots, to help your students locate their results: for assignments submitted to an Assignment Submission Folder; for a Quiz. 
• It is useful to keep grade delivery consistent across units in a program. Students who are used to going, say, the Grades tool for most of their units will be surprised not to find them there in other units.
• Check that you have published (Assignment Submission Folders) and/or made visible the relevant Grade Item.
• Students often report problems accessing marked-up feedback in Grademark/Feedback Studio. This post details some common technical issues to look out for when releasing Feedback Studio feedback.

QUESTION: Who wants to join my group?

• For units that have group work, you may find lots of students requesting group members in your class Discussion area. Don’t let these sorts of posts clog up your Discussion!
• Consider creating a separate Discussion area for students searching for group members.
• Alternatively, you can create Groups for students to sign-up to. You may wish to ask your local support team for assistance with this.

QUESTION: I can’t see X content item/Where is the link to X?

• There are a range of potential triggers for this question: the name of a link may not be clear; the item may be restricted with a Start or End date;  the item may only be available to a certain Group of students; the item may be in Draft mode; or the students need to complete an activity before they are given access to the item.
• Use the Descriptions attached to Content Modules (folders) or items to explain when or how students will be given access to content there. For example, ‘Remember: You will not see next week’s module until you have completed this week’s Quiz‘). If you use HTML Pages, place a warning (perhaps using one of the Attention objects included with the ICB Template) above a link that has restrictions applied.
• Keep filenames clear and logical, or rename the file once it is uploaded to a Module or HTML Page
• Keep your Content area well organised. Consider using Module (folder) names and Sub-modules (sub-folders) that make the structure and sequence of content clear. Many students appreciate content being organised by week or module.

QUESTION: When/where is the Online Tutorial/Web Conference?

• Online tutorials are not listed in the official UTAS timetable. Announcement advising when and how sessions times will be determined.  Some staff like to run a survey inviting students to nominated their preferred time (from a selection of three or four possibilities). Your local support team may be able to assist with this.
• Set up a Web-Conferencing folder and include a link to the Web Conferencing tool there. Your local support team may have a suite resources that they can bring in to your MyLO unit, to help students set up their computer/device before your first session begins.
• Choose an access method and stick with it: get students to access the Web Conferencing tool and click the Join Room button every time there is a session (this takes students to your unit’s 24-7 room); or set up a Session (with time and date parameters) for each class.

What does it do?

Web comferencing allows staff and students to meet in real time in a virtual (online) space. During a session, participants can use text based chat, audio chat and/or video to communicate. An electronic whiteboard allows for the sharing and live annotation of PowerPoint presentations (though video and animations embedded in PowerPoint presentations will not work). When participant internet connections are reliable, live presentations of your computer screen can also be shared, allowing you to show students through a website, demonstrate the use of an Excel spreadsheet, annotate a Word document and so forth. The moderator of a session has  some control over what the participants of the room are able to do with the available tools. The moderator is also able to record all or part of a session for later viewing. You can even invite an external presenter to join the session, even if they are not a UTAS staff member or student.

At present, the Web conferencing tool used at UTAS is Blackboard Collaborate Ultra (often referred to as Ultra). Ultra works on Mac and PC, and mobile devices (when the free Blackboard Student app is installed). Skype for Business is sometimes  used, but this tends to be reserved for meetings between UTAS staff.

Useful terminology

• Room: an online space dedicated to your unit. The room is available anytime whilst the unit is active. Many staff refer to this room as a web room to help students differentiate between synchronous face-to-face activity, and synchronous online activity.
• Session: the term used to describe the activity that occurs in a room when the moderator and participants meet together. By default, your unit will have its own room. You can pre-book sessions to take place between set dates and times. These occur in addition to your unit room.
• Moderator: the person/people in control of permissions and functionality in the room. Moderators can remove other participants, control which tools participants can use, change the role of participants (to presenters or moderators), share materials via the room whiteboard and start a recording.
• Presenter: has the same permissions as a  participant, but has the ability to share items on the room whiteboard.
• Participant: any person participating in a session that does not have the permissions of a moderator or a presenter.

What is Web conferencing best for?

• Real-time meetings between distributed learners.
• Virtual tutorials, workshops or lectures where interactivity between participants and/or moderator is desired. If a session is more for ‘show and tell’, a video recording is often more suitable than a web conference.
• Student meeting rooms to help support collaborative group work between students.
• Drop-in information sessions, or Q&A sessions about forthcoming assessment tasks.
• Guest lectures, where you would like the guest presenter to respond to student queries (these can be easier to run in a web conferencing setting than in a physical lecture theatre).

Capabilities and tools

A summary of the tools available in Blackboard Collaborate Ultra is available here (opens in new window).

In November 2016, Academic Senate determined that actions must be taken to monitor student engagement in all units. A student is considered actively engaged when they undertake and complete activities. Students who display minimal or no engagement with unit activities may be subject to university-initiated withdrawal.

If you are coordinating a unit, you will be expected to participate in the engagement monitoring process from Semester 2, 2017.

What you will need to do

You will need to incorporate two activities that can be used as indicators of student engagement in your unit. Both activities must occur within the first four weeks of semester. Records of student participation in these activities must be recorded in the Grades tool of your unit’s MyLO site. The data must be recorded in the Grades tool by the Friday (5pm) of Week 4.

The university will pull engagement data from your unit’s MyLO Grades tool*: you will need to ensure that your MyLO unit is set up correctly to facilitate collection of the data. This means that you will need to:

• Identify two activities that will be used to measure student engagement;
• Clearly identify the two activities to students in your Unit Outline;
• Set up two Grade Items in your  unit’s Grades tool using the correct naming conventions; and
• Record participation data in the Grade Items. This may occur automatically (e.g. when a Quiz activity is used), or manually.

*Though we were initially advised that a computer script would automatically draw student engagement data from MyLO Grades, it appears unlikely that this technology will be developed in time for Semester 2. As a result, Unit Coordinators may need to review the Student Engagement Activity data that they have recorded in their MyLO Grades tool, and report any disengaged students. We will update this page as soon as we receive further information about the reporting procedure for Semester 2, 2017.

Identify two activities

The activities need to indicate active student participation: they do not need to provide a measure of student learning. You can use activities that already occur within the first four weeks of your unit, or you may wish to add new activities. The following table provides a list of common activities. It also indicates whether reporting to the Grades tool can be automated, or whether a level of manual data input (from the teaching team) will be required. Engagement should be reflected by a simple scoring (assuming that 0 indicates a lack of engagement).

Activity	Reporting to Grade Item
Students…	Auto Input	Manual Input
Students complete a Quiz (could be non-assessable/assessable)
Students complete an assessable SCORM package (advanced)
Students view an introductory video or lecture via Echo360 ALP (MyMedia)
Students submit to an Assignment Submission Folder	(once mark is applied and published in the Assignments tool)
Students attend a class/classes face to face or online (e.g. a web conference)
Students add themselves to a MyLO Group
Students contribute to an introductory Discussion or Discussion Activity
Students participate in a Survey
Students complete a Checklist
Students mark a Content item as complete

Clearly identify the two engagement activities to students through your Unit Outline

The type of Unit Outline that you use may vary depending on your College or Discipline. The latest version of the UTAS Unit Outline Proforma (available here) includes a section called Specific attendance/performance requirements. Here you can record details of your Student Engagement Activities so that students clearly understand what is required of them.

Set up two Grade Items using the correct naming conventions

You must include two Grade Items in your unit’s Grades tool: one for each Engagement Activity. If your College or Faculty has a support team, they may set up the Grade Items for you by request.

The full name of these Grade Items must incorporate the phrase #SEA. When you create or edit a Grade Item, record the correct name into the Name field in the Properties tab.

The way you set up the Grade Items will vary according to the type of engagement activity that you have designed.  These Solutions to Common Grading Scenarios will help you determine the best way to set up your Grade Items. Some Grade Items will be standalone, that is, not connected to any MyLO tool. Others may be directly connected to a tool like a Quiz.

For further advice about setting up Grade Items, please contact your Faculty or School’s online/blended learning support team.

Record participation data in the Grade Items

By 5pm Friday of the end of Week 4, the Grade Items associated with each Engagement Activity must have a score recorded for each student (e.g. 0 for non-engagement, and 1 for engagement). The way you record this data will depend on the type of activity and the way you have set up your Grade Items. Tutors and other members of the teaching team may need some training to ensure that they know how to record these scores efficiently and correctly.

For further advice about recording data in Grade Items, please contact your Faculty or School’s online/blended learning support team.

Pondering how you might ‘flip’ or ‘blend’ your unit?

These excellent videos from the COFA Online program (based at the University of New South Wales) feature interesting examples and plenty of useful tips. Direct links to the videos (hosted on YouTube) are provided as well (for those whose browser does not show the expand to full screen option in the embedded videos).

Direct link to video: https://youtu.be/0-gQVgtNU4w

Direct link to video: https://youtu.be/zL4kwN3aAV4

The Interactive Content Builder (ICB) template allows you to easily incorporate a variety of visual elements and basic interaction into HTML (web) pages on your unit’s MyLO site.

Once the template is installed on your MyLO site*, complete the following steps to create a new, fresh page based on the template OR create a new page based on an existing page.

Instructions

Go to Content and locate the folder where you would like your new page to appear. For example, here I have chosen Weekly Content. Make sure the folder is highlighted (usually in a darker colour) in the Table of Contents.

Click on the Upload/Create button, then select the Create a File option.

Click on the Browse for a template button.

If you’re basing a brand new file on the template, browse for a folder called template, and click on it once. NOTE: You will only see this folder if the template has been added to your unit*. If you’re basing your page on an existing file, choose the folder in which the original file lives. For example, Weekly Content > Week 1.

Now check the radio button next to the template.html file (for a blank template page), or the file you would like to base your new page on (e.g. Week_01.html). Click on the Add button.

The page contents will load. Before you start working on them, record a file name for the new file in name field (this will be the name of the file as seen in the File Manager).

It is good practice to save your newly created pages to a folder. It isn’t the end of the world if you forget to do this, but it is a good habit to get into! Before you start editing the page, scroll down to the bottom of the screen and click on the Change Path button.

Choose the folder where you would like the file to live in. If you’re using a sub folder, you may have to click the expand icon next to the parent folder (+) to see it. Make sure the folder you want the file to live in is selected (it will be highlighted in a darker colour), then click on the Select Path folder.

Click the Save as Draft button.

You can now edit your file. Change the title to something you would like students to see. Don’t forget to Save or Publish your changes.

*The ICB template files must be installed on your unit’s MyLO site before you can use them. Please contact your local team for assistance: the Blended Learning Unit can help staff members teaching Faculty of Arts units; TSBE staff can approach the Flexible Education Team.

When designing and creating online learning materials, you should consider the accessibility of the materials.

This tip sheet from the University of New South Wales is a great summary of accessibility considerations surrounding resources like documents, images, audio and video and so on.

How original is the content you are teaching? Could students learn just as well from already existing content? If not, what is the ‘extra’ you are adding? 

This question, from a post by eLearning blogger Tony Bates, may have got you thinking about the content you’re creating and using in your units. But do you always have to create your own content? In this post, Tony discusses how you can find and curate existing content, rather than constantly creating your own.

This useful Preparing Essay Questions workbook from Reiner, Bothwell, Sudweeks and Wood (2002) at Brigham Young University (United States)  will help you write essay questions for use in examinations or assessment tasks.