online study guide - moore theological college · 9 - copyright Ó 2014 moore theological college...

OnlineStudyGuide

2-Copyright Ó 2014 Moore Theological College Author: Martin Olmos, Last Update: 1-Sep-17

IntroductionThisdocumentgivesyouanoverviewoftheOnlineLearningEnvironment(OLE)forourdistancecourses.

BenefitsTheOLEhelpsyoustudybylettingyou:

§ Testyourcomprehensionwithonlinequizzes.§ Viewelectronicreadings(eReadings),forexamplefromtheNewBible

Dictionary.§ Readamoreinteractiveversionofthecontent,includingpop-upBible

referencesandinteractiveGooglemapsofbiblicalplaces.§ Readthereflections,questionsandinsightsofstudentsinaforumwitha

moderator.

AccessingtheOnlineLearningEnvironment(OLE)TherearetwowaystoaccesstheOLE:

• MooreAccessisayearlysubscriptionthatletsyouviewtheonlineresourcestohelpyoustartyourstudyinaflexibleway.Youcanreadthenotes,attemptthequizzes,andviewtheforumdiscussions.However,youcannotpostinthesubjectforums;thisisreservedforenrolledstudents.Whenyoufeelreadyfortheexaminasubject,youcanenrolinthePTCorITSaward.

• EnrolinthePTCorIntroductiontoTheologicalStudies(ITS)awards.EachenrolmentincludesMooreAccessfromthetimeofenrolmentandforayearfromthestartofyourterm.Duringyourtermofenrolment,youwillhaveadditionalaccesstosomeOLEtoolsinyoursubject,suchaspostingondiscussionforums.

TousetheOLE,youwillneed:

§ Arecentwebbrowser.JavaScriptneedstobeenabledandthepop-upblockingfunctionalityturnedoffforthissiteatleast.

§ Anemailaddress.

YoucanfindtheOLEat:

http://elearning.moore.edu.au(thereisno‘www’before‘elearning’)

Wesuggestyoubookmarkthislink.

YouwillreceiveanemailwithyourMooreIDandpassword.YourMooreIDisyoureight-digitstudentnumber,whichshouldbeusedwhencontactingtheoffice.Yourinitialpasswordwillbearandomlyassignedstring.YoucanchangeyourpasswordbygoingtotheHelpdesksectionandclickingthe‘Changeyourpassword’link.

TheOLEisunavailableforaperiodsometimebetweentheendofeachexamperiodandthestartofthenexttermformaintenanceandupgrades.Attimeswemayneedtocloseaccessmid-termforurgentmaintenance.WewillattempttogiveyouasmuchnoticeaspossibleviatheOLE’scalendar.


SiteoverviewThefollowingimagesshowyoutheOLEandhowtouseit.Theremaybeminordifferenceswiththelivesiteasitisconstantlybeingupdated.YoucanalsoseeavideotourattheHowtoStudyOnlinesection.

WhenyougototheOLEhomepage,youwillseeaLoginlinkatthetopright.Clickit,andyouwillseetheloginformbelow:

EnteryourMooreIDintoUsernameandyourpassword(includedinyourOLEregistrationemailwhichyouwouldhavereceivedafterenrolling)andclickLogin.


Thefirsttimeyoulogin,youwillbeaskedtoaccepttheOLE’sTermsofUse.ClickYestoaccepttheseandaccesstheOLE.

Nextyou’llbeshownMyhome,whichliststhesubjectsyouhaveaccesstoandanyrelevantactivitysinceyourlastlogin(e.g.forumposts).OnthetopleftisaCalendar,showingimportantdates.Dateswitheventswillbecolour-coded,andyoucanclickonindividualdaystodisplaytheseevents.Youcanalsoaddyourownevents(visibleonlytoyou).NotetheHelpandLinksblock,shownonthetoprightofmostpages,whichincludeshelpfullinks.


ClickonHowtoStudyOnline[StartHere].

ThissectionhelpsyougetstartedonyouronlinestudyandincludesthisOnlineLearningGuideforfuturereference,avideotouroftheOLE,simplestepstogetstarted,aswellasexamplesoftheonlinetoolsyouwilluse.Youcanalsopracticeusingtheonlinetools.Youcanreturntothissectionlater.

ReturntoMyHome,andclickonHelpdesk.


TheHelpdeskistheplacetogethelpusingtheOLE.Westronglyrecommendyouchangeyourinitialpasswordtooneofyourchoice,byclicking‘Changeyourpassword’underResources.ThiswilltakeyoutoMyMoore,whereyoucanviewandchangeyourdetails.Theformbellowwillbeshown(youmightneedtologinfirst):

Enteryouroldandnewpassword.Werecommendyouuseamixofletters,capitals,andnumbers.Donotusecommonwords(e.g.namesoffamilymembersorbirthday).Tothinkofastrongpasswordthatiseasytoremember,youcanthinkofaphraseandmakethepasswordwiththeinitialsofthewordsinthephrase.Forexample,“thefoxjumped5BIGfences”wouldbecome‘tfj5Bf’.

MyMooreiswhereyoucannominateanexamsupervisor,changeterms,seeyourpreviousenrolments,updateyourcontactdetails,andmore.

Nowyouarereadytolookatasubject.ReturntoMyhome,andclickonasubject(we’lluseIntroductiontotheBibleasanexample).


Thesubjectpagewillbeshown.Youcanbookmarkthispageinyourbrowser,whichwillgiveyoudirectaccess(afterlogin).Ontherightcolumnisasetofblockswithhelpfulinformation.Atthetop,theHelpandLinksblockcontainslinkstohelpfulresources.NextistheSettingsblockwhichgivesyouaccesstoyourprofileandquizgrades.TheUpcomingEventsblockshowsfurtherinformationfromthecalendar.

Eachstudyhasitsownsection,withthenotes,aquiz,andlinkstoeReadingsandextraresourcessuchasstudysummariesanddiscussionquestionsforsmallgroups.

Clickyournameatthetoprightofthepagetoaccessyourprofile,whichliststheinformationthatotherstudentscanseeaboutyou.ClickonEditprofileintheSettingsblock,onthetoprightofthepage.


Hereyoucanenterabriefdescriptionandalistofinterests.Youmightwanttouploadyourphotooranimagetoidentifyyourself.IfyouliveinadifferenttimezonetoAustralia’sEasterncoast,youmightalsowanttoselectatimezone.Youmightliketoreadthesectiononprivacybelow.Lastly,youcansetarangeofusefuloptions.

ResourcesandActivitiesTheOLEprovidesyouwiththefollowingresourcesandactivities(thesemayvaryacrosssubjects):

§ HowtoStudyOnline:AnareawhereyoucanpracticeusingthevarioustoolsintheOLE.

§ Helpdesk:AnareawithinformationaboutusingtheOLEandaforumwhereyoucanasktechnicalquestions,suggestimprovements,andreportproblems.Youcanalsoviewvideotutorialsoncommontasks.

§ Forums:Youcanreadthediscussionofenrolledstudents.Ifyouareenrolledinthecurrentterm(inthePTCorITSawards)youcanpostinyoursubject’sdiscussionforum.See‘Usingtheonlineforums’belowformoredetails.

§ Moderators:Eachsubjecthasoneortwomoderatorswholeadthediscussionandanswerquestions.Thesearetypicallystudentsinatheologydegreewhohavecompletedatleastoneyearofstudy.

§ eReadings:Digitalversionsofthereadingssuggestedinyournotes,providedbytheMooreCollegelibrary.Theyarecopyrightedmaterialforwhichweneedtopayforalicense.Youshouldnotdistributethesetoothers.

§ Learningquizzes:Asetofquestionstohelpyoucheckyourunderstandingofeachstudy.Youcandothemasoftenasyoulike(theymaybegoodrevisionbeforetheexam).Thesedonotcounttowardsyourfinalmark.Wecanalsomonitortheresults,whichwillindicateareasthatstudentsasawholearehavingproblemswith.


§ Tests(ITSstudentsonly):Thesetestyourknowledgeofaspecificstudyandcounttowardsyourfinalmark.Youcanattempttheseonlyonce,andtheyhaveatimelimitoftenminutes.

§ Interactivemaps:Onlinemaps(usingGoogleMaps)wherewehaveaddednotesandplace-markersrelevanttothesubject.

§ Passagelookups:DisplaytheBiblepassagereferredtointhestudynoteswhenyourmousepointerisoverthereference.Youcanalsoclickthereferenceandthiswilldisplaythepassageincontextinanewwindow.

§ FrequentlyAskedQuestions(FAQs):Anindexedandsearchablesetofquestionsthatstudentshavepreviouslyasked,withresponses.

§ Calendar:Displaysimportantdatesinthecourse,suchasexamperiods,enrolmentdeadlines,andmaintenanceoutagesfortheOLE.Wemayalsoincludesignificanteventsinthecollege(e.g.conferences).Youcanaddyourownevents(visibleonlytoyourself).YoucanalsoimportindividualcalendareventsintoyourdiarybyclickingiCalandevensubscribetotheentireOLEcalendarbyclickingExportcalendar.

§ Summaries:Briefsummariesofeachstudy.§ Discussionquestions:asetofquestionstohelpyoudiscussthesubjectwith

others,suchasasmallstudygroup.Theyincludethequestionsfromthenotesaswellasothersthatmaybehelpfulinagroupsetting.

§ Profile:Youcanaccessyourprofilebyclickingonyournameatthetoprightonceyoulogin.Fromyourprofileyoucaneditsomeofyourdetailsaswellasviewingyournotes,forumposts,andblog.

§ TheVine:alessstructuredspacewherestudentsfromallsubjectscandiscusshowweintegrateandapplyourlearninginlife.

UsingtheonlineforumsInthesubjectforum,enrolledstudentscanraisequestions,shareyourreflections,andencourageotherswithwhattheyhavelearntandhowtheyareapplyingit.MooreAccesssubscriberscanreadtheforumsacrosssubjects.


Theforumpagewillshowyoutheforum’sdescriptionandatablelistingthediscussionsintheforum,includingthediscussionname,thepersonwhostartedthediscussion,thenumberofreplies,anddetailsofthelastpost.YoucansearchtheforumforkeywordsusingtheSearchforumsbutton.Discussionsareusuallylistedinreversechronologicalorderwiththemostrecentatthetop.Youwillreceiveanemailwithnewposts,butyoucanunsubscribebyclickingUnsubscribefromthisforumfromtheforumpage.YoucannotunsubscribefromNewsandAnnouncementsforums.

Toviewadiscussion,youclickonthediscussiontitle.

Postscancontainhyperlinksandimages.Youcandisplaypostsineitherflat,threaded,ornestedformatsbyusingthedropdownlistatthetop.

Youcanrateapostattheendofitstextwiththefollowingscale:

§ Helpful:Thiswillletotherstudentsknowyoufoundthisposthelpful.§ Excellent:Thiswillnotifythecollegestaffandotherstudentsofapostthat

deservescloserattentionbecauseofitshelpfulnessorinsight.§ Respond!:Thiswillalertusyou’dlikeustorespondtothispost.For

example,someonemayhaveraisedaverygoodquestionthatyou’vealsostruggledwith.

§ Inappropriate?:Thiswillpromptustocheckthispostforitsappropriateness.Forexample,itmaybeinthewrongforumoritmaybeagainstthetermsofuse.Itdoesn’tnecessarilymeanthereissomethingwrongwiththepost–it’ssimplyarequesttocheckit.

Everyonecanseethenumberofratingsandthehighestratingeachposthasreceived,butnotwhomadeeachrating.Collegestaffmayalsorateposts.

Toreplytoapost,clickontheReplylinkonthebottomrightcornerofthepost.


Youcaneditthepost’ssubject(althoughusuallyit’sbestnotto).ClickPosttoforumonceyourpostisready.

Eachsubjecthasoneortwomoderators,whoaretypicallystudentsinMooreCollege’sdegreecoursesandwillhavedonesomein-depththeologicalstudy.Theyleadthediscussioneachweekandareavailabletorespondtoquestions.Theyhavetheirfirstnamefollowedby‘(Moderator)’andtheywillintroducethemselvesduringthefirstweekinthesubjectforum.Theirroleisnotoneofa‘tutor’.

Onlyyourfirstnamewillbevisibletootherstudentsinyourposts(andeverywhereelseintheOLE).Collegestaff,however,canseeyourfullname.Youcanuploadaphotoorimageontoyourprofiletoavoidbeingconfusedwithotherswiththesamefirstname.

Belowaresometipsforparticipating:

§ Doparticipateifyoucan,asyourcontributionhelpscreatealivelylearningcommunity.

§ Bemindfulthatyoucaneasilybemisunderstood,giventhelargenumberofstudentsandthechallengesinvolvedinwrittencommunication,withoutthemanyothercuesweuseinconversationsuchastoneandbodylanguage.Speakthetruthinlovewiththeaimofbuildingothersup.Asaminimum,it’simportantyoureadandfollowthetermsofusereferredinthisdocument.

§ Likewise,bewareyoumightmisunderstandothers.Askforclarificationsandprobebeforejumpingtoconclusions.

§ Usetheappropriateforumforyourquestion.Questionsandcommentsonthesubjectgointhesubject’sforum,whereaspostsaboutthesite(includingproblems,bugsanderrors)shouldgointheHelpdeskforum.

§ Don’tgetdiscouragedifthereislittleresponsetoyourposts.Thereisoftenawiderangeinthefrequencyandlengthofpostsfromdifferentstudents.


Althoughmanystudentswon’tpostareply,moststudentsreadtheforumsandyourcontributionwillbehelpfulandappreciated.

§ Askquestions!Youdon'tneedtohavethefinal,perfectanswerinordertopost,andsharingthequestionsyou’rethinkingthroughmaybeveryhelpful.

§ It'softenhelpfultosimplypostabriefreplyexpressingyouragreementandappreciation,especiallyifnooneelsehasrepliedtosomeone'spost.

§ Youcanpostlinksandreferencestoothermaterialthatisrelevantandhelpful,suchassermonrecordings,books,blogposts,etc.

§ Youcan'rate'someone'spostashelpful.Thisisaveryquickwayofshowingappreciationwithouthavingtotypeoutapost.

§ Sharehowyouareapplyingwhatyou’relearninginyourlife.We'renotjustabout'headknowledge'atMooreCollege.WewanttoapplywhatwelearnsowecanbecomemorelikeJesus.

§ Postyouranswertoexercises,andaskforfeedback.

AttheendoftermReviseyourknowledgebyre-attemptingtheonlinequizzesasmanytimesasyoulike.Youwillhopefullynoticeanimprovementinyourscores.Therevisionquizletsyouattemptquestionsselectedatrandomfromacrossthelessons.

IfyouhaveenrolledinthePTCaward,viewthesampleexampostedattheendofthestudysection,tomakesureyouunderstandtheformatandthetypeofresponsesexpected.

Pleasecompletetheonlinefeedbacksurveyemailedtoyouattheendofterm.Thisprovidesveryhelpfulfeedbackonyourlearningexperienceandwillhelpusimproveourservice.Yourresponseisanonymousanddoesnotaffectyourmarksinanyway.

UsingtechnologytolearnWebelievetheOLEcanbeagreathelpinyourlearning.However,it’simportantyouuseitwisely,sowe’dliketonotethefollowing:

§ Haveago!Ifyoudon’tfeelconfidentwithtechnologyandtheweb,practiceyourskillsintheHowtoStudyOnlinesection.Wehavetriedtokeepthesiteveryuser-friendlysothateveryonecanbenefitfromit.

§ RememberthatyouarestillrelatingtorealpeopleintheOLE(althoughmediatedbytechnology).Specifically,pleasereadthe‘Usingtheonlineforums’sectioninthisdocument.

§ Theforums,quizzes,andinteractivemapsaremeanttobesupportiveandsecondaryactivities.Becarefulthatyoudon’tspendtoomuchtimeontheseandawayfromtheBibletextsandstudynotes,astheexamisbasedonthestudynotes.

§ Bediscerningwhenyoureadforumposts.PleasenotethatcontentintheforumsreflectsthepersonalopinionsoftheauthorandisnotnecessarilyendorsedbyMooreTheologicalCollege.

§ Likewise,bediscerningwithresourcesontheweb.Weincludelinkstosomeresourcesthatwebelieveyoumightfindhelpful.However,someofthesewillthemselveshavelinkstootherresources,whichMooreTheologicalCollegemaynotnecessarilyendorse.


§ Thepassagelookupsaredesignedtogiveyouquickaccesstothepassagebeingdiscussed.Theyassumethatyouhavereadthefulltextcarefullyandthoughtfully.RelyingonlyonthelookupsmightleadtoashallowandfragmentedreadingoftheBible.

§ Theinteractivemapsaremeanttoallowyoutoexploretherelevantareas.However,theymaygiveyouafalsesenseofprecisionifyouzoomintoomuch,inparticularwithsiteswherethereissomeuncertaintyabouttheirexactlocation.

PrivacyandSecurityTheOLEisnotapublicwebsite-onlyregisteredandlogged-inuserscanviewdiscussionforumsandstudentprofiles.Atthesametime,itisalsoaveryopenforumgiventhenumberofstudentsandthenatureofthecourse.Therearemanypeoplewhologinfromallovertheworld,andyourpostsareviewabletomanymorepeoplethanjustthosepostingintheforum.

Pleasenote:

§ BemindfulthatforumsarenotthesameasaBiblestudysmallgroup.Inparticular,youshouldrespecttheprivacyofothers,includingthosewhoarenotinvolvedintheOLE.Forexample,donotsharepersonaldetails,addressorcontactinformationofothers.Whensharingexperiences,pleasedosoinawaythatdoesn'tidentify,embarrass,oroffendthoseinvolved.Becarefulyoudon'tdothisaccidentally(e.g.mentioningsomeone'ssurnameandsuburbcanmaketheiraddressidentifiable).

§ DonotpostyourMooreIDorsupervisornumberonOLEforums.§ Considerhowmuchcontactandpersonalinformationyouincludeinyour

profileandposts,whichotherstudentscansee.Onlyyourfirstname,city/town,country,subjectsenrolledin,andfirst/lastaccesstimesarevisibletootherstudentsviayourprofile.Ifyouprefer,youcanenter‘NotEntered’asthecityinyourprofileandsetthecountryas‘Australia’.Bydefault,youremailaddressisonlyvisibletostaffandmoderators.However,youcanmakeitvisibletostudentsinyoursubjectoreveryoneinthesiteviayourprofile.Pleasenoteyouremailaddressmaycontainyoursurname.

§ Forumemailsdonotincludeanyone’semailaddressorfullname.Youcanunsubscribefromthesebyclicking'Unsubscribefromthisforum'or'Unsubscribefromallforums'atthebottom.

§ YourMooreIDandpasswordareencryptedwhenyoulogintotheOLE.§ Werecommendyouchangeyourpasswordfromtheonesenttoyouvia

email.Chooseastrongpassword,anddon'tshareitwithothers.§ Youcanrequestapseudonymtobeshowninsteadofyourfirstnameby

[email protected].§ Further,youcannominateapreferredemailaddresstoreceiveemailsby

[email protected].§ Authorisedcollegestaffandmoderatorscanviewallprofiledetails,activity

reports,andquizresults.§ YoucanfindMooreTheologicalCollege’sprivacypolicyatthecollege’s

website.


§ Ifyouhavespecificquestionsorconcerns,youcancontacttheOLEadministratorand/[email protected].

SupportWe’veselectedauser-friendlysystem.Allyouwillneedisaninternetconnectionandawebbrowser.Unfortunately,wecan’tprovideextensivepersonalsupporttoourhundredsofstudentswithourverylimitedresources.Specifically,wecan’tprovidehelpwithyourcomputerorinternetconnection.However,belowyoucanfindarangeofhelpfulresources.

StartwiththeOLETour.WehaveincludedexampleactivitiesintheHowtoStudyOnlinesection,asafeplacewhereyoucantryoutandpracticeusingquizzesandforums.

VideotutorialsintheHelpdeskshowyouhowtodocommontaskssuchascompletingaquiz,postingtotheforums,ordownloadingeReadings.

YoucanasktechnicalquestionsattheHelpdeskforum.It’shelpfultopostyourquestionsheresothatotherstudentscanseeboththequestionandtheanswer.Thisisaplacewherestudentscanhelpeachother,sopleaserespondtootherstudents’questionsifyoucanhelp.Wealsowelcomeyoursuggestionsonthesiteandcourse.

TheHelpdeskareaincludesaFrequentlyAskedQuestions(FAQ)resource,withhelpfultipsontheOLE.Youcansearchorbrowsebycategories.

YoucanfindhelptipsthroughouttheOLEbyclickingtheyellowquestionmarkicons: .

Ifyou’rehavingproblems,pleasecheckthe‘Commonproblemsandtroubleshooting’sectionattheendofthisdocument.

IftheFAQsandHelpdeskforumarenothelpful,youcanemailquestionsabouttheOLEtoourtechnicalstaffatdistance.help@moore.edu.au(monitoredduringAustralianEasternStandardbusinesshours).Pleasedonotphonetheofficewithtechnicalquestions,asthestaffwillbeunabletoassistyouwiththeseissues.

Pleasegiveadetaileddescriptionoftheproblemwhenpostingoremailing.Forexample,letusknowyouroperatingsystem(e.g.Windows,MacOSX),webbrowserandversion,andthewordingofanyerrormessagesshown.Screenshotsareespeciallyhelpful.

MyMoore(http://my.moore.edu.au)iswhereyoucannominateanexamsupervisor,changeterms,seeyourpreviousenrolments,updateyourcontactdetails,andmore.Forotherqueries,pleasecontactourstudentadministratorondistance@moore.edu.auorphone+61295779911.Moreinformationisavailableatourwebsite,mooreonlinestudy.com.


CommonproblemsandtroubleshootingBelowaresuggestionsforsomecommonproblems.YoucanfindafullerandregularlyupdatedlistofsuggestionsintheFrequentlyAskedQuestionsresourcewithintheHelpdesksection.

Can’taccesstheOnlineLearningEnvironment

§ Checkthatyourinternetconnectionisworking(e.g.checkifyoucanseeanothersite).

§ CheckthattheURLinyourbrowseriscorrect:http://elearning.moore.edu.au(without‘www.’Atthestart).It’sagoodideatocreateabookmarkofthecorrectURLinsteadoftypingiteachtime.

§ CheckyourMooreAccesssubscriptionhasn’texpired.§ Wemayhavesomeproblemswiththeserver.PleasecheckMoore’sTwitter

orFacebookfeedsforanoticeaboutthesite,andtryagainlater.

Myloginisincorrect

§ CheckthatbothyourMooreIDandyourpasswordareenteredcorrectly.§ CheckwhetherCAPSLOCKispressedonyourcomputer(passwordsare

case-sensitive).§ ClicktheHelplogginginlinkformoretips.§ Click‘ForgottenyourMooreIDorpassword?’torequestanemailwith

yourMooreIDoranewpassword.

Alinktoaresourcedoesn’twork

§ Checkforanewwindowortab.Someoftheresourcesopeninanewwindowsoyoudon’tlooseyourviewoftheOLE.

§ PleasepostanoteintheHelpdeskforumnotingthelocationofthefaultylink,andwewillfixit.Thiswillalsoalertotherstudentsabouttheproblemandwillnotifythemthatit’sbeinglookedat.

Ican’taccesstheeReadings

§ eReadingsarePDFdocumentsand,dependingonyourwebbrowsersettings,maynotopenwithinyourbrowser.Theymaybedownloadedtoyourcomputer(checkyourDesktop,Downloads,orDocumentsfolders)oropenedinaseparateapplicationsuchasAdobeAcrobatReader.Youmightalsotryadifferentbrowser.Ifyouseeablankpage,scrolldownandcheckforalinklabelled‘Directlinktothisfile’.

§ YoucandownloadfreePDFreaderapplications.CheckthelinksintheHelpdesksection.

Ican’taccesstheOLEbecausethehomepagesaysit’sin‘maintenancemode’

Unfortunately,weneedtobaraccessfromtimetotimetodomaintenanceworkonthesite.

Specifically,everyWednesdaybetween3:30pmand4pmAESTisreservedforurgentupgradesandfixes.IfyouarehavingproblemsaccessingtheOLE


betweenthesetimes,pleasetryagainafter4pm.Majorupgradeswilltypicallybeperformedintheweekbeforethestartofeachterm.ChecktheOLEcalendar.

WewillendeavourtoinformstudentsofsignificantplannedoutagesoftheOLEandestimatedreturntoavailabilitywhenfeasible.PleasetryaccessingtheOLEagainafteranyannouncedoutageperiodsbeforecontactingcollege.

Mybrowsersaysithasblockedapop-upwindowfromtheOLE

TheOLEoccasionallydisplayssomecontentinanewwindowinyourbrowser.Browserssometimesblocktheseontheassumptionthatit’sadvertising.YouneedtodisablethisfeatureinyourbrowserfortheOLE.