For easy manoeurability, please click on any of the links below.

Using moodle
      - Hide/Dock a block
      - Courses Structure
          * Working through the structure
          * Forum discussions
                *Posting message(s) to forum groups
          * Grades and transcript
      - Assignments
          * Quizzes
          * How to Submit an assignment
          * Resubmitting an assignment
          * Verifying an assignment was submitted

Using moodle
The Peoples-uni course is powered by Moodle. The course website runs on the latest version, which is Moodle-2.1.1. It will be right to say the Peoples-uni are Moodle-2.0 compliant :). For more infomration on moodle, please see here.

The course website is located at http://courses.peoples-uni.org and contains course modules (past and present), which are arranged categorically depending on the academic semester and year. From the screenshot below, the Modules semester 2011a category houses courses for semester A of the 2011 academic year while Modules semester 2010b is responsible for semester B of the 2010 academic year. The numbers adjacent to the category names indicates the number of available course modules within that category. These are indicated with the black and red lines in the screenshot below.

Clicking on any academic category will provide in detail; the courses, tutors responsible for the courses, and a brief description of the course module. The content of the course(s) can only be explored after logging into the course website. However, guest access (without login) are permitted to the Public Access Demonstration Module: Foundations of Public Health and Are you ready for Peoples-uni? categories.

Using moodle - Hide/Dock a block
You can either shrink (hide) a block or move the block to a dock which will appear on the left of the browser. To hide a block, click on the icon with red indication. Clicking on the icon with the blue indication will move the icon to the dock.

Courses Structure
Each course module is divided into 5 Topics, each of which lasts for two weeks. You should keep to this timetable (which is posted in the module Introduction, so that the learning and discussions about the learning are spread over the semester. Tutors will help you through each of the Topics by introducing a discussion question on the Discussion forum at the start of each Topic, and by moderating the discussion. Because everyone is in a different time zone, and has other jobs to do, you can read the resources and join the discussion at any time - but try to keep to the week by week timetable so that a good discussion can be had and you can benefit from the views and experience of the tutor and other students. Because there are no classes, as in a traditional educational programme, you work at your own pace when you can. Each Topic starts with a 'Headline competence' which describes knowledge and skills obtained from that Topic, and the 'Assessment Criteria' (sometimes called 'Learning outcomes') give more detail to this and are a transparent way of showing on what you will be assessed in the assignments.

Courses Structure - Working through the structure
The way to work is to read the resources in the Topic, and then join the discussion about these resources. When you go to the module, you will see 5 Topics. Go to the first one and you will see .

If you click on that, you will see the list of resources, and you click on each of them to read them. You can also download them to your computer in the section called zip files which contain most of the resources as pdf files.

You will find a zip file in each Topic with most of the resources that you need for the module which are also contained in the Resources section of the Topic.. You can download the zip file to your computer or flash disc and read at your leisure without logging on each time. This is useful if you have Internet access problems. Of course you will need to log on to respond to the discussions. Reading the resources in each Topic is the key to the study

You will also see and when you click on that you will be able to see the discussions on this Topic and join in. By posting to the discussion forum, everyone gets a copy of the posting by email, and then you can reply by clicking 'reply' at the bottom of the message (this will take you to the module site and you will have to log in with usual username and password and then reply). Or you can post after reading the previous discussions once you are in the discussion forum section.

The key issue is for you to look at the resources so that you are able to meet the competences and assessment criteria (sometimes termed learning outcomes) which are listed at the start of each of the 5 Topics. Just looking at the resources may not be enough, so joining the discussion forum to share experiences and explore issues and understandingis helpful, and an important part of the course.Discussion contributions from the students should focus on critically appraising/assessing the evidence.

Taking part in the discussion is an important aspect of your learning on each Topic. You will find that sharing your thoughts with other participants will deepen your understanding about the Topic. Try to think of this discussion as a face to face meeting. Be prepared to make an active contribution and offer your ideas but also comment on the messages that other participants have made. The aim of this learner-centred course is that as students you teach each other.

There is also a 'Question and Answer' forum in some Topics for you to ask any questions about the resources (

this applies to those in the Biostatistics module only

). This is separate from the Discussion forums where you discuss the educational aspects of the material.

Courses Structure - Forum discussions
Messages from the discussion boards - All messages to discussion forums are copied to the emails of those registered as students or teachers and depending how this is set up by the administrator. In the email, you will see this at the bottom:

Clicking on one of these takes you to the discussion board and you will have to log in and can then reply. The advantage of replying through the discussion board, rather than as an email reply to the individual, is that all enrolled get to see it and there is a permanent record of this for others to see later.

In order to start a new thread in a discussion forum, you log in and go to the course you want. You then go to the discussion forum you want to add to, and click on it to get into the discussion forum itself. You will see a button at the bottom 'Add a new discussion topic' and when you click on that will get to be able to post a question and start a new discussion thread.

Enter the Subject of the discussion and Message in the text boxes provided. When done, hit the Post to forum button. The system is designed to send your forum post 30mins after you hit the Post to forum button. This gives you the opportunity to re-edit your forum posting should the need arise.

For those with poor internet connection or wanting to send in a long contribution, you can have the forum message typed and saved as plain text using a text editor (e.g. notepad). The next step is - copy the content from the text editor or text file and paste in the forum message textbox. You can then properly format the plain text to suit your need before hitting the Post to forum button.

Student discussion forum (Student2Student) - This is where you can discuss issues with fellow students, and the tutors do not have access to this. You can use this for informal discussion and help and encouragement to each other. In previous years, students have discussed a range of issues relating to the course and to Public Health issues of importance and relevance.

Posting message(s) to forum groups
In some cases, students could be shared into groups in a course unit. When this happens, you will be informed and your group communicated to you. Each group will have a set of online facilitators that will assist the students through the learning process. These group modes apply to the discussion forums, messages viewed and posted to the forum. Memebers of a group, say Group A can only post and receive message notifications of posts from their group members alone. However, they can view the activites of the other groups but cannot participate and receive message notification.

To send forum messages to your group, select the desired discussion forum. Notice the 'Visible groups' dropdown menu in the screenshot with red indication.

Using this dropdown menu, select your Group.

Selecting a wrong group, will give you a group membership error.

Selecting your correct group will give you access to Add a new discussion topic.

Course structure - Grades and transcript
To view your grades or print your transcript at the end of the academic session, click on the link 'Click here to view Grades and Transcripts' which located at the top left corner in the 'My Course' page.

To download a soft copy or print your transcript for past or current courses, scroll to the bottom of the grade page and click on the relevant link.

Assignment
The assignment will come in Topic 5 (some modules also have an assignment in Topic 2 as well). The assignments will be posted in plenty of time, either at the start of the course or before the start of Topic 4. Please read the sections about assignments in the student handbook (on the web site), particularly the section that requests that the assignment must be your own work. Full details of how to submit an assignment are given in the handbook. These assignments go towards academic credit and feedback is given by the tutors. If you do not pass, there is an opportunity to re-submit.

Assignment - Quizzes

Many of the Topics include a quiz – this is marked automatically, and does not count towards credit, but is to help you see how you are getting on.

Assignment - How to submit an assignment

1. Before you submit your assignment, please make sure you have followed the instructions on the assignment itself and that you have read the relevant sections in the Student Handbook, including Assignments and assessments, Plagiarism (copying the work of others) and how to avoid it, and Tips on writing assignments.

2. How to submit an assignment, click on the assignment, which looks like this:

3. You will then see a screen similar to this:

4. Click on 'Upload files' Underneath 'Submission' Draft.

5. Click on 'Add'... next to 'Create folder'

6. A popup 'File picker' will appear on your screen. If 'Upload a file' is not already selected on the left hand side-bar part of the window, select 'Upload a file'.

7. Once 'Upload a file' is selected in the side-bar, click 'Choose File' in the center part of the window (it appears next to Attachment).

8. Navigate to and select the file you want to upload into Moodle and then click on Open.

9. Click 'Upload this file' in the center part of the window that opened.

10. After Moodle uploads the file, click Save changes.

Assignment - Resubmitting an assignment
If you want to re-submit your assignment, you must first make the changes to 'your' copy and then follow the process again. You are allowed a maximum of three (3) uploads. The previous uploaded document will be replaced if the filename is the same. Please make sure that this is your own work and ensure that your name is at the top of the document you upload. Please make sure that you submit the assignment by the due date, or if this is not possible you must request an extension from the module leader.

Assignment - Verify an assignment was submitted
There are different ways to tell an assignment has been submitted.

Firstly, navigate to the 'My courses' page. Submitted or Not Submitted is displayed right below the due dates for the assignment of the respective courses.

Secondly, the uploaded assignment(s) are displayed in the 'Submission' draft. This 'Submission' draft can be gotten by following the 'how to submit an assignment' process.