Moodle tips

We may combine or correlate the responses in the feedback survey with the responses in the pre-course survey to understand the influence of different factors on course participation. However, in doing any such analysis, we will be using anonymised numeric identifiers and not real names. Further, for reporting purposes we may use anonymised data or quotes from this survey. (You can also look at our privacy policy to learn how we use the data we collect.) While we ask you to complete this survey to meet the completion criteria for the course, your actual responses will not have any bearing on your course completion status.

1. You can download your certificate anytime after the certificate is ready (even months later, as long as you've not unenrolled yourself or the course hasn't been deleted). You just need to log into INASP Moodle and visit the course homepage. You'll then see a link or section to download your certificate, if you've completed the course. If you've forgotten your password for INASP Moodle, you can reset it by clicking the 'Lost password' link on the homepage.
   
2. If you would like your name to appear differently on your certificate, just change your name in your user profile after logging in. See check/edit your profile. Then download your certificate again.
3. If you've changed the interface language on INASP Moodle from English to some other language and you find that there are odd characters in your certificate, please change the interface language back to English. Then download your certificate again. Some languages are not supported fully in the certificate plugin.
   
4. Please do not request any changes in the wording or formatting of the certificate, as these are standardized.
   
5. We do not send out hard copies of certificates to online course participants as this would be very expensive! But feel free to print your certificate yourself.

Related tip: Verification code on the certificate

1. Join the AuthorAID online mentoring scheme as a mentee or mentor: http://www.authoraid.info/en/mentoring/
   
2. Join the AuthorAID mailing list: https://dgroups.org/groups/authoraiddiscussion
   
3. Subscribe to the AuthorAID blog to receive email copies of informative posts and news items, including calls for applications for online courses and grant announcements. Enter your email address in the box on the right side of this page: http://www.authoraid.info/en/news/
4. Follow AuthorAID on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/AuthorAID-at-INASP/123030044377871
5. Follow AuthorAID on Twitter: https://twitter.com/authoraid

AuthorAID is run by INASP, an international development charity in the UK, and we work in the areas of research access, research production, research uptake, and so on, all with a focus on developing countries. If you're interested in INASP's work...

1. Subscribe to INASP newsletters and publications: http://eepurl.com/cBoao
   
2. Follow the INASP blog: http://blog.inasp.info/. You can subscribe via email (see the box on the right).
   
3. Follow INASP on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/inasp.info
   
4. Follow INASP on Twitter: https://twitter.com/INASPinfo
5. View INASP videos on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/INASPinfo/

Whenever you upload a document on a website - whether it is a journal submission system, INASP Moodle, or something else - it's always a good idea to try to download and open that document to make sure it has been uploaded properly. Errors sometimes happen during the uploading stage because of which your document may have been uploaded incompletely or may not have been uploaded at all!

To edit your profile, click your name or photo in the top right hand corner of this site, click "Profile" and then "Edit profile". We recommend that you add a photo of yourself in your profile and write something about yourself in the "description" field. This way you'll contribute to making the course a friendly learning environment When editing your profile, you can also change your personal details (including your password), set your time zone, etc.

Once you have added an entry, you can check or edit it if you'd like to. To do this, you have to first search for your entry by putting your name in the search box in the database. You should then be able to see your entry. To edit your entry, click the icon that looks like this:

1. Go to the activity page.

2. Pay attention to the table at the top which explains the different phases of the activity.

3. See if there's a green check mark next to the phrase "Submit your work" in the "Submission phase" section. If yes, you have successfully submitted your work. You can click the "Submit your work" link to see your submission, and you can edit it before the deadline if you'd like to. If you don't see a green check mark next to "Submit your work", you have not submitted your work.

4. If you have uploaded a document as part of your submission, make sure that it is in a proper file format (eg, an MS Word file). It is always a good idea to download what you have submitted and then to open it to check (a) whether the file opens and (b) if it has the right contents.
   

The completion check mark for an activity that includes a peer assessment phase will appear once the activity is closed. It will NOT appear immediately after the submission and assessment phases.

1. Submission phase: This is the phase in which you have to prepare and submit your work. Read the instructions on the activity page to find out what you should submit.

2. Assessment phase: This is the phase in which you have to evaluate the submissions that have been allocated to you. When the activity moves to the assessment phase, the activity page will contain instructions on how you should carry out the assessments.

Once the above two phases are completed, the course facilitator will close the activity. You will see a completion check mark after the closure phase IF (1) you have submitted your work and (2) you have received at least one assessment. If you have submitted your work but you have not received any assessments, you will not see a completion check mark, but the course moderator will ensure that you get credit for this activity -- as long as you have assessed all the works allocated to you.

Remember: To receive completion credit for a peer assessment activity, you should take part in BOTH the submission and assessment phases.

A peer assessment activity consists of three phases, explained below. The completion check mark for this activity will appear at the end of the third phase. It will NOT appear immediately after the submission and assessment phases.

1. Submission phase: This is the phase in which you have to prepare and submit your work.

2. Assessment phase: This is the phase in which you have to evaluate the submissions that have been allocated to you. You will be provided with a rubric or assessment form for evaluating each submission.

3. Closure: Once the above two phases are completed, the course facilitator will close the activity. You will see a completion check mark after the closure phase IF (1) you have submitted your work and (2) you have received at least one assessment. If you have submitted your work but you've not received any assessments, you will not see a completion check mark, but you will still get credit for this activity as long as you have assessed all the works allocated to you.
   

Also see: Completion credit for a peer assessment activity

Once you see all the pages in a lesson, you will see a check mark inside the box next to the lesson name on the homepage, indicating that you have completed this lesson. If you think you've gone through a lesson but you don't see the check mark, it means you may have skipped one or more pages in between.

Posts made on forums within a course are sent as email copies to people who have subscribed to those forums. You may be subscribed by default to the forums in the courses you are participating in.

If you don't wish to receive the email copies, you can unsubscribe from any or all the forums. Just click the "unsubscribe from this forum" or "unsubscribe from all forums" link in any email copy of a forum post. You can also visit the forum and click "unsubscribe from this forum" in the "forum administration" block on the left.

If you unsubscribe from the forums, please make sure you visit your course regularly to check the forum posts, for there might be a lot of great discussions going on!

If there is a "news forum" in your course, you might not be able to unsubscribe from this forum because important announcements are made here by the course facilitator.

You should NOT:

• Display any kind of bias towards course participants based on their gender, ethnicity, nationality, or anything else
• Write in a harsh or insulting manner to anyone in the course
• Share the contact information of other participants without permission
• Discuss things unrelated to the topic of the course (unless you use a special social forum for informal/off-topic discussion);
• Advertise anything without providing context. This includes posting calls for papers from journals, conferences and other events. You can however provide a link to anything online if it is relevant to an ongoing discussion in the course
  
• Provide links to websites that may have illegal content, such as pirated software, scanned books, and copyrighted journal articles that are not meant to be shared openly. Uploading any such content directly on the forums is also forbidden.
• Create an excessive number of separate threads on the same topic

• Check the forums regularly to see what others have posted
  
• Make sure your posts are relevant
  
• Post your contributions at appropriate times or within deadlines (if any)
• Check what you have written before posting it, especially when expressing a disagreement
  

If you receive enrollment instructions for a particular course, you'll need to follow the instructions carefully. Don't rush through this process. In particular, you have to locate the right course (and the right batch number, if relevant) and enter the enrollment key exactly as given in the instructions. It's a good idea to copy the key from the instructions and paste it in the box where you have to enter it.

After entering the enrollment key, you can "unhide" it to see if it matches the key given to you. Make sure there are no extra spaces or other inessential characters.

If you can't join your course AND you're absolutely sure that you have tried enrolling in the right course with the right enrollment key, you may email the course facilitator to seek help. Please mention in your email the full name of the course you tried to join and the enrollment key you used.

Related: Enrollment deadline