There are a few things to know to make your stay enjoyable. You can create a free account that you will have to verify. Look for your verification email also in your spam box.
Tutorials
When you are logged in the first thing to notice is the website tutorials section. Familiarising yourself is an important aspect of what the website can help you with. Don’t worry, you are not going to break something. You can also easily reach out to an administrator once logged in to find help with technology.
Groups
The website works with the concept of ‘groups.’ Click on the menu button for ‘group’s which will then list all groups. Note that the groups can be filtered. Filter by ‘class groups’ to see all the classes, by ‘learning groups’ for our modules and many courses, ‘community groups’ are important for those who see themselves as part of that community.
Not all ‘requests to join’ a group will be accepted as it depends on whether a student’s enrolled learning programme requires them to join a particular group. Do join your particular ‘class group’ and the ‘communication group’ for the student’s year as well as any ‘interest groups.’
Forums
Groups often have forums embedded in them under the discussions tab. Forum discussion differ from a group’s general ‘feed’ or ‘wall’ in that forums work well for addressing a specific issue, topic to be discussed, or question asked. It keeps that conversation structured, whereas group feed conversations will at some stage fade into the past.
Courses
Courses are important in a learning community. Where groups are aimed at social connection and staying on top of what’s happening in the group, the course is where the actual learning, prescribed material or after-course recordings are embedded. This is also where students can download their certificates when made available.
Not all groups have courses but if they do a menu item named ‘course’ can be located in the group menu. The course keeps track of progress and in certain instances offer additional material compared to live classes.
Simply put, the course offers the structure for actual learning.
Be social
The website makes it very easy and enjoyable to connect with others in a learning environment (just like Facebook and other social media sites). Start discussions, comment, like, follow people of interest (maybe your class mates or lecturers), and more.