Interactive Simulation-based Virtual Classroom

Katrina Connors, Steven Aldridge, Tavon Pourboghrat

Table of Contents

General Users 4

Logging into the Site 4

Logging out of the Site 4

Browsing Simulations 4

Searching for Simulations 5

Searching by Taxonomy 5

Searching by Name 5

TeachersCreating a Class 5

Naming the Class 5

Describing the Class 5

Configuring Membership 5

Submitting the Class 6

Interacting with the Class 6

Viewing All Classes 6

Viewing Only Moderated Classes 7

Accessing a Certain Class 7

Posting a Quiz to a Class 7

Adding Questions to the Quiz 9

Editing Point Values of Questions 10

Manually Grading a Short Answer 10 or Long Answer Question

Remove a Question from a Quiz 11

Creating a Class Announcement 11

Create a Simulation Link 11

Adding Students to the Class 11

Create a Student Account 12

Students 13

Accessing Classroom Content 13

     Viewing Classroom Content 13

     Announcements 14

     Simulation Link 14

     Quizzes 14

Administrators 15

Managing Users 15

Creating an Account 15

Change the role of a user 15

Changing User Passwords 15

Deleting User Accounts 15

Editing Permissions 16

Content Management 16

Modifying Content 16

Modifying Content Types 16

Section 1: General Users

Logging into the Site

In order to gain access to the majority of the features that the site offers, you will have to log in. To log in, enter a valid username and password into the their respective textboxes and either press the enter key or click the “log in” button.

Logging out the Site

Whenever you are done accessing the site, please consider logging out to ensure that your account information does not get tampered with by unauthorized or unintended users.

Browsing Simulations

I.S.V.C. strives to provide a large selection of useful science simulations from some of the leading Open Source simulation providers. Simulations are available to everyone, even the general public. To browse through our simulations, click on the “View All Simulations” link. This link will take you to the simulation library, which contains all of our simulations. To download and view a simulation, click on the “download” link for the simulation you wish to view

Searching for Simulations

The simulation search tool is an efficient way to find the simulations needed. The search can be done in several ways.

Searching by Taxonomy

Taxonomy refers to the keywords that are applied to all of the simulations. Each simulation can have multiple keywords. To filter the complete list of simulations available, click on one of the keywords in order to list only the simulations containing that keyword.

Searching by Name

Simulations can be searched for based on any of the words within the name of a given simulation. Type the either the full name or any of the words in the title to view all simulations that match the search query.

Section 2: Teachers

Part A: Creating a Class

In order to add optimal functionality to the site, a “Class” will first have to be created. The first step in creating a class is to click the ‘Create a Class’ link.

Naming the ClassOnce you’ve clicked the ‘Create a Class’ link, a new page will appear. Enter the desired name of the class into the text field below the word ‘Title.’

Describing the ClassOnce you’ve clicked the ‘Create a Class’ link, a new page will appear. Enter the description for the class into the text field below the word ‘Description.’

Configuring MembershipOnce you’ve clicked the ‘Create a Class’ link, a new page will appear. Below ‘Membership Requests,’ there are three options for how the class memberships should be handled. There are three options shown. The three options are:

1. Moderated: If moderated is chosen, then any student can request to be a part of the class. In order to be enrolled, the creator of the class must approve of the membership.

2. Invite Only: Only the teacher can send out invites to the students. The students may choose to leave the class at any time.

3. Closed: Only the teacher can invite a student into a group. If the student is enrolled in the class, they cannot leave the class unless the teacher deletes them from the class.

Submitting the Class

Once you’ve clicked the ‘Create a Class’ link, a new page is created. Once this page is filled with the correct information, click the “Save” button. A message will display that the class has successfully been created.

Part B: Interacting with the Class

Once a class has been created, many interactions can take place.

Viewing all Classes

Once a class has been created, all of the classes in the system, as well as the classes for the current user, can be viewed. To view all of the classes stored in the system, click the “View Current Classes” link in the side bar. This page will display all of the classes currently in the system.

Viewing Only Moderated Classes

The user has the option of seeing only classes that they have created. To view these classes, click the “View Current Classes” link on the sidebar. In this newly created page is a box that says “My Classes.” Click on this box. A new page will appear that displays all of the user’s current classes.

Accessing a Certain Class

The user has the option to access the content displayed within one class. To do this, they need to click the “View Current Classes” link and find their class through either through “Classes” or “My Classes.” The user will then click the link that has the name of their desired class. All of the content associated with the class will be displayed in the browser.

Posting a Quiz to a Class

In order to post a quiz to a class, the user has to use the directions above to access a certain class. Once the user has accessed the class, click on the “Create Quiz” link on the right sidebar. The user will be redirected to a quiz creating site. The user will add a title to the quiz; the quiz will not go through if a title is not given. The user also has multiple options for the quiz that include:

1. Groups: If the user clicks the link called Groups, group options will be displayed. The user is notified of the audience, which will be the class the user is currently in. The user will also have the option of making the quiz public. If the user clicks the check box next to the word “Public,” the quiz they create will be displayed to any user who chooses to search for it.

2. Description: The user has the option of giving the test a description. The user can describe how to complete the test, the necessary information needed to complete the test, etc.

3. Allow Resume: If the check box next to “Allow Resume” is selected, the user that takes the quiz has the option to save their current quiz results and finish the quiz during the time allotted.

4. Allow Jumping: If the user checks the box next to "Allow Jumping" then the user who takes the quiz can jump through the questions thorough a menu that will appear in the quiz.

5. Allow Skipping Questions: If the box next to “Allow Skipping Questions” is checked, the user will be able to skip questions in the quiz. If “Backwards Navigation” is also checked, the quiz taker can go back to the question they skipped.

6. Backwards Navigation: If the box next to “Backwards Navigation” is checked, the user will be able to go back to previous questions. The quiz takers will also be able to go back and edit their questions if desired.

7. Repeat Until Correct: If the box next to “Repeat Until Correct” is checked, the user will be able to retry all of the questions in the quiz until the answers are correct.

8. Feedback Time: The quiz creator will be able to choose at what point the feedback for each answer will be given. They can choose to display it after each question, at the end of the quiz, or never. No matter the option displayed, the quiz moderator will receive the answers.

9. Display Solution: If the box next to “Display Solution” is checked, the solution to the question will be displayed at a certain time depending on the option chosen for “Feedback Time.”

10. Allowed Number of Attempts: From the drop down box, the quiz moderator can determine how many times the quiz can be attempted. The default is set to unlimited, but the moderator can also choose a number between 1 and 9.

11. Display Allowed Number of Attempts: If the box next to “Display Allowed Number of Attempts” is checked, then a quiz taker will be able to see how many attempts they have for the current quiz.

12. Stored Results: The quiz moderator will be able to control what is stored for all of the quiz takers by clicking a button below “These Results Should be Stored for Each User.” The moderator can choose to only store the best quiz results, the newest quiz results, or store all of the quiz results. It is not recommended to store all of the results, especially if there are an unlimited number of attempts.

13. Availability Options: If the quiz creator clicks the “Availability Options” link, a menu will display below. The default quiz availability date is “Always Available.” If the user would like to change the availability date, they must first uncheck the box next to “Always Available.” They will then need to choose an open date and a close date with the drop down menus provided.

14. Remember My Settings: The quiz creator has the option to remember all of the settings that were set while making the current quiz. This is handy if a teacher wants to use the same settings for every quiz they make after this and plan on having the same settings.

15. Pass/fail Options: If the “Pass/fail Options” link is pressed, a menu will display below the link. The teacher can input a numerical value between 1-100. This value will be the lowest score for the quiz in order to consider it passing. The default is set to 70 because most schools have that as the lowest passing score; this can be changed to accommodate different classroom needs.

After the user has managed their settings, they can click the “Save” button located on the bottom of the screen. This should redirect a user to a page that will confirm they have made a new quiz. They will also be directed to a screen that will allow them to create questions for the quiz.

Adding Questions to the Quiz

There are two ways that a user is able to reach the page that allows them to append a question to a quiz. The first is by simply creating a quiz; the “Manage Questions” screen will immediately appear and give them the option to add new questions. After each question is created, the user will be redirected to the “Manage Questions” page. The second way to append questions to a quiz is to go to the class that contains the quiz, click the link that directs to the quiz, and click the box near the top of the page that says “Manage Questions.”. The user can stop creating questions at any time by pressing a link to any other part of the site; the questions that have been created for the quiz will be saved. There are five question types that can be created:

1. Long Answer Question: To create a long answer question, click the green plus sign next to “Long Answer Question.” This will redirect the user to a page that gives the text fields necessary to make a long answer question. The actual question is required and should go in the text box below “Question.” In the text box labelled “Rubric,” the question creator can give a description on how the question should be answered. To finish and append the question, click the “Save” button located at the bottom of the page.

2. Matching: To create a matching question, click the green plus sign next to “Matching.” The user will be redirected to a page that will gather the necessary data. The user is required to input instructions on how to answer the multiple choice question in the text box below “Instruction.” Underneath “Answer” are the fields used to create the questions. Enter the questions in the text fields underneath “Question,” and place the matching answers under “Correct Answer.” For this to function correctly, at least two questions and correct answers have to be created. The user also has the option to create feedback; this will display to the quiz taker after their results are displayed. To append this to the current quiz, click the “Save” button at the bottom of the page.

3. Multiple Choice Question: To create a multiple choice question, click the green plus sign next to “Multiple Choice Question.” The user is required to input the question in the text area under “Question” because otherwise the question will not be created. Under “Settings,” there are various settings that can be added for the multiple choice question. If the user selects the box next to “Multiple Answers,” the given question can have more than one correct answer. If the user selects the box next to “Random Order,” the questions will appear in a random order. If the user clicks the box next to “Simple Scoring,” the quiz taker will only get points if every single answer chosen is correct; this option is only relevant if “Multiple Answers” is always clicked. Below “Alternatives,” the quiz creator can enter answers for the question. The default number of alternative answers is two; more answers can be added by pressing the “Add More Alternatives” button as many times as necessary. If the question creator wants to set the answer that is correct, they just have to check the box that is under the “Correct” column. To finish creating the question and append it to the current quiz, click the “Save” button at the end of the page.

4. Short Answer Question: To create a short answer question, click the green plus sign next to “Short Answer Question.” Fill in the question underneath in the text box under “Question.” The teacher can also decide how the question should be graded under “Answer.” If the “Automatic and Case Sensitive” or “Automatic. Not Case Sensitive” options are chosen, then the user needs to input a correct answer under the “Correct Answer” field. This will check the input from the users against the supplied answer; the question will also automatically be graded based upon the comparison of the answers. If the “Manual” option is chosen, then the answer will not be automatically graded, and a correct answer does not have to be supplied. When the creator is finished filling in the necessary fields for a question, the “Save” button will save the question and append it to the current quiz.

5. True/False Question: To create a true/false question, click the green plus sign next to “True/false Question.” The user will be redirected to a page that will allow them to create the question. The user must input a true or false statement in the text box below “True/False” statement. The user must also decided if the answer is true or false by clicking in the correct button under “Correct Answer;” they will click “True” if the statement is correct and “False” if the statement is incorrect. If the creator wants to add feedback when the test is graded, they can do so by clicking “Feedback Settings” and filling the box that says “Feedback Text.” When all the necessary boxes are filled, the user can append the question to the quiz by pressing “Save.”

Editing Point Values of Questions

Sometimes it may be necessary to edit the point values of the quizzes. In order to edit the point value of the quizzes, click on the “Manage Questions” box within the quiz that should be edited. Underneath “Questions in this Quiz” are all of the questions included in the current quiz. In the rightmost column is “Max Score.” Underneath are all of the point values placed inside a small text field. Highlight the number of the score that you would like to change and input the desired max score. Click the “Submit” box near the bottom of the page.

Manually Grading a Short Answer or Long Answer Question

The long answer and short answer questions may need to be graded manually. In order to grade those questions, the teacher will need to go to their current class by clicking the “View Current Classes” link on the side, look through the list of classes and find the class that has the quiz they want to edit. Click the link to the quiz; a new page will appear. Click the “Results” box at the top of the page. Click the check box next the name of the desired student; the options “View” and “Delete” should appear. Click the link to “View.” All of the questions that the quiz taker has answered will appear. The response the quiz taker has given is labeled under “Response.” To the upper right of this is a box next to “Score.” Fill this in with the proper point value based on the quiz taker’s results. Click the “Submit” button at the bottom of the page when

all scores have been inputted. This will redirect the user to a the “Results” page again; the score will now be posted under the “Score” column instead of reading “Not Evaluated.”

Remove a Question from a QuizIf a user decides they want to exclude a question from a quiz, the user should go to “Quiz Management” under the desired quiz. Under the questions, uncheck the box next to the desired question. Click the “Submit” button near the bottom of the page. The question should be removed from the quiz.

Creating a Class AnnouncementSometimes the user will need to make a general announcement to the class. This can be achieved when the teacher is inside the class that needs the announcement. In the right sidebar, click the link that says “Create Announcement.” The user will be redirected to a page that will create the format for the announcement. Each user needs to create a title for their announcement in the text field under “Title.” It is also mandatory to put the actual announcement in the text area under “Announcement.” The user also has the option to attach a file to the announcement. This file can be in the following formats: JPG, JPEG, PNG, GIF, TXT, RTF, DOC, XLS, PDF, PPT, PPS, ODT, ODS, ODP, JNLP. To post the announcement to the class, the creator must press the “Save” button near the bottom of the page. The announcement will appear to all of the members of the class.

Create a Simulation LinkISVC has come preconfigured with many simulations from the Molecular Workbench and PhET webpages. If the class moderator has seen a simulation posted on our website, they can post this to their class. To do this, they need to go to their class page. From here, they need to click the “Create Simulation Link” link in the right sidebar. From here, the teacher can create the link to the simulation. In order for this to work correctly, the creator needs to give a title in the text field below “Title.” They then need to start typing in the name of the simulation in the text field below “Name of Simulation.” As the creator types in the name of the simulation, the simulations that are currently in ISVC will show up in a menu below the text field. When the correct name of the simulation is found, click the name of the desired simulation. The creator also has the option to give specific instructions or a description to the simulation in the text area named “Briefly Describe the Simulation or Provide Instructions.” After all of the necessary information is provided, the user should click “Save.” The link to the simulation will now be displayed in the class.

Adding Students to the Class

At times, it will be necessary to add students to the current class. To add students to the class, the teacher must first access the class page. After they have reached the page, the moderator will click the link that says “[NUMBER] Members,” where NUMBER will be the current number of members enrolled in the class. The user will be redirected to a page that lists all of the members of the class. The user will need to then click on the box that says “Add Members.” The user will then be able to write in all of the user names that they would like to add. These

user names must be typed in correctly for this to work. If adding more than one student is desired, the user can type in multiple names; each name needs to be separated by a comma. When all desired users are entered, press the “Add Users” button at the bottom of the page. All of the users listed will automatically be joined to the class and will have immediate access.

Create a Student Account

Sometimes it will be necessary for a teacher to create a student account. To do this, the teacher needs to click on the “Create a Student Account” link in the left sidebar. A page will display that will allow them to give the important information about the student. The user will have to input a user name into the field below “Username.” This username can be just about anything, as long as there is no punctuation other than periods, hyphens, and underscores. A valid e-mail address must also be inputted in the “E-mail Address” field. This must be provided by the student. The teacher must also set a password in the “Password” field; this password must be re-entered in the “Confirm Password” field. The teacher must check the box next to “Student” under “Roles”; if this is not done, then the account will not be created correctly and can only be remedied by an administrator. Click the button on the bottom that says “Create New Account.” This will create the user account, and the new user can immediately log in with the given credentials.

Section 3: Students

Part A: Accessing Classroom Content

After a teacher has created a student’s account and added the new student to the class group the student will then be able to view posts made on the class page. In order to view this content a student should navigate to the class page by first clicking the View Classes link on the navigation menu. They can then use the My Classes tab to view a list of their currently enrolled classes, and then click the name of the class they wish to view.

Part B: Viewing Classroom Content

Once a student navigates to their class page they will be able to view all content posted to the class in order of post date, with a drop down menu near the top of the page allowing them to filter posts on the page by content type.

Announcements

When a student clicks on the title of an Announcement posted on the class page they will be taken to a page with the full text of the announcement. A student will also be able to view any attachments posted to the announcement and download them by clicking a link.

Simulation Link

When a student clicks on the title of a Simulation Link posted on the class page they will be taken to a page where they can see the full post, containing the title, instructions from the Teacher, and a preview of the Simulation Page where they can read a description if one is provided and click the Download link to view the simulation itself.

Quizzes

A student will be able to view Quizzes posted to the Class page, each quiz will have a preview window showing number of questions, possible attempts, time the quiz is available the pass rate, and if backwards navigation of answered questions is allowed. The students final score, the ability to view their answers, and the ability to view correct answers can all be made available at the teachers discretion.

Section 4: Administrators

Managing Users

Administrators may need to manipulate user accounts for various reasons. To manage user accounts, first move to the “Administer” link and click on it. Locate the “User Management” block and click on the “User” link. Individual user accounts can be configured from here.

Creating an Account

Near the top of the page, there is a button labeled “Add user”. Click on it enter the page for customizing the new account. Enter information into the textboxes as instructed by the description next to the fields. Do not modify the active radio box. When all the data has been entered, click on the save button. Make sure that the account type is set correctly. Check mark the teacher box to make a teacher account, or the student box to make a student account. The same process goes for administrator accounts.

Change the role of a user

Sometimes, the teacher account may forget to set a new student account with the student role. Additionally, the role of a user may need to be changed for another reason. If this happens, the role can easily be changed. To do this, look through the list of users on the “Users” page. When the desired user has been found, click the name of the user name. This will redirect the user to this user’s page. Click the box at top that says “Edit.” On this page, there will be four choices under “Roles”: authenticated user (which is set by default), admin, student, and teacher. Set the correct desired role for the user. Click the “Save” button at the bottom of the screen to confirm the change. The user will immediately have the role specified.

Changing User Passwords

Once you are in the “User” page, note the user account to be edited. Click on the link “edit” to view that particular users account information. On this page is a textbox to enter password and confirm it. Be sure to save the changes to finalize the new password.

Deleting User Accounts

For one reason or another, an Admin may find that they need to remove a user from the system. To do this, make sure you are in the “User” page and click “edit” for the intended user. This will take you to that user’s account information. At the bottom of this page is a “delete” button. Be very certain you want to delete this account, as there is no way to undo a deletion.

Editing Permissions

The easiest way to modify permissions of a particular role is to use the “Permissions” link, and not the “Role” link. Make sure that you clicked on “Permissions”, which is part of the “User Management” block within “Administer”. Within “Permissions” is a vast list of all fields that can have permissions set for each type of role. Rarely will this need to be modified from the I.S.V.C. standard configuration. However, to modify a permission, simply check a box to give a role permission to access or view the specific feature and uncheck a box to remove that roles privileges.

Content Management

Modifying Content

Content Management will be needed when content posted by teachers has issues, inappropriate content has been posted, or content simply needs to be removed. Once inside the “Administer” section of the site, click on “Content” within the “Content Management” block. Use the filter tools at the top of the page to narrow down the quantity of content relating to the post that is to be modified. Once the desired content is found, click “edit” to be brought to the contents information form. Adjust it accordingly and click the “save” button to apply any changes.

Modifying Content Types

To change settings for new content types in general, there are two possible methods for accomplishing this. One way is to go to “Administer”, then “Organic Groups”. Within this block, proceed to “Organic Groups Configuration” and then finally click on “Content types”. This will show all the content types available for use within classes. To edit a content type, click on “edit” to make any changes to it. Apply changes by pressing on “save”.

Another, slightly simpler way is to Navigate to “Content Types”, which is just inside the content block called “Content Management” in the “Administer block”.