Frog VLE Update. Latest Features and Enhancements. September 2014

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1 1 Frog VLE Update Latest Features and Enhancements September 2014

2 2 Frog VLE Update: September 2014 Contents New Features Overview... 1 Enhancements Overview... 2 New Features... 3 Site Backgrounds... 3 Quick Launch Edit... 7 Quick Assign Assignment Monitor (Frog Admin)...25 Enhancements Resource Manager rename to FrogDrive Pin-Point rename to Discover Enhanced Site Management...32 Enhanced Site Management (Admin)...35 Enhanced Site Tagging...36 My Child s Work Enhancements...40 Themes...46 File Drop Enhancement...46 Analytics Improvements Site Layout rename to Page...48

3 1 Frog VLE Update: September 2014 We are pleased to announce that we have updated your Frog VLE to enhance the functionality and features. The changes to your Frog VLE are outlined in this guide. This Quick Start Guide will provide you with all the information you need to get started using the new features of your Frog VLE. For a more detailed overview of the new features and functionality please go to the Learn Centre. New Features Overview Site Backgrounds You can now personalise your sites by adding a background image of your choice. Quick Launch Edit You can now customise you own Quick Launch menu by adding and removing icons. Quick Assign To make assigning work to students easier, a New Assignment button has been added to Assignments. You can also quickly assign a single resource from within the FrogDrive. Assignment Monitor (Frog Admin) This new application allows the Frog Admin to access detailed information about all assignments that have been issued within the school.

4 2 Enhancements Overview Resource Manager rename to FrogDrive Your Resource Manager now has a new name, FrogDrive. You will also notice the icon in the Frog Bar has changed. Pin-Point rename to Discover Everything remains the same with this useful search tool, it just has a new name. Enhanced Site Management The ownership of a site can be transferred to another user and the Frog Admin can now access any site within the Frog VLE. Enhanced Site Tagging You now have more categories when adding tags to a site. This helps to give more relevant results when users search for sites. My Child s Work Enhancements Parents can now view their child s assignments. Themes 5 new themes have been added for you to use in your sites and dashboards. File Drop Enhancement The File Drop widget has a new Import Resource button. Analytics Improvements The way the statistics are presented on the screen have been changed to make them easier to understand. Layout tab rename to Page The Layout tab in the settings panel displayed when editing a site or dashboard has been renamed to Page.

5 3 New Features Note: Not all features listed are available to all users. Site Backgrounds Available to: Teachers, Students, and Frog Admin What are Site Backgrounds? A Site background is an image that can be added to a site that will appear through the transparent areas of a site theme. How do I use Site Backgrounds with Themes? A theme of a site gives it a unique style. Each theme has its own font, graphic layout and tab arrangement. You can select a new theme for your site at any time. To select a theme click on the small arrow in the theme section and scroll up and down. Note : Some themes have more transparent areas in them than others. A transparent area reveals more of the background image behind it. Sites labelled with SB (Site Background) are ideally suited for use with a background image. To add or change a background image for your site, scroll down to the Background section.

6 4 Note : If no custom background is chosen here, then the image selected in the My Background section in My Preferences will be displayed instead. A background image can be selected from three sources. Upload - Locates an image stored on your computer. Import - Locates an image from the FrogDrive. - Locates an image using Discover (searches for images on Flickr) The example here, shows an image being uploaded from the computer. To do this click on the Upload button. Click on the Choose Files Button Select an image file of your choice and click Open.

7 5 When the file is uploaded click Done. Your chosen image will appear in front of any image selected as My Background in My Preferences, and appear through the transparent areas of your site. Note: Different themes will cover more of your image than others, and some themes may cover your image entirely. If you don t see your image, try selecting a different theme. You can also chose how your image is displayed by changing the Background Style.

8 6 The options are Center: Keeps original image dimensions and centers to the screen. Stretch: Will stretch the image so no background is shown, but dimensions are kept proportional. Fill: The image will reach its maximum size within the edge of the screen. Tile: The image will tile to fit the screen using its original dimensions. Note: If the site is shared to another user, they will see also see the site background image when viewing the site.

9 7 Quick Launch Edit Available to: Teachers, Students, and Frog Admin What is Quick Launch Edit? Icons in your Quick Launch menu can be added or removed. Each icon has their own category. These are Protected These icons are permanent and cannot be removed. Global These icons appear for all users (teachers, students and parents) and cannot be removed. These icons are set by the Frog Admin. Personal These icons can be edited (added or removed) from your Quick Launch menu to suit your own needs. Important: Global icons are managed by your Frog Admin. Other than protected icons, all other icons are set to global by default and, unless they are set to personal, you will not be able to edit them. Should you wish to be able to edit icons in your Quick Launch menu, you will need to ask your Frog Admin to set them to personal. How do I use the Quick Launch Editor? Click on the edit (pencil) icon to start editing your Quick Launch menu.

10 8 How to Remove an Icon from your Quick Launch Menu To remove an icon from your Quick Launch menu simply click the next to the icon. Note: Only icons that you have added yourself and those that have been authorised to do so by your Frog Admin can be deleted. Click Save Changes to confirm your delete.

11 9 How to Add an App to your Quick Launch Menu Click on the Plus Sign icon to launch the Quick Launch editor. Select the Apps tab. Select the Application you wish to add

12 10 Click on Save Changes. How to Add a Web link to Your Quick Launch Menu It is possible to add additional icons, such as links to external website to your Quick Launch menu. Click on the Plus sign to launch the Quick Launch editor. In the Name box, enter a name for the new icon. This will appear underneath the icon in the Quick Launch menu so it is best to keep this short.

13 11 In the Link box, type the web site address. Tip: To ensure the address is correct, open the website in a separate tab in your browser and then copy and paste the URL from the address bar. Next, you must choose an icon for your link. You can either select one of the standard icons or create one of your own icons. To use one of the standard icons simply click on one from those displayed. To use your own image as an icon, click on the Upload button to use a file from your computer or the Import button to use a file stored in FrogDrive. Click on Save Changes.

14 12 How to Add / Remove Apps from your Quick Launch Menu using FrogDrive It is possible to add or remove applications to your Quick Launch menu be selecting them from within the Applications section in FrogDrive. Click on the FrogDrive icon in the Frog Bar. Click on Applications. Click on the Application once to select it.

15 13 To add an application. From the Actions drop down menu, select Add to Quick Launch. To remove an application. From the Actions drop down menu, select Remove from Quick Launch. How to Add a Site Link to your Quick Launch Menu If you use a site often, you may want to add it to your Quick Launch menu making it easier to find. Click on the FrogDrive icon in the Frog Bar.

16 14 Click on Sites. If the site is located in your My Sites area, click on the Site once to select it.

17 15 From the Actions drop down menu, select Add to Quick Launch. If the site is not one located in your My Sites area, you can still add it to your Quick Launch menu by first searching for it. Type a few characters contained in the site name into the Search box Once you have found your site, click on it once to select it. From the Actions drop down menu, select Add to Quick Launch.

18 The icon for the site will now appear in your Quick Launch menu. (Please note: there may be a short delay before it appears) 16

19 17 To remove a Site. From the Actions drop down menu, select Remove from Quick Launch. The icon for the site will be removed from your Quick Launch menu. (Please note: there may be a short delay before it is removed)

20 18 Quick Assign Available to: Teachers What is Quick Assign? Quick Assign allows an assignment to be issued without the need to create a site beforehand. Assignments can now be issued directly from within the Assignments application or from the FrogDrive. How do I use Quick Assign? Creating a new assignment from the Assignments Application. From the Quick Launch menu, select Assignments Click on New Assignment.

21 19 Creating a new assignment from FrogDrive. Note: Before creating an assignment in FrogDrive, you will need to have a file ready to use. For example, this may be a document, an image or video. Click on the FrogDrive icon in the Frog Bar In the FrogDrive, locate the file you wish to use for the assignment and click on it once to select it. From the Actions menu, select Assign.

22 20 You need to enter a name for the assignment. You must now select a subject for your assignment from the drop down list. Add some brief instructions for the assignment here. Note: If students are required to upload a file using the File Drop widget, then it is advisable to include instructions for this here as there is no provision to add further instructions later. (You will have the option to include a File Drop activity before issuing the assignment). In the Recipients area, type in a few characters contained in the name of a student or group and select them when they appear in the drop down list.

23 21 The available from date will show todays date, however, you can change this to a future date if you don t want the assignment to be issued until then. You must now select an assignment due date.

24 22 You have the option to add further resources to your assignment here. This may be an additional set of instructions, additional work sheets etc. Select the file to add. And then click the Use button.

25 23 Adding an activity to your assignment Unless an activity is added to your assignment, students will not be able to submit their work back to the teacher. It is not always necessary to add an activity, for example if the assignment only asks the students to read an article or watch a video where no response is required. You are permitted to add either a File Drop activity or a Text activity to your assignment (you cannot add both). File Drop Required if students have been requested to submit a document (file) as part of their assignment. Text Activity Use this if the assignment requires the students to simply enter their response via a text entry box that appears on the screen. Adding a File Drop. Select the viewing option. Individual Students can only see their own files submitted. Group Students can also view files submitted by others.

26 24 Click on Users can delete their own files if you would like to give them this option. This will allow them to delete a file they have already uploaded and replace it with another. Adding a Text Activity. Enter some further instructions for the Text activity here. Click the Assign button to issue the assignment.

27 25 Assignment Monitor (Frog Admin) Available to: Frog Admin. What is the Assignment Monitor? The Assignment Monitor is an application that displays assignments that have been issued by all teachers in all departments in the school. Used primarily by the senior management of the school, this useful tool makes it easier to monitor where and when the Frog VLE is being used effectively. How do I use the Assignment Monitor? To access the Assignment Monitor application, click on FrogDrive in the Frog Bar. Select Applications on the left. And double click on Assignment Monitor.

28 26 The Assignment Monitor lists all assignments that have been issue by teachers in the school. Initially, the view is set to display Open assignments, however, clicking on the tabs allows you to switch between views. All lists all the assignment that have been created in your Frog VLE. Open lists assignments that are open (currently active). Students could still be working on assignments listed here. Closed These assignments have been closed by the teacher and students can no longer contribute to them. Archived These are usually older assignments that are not actively being used. The column headers indicate the type of information displayed in each column. Clicking on a header will sort the list in that column. Clicking the header again with reverse the order. Assignment Name The name of the Assignment given by the teacher. Subject The teacher will have given the assignment a subject category. Issued The start date of the assignment. Due - The date the teacher has set when the assignment has to be finished by. A date shown in red indicates it is now passed the due date. Teacher The name of the teacher who issued the assignment. Recipients The name of the group or individual the assignment was issued to. Submitted The number of students who have submitted their assignment.

29 27 How to Search for Assignments The filter feature can be used when searching for a specific assignment, assignments associated with a particular subject or teacher, and for those issued during a certain time period. Click on the Filter icon. To find assignments for a particular subject, select a subject from the drop down list and then click the Filter button. For the Issued and Due dates, select a start date and then a finish date. For the other boxes, type in just a few characters to define your search. Click the Filter button to display only those assignments specified in your search. Press the Reset button to return to the full unfiltered list view.

30 28 To search for a particular student or teacher, you need to use the additional search tool. You only need to type a few characters contained in the person s name to begin the search. How to View the Assignment Details To view the instructions given for an assignment, click on the blue information icon. To view further details including who received the assignment, click on the assignment in the Assignment Name column. At this stage it is possible to view the assignment as it was sent out by the teacher. You cannot contribute to the assignment yourself as it is set to view only. Click on the Open Assignment button.

31 29 To remove the assignment from view, click the X button. To view a particular student s assignment, first click on the student s name. And then click the Open Assignment button. The assignment displayed will be the same view as seen by the student. If the student has contributed to any activities, then you will be able to see these here.

32 30 To remove the assignment from view, click the X button. Any individual activities in the assignment can be monitored in the submitted work area. Scrolling down to the bottom of this section reveals any comments a student has made back to the teacher in the Self Evaluation section and any comments the teacher has made in the Overall Comments section. The Mark Given box shows the overall mark the teacher has given for the whole assignment. At any time you can return back to the list of open assignments by clicking the Open tab.

33 31 Enhancements Resource Manager rename to FrogDrive Available to: Teachers, Students and Frog Admin What is FrogDrive? FrogDrive is the new name for the Resource Manager. To launch the FrogDrive, click on the new icon in the Frog Bar. When the FrogDrive is open, you will notice the new FrogDrive icon being displayed in the Application Tray. Pin-Point rename to Discover Available to: Teachers, Students and Frog Admin What is Discover? Discover is the new name for Pin-Point, a quick search tool for content. It pulls content from My Library (after it is added through the FrogStore) as well as from the Internet (through Flickr and YouTube).

34 32 Enhanced Site Management Available to: Teachers and Frog Admin What is Site Management? Just like managing files on a computer, you may need to copy (duplicate) or delete sites. A new feature now allows transferring who has complete control over the editing and sharing of a site. This is called changing the ownership of a site. There is also a new feature to select multiple sites, making it easier when working with groups of sites. How to do I select multiple sites? When using Site management, you can make an action to multiple sites in one go. To select multiple sites, first click the Select button. In the tile view, click once on each site to make your selection.

35 33 In the list view, click on the ticks in the left column to make your selection. Clicking the top tick selects all or deselects all the sites in the list. You are now ready to make your selection from the Actions menu. How to do I change the ownership of a site? It is possible to change who has overall control of a site. This may be useful if a teacher leaves, changes roles within your school or a new teacher starts at the school and wishes to manage sites a previous teacher had created. To do this, select the site or sites in the FrogDrive and select Change Ownership from the Actions menu.

36 34 In the Transfer ownership to: box, start typing a few characters of the name you wish to transfer the ownership to. After a short while, any users that match your search will appear. Click on the required name to select it. Your selected user will now be displayed underneath. If you want to change your mind and select a different user, you can click the X. You can only specify a single user here as a site cannot have multiple owners.

37 35 To confirm your new owner, click Change to continue. The ownership of the site or sites will now be transferred to the new user. Sites will be removed from the previous user s My Sites area and will now appear in the My Sites area of the new user s FrogDrive. Enhanced Site Management (Admin) Frog Admin users now have the ability to access any site that other users have created within the Frog VLE. They can edit, change who the site has been shared to, assign a new owner and also delete any site in the system. How do I search for sites as an Admin? To find any site in your school s Frog VLE, type in a few characters in the sites search box and then press Enter or click the magnifying glass. You can use either upper or lower case characters here. If those characters appear in any part of the site title, site description, site tags or the creator of the site, then it will be displayed. When the search results are displayed you have the option to select Searches only sites that you have created, public sites and sites that have been shared with you. Searches all sites within the Frog VLE.

38 36 Enhanced Site Tagging Available to: Teachers and Frog Admin What is Tagging? Tagging allows sites to be stored into specific year groups and subject categories in the FrogDrive and FrogStore. Tags are also used as a reference when users search for sites. In order to use the Frog VLE effectively in the school, users need to be able to find relevant sites quickly and easily. To ensure this process is maintained efficiently as the number of sites created by school increases, the number of tagging categories has been increased. How do I use the new tags when creating a site? When creating a new site, you are prompted to add tags (optional) as part of the process. The new tagging screens are as follows Now you have the option to add tags to the site. A site that is tagged with a category will be placed in the corresponding folder in the FrogDrive. Tags also make it easier for other users to find your site when searching for sites. This is the Tags section. In here, you have the option to categorise your site into Academic or Non-Academic. Make your selection from the drop down menu.

39 37 Note: You can click the Add button at any time during this process, however, it is not recommended to do this yet as you will no longer be prompted for further sub-categories. The options displayed in the next menu will depend on what you have chosen in the previous menu. If you have chosen Non-Academic, the next list will only contain options relevant for non-academic sites. As we have selected Academic, the next list prompts for the year group. Each Form Group has its own list of subjects associated with it presented in the next drop down menu.

40 38 Each subject has its own list of Topics associated with it. After making your selections, click the Add button. Your tags will be displayed underneath. To remove a tag, click on the X. If you need to add any back, repeat the steps above.

41 39 Next, you have the option of adding Keywords associated with the site. This is useful when someone is searching for a site but doesn t know the name. Try and add words that are relevant to what a user might type when searching. For example, for a science site we could add liquid gas solid melt freeze ice molecules evaporate. When a user uses any of these words in their search, the site will be included in the search results. Type in a keyword or keywords into the box. It doesn t matter if you add multiple words on one line or add them one at a time. Click the Add Keyword button. The tags will appear underneath. To remove a tag click on the X. Clicking the Set this site as a template box will tag the site as a template. For a regular site, leave this unticked. Click on the green Create Site button to continue.

42 40 My Child s Work Enhancements Available to: Parents What is My Child s Work? My Child s Work is an application that allows parents to keep a track of any assignments that have been given to their children via the Frog VLE. Parents could only view the date the assignment was issued, the name of the teacher that issued it, and the basic instructions given. The application has been enhanced, as parents can now view the assignment (view only mode). How do I use My Child s Work? In order to access the My Childs Work application, you must first log in to the Frog VLE of your child s school as a parent. Click on Quick Launch in the Frog Bar. And then click on My Child s Work. The Assignments window will appear and the name of your child will be displayed in the top right corner.

43 41 To select a different child, click on the name and then chose another one of your children from the list. The column headers display information about assignments as follows Assignment Name The name of the Assignment given by the teacher. Subject The teacher will have given the assignment a subject category. Issued The start date of the assignment. Due - displays the date the teacher has set when the assignment has to be finished by. A date displayed in red indicates your child failed to submit their assignment back to the teacher before this date. Teacher The name of the teacher who issued the assignment. Completed - displays the date your child completed (handed in) their assignment. The assignment cannot be changed once a date appears here. Overall Mark If the teacher has issued a mark for your child s assignment, they will be shown here. When a teacher decides that an assignment has ended, they can close the assignment. You can view the list of closed assignments by clicking on the Closed tab.

44 42 Use the Archived tab to look for older assignments that you child may have done in the past. If there are many assignments listed, you may want to filter the list making assignments easier to find. To do this, select the filter icon. To find assignments for a particular subject, select a subject from the drop down list and then click the Filter button. For the Issued and Due dates, select a start date and then a finish date. For the other boxes, type in just a few characters to define your search. Click the Filter button to display only those assignments specified in your search.

45 43 Press the Reset button to return to the full unfiltered list view. To view the basic instructions for an assignment, click on the blue information icon. If a teacher has issued a comment back to the student, you can see it here. To view further details including a list of the activities featured in the assignment, click on the assignment name. To view the Assignment, click on the Open Assignment button.

46 44 Note : As a parent, you will only be able to view the assignment (view only). Only your child will be able to complete the assignment when they login to the Frog VLE themselves. To remove the assignment from view, click the X button. Any individual activities in the assignment can be monitored in the section below. If a mark has been given by the teacher for an activity, they can be seen here. To view the Text Activity submitted by your child, double click on the file icon. To view a document your child has uploaded in the File Drop activity, double click on the file icon.

47 45 If it is a file type that your browser cannot display, then you can download the file. The file will be downloaded to an area specified in your browser settings. The file will now be downloaded onto your computer. Click the file to open it. Scrolling down to the bottom of this section reveals any comments your child has made back to the teacher in the Self Evaluation section and any comments the teacher has made in the Overall Comments section. At any time you can return back to the list of assignments by clicking the Open Assignments link.

48 46 Themes Available to: Teachers, Students and Frog Admin What are the new themes? The new standard themes. The new Site Background themes. These are identified with an SB in the top corner and are more suited to be used with a background image. File Drop Enhancement Available to: Teachers, Students and Frog Admin What are the changes to the File Drop widget? The File Drop widget now has the option to add a file from the FrogDrive via the new Import Resource button. This is useful, as a file stored in the FrogDrive can now be added directly to the File Drop widget. Previously, it would have been necessary to download a file stored in the FrogDrive (Resource Manager) to your computer first before uploading it again using the Upload button.

49 47 Analytics Improvements Available to: Frog Admin What is the new Analytics? The Analytics application, captures data related to the use of the VLE in your school and represents the information in graphs and tables. The way the statistics are displayed have changed to make them easier to understand. What are the changes? Underneath the graph area is the Data Section which displays statistical information about users of your VLE. The data section contains the following information: Total Users. This displays how many user accounts have been created on the VLE. Separate figures are shown for Students, Staff and Parents. Logged in Now. This displays the number of users currently logged in. Note: There could be up to one hour delay to show that a user has logged out. Separate figures are shown for Students, Staff and Parents. Never logged in. This displays users that have never logged in to the VLE. Separate figures are shown for Students, Staff and Parents.

50 48 Site Layout rename to Page Available to: Teachers, Students and Frog Admin Where can I see the changes? When editing a site you will see that the tab representing the page layout settings has been renamed from Layout to Page. The label for an un-named tab has been renamed from New Tab to New Page.

51 49