Step-by-Step Guide for The Learning Manager

Editing your Personal Information

1)       At the very bottom of the list of options on the left hand Navigation Bars is a section called Personal Options (you may have to scroll down). Listed there are 3 choices.

• Click on the Personal Info.

2)       In the main/large content window part of the screen, you should see what looks like a stack of tabbed index cards (or file folders) with the first one Basic Info in dark red.

• Click on the words Contact Info that are in a dimmer red.

3)       The screen should change and the words Contact Info should now be in dark red.

• Check to be sure your e-mail address is correct. If it is not, please click in the box and edit it (delete and retype correctly).

• If you made any changes, be sure to Click on the word Save in the black bar at the bottom. Wait until the screen flashes and your information re-appears this means your changes were saved.

To Change Your Password:

4)       Now, again over on the left hand side under Personal Options,

1. Click on the words Change Password. You should now have a single box in the Content window that will allow you to change your password.

2. Click in the box next to Current password and type in your current password (the one you used to log in with it should be your first name as it was listed on the registration).

3. Click in the box next to New Password and type in the new password you want. Keep it simple and easy to remember no spaces or special characters, just numbers and/or letters.

4. Click in the box next to Confirm New Password and type in your new password again. This is to catch_ any typos you might have made in typing the one above so you and the computer are SURE of what your new password is.

5. Click on the words Update Password in the black bar at the bottom of the screen. The screen should reload and say password has been successfully updated.

OK, now that your personal information has been reviewed/updated, let’s take a look at weekly assignments and readings.

Viewing Assignments and Readings

1) In the very first box on the left Labeled Course

• Click on the word Map. A course map with graphics from earlier should appear in the Content window on the right.

• Click once on the first rectangle at the top of the map. A smaller rectangle will appear with three choices listed View Module is listed first.

• Click on View Module.  A new window should open up with the text of the assignment. It has its own scrollbar down the right hand side.

****Be careful where you click you can accidentally click outside the Module window and lose the assignment. You can tell if you have done this because there is a blue rectangle in the middle of the course Map that says You currently have a content window open. Please close it before choosing another item. To find the Module window, check at the very bottom of your screen on the taskbar. There should be two little buttons that say "The Learning Manager" click on the one that is darker gray. This should bring the Module window forward for you.

• Read the assignment (or print it, see Print Instructions below). When you are done reading, the assignment asks you to post to the Discussion Board or another activity.

• To close the Module window, click on the little X in the upper right hand corner of THIS window.

*******Be careful! Don’t click on the x in the upper right hand corner of the window behind! (An easy way to avoid closing the wrong window is to follow the right hand side of the assignment text until you read a light blue bar with the X on it- use *that* one!)********

Printing a Module, or Module screen

(This works for *any* web page on the internet!)

1. Anywhere in the window with the text/info you want to print, click on the right hand mouse button (right click). A gray list will appear.

2. Move your pointer to where it says Print on the gray list and click on the left-hand mouse button (regular click). This should bring up your regular printer window and allow you to print the info in that window.

Posting to the Discussion Board

The two activities - Viewing Modules and Posting to the Discussion Board comprise much of this online course. If you have any questions or concerns, about this or any other section of this guide, please contact the course facilitator or technical support for the course.

• Click on the word Discussions  under "Communication" over on the left hand Navigation Bars. A rectangle will appear in the Content window with topics listed in it - Select the topic for your assignment. This topic was mentioned in the Assignment text.

• Click on the existing topic "Heading" per your assignment text. A new set of tabbed cards/folders will appear -one labeled Threads holds posts for this assignment..

• Click on each subject line in order to read all the messages already posted on this topic.

You may need to scroll down in order to read the whole post. Use the scroll bar immediately to the right of the words in the post to scroll down. Also note that the Name of the poster is in the subject line to the right.

To Post your own Message

• To post your own *message* - click on the Add Thread button in blue in the upper right hand corner of the Threads card. Your Navigation Bars to the right will disappear, and two new boxes will appear on the right.

• Click in the long skinny box labeled Subject and type your name, and then the subject header for your post.

If you don’t put a subject the software won’t let you post! ALWAYS put your name in your subject line for any discussion board post.

• Click in the white area that is part of the second box.

***Note that this box has a couple of toolbars that look sort of like tool bars in a word processing program (like MS Word). Don’t worry about these tool bars yet - you want to click in the white *below* these toolbars. Type your message here. You may notice a slight delay as you type - this is OK.

 ***Note that until you click on the Post Thread (or Post Reply) button in the lower left hand corner, anything you have written can be changed. There is no spell check, but don’t let that worry you. You will not be judged on typing ability, spelling, or grammar.

• When you are done typing your message, scroll down if necessary (again, use the scroll bar immediately to the right of your text) until you see the green Post Thread Button in the lower left hand corner. Click on this (you may need to wait a moment). The screen should re-load, and your new post should appear at the top of the list on the left with the text of your post now on the right. ( If *nothing* happens after 5 seconds or so, then you likely forgot to type in a subject scroll up and do so!)

To Reply to a Message Thread Posting

• At the bottom of each post is a Reply to Thread Button in Red. Click on this button to compose a reply to one of the posts (see steps 6 - 8 for how to use the compose discussion board post box.). Say Hello to someone on the list! (Don't forget to put your name in the subject line!)

To View a Posting

• Click on the little plus sign to the left of the topic to see the list of replies. Click on each reply to view the text of the individual reply.

If you feel adventurous, feel free to play with the buttons on the toolbars when you compose discussion board posts. We have noted a delay at times in applying formatting to text - please let us know how this works for you!

Marking Assignments Completed

In the very first box on the left - labeled Content, click on the word  Map. The Course Map with graphics should appear in the Content window on the right. Note that the first Module has a green GO at the bottom.

1. Click once on the first rectangle at the top of the map.  A smaller rectangle will appear with three choices listed Mark Module Complete is listed second.

2. Click on Mark Assignment Complete. The screen will reload and your Assignment will now have a blue complete stripe on the bottom.

Directions for taking an "Assessment" (Survey):

PLEASE NOTE: You MUST follow the instructions and MARK Module #1 COMPLETE before you can take the "Pre-Course Survey/Assessment.

Directions for "Taking the Assessment"

1. Click on the rectangle that says Assessment, and from the little menu that pops up, select "Take Assessment."
2. A new window will pop up with the name of the Assessment and some directions.
3. Read the directions - note that you need to choose "enter text" from the drop down menus when asked to "Choose how you wish to answer this question." (for short answer questions). Click in the circles/squares to mark true/false or which items in the "multiple response" questions apply.
4. At the bottom of the screen (you will have to scroll), click on "Mark Assessment" when you are done with the survey.

Viewing Slideshows

• If, when you click on "View Module" it opens a window with "Enter" in center, click on the word Enter.

• This will start a "slideshow" in TLM. Use the next button in the lower right hand corner to move from slide to slide in the show. The Prev button will take you back one slide. The little arrows and the drop down list will allow you to move forward or back as well as jump to specific slides in the show.
• If the content in the window is too long for the window, use the scrollbar will appear on the right hand side of the window.
• When you are done viewing the slideshow, use the X in the upper right hand corner of the window to close it and return to the Course map.

Directions for Viewing web links in Modules/Slideshows:

• Click on the blue and underlined link (or purple if you've visited it already). One of the following will happen:

• a New window will open and load Adobe Acrobat Reader. You can scroll to read the document and or print it just like other documents. Use the little X in the upper right hand corner of the new box to close it and return to the Module/Slideshow.

OR

• a New window will open and a web page will appear. Read through the web page - and even click on links you find in the web page BUT to "go back" to a previous web page, you will need to RIGHT click anywhere within that web page/window. You will get a little gray list with Back as the first choice. Click (regular/left click) on the word Back to go back one page. Repeat until you return to the page you wish. Use the little X in the upper right hand corner of the new box to close it and return to the Module/Slideshow.

Using the Chat/Whiteboard Tool

The chat/whiteboard tool provides for synchronous (real-time)messaging and display.

To participate in a chat:

1. Select the course.

2. Click on Chat/Whiteboard in the Communications menu.

3. The chat room is limited to those enrolled in any offering of the currently-selected course. Users already in the chat room are listed, by their TLM IDs, on the left side. As users enter the chat room, they are identified as New User: ID. As users exit the chat room, they are recognized as User Gone: ID.  

4. To send a message, enter it in the Send window and click Send.

To share files or urls:

1. Once you are in a chat room, click on Files/Urls.

2. Select Add a url to share a Web link. Enter the address in the format http://xxx.xxx.xx

3. Select Add a file to share a file. Click Browse and find the file on your computer. Select it and click Upload.

4. To view a URL or file listed under Files/Urls, double click on the required item.

To use the shared whiteboard:

Click on Chat/Whiteboard in the Communications menu.

1. The whiteboard is limited to contributions from those enrolled in any offering of the currently-selected course. You can draw images, enter text, upload graphics, or annotate images and the communications are viewable and editable by others in the room.

2. To draw on the whiteboard, select one of the tools on the left. Click on a color at the top of the whiteboard.

3. To enter text on the whiteboard, select one of the tools on the left. Click on a color at the top of the whiteboard.

4. The text tool appears as: ·- enter plain text

5. To enable participants to see your cursor as you navigate around the whiteboard, select Share cursor.

6. To display the other participants' cursors as well as your own, select Share cursor.

7. To have other participants see your additions and changes to the whiteboard as you make them, select Send changes live. With this option not selected, display your changes when complete by clicking