The VLE @ GSA Introducti on
Session overview
• Introduction - accessing content and the global navigation menu
• Courses and Communities – Customisation• Design Principles• Enrolments - checking users and creating
groups• Communication Tools
Link to Facebook and Twitter if you wish. Add a picture and
information about yourself and your interests.
Your Profile will then be added to the GSA community. Click on the
People tool to find other staff and students.
Courses and Communities
• Courses – used for teaching
• Community – Groups of users can read and view contentExample - Using the VLE for Staff
The Using the VLE for Staff community contains a variety of
support resources, how to guides and workshop materials.
Manage content (items, files etc) through course
menu.
Manage appearance, tools and customisation through Control Panel.
Click Teaching Style to change appearance.
Ensure Edit Mode is ON.
Turn Edit Mode OFF to preview student view.
• Select Course Entry Point
• Select Course Theme
• Select Menu Style
• Default Content View – Keep as ‘icon and text’.
Keep menu items simple. Click + to add a new item.
Consistency across courses is a major usability issue. Where possible, please
consider the context of your course.
Content Area.
Hide LinkStrikethrough = unavailable.
Useful for making content available when complete.
Click arrow to change setting.
Web links to the library catalogue and Blackboard help are available in every
course.
General course information may contain e.g. Timetable, handbook
and reading list.
Ensure items (and associated files) are intuitively named and up-to-
date.
Manage groups of users by creating Groups. Click Users
and Groups > Groups. You can then create a single group or
group set.
Announcements appear on the Announcements page and can
be emailed to all staff and students on a course. Click
Create Announcement.