PURPOSE: Provide initial support and orientation to students.

YOU NEED TO: Decide what elements students will need to begin the course.

PURPOSE: This is the MS Word template developed by the LTU for use across UNSW.

YOU NEED TO: You will need to download the document, add your course information, then upload it again.

PURPOSE: Brief overview of course approach and requirements.

YOU NEED TO: Edit or replace the 'dummy' file with your course introduction.

PURPOSE: It is useful for students to do an orientation activity to accustom them to using Vista, and to the structure of the course. This has been set up as a learning module that may contain instructions, discussion and quiz.

YOU NEED TO: For instance, you may use this to get students to introduce themselves using the discussion forum, or to do an activity related to awareness of plagiarism.

PURPOSE: A link to a web page about online learning, providing an introduction for students who are unfamiliar with learning online.

YOU NEED TO: You may be able to identify other useful resources to add.

PURPOSE: A HELP forum can be useful to provide a general discussion forum where students can post queries. It can avoid an avalanche of personal emails, and provides an opportunity for students to answer each others' queries.

YOU NEED TO: Instruct students to post queries to the HELP forum rather than emailing the teacher. If this is provided, it MUST be regularly monitored.

In the future, queries posted here can form the basis of an FAQ page.

PURPOSE: Where the student can go if they are experiencing technical difficulties with Vista.

YOU NEED TO: Inform students that these resources are available, and that they should look for help here before posting queries or emailing the teacher.

PURPOSE: Brings together information about assessment requirements and schedule for the course.

YOU NEED TO:
Develop assessment requirements and schedule.

PURPOSE: Assessment tasks may be linked in the Learning activities section, but it may still be useful to provide links to all items in one location

YOU NEED TO:
Create assessment items (quizzes, assignments) and add links.

PURPOSE:
Learning activities (learning modules).These can include content files, evaluations (quizzes), discussions, links to URLs or media libraries, etc. More about learning modules

YOU NEED TO: Design the learning activities, then define the structure that your learning activities will need. The structure defined in this template may provide a useful basis for this.

PURPOSE:
Contains the learning activities and tasks, course material and links to resources. The activities have been set up as learning modules. This format allows:

• placement of a variety of content in a single learning path
• students to compile and print content
• modules to be exported for use in other courses

YOU NEED TO: Add content to 'placeholder' elements, or replace them.

More about learning modules

PURPOSE:
Contains an introductory discussion forum, to orientate students and introduce them to each other.

YOU NEED TO:

Post a welcome message, with instructions for the students.

PURPOSE:
Links to any resource material that is not included in the 'Learning activities' area, eg presentations, lecture notes, case studies, website links, glossaries. Content may be linked from, rather than incorporated into, a learning activity, focusing the learning on activity rather than content. Allows students to access resources outside of the learning material.

YOU NEED TO:
Identify and build, upload or link to appropriate resources. The structure defined in this template may provide a useful basis for this. These elements are placeholders and need to be populated.

Linking to resources on the web, rather than uploading them, will make management and maintenance of resources easier.

PURPOSE:
Student are able to provide feedback on the course.

YOU NEED TO:
Identify which of the provided surveys or questions are appropriate for your course. Create and add any additional questions. You may wish to include formative surveys here, to assist you in identifying any progressive issues.

PURPOSE:
Files or links relating to the course, but not specific to the online components, can be placed here, eg Lab or tutorial schedules.
Prevents cluttering of the interface with peripheral information.

YOU NEED TO:
You may not need this folder, but it may be useful to keep it hidden rather than deleting it, in case of any requests from students to provide material online. The hidden teachers' folder also contains some useful links.

PURPOSE:
The 'For teachers' hidden folder provides information about using the Vista templates and the course outline template.

YOU NEED TO:
Place here any other course specific information for the benefit of teachers or teaching assistants.

There is also a link to a survey for teachers to complete that will assist EDTeC in the ongoing design of Vista templates and courses.

PURPOSE: Access to tools from all pages.

YOU NEED TO:
Check if you will need to use the tools that are currently active, if not - remove. Other tools are available to add if you need them.

• Course announcements can be set, instead of cluttering up the homepage. Announcements can also be set to 'pop up'.
• Discussions you create will automatically be listed here. If you don't want students to access a discussion, you will need to hide it.
• All assignments are available from here. You may decide that you do not need to create links in ‘Assessment’ if you use this tool. However, it will not include Evaluations (quizzes).
• For students to see their grades, you need to release the grades to students from the teacher's ‘Grade Book’.
• The calendar tool needs to be populated, otherwise – remove it.