BA (Hons) Social work MA Social work PG Diploma Social work: Using PebblePad on Placement

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1 Creating assets in Pebble+ There are two ways of creating assets in Pebble+, adding files and completing Pebble+ templates. Adding files You can add file to your assets using Add new File. You then add a title and description, and click on the browse button. This allows you to browse your computer to select a file. Most file types that can be opened from your computer can be added into pebble+, including the audio and video formats included in the following help page bf540bf-f5a a00e-bca b&f=134.click open to add the file. Finally, click on the checkbox to confirm that you have the rights to upload the file and click on save and upload. For large files such as videos, the upload process may take some time. Firstly, there will be a delay and then an 'uploading file' progress bar will appear. You need to wait until the file has completely finished uploading or it will not work. When the upload is complete you will see a 'processing' icon. At this stage, you can close the window or log out of Pebble+ if you wish, but please check back a minimum of 30 minutes later to check that your file is working and re-upload if necessary. Remember to tag your files so that you can find them quickly and easily later. Should you wish to upload paper records into your Pebble+ account, you can scan these and then upload the resulting digital file. In the University, you can use the iprint machines in the library and have the resulting file ed to your University account as a pdf. Information about this is available at Once your file asset is saved, you can access it again from your asset list (view assets). Remember that the file asset is simply a page with a title, description and any tags you have added along with a link to the file itself. These links work just like a file attachment in an ; to view the file, you need to open it in a suitable application. For example, you will need MS Word or a similar word processing tool to open a word document from a Pebble+ asset. If you do not have a suitable word processor installed on the computer you are using you will not be able to open the file embedded within the file asset. Similarly, if you need to edit a file, you will need to use a suitable application to do this outside Pebble+ and then to save your file and upload it into Pebble+ overwriting the existing file. This is one good reason why it is preferable to create your assets as posts or using Pebble+ templates if you are simply creating text-based records, reflections or plans. Completing the Pebble+ templates Pebble+ comes with a range of pre-built templates that you can use to create assets. To fill in a template, choose it from the Add new menu (plan, experience, reflection or talent). For all templates, the first thing you need to do is add a title in the save record as field. 1

2 You can then fill in the record by adding text in the fields, following the prompts as needed. You can format your text and add links to other Pebble+ assets or to websites by selecting the text and using the formatting and linking toolbar (see below) Creating posts You can also use a post which is the simplest type of asset in Pebble+ (effectively a blank page) if you feel you do not need the guidance provided by one of the templates. You can then use your own structure by adding headings for each section of your post to, for example, use your own reflective model to create a reflection. Creating your post Select Add new Post, which will open the Post window (see below). Add a post title, add any tags and save your post. You can click and drag on the bottom-right of the post window to make it longer if needed. Creating headings To add your headings, type them into your post. Then, select them by clicking and dragging with your mouse to highlight the header text, and the formatting and linking toolbar will appear. Click on format style and heading. You can also change the colour and size if you wish. 2

3 Adding links You can add links to online resources by selecting the text you would like to turn into a link and then clicking on the web link button. Paste the URL into the URL box and then click on the tick button to confirm (see image below). Similarly, you can add links to assets in your Pebble+ asset link by selecting the text you would like to turn into a link and then clicking on the 'Asset link' button (4 squares). This will open your asset list allowing you to select an asset and click on confirm. This will turn the selected text into a hyperlink to the asset. Adding images, audio and video You can add an image, audio or video file to your post so that it is visible on the page. To do this you firstly need to upload the file to your asset list using Add new file. Once you have done this, you can add a new section to your post by clicking on the Add new section button. Please see the following for audio and video file formats that can be uploaded to pebble+ 3

4 Choose one of the three layout options that include a multimedia file: Your new section will appear and this will include a placeholder for your multimedia file. Clicking on this placeholder opens your asset list and displays all the multimedia files that can be added onto the page. Select the file you would like to add and click confirm. The image or video will appear within your post. The properties panel will also be displayed allowing you to add a caption describing your file. You can remove or replace the file using the buttons that appear above it and you can also open the properties panel at any time by clicking on the properties button (see image below). For images, you can also click and drag the bottom-right corner to resize it. Once you have completed your post and saved it, it will go into your asset list, and you can access it from there (View My assets). Again, don t forget to tag your asset to make it easier to search for it and reuse it later. Advantages of using the Pebble+ templates and posts over file uploads When creating an asset such a plan or a reflection it usually makes sense to do this as a Pebble+ template or post rather than uploading a word document. This makes it easier for you to edit and reuse the asset again later. You can do this by selecting the asset in your asset list, clicking on Edit and continuing to work on the asset. To edit a word document, it is necessary to edit it within word, then save the file and overwrite it in Pebble+. Using Pebble+ templates also makes it easier to link assets together (see below) allowing you to add links to other assets within templates and posts. You can also copy and paste content from a word processor into a template or post (see below). 4

5 Copying and pasting You can copy and paste from one asset in Pebble+ to another using the key board shortcuts Control+c to copy and control+v to paste (or the equivalent command keys if you are using a mac). To do this simply open the asset you would like to copy text from, select the text and use the copy shortcut, open the asset you would like to paste into. Insert your cursor at the point at which you would like to insert the text and use the paste shortcut. This will also paste text from your clipboard if you have copied it from applications such as Microsoft Word. You may need to adjust the formatting after pasting in text from other applications. Formatting and adding links within assets To format text in any Pebble+ post or template simply select the text and you will see the formatting and linking toolbar (see image below). This allows you to change the formatting and colour of text to allow you to highlight and emphasise different sections of an asset. You can, for example, add sub-headings and highlight particularly pertinent sections of a reflection. The aim should be to avoid a 'wall of text' so that it is easier for you and your tutors to make sense of your assets. You can also add links to further assets within any template. To do this, select the text you would like to turn into a link and then click on the 'Asset link' button (4 squares). This allows you, for example, to create a post with a short reflection summarising your development and incorporating links to further reflections, files and other evidence. 5