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Student Instructions
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Table of Contents

Table of Contents

About Egads

General

Manage notifications

Maintain your user profile

Course Management

View syllabus/readings/assignments

View recent content

Submit assignments

Group Projects

View your group home page

Modify group information (name, description)

Submit group assignments

Review unread content from your group(s)

Project Process

View project process diagram

Traceability

Create a trace

Edit a trace

Delete a trace

View the Traceability Diagram

Social Media

Connect your Twitter account

Post a related Tweet

Publish a Blog Post

About Egads

Egads is a collection of custom modules for Drupal (an online content management system) for higher education course management.  Your instructors can choose to use one or multiple modules depending on the requirements of the course.  These instructions are organized into sections based on those modules.  All of the modules build off of the basic Course Management module so it’s a good idea to start there.  Also, the basic functionality of the site from the student’s perspective is very similar to a standard Drupal site; you should be able to find many resources for viewing and posting content to Drupal sites on the web.

General

Manage notifications

Each authenticated user and administrator on the site can manage their own subscriptions and notifications.  You can choose to receive (or not to receive) email when content on the site has been added or updated.

  1. Log in
  2. Click on “My account” in the left-hand navigation
  3. Click on the “Notifications” tab
  4. You can see an overview of your subscriptions in the “Overview” tab
  5. Subscribe to specific content types (like assignment instructions) by clicking on the “Content Type” tab and choosing the content types you’d like to be subscribed to.  Choose the interval with which you’d like notification (“immediately” will send email about every 45 minutes to an hour).  Click on “Save” when you’re finished.
  6. To subscribe to a specific author or thread, navigate to that piece of content (or in the case of an author a piece of content the author has posted) and click on one of the subscription options (text links) below the post.  You can choose to subscribe to the post, the author, or all posts of this content type.

Maintain your user profile

Depending on the way your course site is set up you many be able to modify certain data about yourself including a photo.

  1. Log in
  2. Click on “My account” in the left-hand navigation
  3. Click on “Edit”
  4. If your site administrator has enabled it you should see a section near the bottom for uploading a photo.  Click on “Choose file” to choose a file to use as your profile photo, then click on “Save”
  5. If your site administrator has enabled it you may also see tabs near the top of the screen next to the “Account” tab that will contain other editable profile fields.  These fields can be customized for each course so they may not always be the same fields.  Click on the tabs and modify the information therein and then click on “Save.”

Course Management

View syllabus/readings/assignments

Depending on the permissions that the administrators of your course website have chosen you should be able to view the course syllabus (a list of class meetings, readings, and assignments ordered by date), a sortable list of readings, and a sortable list of assignments.  To view these pages:

  1. Click on “Syllabus”, “Assignments”, or “Readings” in the main navigation menu at the top of the screen.  
  2. If these menu items do not show at the top of your screen you may need to login to access these pages, or contact your site administrator(s) for the proper permissions.

View recent content

Depending on the permission that the administrators of your course website have chosen, you should be able to view recently updated content on the “Recent content” page.

  1. Click on “Recent content” in the menu to the right
  2. Filter the list of recent content using the form at the top
  3. As a student you should only see your own “unpublished” content.  Unpublished content is viewable on this screen by the person who created it and by site administrators, not other students.  Similarly your individual assignment submissions (even when published ) should not be viewable by other students (see step 4 in “Submit assignments” for instructions on how to keep your assignment submissions in “draft” before publishing them later).

Submit assignments

  1. Find the assignment instructions.  You can access assignment instructions from:
  1. the Syllabus page or
  2. the Assignments page
  1. Click on the “Submit Assignment” button near the bottom of the page.
  2. Fill in the appropriate information
  1. Depending on your site’s settings you may be able to format your submission with a WYSIWYG HTML editor.  Click on “Enable Rich Text” near the bottom of the “Body” field to use the WYSIWYG editor if available.
  2. Attach a file to this assignment submission by expanding the “File Attachments” drop down and clicking on “Choose File” to choose a file from your hard drive.
  3. Be sure that the “List” checkbox is selected in order to show this attachment on your assignment submission.
  1. If you would like to save your work as a draft, and not submit this assignment yet:  
  1. Check the “Do not send notifications for this update” check box
  2. Expand the “Publishing Options” drop down, and un-check “Published” and “Promoted to front page” (if available).  
  3. To return to this page and make changes/publish it later click on “Recent Content” and find your saved submission (Note: other students also will see the title of unpublished content on this page, but they will not be able to see the details or be able to edit it.  You will be able to see your own unpublished content.  Your instructors will be able to see your unpublished content, but they won’t grade it until it’s published).
  4. Click on the title of the assignment submission
  5. Click on the “Edit” tab
  6. Make any changes necessary
  7. Be sure to check the “Published” check box and un-check the “Do not send notifications for this update” check box when you’re ready to publish this content.
  1. Click on “Preview” to see a preview of your assignment submission.
  2. Click on “Save” to submit your assignment submission.
  3. Once you click on “Save” (assuming you’ve checked the “Published” checkbox and have not checked the “DO not send notifications for this update” check box) your instructors should receive notification that you’ve submitted the assignment.

Group Projects

If your course requires you to complete group projects your instructors may have enabled the Group projects module.  This module provides a home page for each group and a special content type called “group assignment submission” which are editable by each member of a group once they have been created.  They also appear on the group’s home page.

View your group home page

  1. Click on “Groups” in the left hand navigation
  2. Click on the “My Groups” tab
  3. Click on the name of your group
  4. Alternatively you may have a “My Groups” block on the right hand navigation, if so, you can click on the name of your group to see its homepage

Modify group information (name, description)

Depending on your course website’s permissions you may be able to modify your own group’s information including it’s name and a short description.

  1. View your group’s home page
  2. Click on the “Edit” tab (if the edit tab does not show you may not have the proper permission)
  3. Modify the appropriate fields
  4. Click the “Save” button

Submit group assignments

  1. Find the assignment instructions.  You can access assignment instructions from:
  1. the Syllabus page or
  2. the Assignments page
  1. Click on the “Submit Assignment” button near the bottom of the page.
  2. Fill in the appropriate information
  1. Depending on your site’s settings you may be able to format your submission with a WYSIWYG HTML editor.  Click on “Enable Rich Text” near the bottom of the “Body” field to use the WYSIWYG editor if available.
  2. In the “Audience” section choose your group’s name.
  3. Attach a file to this assignment submission by expanding the “File Attachments” drop down and clicking on “Choose File” to choose a file from your hard drive.
  4. Be sure that the “List” checkbox is selected in order to show this attachment on your assignment submission.
  1. If you would like to save your work as a draft, and not submit this assignment yet:  
  1. Check the “Do not send notifications for this update” check box
  2. Expand the “Publishing Options” drop down, and un-check “Published” and “Promoted to front page” (if available).  
  3. To return to this page and make changes/publish it later click on “Recent Content” and find your saved submission (Note: other students also will see the title of unpublished content on this page, but they will not be able to see the details or be able to edit it.  You will be able to see your own unpublished content.  Your instructors will be able to see your unpublished content, but they won’t grade it until it’s published).
  4. Click on the title of the assignment submission (Note: other members of your group can click on the title of the assignment and view/edit this submission when it’s unpublished, other students not in your group will only see the title)
  5. Click on the “Edit” tab
  6. Make any changes necessary
  7. Be sure to check the “Published” check box and un-check the “Do not send notifications for this update” check box when you’re ready to publish this content.
  1. Click on “Preview” to see a preview of your assignment submission.
  2. Click on “Save” to submit your assignment submission.
  3. Once you click on “Save” (assuming you’ve checked the “Published” checkbox and have not checked the “DO not send notifications for this update” check box) your instructors should receive notification that you’ve submitted the assignment.

Review unread content from your group(s)

  1. Click on “My unread” to view content from each of your groups that is unread.

Project Process

The Project Process module allows instructors to post “Artifact Definitions” (examples and resources that will help you and your group complete specific design activities) and associate them with Assignment Instructions.  You can also view a project process diagram that shows each Assignment, it’s associated Artifact Definitions, and the progress of each group throughout the semester.  This module must be used in conjunction with the Group Projects module.

View project process diagram

  1. Click on “Project Process Diagram” in the navigation at the top of the page
  2. Hovering over the boxes in the diagram will show you the assigned and due dates of each assignment, as well as the whole title of the assignment.
  3. Clicking on an assignment or artifact definition box will change the page to that assignment or artifact
  4. Clicking on a group’s icon (the title of the group will show on-hover, or there is a color coded key in the upper left) will change the page to that group’s home page.

Traceability

The traceability module allows you to post and track traces throughout your group’s project process.  You can create traces (short nuggets of insight that spring from the activities you complete for each assignment), and assign them to group assignment submissions.  You can also indicate how traces flow from other traces.  Once traces have been added and related to each other you can view a diagram of all of your group’s traces throughout each assignment submission.

Create a trace

  1. For each trace you would like to add to a Group assignment submission
  1. Go to your group’s home page
  2. Click on “Create trace” in the right hand menu
  3. Give the trace a title
  4. If this trace is the first trace in this trace lineage, leave the “Trace Parent(s)” section blank, otherwise type the title of this trace’s parents and choose it from the autocomplete drop down list.
  5. Give the trace a priority
  6. Tag the trace (reusing tags is a good way to identify patterns of traces in the traceability diagram)
  7. If this is the last trace in a lineage of traces, choose the type of end, either “Fullfillment” (meaning that this trace trace records the completion of the goals embodied in a lineage of traces in a final artifact) or “Termination” (meaning that this trace records the intentional ending of the goals embodied in a lineage of traces).
  1. If this ends up being the last trace in a lineage and you don’t choose either “Fullfillment” or “Termination” then this trace will appear to be “Forgotten” in the Traceability diagram and show up in red.  Lots of forgotten traces in the diagram may point to the need to reevaluate certain trace lineages and either continue them or terminate them.
  1. Write a short description of the insights embodied in this trace in the “Body” section.  This is not meant to be a long detailed description.
  2. Ensure that the “Audience” for this trace is your group
  3. Click on “Save”
  1. Find the group assignment submission that these traces should be added to
  2. Click on the “Edit” tab
  3. Scroll to the “Related Traces” section
  4. Add each trace to a row in the “Related Traces” section
  5. Click on “Save”

Edit a trace

  1. Find the trace:
  1. Click on “Traceability Diagram” from your group’s home page and then click the title of the trace in the dynamic Trace Information section near the upper right
  2. Find the trace on the “Recent content” page
  3. Find the trace on your Group’s home page
  1. Click on the “Edit” tab for this trace
  2. Modify the appropriate information
  1. Be sure to only add trace parents whose associated group assignment submissions were due before this trace’s associated assignment submission, otherwise your traceability diagram may have multiple rings for one assignment submission.
  1. Click on “Save”

Delete a trace

  1. Be careful when you delete a trace that it has no Child Traces
  1. Find the trace:
  1. Click on “Traceability Diagram” from your group’s home page and then click the title of the trace in the dynamic Trace Information section near the upper right
  2. Find the trace on the “Recent content” page
  3. Find the trace on your Group’s home page
  1. Click on the “Edit” tab for this trace
  2. Click the “Delete” button.

View the Traceability Diagram

  1. Once you’ve submitted an assignment and associated traces with that assignment
  2. Go to your group’s home page
  3. Click on “Traceability Diagram”
  4. Each node in the graph represents one trace (white nodes are “beginning” or “continuation” traces, light green are “termination” traces, and dark green are “fullfillment” traces.
  5. Each ring in the graph represents one group assignment submission.  The rings towards the center of the graph are assignments due earlier in the semester, rings towards the edge of the graph are assignment due later.  (Note: if you’ve created traces whose parent’s associated assignment submissions have due dates later than this trace’s assignment submission there may be extra nodes towards the edges of the graph.  To fix this make sure that all traces’ parents’ come before the trace)
  6. Hover over a node to highlight that node’s descendants
  7. Click on a node for more information about that trace
  8. Hover over another node to see how two node lineages relate
  9. Click on a tag in the tag cloud in the lower right to highlight all traces tagged with that tag highlighted in blue.

Social Media

The Social Media Module allows you to use social media (blogs, micro blog posts, and voting) to interact with course material, instructors, and other students on the course website.  You can create blog posts related to course material, connect your Twitter account to import related Tweets, and vote on other students' posts.

Connect your Twitter account

  1. If you don't already have a Twitter account, you can create one for free at http://twitter.com/
  2. Log in to the course website
  3. Click on “My account” in the left-hand navigation
  4. Click on "Edit"
  5. Click on "Activity Stream"
  6. Under "Twitter Settings" enter your Twitter username
  7. Click "Save"

Post a related Tweet

  1. You  may post from http://www.twitter.com/ or the client of your choice, put only public (non-protected) Tweets will be imported to the course site.
  2. In order for a Tweet to appear on the course website, it must include the course hashtag, which should be listed on the site (ask your instructor to include it if not!).
  3. To post a Tweet related to a particular lecture or reading, include a hashtag corresponding to the lecture or reading number, e.g. "#L1" or "#R2."  This will be displayed on the page for that particular lecture or reading.

Publish a Blog Post

  1. Click on "Create content" in the left-hand navigation
  2. Choose "Blog entry"
  3. Input the title, body of your blog entry. NOTE: You can use the links under the body field to switch the input method to plain text, Filtered HTML, or Full HTML.
  4. Under "Related content," select one or more lectures or readings so that your entry will show up on the relevant pages.
  5. Add tags to help identify the topics in your post.
  6. Click "Save" to publish your blog entry.