User Guidelines for the AutoTrain VLE

The AutoTrain VLE is an Open Source Learning Management System (LMS) that allows educators to create quality online teaching materials. The VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) is also used by students to access online courses, keep track of their progress, assess their knowledge and interact with their tutors or fellow students through the various forums.

is a user-friendly learning environment that facilitates the presentation of courses in a very easy-to-browse form. In the next section we will give you an introduction on how to use and navigate through the courses available in the VLE.

How to Navigate Through Course Material Using the AutoTrain VLE

The example is based on the AutoTrain Project OCN Level 2 Course in SPC.

Note: In order to be able to navigate through the courses, users need to have previously registered and selected the courses of interest to them. The registration for all courses is free.

Once that you have selected the course that you want to access, registered for it as a user and added it to your "my courses" list, click on the course name in the "my courses" list and the VLE will take you to the home page for that course. In the course home page you will find the following information and functionality (starting from top to bottom and in a left to right order):

1. Name of the Course

   1. Autotrain : OCN Level 2 in SPC
   
   

2. Logged In Status / Logout Function

   1. You are logged in (your name will be displayed in the top right)
   2. Click on the highlighted word Logout if you want to leave the course and log out
   
   

3. Status Bar

   1. My Courses > Course Home (acrOCNSTAT2) (this is the computer name for the course)
   2. You can use this bar if you wish to find out what part of the course you are on. You can also use it as a shortcut to access a specific part of the course just by clicking under each subsection separated by a "»" symbol
   
   

4. Topic Outline

   1. This is the space where the course contents are displayed. Within the Topic Outline box you will find links to:
      1. Start Course, this will take you to the first content page of the course
      2. News Forum, where you can find the latest news regarding the courses
      3. Student Discussion Forum, where you can post questions and interact with other students
      4. Resume Course From Last Viewed Page, clicking on this link will take to the page that you were working on the last time that you accessed that course
   2. Course Modules: this is the index of the content of the course and it shows each of the course sections.
      1. Go to this Section, this link will take you to the selected course module. In our example, we have selected the first module, which is entitled Introduction to Variation. At the very top of the page, you will find the course title, on the top left corner, and on the right you will find a box between two yellow arrows. This box is in fact a drop-down menu, which shows, by default, the section of the course that you are in. However, clicking on the small inverted triangle at the right end of the box it will display a full drop-down menu with the full contents of the course. You can use this menu as a shortcut to move to any other relevant part of the course. You can also use the left and right yellow arrows to move backwards and forwards. An alternative way to move to a different part of the course is by using the Status Bar within each section ( see 3: Status Bar ).
         
      2. Show Section Content, clicking on this link will show you all the sections included in a particular module. You can then click directly in the ones that are more relevant to you.
   
   

5. Activities

   1. Clicking on Forums will take you to the News Forum or to the Student Discussion Forum
   2. The Resources link displays a table with links to all the sections in the entire course
   
   

6. Search

   1. The search function enables you to do different types of searches:
      1. Search Forums will search for any word that you enter in the appropriate box within the scope of the forums
      2. Search Content will search for words that you type in the box within the contents of a particular course. If you wish to do a general search which comprises all courses you must un-tick the little ticked box that appears under "Search this course only", you can do that just by clicking on the tick mark.
   
   

7. Administration

   1. Grades, clicking on this link will enable you to look at your grades
   2. Edit Profile Using this link, you can change your profile within the VLE. (Please note, changes made here will not affect your main AutoTrain account)
   3. Change password, you can use this function if you have to change your course password. Note that valid passwords must be:
      1. alpha-numeric (combination of letters and numbers: No Spaces nor Punctuation Signs)
      2. at least 6 characters
      3. case sensitive (the system will remember any capitalisation, therefore you must remember it too!)
   
   

8. My Courses

   1. This box will show the title of the courses that you are currently registered for.

    

We hope that these instructions will help to get you started. If you experience any difficulties, please do not hesitate to contact us.