Chamilo1.

Teacher'sGuide

1/176

Tableofcontent
Chapter1Introduction..........................................................................................................................8
1.1WhatisChamilo?.......................................................................................................................8
1.2Aboutthisguide.........................................................................................................................9
1.3Whoisthisguidefor?................................................................................................................9
1.4Howtousethisguide.................................................................................................................9
1.5Generalusability......................................................................................................................10
1.5.1Terminology.....................................................................................................................11
Chapter2WhyChamilo?...................................................................................................................13
2.1Learningparadigm...................................................................................................................13
2.2Commoninterfaceelements....................................................................................................14
Chapter3TheChamilohomepage.....................................................................................................15
Chapter4Registerontheplatform....................................................................................................16
Chapter5FindingyourwayinChamilo............................................................................................17
Chapter6Coursecreation..................................................................................................................18
Chapter7Controlcourseaccess.........................................................................................................20
Chapter8Organizingcourses............................................................................................................21
8.1Personalcategories..................................................................................................................21
8.2Subscribingtoothercourses....................................................................................................22
8.3Coursesmanagementicons......................................................................................................23
Chapter9Courseadministration........................................................................................................24
Chapter10Coursehomepage.............................................................................................................26
10.1Introductorytext....................................................................................................................26
10.2Authoringtools......................................................................................................................27
10.2.1Coursedescription.........................................................................................................27
10.2.2Documents...................................................................................................................27
10.2.3Tests...............................................................................................................................28
10.2.4LearningPaths................................................................................................................28
10.2.5Assessments...................................................................................................................28
10.2.6Attendances...................................................................................................................28
10.2.7Links..............................................................................................................................28
10.2.8Announcements.............................................................................................................28
10.2.9Glossary........................................................................................................................29
10.2.10Courseprogress............................................................................................................29
10.2.11Blogs............................................................................................................................29
10.2.12Search...........................................................................................................................29
10.3Interactiontools.....................................................................................................................30
10.3.1Agenda..........................................................................................................................30
10.3.2Dropbox........................................................................................................................30
10.3.3Groups...........................................................................................................................30
10.3.4Assignments..................................................................................................................30
10.3.5Wiki...............................................................................................................................31
10.3.6Forum............................................................................................................................31
10.3.7Users...............................................................................................................................31
10.3.8Chat...............................................................................................................................31
2/176

10.3.9Surveys..........................................................................................................................31
10.3.10Notebook.....................................................................................................................31
10.3.11Videoconference........................................................................................................31
10.4Administrationtools..............................................................................................................32
10.4.1Projects...........................................................................................................................32
10.4.2Settings..........................................................................................................................32
10.4.3Reporting........................................................................................................................33
10.4.4Backup...........................................................................................................................33
Chapter11FirstSteps:Documents....................................................................................................34
11.1Createadirectory...................................................................................................................34
11.2Quickchangeofdirectory.....................................................................................................35
11.3Importingadocument............................................................................................................36
11.4AuthoringcontentinChamilo...............................................................................................37
11.5Savingdocuments..................................................................................................................40
11.6Deletingafileoradirectory..................................................................................................40
11.7Watchingcoursequotas.........................................................................................................41
11.8Slideshow...............................................................................................................................42
Chapter12Interactivity:Tests...........................................................................................................43
12.1Introduction............................................................................................................................43
12.2Creatinganewtest.................................................................................................................44
12.3Feedback,scoreandcorrectanswers.....................................................................................46
12.3.1Automatedfeedback.......................................................................................................46
12.3.2Scoringtests...................................................................................................................46
12.3.3Displayingcorrectanswers............................................................................................46
12.4Testtypes...............................................................................................................................47
12.5Addingquestionstothetest...................................................................................................49
12.5.1Type1:MultiplechoiceSingleanswer......................................................................51
12.5.2Type2:Multiplechoicemultipleanswer...................................................................52
12.5.3Type3:Filltheblanks..................................................................................................53
12.5.4Type4:Matching..........................................................................................................54
12.5.5Type5:Openquestion..................................................................................................55
12.5.6Type6:Audioanswer....................................................................................................56
12.5.7Type7:Hotspot,orimagearea....................................................................................58
12.5.8Type8:Exactcombination...........................................................................................60
12.5.9Type9:Uniqueanswerwithunknown.........................................................................61
12.5.10Type10:MultipleanswerTrue/False/Don'tknow.....................................................62
12.5.11Type11:CombinationTrue/false/don'tknow............................................................63
12.5.12Type12:Globalmultipleanswer................................................................................64
12.6Recyclingexistingquestions.................................................................................................65
12.7Importing:HotPotatoes,IMS/QTI2,Excel............................................................................66
12.8Testresults.............................................................................................................................67
Chapter13Communication:Forums................................................................................................68
13.1Usingforumviews.................................................................................................................69
13.2Addforumcategories.............................................................................................................69
13.3Addforum..............................................................................................................................69
13.4Manageforumcategories.......................................................................................................70
3/176

13.5Manageforums......................................................................................................................71
13.6Startanewtopic....................................................................................................................71
13.7Managediscussionthreads....................................................................................................72
13.8Managemessages..................................................................................................................73
13.9Giveyourlearnersascore.....................................................................................................73
13.10Giveascorefromamessage...............................................................................................74
13.11Addamessagetoathread...................................................................................................74
13.12Replytoaspecificmessage.................................................................................................75
13.13Quoteapreviousmessage....................................................................................................75
13.14ReplyorReplytothistopic.................................................................................................75
13.15Searchaforumelement.......................................................................................................75
Chapter14Structure:Learningpaths.................................................................................................76
14.1Introduction............................................................................................................................76
14.2Createalearningpath............................................................................................................77
14.2.1Learningpath'ssettings..................................................................................................78
14.3AddLearningObjectsandActivities.....................................................................................79
14.3.1Createanewdocument..................................................................................................79
14.3.2Useexistingresources....................................................................................................80
14.3.3Addanewsection..........................................................................................................80
14.3.4Displaythelearningpath...............................................................................................81
14.4ImportAICCandSCORM...................................................................................................81
14.5Managinglearningpaths........................................................................................................82
14.6Prerequisites...........................................................................................................................83
14.7Generatingcertificates...........................................................................................................84
Chapter15Reporting.........................................................................................................................85
15.1Trackinglearners...................................................................................................................85
15.2Showindividuallearner'sdetails...........................................................................................85
15.3Coursereporting....................................................................................................................87
15.4ResourceReporting................................................................................................................87
15.5Test/examReporting..............................................................................................................88
Chapter16Assignments.....................................................................................................................89
16.1Assignmentcreation..............................................................................................................90
16.2Completionofassignmentsbystudents.................................................................................90
16.3Manageassignments..............................................................................................................91
16.4Settinguptheassignmentevaluation.....................................................................................92
16.5Assignmentexpirydates........................................................................................................93
16.6Markingassignments.............................................................................................................94
Chapter17Users................................................................................................................................95
17.1Subscribeusers......................................................................................................................95
17.1.1Addteachers...................................................................................................................96
17.1.2Unsubscribeauser.........................................................................................................96
17.1.3Add/updateauser'sdescription......................................................................................96
17.1.4Searchforasubscribedlearner......................................................................................96
17.1.5Exportthelistofsubscribedusers.................................................................................96
17.1.6Displaylearnersreporting..............................................................................................97
Chapter18Assessments.....................................................................................................................98
4/176

18.1Assessmentspreconfiguration..............................................................................................99
18.1.1Totalweightandminimumcertificationscore..............................................................99
18.1.2Weights........................................................................................................................100
18.1.3Skillsranking...............................................................................................................100
18.1.4Certificatetemplate......................................................................................................101
18.2Addaclassroomactivity......................................................................................................102
18.3Addanonlineactivity..........................................................................................................103
18.4Listview..............................................................................................................................104
18.5Manageactivities.................................................................................................................105
Chapter19Wiki...............................................................................................................................106
19.1Startingthewiki...................................................................................................................106
19.2Addanewlinkedpage.........................................................................................................106
19.3Addaneworphanpage.......................................................................................................107
19.4Commentingapage.............................................................................................................107
19.5Otherwikifeatures...............................................................................................................108
Chapter20Links..............................................................................................................................109
20.1Linkscategories...................................................................................................................109
20.2Links....................................................................................................................................110
20.3Managelinks........................................................................................................................110
20.4Linkschecker.......................................................................................................................111
Chapter21Announcements.............................................................................................................112
21.1Addanannouncement.........................................................................................................112
21.2Announcementsmanagement..............................................................................................113
Chapter22Glossary.........................................................................................................................114
22.1Newterm..............................................................................................................................114
22.2Glossarytermsmanagement................................................................................................115
Chapter23Attendances....................................................................................................................116
23.1Createanattendancesheet...................................................................................................116
23.2Recordingattendances.........................................................................................................117
Chapter24Courseprogress..............................................................................................................119
24.1Createathematicsection.....................................................................................................120
24.2Definethethematicplan......................................................................................................120
24.3Createstepsforthecourseprogress....................................................................................121
Chapter25Agenda...........................................................................................................................122
25.1Addinganeventtothecourseagenda.................................................................................122
25.2Importandexportevents.....................................................................................................124
25.3AddinganeventtothepersonalAgenda.............................................................................124
Chapter26Dropbox.........................................................................................................................125
26.1Folders................................................................................................................................125
26.2Sendafiletospecificusers..................................................................................................126
26.3Managingdropboxfiles.......................................................................................................127
26.4Readandaddcommentsonafile........................................................................................127
Chapter27Groups............................................................................................................................128
27.1Createagroup......................................................................................................................128
27.2Groupssettings....................................................................................................................128
27.3Autofillingagroup.............................................................................................................130
5/176

27.4Fillagroupmanually...........................................................................................................131
27.5Gettingintoagroupspace...................................................................................................131
27.6Overview/Exportofgroupmembers..................................................................................132
27.7Groupsmanagement............................................................................................................133
Chapter28Chat................................................................................................................................134
28.1Sendamessage....................................................................................................................134
28.2Emptymessages...................................................................................................................134
Chapter29Survey............................................................................................................................135
29.1Surveycreation....................................................................................................................135
29.2Addsurveyquestions...........................................................................................................136
29.3Surveypreview....................................................................................................................137
29.4Surveypublication...............................................................................................................137
29.5Results..................................................................................................................................138
29.6Surveysmanagement...........................................................................................................139
Chapter30Notebook........................................................................................................................140
30.1Notescreation......................................................................................................................140
30.2Sortnotes.............................................................................................................................140
Chapter31Projects...........................................................................................................................141
31.1Projectcreation....................................................................................................................141
31.2Subscribelearnerstoaproject.............................................................................................142
31.3Newarticle/task...................................................................................................................142
31.4Rolesmanagement...............................................................................................................143
31.5Assignaroletoalearner.....................................................................................................144
31.6Indicatetheexecutionofatask............................................................................................145
31.7Learners'taskmanagement..................................................................................................146
Chapter32Coursesettings...............................................................................................................147
32.1Updategeneralcoursesettings............................................................................................147
32.2Visibilityandaccess............................................................................................................148
32.3Emailnotifications..............................................................................................................149
32.4Userrights............................................................................................................................149
32.5Chatsettings.........................................................................................................................150
32.6Learningpathsettings..........................................................................................................150
32.7Thematicadvancesettings...................................................................................................151
Chapter33Backup...........................................................................................................................152
33.1Createabackup....................................................................................................................153
33.2Importbackup......................................................................................................................153
33.3Copycourse.........................................................................................................................154
33.4Emptythiscourse.................................................................................................................155
33.4.1Deletethecoursearea..................................................................................................155
Chapter34TheReportingtab..........................................................................................................156
34.1Owncoursesandsessionsreporting....................................................................................156
Chapter35Socialnetwork...............................................................................................................157
35.1Profileinformation...............................................................................................................157
35.2Internalmessaging...............................................................................................................159
35.3Friends..............................................................................................................................159
35.4Socialgroups........................................................................................................................160
6/176

35.5Myfiles................................................................................................................................162
Chapter36Sessionview..................................................................................................................163
36.1Coursestab...........................................................................................................................164
36.2Learningpathstab................................................................................................................164
36.3MyMCQtab........................................................................................................................165
36.4Mystatisticstab...................................................................................................................166
Chapter37Appendix........................................................................................................................168
37.1Glossary...............................................................................................................................168
37.2Frequentlyaskedquestions..................................................................................................168
37.2.1HowcanIsetasurveyasarequirementtocompleteacourse?..................................168
37.2.2HowcanIcreateacrosswordstypequestion?............................................................169
37.3Documentlicense.................................................................................................................169
37.4Illustrationsindex................................................................................................................170
37.5Alphabeticalindex...............................................................................................................174
37.6Documenthistory.................................................................................................................176

7/176

Chapter 1 Introduction
1.1 What is Chamilo?
ChamiloLMSisa learningmanagement system designedtosupporteffectiveonlineeducation
(often referred to as elearning). It is free software which has been developed through the
collaborationofvariouscompanies,organizationsandindividualsaccordingtoamodelknownas
opensource,butwithstricterethicalvalues.
ThismeansthatyouarefreetodownloadanduseChamilo,providedyouacceptitslicenseterms,
(detailedundertheGNU/GPLv3license1).Aslongasyouundertaketomaintainthem,thisconfers
fouressentialfreedomstoyou:thefreedomtouse,study,modifyanddistributethesoftware.

Illustration1:Righttouse,studyandmodify,shareanddistributethesoftware
In addition to having been developed collaboratively by dozens of people across the world;
Chamilo is also supported by The Chamilo Association, a nonprofit organization whose key
objectiveistosupporttheplatformandensureitscontinuity.Suchguaranteesofcontinuingopen
accessmakeChamiloLMSuniqueasanelearningsystem.
PleasefeelfreetocontributetoChamilotoo!Youcandothisbypromotingitsuse,reportingerrors,
suggesting improvements, translating it (or its manuals) into your native language, or even
developingextensionsorfixesbyyourself.

http://www.gnu.org/licenses/quickguidegplv3.html
8/176

1.2 About this guide

Thisguidehasbeenwrittenthroughthecollaborationofvariousorganizationsandindividualswho
shareacommongoaltocontributetoeducationaroundtheworld.Youcancontributetothewriting
andimprovementofthisguidetoo.Allyouneedtodoisdropusanemailatinfo@chamilo.org
with your suggestions for improvements you could attach you own modified version of
paragraphs,chapters,screenshotsoreventhewholemanual!It'sthateasy!

1.3 Who is this guide for?

Thisguidehasbeenwrittenwitheducatorsinmind:themanyteachers,tutors,trainers,instructors
andothersinvolvedineducationwhofindthemselvesfaced(throughchoiceornecessity)with
responsibilityformanaginganelearningcourse.
Enteringtheworldofelearningcanpresentacomplex,evendaunting,challenge,butwebelieve
ChamiloLMSinitselfprovidesawelcomesolutionfornewcomers.LearninghowtouseChamilo
willtakeyoualongwayalongtheroadtomasteringmanykeyaspectsofelearning.
Ifyouarealreadyaneducatorwithexperienceinelearning,youshouldfindthisguideauseful,
detailedexplanationoftheworkingsofChamilo,andwillbeabletouseittofurtheryourskillsin
usingelearningtoolstodevelopyourcourses.
Chamilohastwokeyaims:
1. tosupporttheteacherinbetterrespondingtotheirstudentsneeds,and
2. tomakeitsoeasytobuildandedithighqualitydigitallearningmaterialsthattheteacher
can not only create but be inspired to develop and continuously improve their courses'
content.

1.4 How to use this guide.

Thisreferenceguideisdesignedtoleadyousmoothlythroughaclearlearningpath,introducing
youfirsttothemostcommonlyusedtools,thenguidingyouprogressivelythroughmorecomplex
and/orseldomusedfeatures.
(Theexceptiontothispatternisthedescriptionofthesocialnetworktool,whichisexplained
separatelyattheendoftheguide.We'veplacedittheretooffersomelightrelieffollowingthe
precedingthreeorfourchapters,whicharealittlebitmorechallengingthantheothers!)
Followingthis,you'llfindadescriptionofalternativeapproachestosettingupChamilowhichyou
shouldfindusefulwhenorganizingcoursesforyourstudents,simplifyingyourtrackingworkand
helpingyoueasilyidentifyandsupportflaggingindividualswhileprogressingwiththecourse
overall.
WerecommendyoutakeaquicklookattheGlossary(section37.1).Itwillgiveyouanoverviewof
thetermsusedthroughoutthisguideandhopefullyhelpavoidconfusioninsomesections.
9/176

IfyoualreadyhaveateacheraccountinaChamiloportal,youcanmovedirectlytoChapter5,
whichdescribestheChamilointerface.Ifyouarefamiliarwiththis,moveontoChapter6which
explainshowtocreateacourse.Ifyouarealreadyacourseadministrator(i.e.ateacherwhohas
alsocreatedcourses),youshouldgodirectlytoChapter9,whichistheinitialchapterexplainingthe
coursetools.Forthosewhoarefamiliarwiththetools,muchinthisguidewillalreadybefamiliar,
thoughyoumayfindithandytoexploreupdatedfeatures,suchaschapter36TheSocialNetwork.
Thisguidecanalsoserveasahandyquickreference,thankstotheAlphabeticalindex.
If you have further questions about using Chamilo. you can visit the Chamilo forum
(http://www.chamilo.org/forum),wherenumerousotherusers,teachers,administratorsandsoftware
developerswillbehappytohelpyoufindtheanswers.
Ifyouhavemoredemandingrequirements,youmightconsiderhiringoneofourofficialproviders
(http://www.chamilo.org/en/providers), a group of companies and institutions which offer
professionalservicessupportingChamilo.Theofficialprovidershavearecordoftriedandproven
seriousinvolvementintheprojectandarecommittedtosustainingitscollaborativemodel.By
hiringthem,youalreadysupporttheChamiloproject.

1.5 General usability

Chamilo has been designed to provide help and support within the application. The icons are
intendedtosymbolizewhattheyrepresent, independentlyofanyparticularlanguageorculture.
Furthermore,eachiconhasamouseoverdescription.Ifyouallowyourmousetohoveroveran
iconforone second(withoutclicking), youwill seeasimple popupdescriptionofthe icon's
function(Illustration2:Iconslabel).

Illustration2:Iconslabel
Thereisalsoanonlinehelpfacilityonmostpageswhichappearsasapartiallyhiddenlifebuoyring
onthetoprightsideofyourscreen (see Illustration3:Foldedhelp) andclickingitwillopena
windowexplainingthefeatureyou'reinandhowtouseit(seeIllustration4,Unfoldedhelp).It
remainsinplacewhenyouscrollthescreensothatit'sconstantlyavailableandyoucanopenand
closeitwithoutaffectingyourcurrentwork.Whenyouclickthebuoy,asmallguidewillopenup,
explainingthetoolyou'reinandhowtouseit(seeIllustration5:Contextualhelppopup).

10/176

Illustration3:Foldedhelp

Illustration4:Unfoldedhelp

Illustration5:Contextualhelppopup

1.5.1 Terminology
Atthetimeofwriting,Chamiloisbeingusedbyalmost six thousandorganizationsaroundthe
world,inmanydifferentlanguages,includingprimaryschools,colleges,highereducationinstitutes,
universities,NGOs,small,mediumandlargecompanies.
Obviously, all these bodies and institutions tend to use slightly differing terminologies. For
example, some institutions will call their courses Training sessions, others will call them
Learning spaces and others simply Courses. This presents challenges for the design of a
11/176

onesizefitsallelearningplatform(orevenuserguide),sowehavesoughtthemiddleroad,and
employasimple,universalterminologywhichwetrustwillmakesensetoallourusers.

Illustration6:HistoryofChamiloinstallationsaroundtheworld,uptoMay2013
Ofcourse,becauseweunderstandyourorganizationmaypreferaspecificterminology,wehave
equippedChamilowithawaytoeditanyinterfacetermfromwithintheplatformadministration.
(thisrequiresadministrationskillsandisthusdescribedinthe ChamiloAdministrationGuide).
Should you urgently require a customization, you can ask one of our official providers 2 for a
customizedlanguagepacktobeimportedintoyourplatform.
Inthisguide,wehaveendeavoredtoemployauniversalterminologyso,forexample,thecommon
educationtermstudenthasbeenreplacedbymoreneutraltermslikelearnerwhichapplies
equally well inthe business world. When referring to all kinds of users collectively, wehave
decidedtousethetermuser.
Thismanualisavailableinseveralformats,soyoucanalwaysdownloaditineditableformatfrom
ourwebsite3anddoaquicksearch&replaceoperationtomakeitfityourneeds.Don'thesitateto
sendustheupdatedversionbackforsharingwithothersatinfo@chamilo.org.You'llbeamazedat
howthiscanbenefityouinreturn,asothercommunitiesbuilduponyourworktomakethingseven
better.
Thesomewhatambivalenttermtrainingwhichhadbeenemployedinpreviousversionsofthe
softwarehasnowbeenreplacedbythemoreunderstandabletermcourse,whilethepreviously
ousted term learning path has now been reinstated after a short and unpopular change to
course.Youwillfindallthesetermsdefinedandexplainedinthefollowingguide.If inany
doubt,makesureyoucheckourGlossaryonpage168Don'tforget:youcancustomizetheseterms
with the help of your Chamilo administrator (if that's you, check the Chamilo Administration
Guide).

2
3

http://www.chamilo.org/en/providers

http://www.chamilo.org/,documentationtab
12/176

Chapter 2 Why Chamilo?

Chamiloisanelearningandcollaborationplatformwhichcomesbundledasopensourcesoftware
(oraspuristswillsay,FreeSoftware)whichcanbeadaptedtoeducationalorprofessionalprojects.
ItisdistributedundertheGNU/

GPL
v
3+
license,whichyouareboundtoacceptwhenusingit.
AteacherusingChamilocanaccessaseriesofusefultoolsallowingthemtoeasilyandefficiently
createaneffectivelearningenvironment.Oncreating/editingacoursehe(orshe)can:
importorcreatedocuments(audio,video,images)andpublishthem,
buildtestsandexamswithautomatedscoresandfeedbackasrequired,
buildorimport(SCORMandAICC)compliantcourses,
setandreceivevirtualassignments,
describethecomponentsofthecoursethroughdescriptionsections,
communicatethroughforumsorchat,
publishannouncements,
addlinks,
createworkgroupsorlaboratorygroups,
setupavirtualclassroom(throughthevideoconferenceextension),
managescoresthroughtheassessmentstool,
createsurveys,
addawikitocreatedocumentscollaboratively,
useaglossary,
useanagenda,
manageaproject(throughtheblogtool),
enabletrackingoflearnersinyourcourses,
registerattendances,
elaborateaclassdiary(courseprogress).
TheChamiloplatformisextremelyflexible.Allitstoolscanbecustomizedaccordingtotheneeds
ofeachcourse.Itprovidesafriendlyandintuitiveuserinterfacewhichrequiresnospecialprior
technicalknowledgeorskills.

2.1 Learning paradigm

Some learning management systems fall into the trap of attempting to support a specific
learning/teaching methodology (e.g. social constructivism), perhaps in order to win some
shortlived pedagogical credibility. While focusing on a single paradigm is appropriate, even
desirable,onthepartofindividualteachersororganizations,Chamiloresiststhetemptationtolimit
thedesignoftheplatformtoonespecificapproachinthisway.
Inourexperience,theroleofaLearningManagementSystemistoprovideatoolthatcanadaptto
13/176

the needs and wishes of the user. Providing the right tool for the job may be fine for
singlepurposetools(ahammer,aforkorapencil).ForacomplextoolsuchasaLMS,however,it
isacombinationoftheplatform'swiderangeofflexibleandadaptablefeaturesandtheteacher's
creative use of those features that will, in time, result in courses which reflect an appropriate
specificlearningmethodology,beitsocialconstructivism,instructionalism,behaviorism,radical
constructivism,symbolicinteractionism,etc. Chamiloacknowledges theroleoftheteacherin
choosingtheirownteachingapproach,andstrivestoensurethatalloftheseeducationalparadigms
canallbeeffectivelyimplementedusingvariouscombinationsoftheflexibletoolsprovidedonits
platform.
ChamiloLMSenablesyoutodevelopacourseusingwhateverparadigm/approach/methodyouasa
teacher(oryourinstitution/company)feelcomfortablewithand,assuch,makessureyouhavethe
righttoolsforthejob.

2.2 Common interface elements

Becauseweknowthatcommonconventionsmakethingseasierforeverybodytorememberand
manipulate,weuseasetofcommonvisualsymbolsthroughoutChamilo.Thesesymbolsmight
standalonerepresentinganaction,orbecoupledwithanothersymbolrepresentingtheobjectofthe
action.
Belowarelistedsomeofthemostcommonlyusedsymbolsontheplatform:
Icons

Features
Thepenciltoolallowstheupdatingofaspecificpieceofinformationorcontent
Thecrosstoolallowsforthedeletionofaspecificpieceofinformationorcontent
Theeyetoolallowsyoutochangethevisibilityofapieceofinformation/content
Theyellowstarmarkeronanyiconsymbolizesthecreationofanewresource
Abluerightarrowgenerallymeansmovethingsorinsertthingsintoothers
A blue left arrow generally means go back (like the back button in your
browser).
Abluearrowpointingdowngenerallymeansdownloadsomefileordata.
Abluearrowpointingupwardsgenerallymeansuploadsomefileordata.

14/176

Chapter 3 The Chamilo homepage

The homepage is the first visible page. It contains the login form and a few other important
elements:

Illustration7:Homepage
1. Once the login and password have been registered, connecting is straightforward (the
administratorallocatespermissionstousersdependingontheplatformconfiguration).
2. Itispossibletoregisterontheplatformusingasimpleform(Register).
3. Incaseyouloseyourpassword,anewonecanbegeneratedeasily(usingthelinkIlostmy
password).
4. AccesstotheChamilocommunity'sforumisprovidedthroughtheForumlinkintheHelp
box.
Note:Toviewthecourseswithrestrictedaccess,youmustberegisteredontheplatformandmust
besubscribedbythecourseteacher,throughthecourseuserslist.

15/176

Chapter 4 Register on the platform

Asforanywebplatform,userswishingtoaccesstheplatformcontentsmustregisterwiththeiruser
nameandpassword.
Onceconnected,theteacherhasaccesstoanycoursesonwhich(s)heisregistered:

Illustration8:"Mycourses"page
1. Listofcoursestowhichtheuserissubscribed.Apencilappearsnexttothecoursesfor
whichtheuserhasteacherpermissions(andisthusallowedtoupdatethecourse'ssettings)
2. Shortcut to the Social Network tool (which we will analyze in Social network, Social
network)
3. Anonadminteachercancreateacourse4
4. Teachersandlearnerscansubscribetomoreexistingcourses
5. Teachersandlearnershaveaccesstothehistoryoftheircoursessessions.

Note:Althoughthehelpfeaturelinkhasbeenreplaced(sinceversion1.8.8)byamoredynamic,
JavaScriptbasedbox,itremainsfullyaccessibletopeoplewithimpairedvision,whichmightbe
navigatingtheplatformthroughatextbasedbrowser.Version1.9alsooffersafontresizefeature
forpeoplewithslightlyimpairedvision.

Iftheadministratordidn'tdisablethisoption
16/176

Chapter 5 Finding your way in Chamilo

Mostpagesarequicklyaccessibleviathetabsatthetopofthepage:

Illustration9:Chamiloheader
Thetabsprovideaccesstothehomepage,thecourseslist,youragenda,thereporting/tracking
page, the social network and (if you are is lucky enough to be a portal administrator) to the
dashboardandadministrationpages.Thelasttabshowstheuser'sname(sohecancheckhe'snot
mistakenlyusinganotheruser'saccount)andtheredpowerbutton letstheuserlogoutatany
timewithaasingleclick.
Browsingthrough acourseoffers the samekind ofnavigationyouwill findonanycomputer
software.InChamilo,itisreferredtoasthe breadcrumb navigation,(areferencetoapopular
folktalemotif,asin LittleThumbling5 whosavedthelivesofhisbrothersbyleavingatrailof
breadcrumbsinadarkforestsotheycouldfindtheirwayhome.)Thistypeofnavigationallowsthe
usertofinditswaybacktohisstartingpoint.
Thefirstbreadcrumblink,ontheleft,displaysthenameofthecourse,andallowstheuserto
returntothecoursehomepagedirectly.Thelinkstotherightofthispointdirectlytotheelementsof
thecourseinwhichtheuseriscurrentlylocated.

Illustration10:BreadcrumbNavigation
Withinacourse, Learnerview allowstheteachertoviewthecourseasalearner.Thelinkthen
changestoTeacherview.Justclickthenewlinktogetbacktothenormalteacherview:

Illustration11:Studentview

OrLepetitPoucetinFrench,seehttp://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Petit_Poucet
17/176

Chapter 6 Course creation

Creating a course is quick and easy, and can be done from the My
coursespage.
Note: onsomeportals,teachersmightnothave permissiontocreate
new courses and are simply assigned precreated courses by the
administrator.
Clickon Createcourse.Fillthemandatoryfields(see Illustration13:
Creatingacourseshortversion)andclickthebutton.That'sit.
Thecoursewillbevisiblebythecoursecreatorand(later)bytheusers
subscribed to it. By default, the person who creates the course is
responsibleforthiscourse'sadministration.Sheisgenerallyreferredto
astheCourseownerorCoursecreator.
Illustration12:
Personalmenublocks
Tocreatethecourse,youneedonlyenterasingleelement,i.e.aclear
anddetailedtitle.

Illustration13:Creatingacourseshortversion
Additionaloptions(entirelyoptional)areavailablebyclickingontheAdvancedsettingslink:
acategorywithintheonesofferedinthedropdownbox6(thisisoptional),
a course code Pick a code that matches the course title associated with e.g. a numerical
classification.(n.b.Evenifenteredinlowercase,thecoursecodewillbeautomaticallyuppercased
andsymbolslike(,_andspaceswillberemovedfromthecode),
thecourseadminthisoptionisautomaticallyfilledwithyournameandcannotbeupdated,
thelanguageusedtodisplaythecourseenvironment(nothingstopsyoufromusinge.g.French
eveniftheplatformisinstalledinEnglish).Thelanguagechoicedoesn'tinfluencethecourse
content,onlythecourseinterface7
6
7

Onlytheadministratorcanredefineglobalcoursescategories
Tooneexception:ifthedemocontentisenabled,thiscontentiscreatedinthelanguageofthecourse.Modifyingthe
courselanguageafterwardswillhaveasminorconsequencetohavetheinterfaceinonelanguageandthecontentsin
another.
18/176

 thecoursecanbefilledwithsomedemocontenttoindicatetothenewcourseadministratorthe
sortofthings/hecancreateinsidethecourse(typicallyanexercise,forumsandanintroduction
section).Alternatively,thiscanbeleftcompletelyempty.

Illustration14:Createacourseextendedversion
Acoursecreationfollowuppageisdisplayed,whichsuggests:
goingstraighttothenewlycreatedcourse(throughalinkonthecoursetitle),
goingdirectly,byclickingontherelevanticon,tooneofthemostcommoncourseconfiguration
steps:

Illustration15:Coursecreationfollowuppage
Thisemptycoursestructurecreated,thenextstepistoenrichthiscoursethroughtheadditionof
text,multimediadocuments,audiotracks,linksetc.etc.....)

19/176

Chapter 7 Control course access

Duringthecreationofthecourse,itisrecommendedyoudon'tallowlearnersaccessbeforeitis
readysotheydon'tseeanincompletecourse.
Inordertodothis,accesshastoberestrictedbygoingtothecourseSettingstool:

Illustration16:Courseadministrationtools
Aseriesofchoicesareavailabletotheteacher.

Illustration17:CoursesettingsVisibility
1. Public:meansitisaccessibletoanyuser,registeredonthisportalornot
2. Open:meansallusersregisteredontheportalcanaccessthecourseaslongastheyhave
previouslysubscribedtoit(theycandothisthroughthecoursescatalog).Thisisthedefault
option
3. Private:meansthecourseisonlyavailabletostudentswhohavebeensubscribedtoitbya
teacheroradministrator. Makesurethe Subscription optionissettobeonlyavailableto
trainers,though,asotherwisestudentsmightbeabletosubscribethemselves.
4. Closed:meansthecourseisonlyavailabletoitsteacherortheadministrator.Otherusers
cannotaccessit,eveniftheyhavepreviouslybeensubscribedtoit.This lastoptionis
recommendedduringthebuildingormaintenanceperiodsofthecourse.

20/176

Chapter 8 Organizing courses

WithChamilo,onecanendupmanagingalargequantityofcourses.Inadditiontogeneralcourse
categories,allcoursecreatorshaveanoptiontocreatepersonalcategories,visibleonlytotheuser
whocreatedthem,tohelphimorganizehiscourses.
Note:Thisfeatureisnotsupportedbytheplatform'sdevelopersanymore,andmightbeabandoned
inthefuture.ItcanresultinaconflictwiththecoursesorderontheMycoursespagewhenthese
areregisteredwithinsessions.

8.1 Personal categories

GotoMycourses,optionSortcoursesinthemenu,togettothecoursessortingtoolspage.Clickon
theCreateapersonalcoursecategory,andfillthenameofthenewpersonalcategorytobecreated.
Finally,clicktheAddcategoryicon.

Illustration18:Sortmycourses

Illustration19:Personalcategorycreationform
Thenewpersonalcategoryappearsinalistatthetopofthepage.Itispossibletocreateseveral
personalcoursecategories.

21/176

Illustration20:Personalcoursescategorycreated
Clickthepenciliconnexttoeachcoursetosetacategoryforit.Inthedropdownlist,selectthe
personalcategorywithwhichthecoursewillbeassociated,thenclicktheconfirmationbutton.With
coursessortedandlinkedtopersonalcategories,thecourseshomepageismorereadable.Courses
notassociatedwithanypersonalcategoryareshownatthetopofthepage.

Illustration21:Personalcoursescategories
Toremoveacategory,clicktheredcrossandconfirm.

8.2 Subscribing to other courses

Teachersandstudentscansubscribetocourses.Whenateachersubscribestoanothercourseby
himself,heisconsideredstudentinthiscourse,andwillthusnothaveaccesstothenormalteacher
tools.Ifyouwanttoregistertoberegisteredtosomeoneelse'scourseasateacher,youwillhaveto
askthecurrentteacherofthatcourseortheadministratortoregisteryou,asateacher,tothat
course.
Clicking on the Courses catalog link, then on Subscribe to a course, and the general courses
categories list appears. You can look for the course in the suggested categories, or find it by
searchingforallorpartofthecoursetitleviathesearchboxonthetoprightpartofthepage.

22/176

Illustration22:Coursescatalog
Oncethecoursehasbeenfound,clickonthe Subscribe icontosubscribetoit.Thesubscription
givestheusersubscribinglearnerstatus.

8.3 Courses management icons

Inthecoursesmanagementinterface,youwillseethefollowingcommoniconsandbuttons.
Icons

Features
Update/editacourse
Removeacourse
Readthecoursedescription
Linktothecoursehomepage(onlyavailableifpublicoropen)
Registeronthecourse

23/176

Chapter 9 Course administration

TheMycoursestabtheteachertoseealistofthecourseswhichtheycanmanage.(Thesedisplaya
penciliconontherightsideofthecourse'sbox,asopposedtocoursesonwhichtheyaresubscribed
aslearners).
Youjustneedtoclickonthecoursenametoaccessitshomepage.Thevarioustoolsarearrangedin
threecategories:
Authoring:toolsforcreatingcoursecontent,
Interaction:toolsforteacherlearnerorlearnerlearnerinteractionwithinthecourse,
Administration:toolsforthemanagementofcourseoptions.

Illustration23:CoursetoolsClassicaloption
Theteachercanchoosetohideorshowdistincttoolsusingtheeyeiconundereachtool,sothat
thecoursedoesn'tintimidatethenewlearnerwithtoomanyoptions.
Note: Insomecasestheadministratormaymaketoolsunavailabletocourseteachersorenable
toolswhichdependonspecificextensions(likethefulltextsearchorthevideoconference),sowhat
youseeenteringthecoursemightnotbethesameasdescribedhere.

24/176

Illustration24:Authoringtoolsinipadtypeview
Note: The course interface can be presented in different ways depending on what the
administrator's chooses. He might, for example, enable a view that was popular in previous
versionsofChamilo,asinthisillustration.Thisviewiscalledthe2columnsactivityview.

25/176

Chapter 10 Course homepage

Inthischapter,wewillpresentabriefoverviewofthevarioustoolsavailable.Eachtoolwillbe
examinedinmoredetailinlaterchapters.

10.1 Introductory text

Justbeforelookingatanyparticularcoursetool,notethatitispossibletopresentawelcome
messagetoacourse.ClickontheAddanintroductiontexticon belowtheLearnerViewbutton.
Atexteditorappears...

Illustration25:CoursehomepageIntroductiontext
Thisfeature,althoughverysimpletouse,isalsoverypowerful:itcansimplypresentafewwords
ofintroduction,butitalsoenablesyoutoredesigntheentirecoursehomepagesimplybyhidingall
thecoursetoolsandwritingalargeintroductiontext/pageincludingiconswithlinkstothecourse
tools'internalpages.
Todothis:
hideallthetools(byclickingtheeye,whichmustbeclosedandgrayed)
rightclickonanytooltowhichthelearnersneedaccess
selectCopylinklocation
leftclickonAddanintroductiontext
placeanintroductiontext(usethetabletool
,oranexternalHTMLeditingtoolifyou
wish,topositionelementsprecisely)andanewicon/graphicrepresentingthetoolrequiring
access
clickanicontoselectitthenclickthelinkcreationtool
pastethelinkthatwassavedafewstepsbefore(CTRLVshouldworkjustfine)
clickthesaveintrotextbutton
Younowhaveanentirelypersonalizedcoursehomepage!Theonlyremainingothervisualelements
aretheheaderandthefooter.

26/176

10.2 Authoring tools

Illustration26:Authoringtools

10.2.1 Course description

Thecoursedescriptionisnotatallmandatory,butitallowsyoutopresentaglobalsummary
ofthecourseandtoofferpotentialsubscribersaflavourofthecourse.
The description tool presents several sections which provide the course author with a simple
suggestedstructurefortheircoursedescription.(Theteacherdoesn'thavetousethese,ofcourse;if
theproposedsectionsdonotmatchrequirements,othersectionscanbecreatedwiththepreferred
titles).Thesectionsinclude:
Coursedescription,
Objectives,
Topics,
Methodologyetc,
Atanytime,asectioncanberemovedbyclickingonthe Delete icon ,orupdatedusingthe
updateicon.
Thedescriptionisavailableto learnersinsidethecourse,butcanalsobeviewedinthe course
catalog(viatheDescriptionbutton).Thisbuttonopensapopupwindowshowingthedescription
providedbytheteacher.

10.2.2 Documents
Thisisusedtoaddandorganizethedocumentsorfiles(text,images,audio,video,HTML
filesetc.)usedinthecourse.Youcancreatedirectories/folderswithinthistoolasrequired.

27/176

10.2.3 Tests
Theteststoolisusedtocreate,updateorimporttests,quizzesandexamsinthecourse.It
includesfacilitiestoautomaticallyormanuallyscoreandfeedbacktolearnersandtotrack
andexport learners'results.Theteststoolcanbeusedtodevelopquitesophisticatedautomated
exerciseswhichmightinthemselvesformthecoreofthecourse.

10.2.4 Learning Paths

Thisorganizationaltoolallowsyoutogenerateorupdatelearningpathstohelpguideyour
studentsthroughaspecificsequenceoflearningobjects/experiences.Itcanbeconfiguredin
variouswayse.g.torequirestudentstoundertaketasksinagivenorder,ortoallowtherepetitionof
certainactivities.
Note:Ifyoucomefroma Moodle background,thisfeaturecanbecomparedtotheorderingof
blocksonyourcoursehomepage.

10.2.5 Assessments
Theassessmentstoolisveryusefulwhenascorehastobeassignedforthewholecourse.It
allows for the creation of a gradebook incorporating the results of online or inclass
evaluations.Italsoallowsfortheautomaticgenerationofcertificates(althoughthismightnotprove
asintuitiveastherestoftheplatformtoolsduetothemanyparametersinvolved).

10.2.6 Attendances
Thisprovidesameansfortheregistrationofattendancebylearners,takingthisintoaccount
inthescoringofassessments.

10.2.7 Links
Youcanusethistooltoaddlinkstoexternalwebsitesfromwithinthecoursewhichbebeof
valuetostudentsduringthecourseoftheirstudy.Theselinkscanbeincorporatedintoa
learningpath.

10.2.8 Announcements
Usethisfullyfeaturedtooltomakeannouncementsrelatedtothecourse,whichwillbe
flagged up to users when they log in to the course. They can be be personalized and
configured to be sent via email to relevant users. It is also possible to attach documents to
announcements.

28/176

10.2.9 Glossary
Acourseglossarycanbeaninvaluableaidtostudentsonsomecourses.Thistoolallowsyou
addandviewtermsanddefinitions(includingsound,graphicsetc.)andtoimportandexport
text.csvlistsorsavetheglossaryasa.pdffile.

10.2.10 Course progress

Thisplanningandrecordkeepingtoolhelpsyoutocreate,import,exportorsavethematic
sectionswhichcanserveasacoursediarytoincludetopicsandplansandindicateclass
progress.
Note:ThelearningpathscreatedinsidethecoursecanalsobemadevisibleintheAuthoring
section,whichcouldgenerateredundancy.Itispossibletoshoworhidethemusingthedouble
squareiconinthelearningpathslist(Makevisibletolearners)

10.2.11 Blogs
YoumaynotseetheProjectstoolintheAuthoringsection,butifyoucreateaprojectusing
thetoolintheAdministrationsection,itwillshowupintheAuthoringtools,whereyoucan
hideitfromthelearners'viewifyouwish.Thistoolallowsforcollaborativeworktobeorganized.

10.2.12 Search
Thesearchtoolcanonlybeenabledontheplatformbytheadministrator,asitrequiresthe
installationofspecificandadvancedmodulesexternaltoChamiloitself.Ifenabled,thetool
allowsforsearchingwithinthetextofmostdocumentsonthewholeplatform,includingtexts
importedorcreatedinsideChamilo.

29/176

10.3 Interaction tools

Theobjectiveoftheinteractionsectionistogrouptoolswhichfacilitatecommunicationbetween
learnersaswellasbetweenlearnerandteacher.UnliketheAuthoringtoolswhichareprimarilyfor
teacheruse,TheInteractiontoolsareprovidedmainlyforusebyotherusersalso,tosupporttheir
learning.

Illustration27:Interactiontools

10.3.1 Agenda
Thistoolprovidesuserswithacomprehensivediary/calendartooltowhichtheycanadd
eventsetc.

10.3.2 Dropbox
Userscanusethecoursedropboxtosharetheirowndocumentswithothersonthecourse.

10.3.3 Groups
Usethistocreategroupswithininthecourseandmanageaccesstocoursetools.

10.3.4 Assignments
CreateassignmentsforlearnerstocompletewithintheChamiloplatform,ortocomplete
externallyanduploadforevaluationbytheteacher.Theassignmentstoolintegratesfully
withthereportingandassessmentstoolsandallowsforquickandeasymonitoringofassignment
submissionsandresults.

30/176

10.3.5 Wiki
The Wiki provides a handy tool for collaboration between users, be they teachers or
learners,throughprovidingaclearandsimpleinterfaceforthejointproductionofaclass
document.

10.3.6 Forum
Theveryfullyfeaturedforumtoolallowsforthecreationandmanagementofforumsforuse
bycoursemembers,andincludesthefacilitytoquotestudentpoststoteachingforumsand
edit,markorannotatetheirworkinwhateverwaytheteacherjudgeswillbestsupportstudents'
learning.

10.3.7 Users
This toolallowslearnerstoview whoelseis subscribedtothecourse,andteachers to
managecourseusers,subscribingteachersandusers,andimportingandexportingcourse
listsasrequired.TheuserstoolalsointegrateswiththeGroupstool.

10.3.8 Chat
Chamiloprovidesasimpletextchatfacilityallowinguserstochatwithotherusersonline
intheplatform.

10.3.9 Surveys
Thefullyfeaturedsurveytoolapowerfulmeansofinvitingusersontheplatformtoquickly
andeasilyoffercommentandfeedbackfortheevaluationanddevelopmentofcourses.The
toolalsosupportstheanalysisofresultscollectedfromparticipants.

10.3.10 Notebook
Sometimes a learner or teacher just wants to keep personal notes relevant to his or
coursework.Thenotebooktoolprovidesasimplemeansforuserstowriteandstoreand
organizesuchnoteswithintheplatformfortheirownuse,usingtheonlineeditor.Notescreatedby
thistoolareprivate:nouserhasaccesstothenotesofanotheruser.

10.3.11 Video-conference
It is now relatively easy, using a local videoconference server, to install the
videoconferencetoolwithinaChamilocourse,althoughitremainsanexternalextension
which is not always available in a classic portal. Chamilo 1.9 supports BigBlueButton 0.8,
opensourceconferencingsoftwarewhichsupportsrecordingofthewhiteboardandaudiofroma
conference.ThevideosessionscanlaterbemadeavailablewithinChamiloitselfasavideolibrary
insidethecourse.Fromateacher'spointofview,it'sworthlobbyingyouradministratortosetitup!
31/176

10.4 Administration tools

Theadministrationsectiongroupstoolsthatthelearnerneverneedsaccesstothereisthereforeno
optiontohideorshowthetools,whicharedesignedforteacheruseonly.

Illustration28:Administrationtools

10.4.1 Projects
This is where the teacher can create new blogs visible and available to learners in the
Authoringsection.Ablogintegratestasksandusersmanagementviaacalendarwithinthe
Blogstool,supportingtheeffectivemanagementofcollaborativeprojects.

10.4.2 Settings
Managethecoursesettingsasateacher.Settingsaresortedinafewsections:
Coursesettings

Manage and update elements such as the course title,

category,language,picture,etc.

Courseaccess

Configure course access updates (visibility, subscription

andotherpermissions)

Emailnotifications

Setthebehaviourofforemailsalerts

Usersrights

Configureoftheagenda,announcementsorpicturedisplay
insidetheforum

Chatsettings

Configurehowthechattoolopens

Learningpathssettings
Thematicadvance
configuration

Enablethegraphicalthemeofthelearningpath,aswellas
variousotherlearningpathsettings
Decide whether course progress information should be
shownoncoursehomepage

32/176

10.4.3 Reporting
Thisimportantteachertooltrackslearners'useoflearningpaths,tests,forumsetc.,aswell
astimespentonthecourse,progress,scores,assignments,numbersofmessagesandlast
connectiondate.Itisapowerfulmonitoringtoolwhichcansavetheteacherahugeamountoftime
anddrearyrecordkeepingwork.

10.4.4 Backup
Thisiswhereyoucan(andregularlyshould!)backupyourcoursebyexportingacopyof
thecourse.Youcanalsouseittoimportpreviouslybackedupcoursesandtodeleteallor
partofthecoursecontentanddata.Youcanalsouseitsimplytodeletethecoursebecareful,
thoughthere'snowayback!

33/176

Chapter 11 First Steps: Documents

ThenormalfirststepanyteachertakeswhenneedingcontentforacourseistogototheDocuments
tool
anduploadexistingcontent(intheformofPDFs,PowerPoints,etc).
Chamiloallowsfortheimportofalltypesofdocuments(HTML,MSWord,MSPowerPoint
MSExcel, PDF, Flash, Quicktime, OpenOffice.org, LibreOffice, MP3, OGG, AVI,etc.)and
canfirstbeusedasasimpledocumentscatalogwhiletheteacherbuildsupabankofmaterials(a
fewweeks,dependingonthecontext).
You can rename documents at any time and arrange them in directories/folders. The only
provisionisthattheusermust,ofcourse,havetherequisitesoftwareinstalledonhiscomputerto
readthefilesathisdisposal.Werecommendtheuseofstandardandopenformats(seenotebelow)
toavoidtheneedforthelearnertodownloadorbuycostlysoftwarewhichmightbeoverlyspecific
(i.e.withnootheruse)orprovedifficulttomaintain.
Withregardtofilestorage,youdoneedtobesuretoorganizetheDocumentstoolcarefullytomake
iteasytofindadocumentlateron.
Note: TheChamilocommunitystrivesforacompletefreedom inthedistributionof(distance)
learningmaterial.Fromthisperspectivethatahighpriorityisgiventothesupportofopenformats
andapplications,likeLibreOffice andits OASISformatrather thanthe MicrosoftOffice
suite;OGG(anditsvariations)ratherthanMP3orDivX;etc.Sowe'dliketoremindyouthat
allfeaturesofChamilocanbeusedwithasimple,openspec.browser,theonlyexceptiontowhich
isthevideoconferenceandthehotspotexercises,whichrequiretheFlashplugin(whichisfree
butnotopen).Weareworkingonthislastelementtoincreasetheavailabilityofthistypeof
exercisetodevicesthatdonotsupportFlash.

11.1 Create a directory

To achieve a clearer storage structure, Chamilo lets you create directories (folders) and
subdirectoriesbyclickingonthefoldericonwiththeyellowstarsymbol .

Illustration29:Documentscreatingdirectories

34/176

Tocreateadirectory:
clickontheCreatefoldericon,
enterthedirectoryname,
clickontheCreatethefolderbutton,
Thenewdirectoryhasbeencreatedandcanbeusedrightawaytostorenewdocuments.
Ifyouwanttocreateasubdirectory,openthedirectoryyouwanttocreateitinandfollowthe
sameprocedure.

11.2 Quick-change of directory

Whencreatinganewcoursewithexamplecontent,theDocumentstoolcontainsseveraldirectories
(audio,flash,images,etc)bydefault.
Thesedirectoriesaremeanttoprovideadditionalhelporganizingresourcesinsidethecourse.Once
there are over twenty or so documents in the root directory, it becomes difficult to locate a
documentwhenneeded,becauseyouwillhavetoscrollupanddowntogettoseeallthefiles.
Becauseofthis,werecommendnothavingmorethantwentyfilesinasingledirectorygeneral
goodpracticeinfilemanagementanyway.
Thesedirectories arebydefaultinvisibletolearners.Itisuptotheteachertodecidewhether
learnersshouldseethesedirectories'contentsornot(byclickingontheeyeicon ).

Illustration30:DocumentsListofdefaultdirectories
Ofcourse,itispossibletocreateseveralotherdirectoriesusingthefoldercreationicon.Inorderto
navigateswiftlywithinthedirectoriestree,adropdownlistcalledCurrentfolderisavailableonthe
topleftofthescreenallowinganylevelofdocumentsdirectorytobereadilyaccessed.
35/176

Onceinsideadirectory,theupalevelicon

letstheteachergetbackuponedirectorylevel.

11.3 Importing a document

Import a new document by going to the desired destination folder and clicking the Upload
documentsicon .

Illustration31:DocumentsIconsUpload
Thefollowingscreenappears:

Illustration32:DocumentsDocumentsupload
Clickonthegreenareatoexplorethefilesonyourdiskandselectone(s 8)toupload.Insidethe
popupwindow,clicktheconfirmationbutton.Thedocumentsuploadstarts.Ifyousendseveral
filesatthesametime,youwillseetheiruploadprogress,live,asinthefollowingillustration.

Illustration33:DocumentsDocumentsuploadinprogress

Toselectmorethanonefile,usetheCTRLkeyincombinationwiththeleftmousebutton.
36/176

Oncetheuploadisfinished,thefollowingvalidationlistappears.

Illustration34:DocumentsDocumentuploadfinished
Thegreenticksindicatethatthedocumentshavebeensenttothecoursesuccessfully.Clickonthe
bluearrowiconpointinglefttogetbacktothedocumentslist.
Note: The tab labeled Send (Simple) allows you to use the traditional dialogue window
proceduretoupload.WecalleditSimplebecauseusersaregenerallymoreusedtothisone,though
it'sreallyabitmorecomplicatedtouse!Documentindexingoptionscanonlybefoundinthe
Simpleform(incaseyouradministratorhasenabledthesearchfeature)aswellasanoptionto
unzipacompletefilehierarchy.

11.4 Authoring content in Chamilo

AmajoradvantageofChamilooverotherLearningManagementSystemsisthatitprovidesawide
rangeofinbuiltfeaturessupportingtheeffectiveauthoringofcoursecontent.Thetoolbaratthetop
ofthedocumentspagedisplaysarangeoftoolstosupportauthoring:

Illustration35:Documentstoolbar

Theiconsmarkedwithanayellowasteriskrepresentcreationtools.Firstandforemost,theteacher
cancreatenewrichmediadocumentsdirectlyviathedocumentstool,withoutanyneedforan
externalauthoringsystem.Justclickthecreaterichmediapage/activityicon withinthedesired
folder.Afullyfeaturedonlineeditorappears.

37/176

Illustration36:DocumentsCreatinganewdocument
Afternamingthedocument,itispossibletousealltheoptionsintheembeddedrichtexteditorto
formatthem.Theeditorsupportsawiderangeofelements,includingtables,images,audio,video,
flash,etc.Itincludesanhtmleditorwhichmeansthat,forthosewithsomeknowledgeofscripting
thesky'sthelimitintermsofrichcontent!)
Youcanalsouseaseriesofdocumenttemplates,(availableintheleftcolumn),orcreateandsave
yourowntemplatesfordesigningfurtherpages.
Oncethedocumenthasbeencreated/edited,saveitbyclickingontheCreatedocumentbutton.
Othertypesofdocumentscanbecreateddependingonyourbrowserandtheportalconfiguration
(askyouradministratortoenabletheseextrafeaturesifyoudon'tseetheminthetoolbar).
Icon

Feature
Thedrawfeatureallowsyoutodrawdiagramsorschemainavectorformat 9,whichcan
bereeditedorexportedtothebitmapformat.
ThephotoretouchingfeatureisverysimilartothePhotoshoptoolandallowsforthe
editing,cutting,colouringetc.ofpicturesorotherbitmapimages.

InallrecentbrowsersexceptInternetExplorer6,7and8,wherethisfeatureisnotimplemented.
38/176

Theaudiorecordingfeaturetherecordingofaudiotracksrightfromyourbrowser,using
yourmicrophone(onalaptop,themicrophoneisgenerallyembedded).FlashorJava
appletbrowsersupportisrequiredforthisone.
Thetextbasedvoicegenerationfeatureallowsyoutohavethecomputerspeakforyou.
Tryit.You'llbesurprisedbythequalityofthegeneratedvoices.
The webcam clip feature allows you to record footage directly from your laptop's
webcamFlashisrequiredforthisone.

39/176

11.5 Saving documents

Chamiloallowsyoutosaveallthedocuments,oraspecificdirectory,simplybyclickingonthe
Save(ZIP)icon inthetoolbaratthetopofthepage.

Illustration37:DocumentsDownloadacopy
Itisalsopossibletosaveasinglefilebyclickingonthe download icon tothe rightofthe
filename,ortodownloadaspecificdirectorybyclickingontheSave(ZIP)icon totherightof
thedirectorylisting.Thebriefcaseicon allowsuserstocopyasharedfileintotheirprivatefile
areainthesocialnetworksarea(seechapter35).

11.6 Deleting a file or a directory

Todelete,update,hideorshowafileordirectory,usetheoptionsintherighthandcolumnofthe
documentslisting:

Illustration38:DocumentsOptions
Asyouwillrealizeyourself,theiconsvarydependingonthedocumenttype.HTMLdocuments
offermorepossibilities.
The magic wand icon allows you to use the selected document as a template to create other
40/176

documents.Itthusbecomesveryeasytoensureaconsistentvisualstyleforalldocumentsinthe
samecourse.
ThePDFiconallowsyoutoexportthedocumentinaPDFformat.Thiscanbeparticularlyusefulif
you wish to read your course in the train or the plane, where you don't have access to your
elearningplatform.

11.7 Watching course quotas

Bydefault,acoursequotaof100Mbisset,butitisalsopossibleforyouradministratortoincrease
it.Tocheckthespaceusage,lookattheindicationatthebottomofyourdocumentslist.Iwill
indicatethepercentageofyourcoursethatisbeingused.

Illustration39:DocumentsQuota
Ifyouthinkyoumightreachthecourselimitinafewdays,contactyouradministratortoaskhimif
itispossibletoincreasetheavailablespace.Onlytheplatformadministratorhasthepowertouse
thisfeature.
Ifyouwanttogetaclearerviewofwhatisoccupyingspaceinyourdocumentsdirectory,clickthe
percenticon .You'llseeachartliketheoneinIllustration40below.

Illustration40:Documentsquotachart

41/176

Note:thespaceavailableinacourseisonlylimited,inChamilo1.9,totheuseofthedocuments
tool.Userswillbeallowedtosendnumerousassignmentswithoutworryingaboutthespacelimit.

11.8 Slideshow
Ifyouhavealotofimagesuploadedinyourfoldersandwanttoseethemallatonce,youcanuse
theslideshowfeature.Clickontheslideshowicon togotothefolderwhereyourimagesare
located.
You'llbepresentedwithatypeofslideshowviewoftheimagesinthatfolder.Eachimageis
captionedwithitsname,dimensionsandsizeondisk.

Illustration41:ImagegallerySlideshowview
Itmaybemorepracticaltoselectthesmallshowthumbnailsicon
youviewallimagesatonce(asthumbnails),asillustratedbelow:

intheslideshowtoolbartolet

Illustration42:Thumbnailsview
Asettingsoption

isavailabletofurtherfinetunetheviewingofimages.

42/176

Chapter 12 Interactivity: Tests

12.1 Introduction
TheTeststool

isgenerallythenextmainfocusforteachersexploringtheworldofelearning.

Thevalueofthistoolisevident:automaticscoringandfeedbackoflearners'answersmeansnot
onlymajortimesavingsfortheteacher,theyalsoallowthelearnertoselftestrepeatedly(without
feelingselfconscious)forexamplewhenneedingtolearnlanguagevocabulary,ormasterdifficult
mathematicalalgorithms.Theycanenjoyimmediateautomatedfeedbackwithoutdependingonthe
presenceoravailabilityoftheteacher.Testscorescanbeautomaticallyintegratedineachstudent's
gradebook,anddatasuchasdates,numberofattemptsetc.forwardedtothereportingtooltoassist
theteacherintrackingandmonitoringstudents'progress.
Awelldesignedtestcanproveaninvaluablemotivationaltoolforthelearner. Theteachercan
buildinextensiveandmeaningfulfeedbackandsuggestionsanddesignstimulatingquestionsand
feedbackwhichcaninvolvenotonlytextbutgraphics,audiovideo,etc.
TheTeststoolcouldequallybetermedtheExercisestool,inasmuchasitsuseisnotrestricted
tosimplesummativequizzesattheendofachapterormodule.Forexample,someteachersuse
thetesttoolasthemainvehicleforpresentingnewmaterial(ratherthansimplydisplayingaseries
ofdocuments)inordertopresentmaterialsinamoreinteractiveway(e.g.requiringthelearnerto
complete aquestionortwoattheendofeachpage.)Usingthetesttoolinthiswaytocreate
interactive exercises (involving formative rather than summative assessment approaches) keeps
learners alertandenrichestheirlearningexperience.Itisalsoenjoyableandrewardingforthe
teacher,challenginghim/hertodevelopeverricherandmorestimulatingcoursecontent.
Of course, there are times when the teacher simply wants to set a formal, timed Exam for
students, withholding feedback and scores for sharing at a later date. The tests tool can be
configuredinthisway,too.
Becausetheteststoolisveryfullyfeatured,ittakesalittletimetolearnhowtouse.Thefollowing
sectionsexplainindetailhowtomakefulluseoftheTeststoolinChamilo.

.
43/176

12.2 Creating a new test

Creatinganewtestisveryeasy.Clickthecreateatesticon
thenclickontheproceedtoquestionsbutton.

ontheleftandgiveyourtestatitle,

Illustration43:ExercisesCreateanewtest
Ifyouopttogiveacontexttothetest youcanusetheonlineeditortocomposeanexplanatory
sectionwhichwillbevisibletolearnerswhentheyundertakethetest.
Thetestwillbedisplayedonthemainpageofthetesttool,listedalongwithothertestscreatedin
thecourse:

Illustration44:ExercisesList

Becausetherearesomanydifferentwaysthetesttoolcanbeused,thereisagoodchancethe
defaultoptionsarenotentirelysuitableyourneeds.Becareful,thereforetoconsidertheextensive
Advancedsettingssectionavailableinthecreate/edittestpage:

44/176

Thesettingsarefairlyselfevident:
feedbackcanbeprovidedeitherattheend
ofthetestorwithheld,e.g.foranexam
questions can be presented either on a
singlepage(e.g.forabrieftextquiz)or
onseparatepages(e.g.whenthequestion
and answers are lengthy or incorporate
media)
scoresandcorrectanswerscanbeshown
(e.g.foraninteractiveexercise)orhidden
(e.g.foranexam).
Questions and answers can follow a
predetermined sequence or be
randomizedandshuffled
The relevant questions category can be
displayedorhidden
The number of attempts allowed can be
limited to a given number infinite
attemptsmightsuitapracticeexercise
Startandendtimesforthetestcanbeset
andthetimeallowedtocompletethetest
can be limited; )a realtime counter will
appeartotheuser10)
Negativescorescanbezeroedorcarried
forwardtothenextquestion
Studentscanreviewtheiranswersbefore
submittingthetest
Illustration 45:ExercisesCreatinganexercise
Apasspercentagecanbesettoindicate Advancedoptions
successorfailuretothestudent
A closing message to be viewed on
completioncanbecomposed.
Note:TheplatformadministratormayenableanadditionaloptionintheFeedbacksectionof
theadvancedsettings: Selfevaluation(immediatefeedback). Thisoption,ifchecked,enablesthe
scenarioquestion types whichallows teachers to devisequizzes basedonmultiplechoiceor
imagemappingquestionswhich,dependingontheanswergiven,leadthelearnertoalternative
subsequentquestions.This isapowerfultoolhowever,beawarethatonce selfevaluation is
checked,theseadvancedsettingscannotbechanged:youwillinsteadhavetocreateanewtestnot
basedontheSelfevaluation(immediatefeedback)option.

10

Ifthelearnerdisconnectsfromtheexercise,histimewillcontinuecountingdownuntilitiscompletelyexpired,but
hewillbeabletoreconnectandcontinuehisexerciserightwheeheleftit.Thetimecounter only worksin one
questionperpagemode.
45/176

12.3 Feedback, score and correct answers

Thissectiondescribessomeofthekeyeducationalconceptswhichhavesteeredthedesignofthe
TestsfeatureinChamilo.Forteachersnewtoonlineteachingandlearning,itisusefultoconsider
someoftheterminologyChamilousesinrelationtotheseconceptspriortodevelopingthetests
themselves.

12.3.1 Automated feedback

Amajoradvantageinonlinelearningisthatitcanofferthelearnerenormousflexibilityintermsof
whereandwhenhe/shechoosestostudy.Astudentcanundertakeafullyautomatedtestifthey
wishanywhereandatanytimeandreceivetheirscoreimmediately.However,thisfreedomalso
meansthatthereisnoteachertohandtoexplainwhytheyhavegotaquestionwronginatestor
exercise,astheremightbeinatraditionalclassroom.Inautomatedonlinetests,therefore,the
teacherneedstopayparticularattentiontotheprovisionofautomatedonlinefeedback.
Thismeansthataswellasreceivingascore,thestudentcanreceiveabrief(prewritten)comment
relatingtotheiranswer,whetheritisrightorwrong.Typically,ifhegivestherightanswer,you
mightcongratulatehim:Welldone,Icanseeyouhaveagoodgraspofthisconcept!.Ifhe
answers incorrectly, you can offer immediate feedback to encourage him to look beyond that
demoralizingredX,andhelpmaketheerrorpartofthelearningprocess.Thisisthebesttimefor
himtolearnwherehewentwrongandhowtoavoidtheerrornexttime.Usehintse.g:Sorry,
wronganswer!Haveyoureadthe OpenStandards chapterdeeplyenough?Aquickrevisionof
Chapter3shouldhelpyouout!RemembertheexampleofOASISandhowitwasdesigned?.(This
feedbackcouldalsocontainadirectlinktotheChapter3example.)
Suchfeedbackcanhumanizethetestandisoftenreallyappreciatedbystudents.Itmeansabit
moreworkfortheteacherwhencreatingthetest,butprovidesanimportantwayofencouragingand
correctingthelearnerduringhisautoevaluationattempts.

12.3.2 Scoring tests

Assigningascorerepresentsaraw,evencrudewayofevaluatingastudent'sskills.Nevertheless,
scoresmatteralottostudentseventhoughtheyareoflimiteduseintermsofformativeassessment.
Youhavealotofflexibilityinsettingupscores,passmarksetc.inChamilo,includingassigning
overallweightingstotestsandtheoptiontoassignnegativescorestoindividualanswers.You
shouldusethesefeatureswithcare,andavoidcarelesserrorsespecially(awrongscoreforacorrect
answerisincrediblyfrustratingforastudent).Ifyougiveaautomaticallyscoretoalearner,itcan
prove difficult to adjust it afterwards. Updating a score may be necessary under specific
circumstances (e.g. where the test is complex), andthis will require amanual revision by the
teacher.

12.3.3 Displaying correct answers

The option to display correct answers is a simple and direct way of providing feedback by
demonstratingtothelearnerwhatheshouldhaveanswered.Sometimesdisplayingtheanswersin
46/176

thiswayisdesirable,butgiventhatthelearnermaywishtoretakethetestwithoutbeinggiventhe
answer,orthatyoumaywellwanttoreusethetestonafutureoccasion,itisrecommendedyou
don'tdisplaytheanyanswers,butinsteadusefeedbacktoletthelearnerknow how (ratherthan
what)heshouldhaveansweredandsethimontherightcoursetogetitrightnexttimethroughhis
ownefforts.

12.4 Test types

Youwillhavegatheredbynowthattheterm Tests usedforthistoolisagenerictermusedto
describearangeofonlinelearningactivitieswhich,alongwithassignmentsandforums,canbe
usedtogenerateevaluativeinformationwhichcanguidestudents'furtherlearning.Akeyaspectof
theTeststoolisthatitcanbeusedtoprovideinstantautomatedresponsestostudentinputwithout
theneedtowaitfortheteachertorespond.Howsuchautomatedresponsesaredeliveredandused
howevercanvarywidelyinthecourseofthestudent'sjourneythroughthecourse.Belowaresome
suggestedbroadcategoriesofevaluativeactivitywhichcanbeeffectivelysetupusingthe Tests
tool.
Exams refersto(generallytimecontrolled)exercises forwhichnoimmediatefeedback,
noranyanswer,isgiventothelearner:hewillobtainhisresultswhentheteacherconsiders
itright.Thistypeofsummativeassessmentisoftenundertakenattheendofacourseand
may carry a high weighting in the overall assessment of the student. Because of its
significance scoring and feedback are generally withheld until the teacher has had the
chancetogothroughatstudents'resultswithafinetoothcomb.
Exercisesallowtheteachertoassessthelearnerthroughoutthecoursee.g.attheendofa
lesson,unitormodule.Lessformalthananexam,suchtestsmightallowstudentsthreeor
moreattemptsandrepresentamoreformativeapproachtoassessment,involvingplenty
supportivefeedback.Someelementsofthesetestsmightnotbefullyautomated,requiring
some level of direct assessment by the teacher. Most scoring would be immediately
supplied,butfeedbackwouldtendtofallshortofdisplayingthecorrectanswerdirectly,
challengingstudentstoapplythemselvestostudyrevisionandreflectiontoworkoutthe
correctanswerforthemselves.
Automatedtestscangenerallybeavailabletotakeanunlimitednumberoftimes.Theirkey
purpose would be to allow the learner to drill himself, e.g. to learn vocabulary in a
language course, rehearse a particular mathematical algorithm or memorize a safety
procedure.Suchtestswouldbefreeofanytimeconstraintsandwouldbefullyautomated
displayingscoring,feedbackandevencorrectanswerstoencourageimprovementsthrough
practice.
Scenarios representamoreadvancedformofinteractiveexercisewheretheteachercan
predetermine alternative next steps in the test predicated on student's response to a
question,leadingthestudentthroughaparticularpathofquestioning.Thistypeofactivity
canbeachievedusingChamilo'sTeststoolandcanprovidestudentswithaveryeffective
interactiveonlinelearningexperience,butofcourseisbyitsverynaturequitecomplexand
47/176

demandingtosetup.
The above descriptions demonstrate how the Tests tool can function depending on how it is
configured by the teacher. The tool is designed to be as flexible as possible while remaining
relatively easy to use, so variations on all the above models can be achieved to meet
requirements.

48/176

12.5 Adding questions to the test

Oncreatingatest,clickProceedtoquestionsyouwillbetakentothequestionspage:

Illustration46:Firstviewofthequestionslist

Inadditiontothetoolbarthepagedisplaysanarrayofdifferenttypesofquestion.(Thesamepage
canbeaccessedatalatertimeusingtheediticon foranygiventestlistedinthe Tests page.)It
offersarangeofquestiontypesfromwhichtochoose,whicharedescribedinthissection.Eachtest
cancontainacombinationofquestiontypesthiscanprovehandyforensuringtestsdon'tbecome
monotonous.

multiple choice

multiple answer

Fill banks/form

matching

Open question

Oral expression

image zones

exact selection

Unique answer + unknown

Multiple answer T/F/?

Combination T/F/?

Global multiple answer

Illustration47:ExercisesQuestiontypes
Questionsarecreatedusinganonlineformwhichdiffers accordingtothequestiontype.The
followingsubsectionsdescribeeachformindetail.Completionoftheformsisquiteintuitive.The
followinggeneralpointsregardingthecompletionoftheonlineformsapplytoallormosttypesof
question:
1. TheCommentcolumnwillonlybeshownifyouselectedtheshowfeedbackoptiontoin
the advancedsettings whenyoucreatedthetest(ifyoudon'twanttoshowany feedback,
thenthereislittlepointinshowingthiscolumnonthepage.)
2. Anyfieldsmarkedwitharedasterisk*mustbecompleted.
3. Everyquestionhasatitleandanenricheddescription.Wegenerallyrecommendputtinga
shorttitleinthetitlebox,andputtingtherealquestionintheenrichquestionbox.Thiswill
allowyoutopresentamuchfuller,moremeaningquestion,useimages,and/orinclude
audioorvideo.
49/176

4. Allanswerandcommentboxeshaveeditingtoolswhicharehiddenbydefaultbutcanbe
viewedbyclickingthesmallblackarrowonthetopleftcornerofthetextbox.Thiswill
allowyoualsoaddimages,linksandaudiotoyouranswersorfeedbackcomments.
5. Everyquestiontypeinvolvesthe allocationofscores.Inthecaseofquestionsrequiring
scoringlaterbyateacher,thiswillsimplybeamaximumscoreagainstwhichtheteacher
willmarkthetest.Inthecaseofobjectivetestsinvolvinglearnersselectingananswer,the
scoreforeachrightorwronganswerchosencanbeset,andcanincludenegativevalues.
Teachersshouldgivesomethought,particularlyintestsinvolvingdifferentquestiontypes,
towhatweightingwithintheoveralltesteachquestionshouldcarry.
6. Teachers should also consider the number of options they wish to offer in the case of
multiplechoicetypequestionsthiscanbedeterminedusingtheredandgreenremove/add
answeroptionbuttonsatthefootoftheform.
7. If you have a lot of questions covering several topics, you may find it useful for
organizationalreasonstoassignindividualquestionstocategoriesintheadvancedoptions
particularlyifyouplantorecyclequestions.(Youneedtocreatethecategoriesfirstof
course,choosingthecreatecategoryoption onthemaintestpage.Thisallowstocreate
a category withadescriptionwhichwillappearinadropdownlist.)Usingcategoriesis
optionalbutwewouldstronglyadviseyoudosoifyouhaveanynumberofquestions,for
sakeoffutureeditingorrecyclingofquestions.
8. Youcanalsoassignadifficultylevelforeachquestionintheadvancedoptions.Thiscanbe
handyforlaterfinetuningtheevaluationofstudents'work,orreviewingthetestoverall.It
canalsobeveryusefulwhenitcomestorecyclingquestions,allowingyoufilterquestions
bydifficulty.

50/176

12.5.1 Type 1 : Multiple choice Single answer

Theclassicmultiplechoicequestionis oneinwhich onlyoneanswer canbeconsidered
validforscoringpurposes.Itispossibletomakethetestalittlebitmorechallengingby
assigninganegativescoretoawronganswer.Whenthisishighlighted(e.g.inthetestintroduction
orthequestionitself),thisencouragesthelearnertothinkmorecarefullybeforeselectingananswer
atrandom,andincurringapenalty.

Illustration48:TestsMultiplechoice,singleanswer

51/176

12.5.2 Type 2 : Multiple choice multiple answer

Thisquestiontypeisavariationoftheprevioussimplemultiplechoicequestion.Itallows
youtoassignmorethanonevalidanswer.Again,positiveandnegativescoresarepossible.
Thistypeofquestioncanprovemorechallengingtostudents(youmaywishtoindicateinthe
questionthattherearetwoanswerssoasnottotrickthem!

Illustration49:TestsMultipleanswerquestion

52/176

12.5.3 Type 3 : Fill the blanks

Thisquestiontypecanbeusedtoproducetheclassicclozepassageexercisefavouredby
language teachers, in which certain words in a written passage can be selected to be
displayedasablankfieldforstudentstofillin.First,theteachersimplyneedstotypethepassage
(orlistofsentences)andthenaddsquarebracketsaroundthewordstobeblanked.(Thesewords
willbedisplayedtothelearnerasemptytextfields,whichwillbemarkedascorrectifthestudent
entersthecorrectanswermatchingthewordtypedbytheteacher.)Assoonasthesquarebrackets
areadded,theformwilldisplayascorefieldforeachwordtobecorrected.Tomakethetesta
littleeasier,theteachermaychoosetolistthewordstobechoseintheenrichquestionbox.It'sa
handytestforcheckingkeyterminologyorvocabulary.

Illustration50:TestsFilltheblanks
Thequestionwillappearlikethistothelearner,whosimplyneedstotypethecorrectwordintothe
blankfields:

53/176

12.5.4 Type 4 : Matching

Thistypeofquestionisdesignedtohavethelearnerlinktogethertextelementsfromone
listwithtextelementsinanother.Anelementmightbeaword,asentenceorpartsentence.
Itcanalsobeusedtoaskausertosortelementsinacertainorder.

Illustration51:TestsMatchingtextelements

Thelearnerwillviewthematchingquestionlikethis:

or,from1.9.6,adraggablecirclewillmakeitalittlemoreappealingtostudents.
54/176

12.5.5 Type 5 : Open question

Theopenquestiontypeallowsthelearnertowritewhatevertheywishasananswer(akind
of miniassignment). As such an activity has no single give answer, it will not be
automaticallyevaluatedattheendofthetest,butwillhavetobeevaluatedmanuallybytheteacher
beforethefinaltestresultcanbescored.Aswithassignmentandmarkedforumposts,theteacheris
abletodothisviatheRecordingtoolwhichwillflagupopenquestionsneedingmarked.

Illustration52:TestsOpenquestions

Thelearnerwillbepresentedwithatextfieldinwhichtowrite.(Hecanusethesmallarrowonthe
left ofthetop borderofthefieldto make useofa rangeoffields ifhewishes toenrichhis
presentation.e.g.withheadingorhighlightedtext.)

55/176

12.5.6 Type 6: Audio answer

This new question type, available with Chamilo 1.9, will only appear only if your
administrator has enabled the Nanogong audio recording feature. The question can be
comparedtoopenquestiontypedescribedabove,requiringmanualmarkingbytheteacher,but
insteadofaskingthelearnertowriteatextpassage,youaskhimtorecordanaudioanswer.This
hasobvioususesforlanguagecourses,offorlearnerswithparticularaccessneeds,butcanprovide
ausefulalternativeinmanystudyfieldsencouraginglearnerstodeveloptheiroralpresentation
skills.
(note:ThisquestiontyperequiresthelearnertohaveJavaappletssupportedinhisbrowser.Ifthis
isnotthecase,hewillneedtotorecordtheaudioseparatelyandthenuploaditasanMP3fileto
theserver.)
Becauseoftheadditionalrequirementsforthisquestiontype,youshouldmakesureyourlearners
areawarethatthetestwillcontainanaudioquestionandthattheyhaveamorethanonechanceto
trythetesttocheckwhethertheirbrowsersupportsitornot.(Bearinmindthattakingatestis
generallyastressfulexperience.Youdon'twanttogiveyourlearnersanervousbreakdownbecause
theycan'tmanagetorecordanaudioanswer!)

Illustration53:TestsOralexpression

56/176

Thelearnersimplyneedstopressthe Recordanswer whenheisreadytotalk,andfollowthe

instructionsfortheonscreenNanogongrecorder,whichwillautomaticallysendhisrecordingto
theteacherformarkingandscoring.

57/176

12.5.7 Type 7 : Hot spot, or image area

Inthis typeofquestion,thelearnerwillbeaskedtoidentifyareas withinanimageby
clickingonthem.Theseareashavebeenpreviouslydefinedbytheteacher.Buildingoneof
thesequestionsrequireslightlymoreworkthanothertypes.

Illustration54:ExercisesHotspotquestioncreation

Havinguploadedyourimageandnamedyourquestion,youcanaddorremovehotspots,anddefine
theareausinganellipse,arectangleorapolygonshape.Aswithotherquestiontypes,youcanadd
commentsforfeedbackpurposesanddetermineascoreforeachcorrectlyidentifiedarea.

58/176

Thelearnerneedstoclickonthepicturetoidentifytheareaslistedthenumberswillappearontop
oftheareasonwhichheclicks:

Illustration55:ExercisesHotspotlearnerview

59/176

12.5.8 Type 8 : Exact combination

Thisisavariationofthemultipleanswertypetestlookedatabove.Theonlydifferenceis
thatnopartiallycorrectcombinationwillbeaccepted.Thismeansthatif,betweenoptions
ABCD,onlyBandDarecorrect,youwillhavetomarkbothBandDinordertobegiventhe
pointsassignedtothisquestion.Thereisthereforeonlyoneoverallscorefieldshownontheform.

Illustration56:TestsExactcombination

60/176

12.5.9 Type 9 : Unique answer with unknown

Sometimes ateacherwantsthestudenttoindicatethattheydon'tknowtheanswertoa
question,ratherthanjustguessananswer.Thisquestiontypeisasingleanswermultiple
choicequestion,butreservesthelastanswerasaDon'tknowoption,withanautomaticscoreof
zero.Studentscanbediscouragedfromguessingbypenalizingawronganswerwithanegative
score.

Illustration57:Testsuniqueanswerwithunknown

61/176

12.5.10 Type 10 : Multiple answer True/False/Don't know

Thisisaanothercombinationformatwhichincludesazeroscoreddon'tknowoptionas
withtheabovequestionoption,butusingtrue/falseanswersratherthanmultiplechoice.
Again,negativescorescanbeassignedtodiscourageguessing,andadmithonestignorance!

Illustration58:TestsMultipleanswertrue/false/don'tknow

62/176

12.5.11 Type 11 : Combination True/false/don't know

Thisoptionoffersasinglescorecoveringoneormorequestions.Theformlookssimilarto
theexactanswerform,butthetestisdisplayedtothestudentdifferently,asillustrated
below.

Illustration59:TestsCombinationtrue/false/don'tknow

Thelearnerwillviewthequestion(s)anduseradiobuttonslikethis:

(Note:adon'tknowwillgenerateazeroscore,sothisformatmightmostfairlycontainoneor
twoquestionsrequiringprudentusefromtheteacher.)

63/176

12.5.12 Type 12 : Global multiple answer

Thisquestionformatcombinesthemultipleanswerformatwithasinglescore,providingan
optionforensuringthatnonegativescoreisaccrued

Illustration60:TestsGlobalmultipleanswer

64/176

12.6 Recycling existing questions

Anyquestioncreated,independentlyofthetestorcoursetowhichithasbeenattached,feedsthe
questionsdatabase.Thisbasecanbeveryusefulforteacherswantingtoreusequestionsthatare
verygeneralor,needingquestionstoserveasfillerswhenyou'reshortofafewquestionsina
newtest.
Duringtestcreation,thedatabaseshowsquestionsfromothertests,aswellasorphanquestions(i.e.
thosequestionswhichhavebelongedtoatestwhichhasbeenremoved).
Whenthequestiondatabaseshows,itpresentsalistofallexistingquestionsinsidethecourse.This
iswhereassigningquestionstocategoriesandaddingadifficultytotestscanproveveryusefulfor
identifyingindividualquestions:usetheFilterandDifficultydropdownliststofilterthequestions
accordingly.
Toaccessthedatabase,clickontherecycleexistingquestionsicon
questionpagealongsidethevariousquestiontypes:

asitislistedontheCreatea

Illustration61:TestsQuestionsdatabase
Clickthe Reuseincurrenttest button toincludethesequestionsinthecurrenttest.What
actuallyhappens(inChamilo1.9)isthatacopyoftheoldtestisincludedinthecurrenttest,sothat
itcanbeeditedifnecessaryforthenewtestwithoutitscontentorconfigurationbeingaltered
withinthetestinwhichitwasoriginallycreated.
65/176

12.7 Importing: HotPotatoes, IMS/QTI2, Excel

Aswellasallowingteacherstocreatetheirowntestsasdescribedaboveinsections12.2to12.6,
Chamiloenablesteacherstoeasilyuploadandincludetestscreatedinexternaltools,inparticular
testscreatedusingHotPotatoes,Qti2andMicrosoftExcel.Thesearepopularauthoringtoolswhich
canproducetestsinastandardformatsuitableforuseinmany,LMSes,includingChamilo.Details
of how to use these software packages are obviously outwit h the scope of this guide, but
experiencedonlineeducatorsmaywellbefamiliarwithoneorallofthem,andmayhaveproduced
testswiththemwhichtheywishtouploadtoChamilo.
Todoso,theteacherneedsimplyclickontherelevanticoninthetoolbaronthemainTestspage
andfollowthedialogueboxtolocateandimporttherelevantfile.

Illustration62:TestsimportexternaltestsfromTestspage

Illustration63:TestsImportHotPotatoes,Qti2andExceltests

66/176

12.8 Test results

ChamilooffershandysupportforanalyzingtestresultssimplybyclickingontheResultsicon
displayedtotherightofeachtestlistedinthemainTestspage.

Illustration64:ExercisesList
Thiswilldisplayapagelistingalltheresultsfortherelevanttest.

Illustration65:ExercisesResultslist
Here,theteachercangetanoverviewoflearners'timesandscores,andcanscore oredit
openquestionsandofferfeedback.Hecanalsodelete atestattempttoallowthelearnertodo
thetestagain(ifthereisavalidreasontodosoe.g.therewasanerrorinthetest).
Themenubarofthispageallowstheteachertonavigateback tothetest,exporttestresultsin
CSV or XLS format (e.g. to sort them and generate graphical evaluation statistics), view
statistics abouttestquestionsundertakenorevenmonitorstudentstakingthetestlive to
knowhowtheyareperformingduringtheexam(particularlyusefultomonitoredexamcenters).

67/176

Chapter 13 Communication : Forums

Followingonfromthepreviouschaptersyoumightbeexpectingtoexaminethelearningpathstool
at this juncture. However, we'll look at this later (see Structure: Learning paths on page 76).
Instead,itactuallymakesmoresenseheretotakealookatthenextmostcommonlyusedtoolon
theplatform.
The Forum tool
allows you to organize the exchange of ideas, opinions and information
relating to courses and the learning paths. The tool has been conceived sothat learners with
questions about their course can readily find answers to their questions without having to sift
throughamassiveamountofinformationbythemselves.
Theforumisanasynchronousdiscussiontool,i.e.thepeopleinvolvedinaconversationdonot
havetobeconnectedsimultaneouslytoparticipate.Emailisalsoanasynchronoustool.However,a
majordifferencefromemailisthattheforumisapublicorsemipublicspace,whereseveral
peoplecanseeinformation(eveniftheywerenotpartofthediscussioninitially),boostingsupport
forlearningbyprovidingreadyaccesstoreallyusefulinformation,inasmuchasagroupofstudents
andteacherscanexchangeideastogetherintheirspecialistfield.

Forum management tools

category

Name of forum

Illustration66:ForumGlobalview
Exchangesareorganizedhierarchically,asfollows:
*Forumcategory
Forum
Discussionthread
message
answertothemessage
answertothemessage
message
answertothemessage
answertotheanswer
andsoforth...

68/176

13.1 Using forum views

Dependingonthecomplexityofexchangesontheforums,severaldisplaymodescanbeusedto
simplifyreadingandansweringdiscussionthreads.
Listview:simplyshowsmessagesinchronologicalorder,
threadedview:showsonlyoneanswerthreadatatime,
nestedview:usesthethreadedviewbutdisplaysacompletesubject.

Illustration67:ForumDisplaymodes

13.2 Add forum categories

IntheForumtool:
clicktheNewcategorylink,
giveitaname,
addacommentifneeded,
clickCreatecategory.

Illustration68:ForumNewcategory

13.3 Add forum

FromtheForumpage:
ClickNewforum,
giveitaname,
addadescriptionifnecessary,
intheadvancedsettings,itispossibleto:
authorizelearnerstomodifytheirownanswers,
69/176

 authorizelearnerstocreatenewdiscussionthreads,
setthedefaultview,
decideiftheforumistheoneofagroup,ifitispublicorprivate,
clicktheCreateforumbutton.

Illustration69:ForumForumcreationform

13.4 Manage forum categories

Managingforumcategoriesmakesuseoffamiliaricons:
Icons

Features
Updateforumcategorysettings
Deletetheforumcategoryandallitscontents
Controlvisibilityofaforumcategory
Lock/unlockaforumcategorytopreventediting
Reorganizeforumcategories

70/176

13.5 Manage forums

Managingforumsmakesuseoffamiliaricons:
Icons

Features
Updateforumsettings
Deletetheforumandallitscontents
Controlaforum'svisibility
Lock / unlock a forum to prevent its edition (but previous articles can still be
accessed)
Reorganizetheforumsposition
Asktobekeptuptodatebyemailwhenamessageisaddedtotheforum

13.6 Start a new topic

Whenthecontentofaforumisshown:
clickontheNewmessagelink,
completetheNameandDescriptionfields,
advancedsettingsallowusto
scoreadiscussionthreadasateacherandgiveitamaximumscore.Todothis:
selecttheMarkthisthreadbox
setamaximumscoretoreflectthelearnersparticipationinadiscussionthread,
enterorupdatethetitleofthecorrespondingcolumnfortheassessmentstool,
give a weight to the participation in the discussions thread in comparison to the other
componentsoftheassessmenttool.
receiveemailalertsifananswerisaddedtothediscussionthread,
setadiscussionthreadtoappearontopofthethreadslist,
addanattachmenttoanymessage,togetherwithacomment,
ClickCreatethread

71/176

Illustration70:ForumDiscussionthread

13.7 Manage discussion threads

Thedaytodayadministrationoftopics(alsoreferredtoasdiscussionthreads)isidenticaltothat
of categories or forums. You may, however, move a topic from one forum to another better
suited,one.
Icons

Features
Change the settings (name, message and advanced settings: see
previouspage)ofthetopic
Delete(afterapproval)thetopicandallthemessagesitcontained
Controlthevisibilityofatopic
Lock/unlockatopictoforbiditsmodification(butitsreadingwill
stillbeauthorized)
Moveatopictoanotherforum
Asktobesentanotificationbyemailwhenanewanswerisadded
Visualizethetopic'sparticipantsandscoretheircontributionsifthe
topichasbeenmarkedasscored

Movingatopicfromoneforumtoanotherhastobedonethroughadropdownlist.Selectwithin
thatlistthedestinationforum,thenclickontheMoveThreadbuttontoproceed.Theeffectis
immediate.

72/176

13.8 Manage messages

Amessageisananswerwithinoneofthediscussionthreads.
Icons

Features
Change the settings (name, text and advanced settings) of the
message
Deletethemessage(afterapproval)
Controlamessage'svisibility
Replytothemessage
Movethemessagetoanotherthread
Quotethismessage(andansweronthebasisofthequotedmessage)

13.9 Give your learners a score

Ifyouchoosetoscore/gradeatopic/discussionthread,youwillfirstneedtoassignamaximum
scoretothisthread.Thisneedstobedonewhenthethreadiscreated.Gotoadvancedsettingsin
thecreatethreadpageandcheckthegradethisthreadbox.Anoptiontoenteramaximumscore
willappear:

Illustration71:Assigningamaximumscoretoadiscussionthread

Toscoreastudent'scontributiontoathread:
73/176

 clickontheLearnerslisticon
scrolldowntoseethelistoflearners,
clickonthegradeactivityicon nexttothelearner'sname
onthenewpage,locatethelistofallthecontributions(messages)writtenbythelearnerscoredas
wellasastatisticaltablebasedonthesesamecontributions,
enterthescoreyouwanttoassignthelearner:withthehelpofthelistofcontributions,choosea
qualitativeevaluationforthesecontributions.Thestatisticaltableallowsaquantitativeevaluation
ofthecontributions,
ClicktheGradethisthreadbutton.

Illustration72:ForumMarkingathread

13.10 Give a score from a message

ClickontheGradeactivityicon undertheuser'spicture,
Thenewpagegathersthelistofallmessagespostedbythelearneraswellasastatisticaltable
basedonthesemessages,
ClicktheGradethisthreadbutton.
Thescoregiventothelearnerswillbeshownintheassessmenttool.

13.11 Add a message to a thread

Inthelistoftoolsformanagingdiscussionthreads,locatetheReplytothisthreadicon .This
allowsyoutoaddamessageatthesamehierarchicallevelasthestartingmessage.
clicking the icon will give you access to the online editor to write your message. An area
allowingyoutoreadtheothermessagesofthethreadappearatthebottomofthepage,
giveashorttopictoyourmessage,
enteryourmessage,
choosewhetheryouwanttobenotifiedbyemailincaseanybodyanswersyourmessage,
attachadocument(optional)and,ifyoudo,addasmallcommentdescribingthedocument,
clickontheReplytothisthreadbutton.
74/176

13.12 Reply to a specific message

TheReplytothismessageicon(
),locatedbelowthemessageauthor'spictureallowsyoutogive
ananswerwhichwillbelinkedtothechosenmessageandwillbehierarchicallydependentonthat
message.
Thereplyprocedureisthesameasthepreviousone,exceptthemessagetopicincludestheinitial
message,prefixingitwithaRe:indicatingthetwomessagesarerelated.

13.13 Quote a previous message

Insideathread,withinaforum,itisoftenmostpracticaltobeabletoquoteawholeorpartofa
message.Thisistheaimofthisoperation,triggeredbythedoublequoteicon.The
answerwill
beaccompaniedbytherelatedmessagetowhichitismakingreference(itwillappearinanother
colorinyouranswer).Youcancomposeacommentetc.aswellaseditthequotedtextdirectly.

13.14 Reply or Reply to this topic

Themaindifferencebetweenthosetwooptionsresidesinthehierarchyofthedifferentmessages
andtheiranswers.
Reply createsnewanswerswhichwillbedeletedaltogetherwhentheinitialmessagesremoved,
while Replytothisthread createsmessageswhichwillbekept,evenifthestartingmessageis
removed.

13.15 Search a forum element

Allthescreensofthe Forumtoolincludeasearchfeature.Thesearchcanbeexecutedinallthe
forumsatonceandyoucancombinesearchtermswiththe+sign.Theresultsaresentintheform
ofalistindicating:
theforumcategory,
theforumtitle,
thetitleofthethreadinwhichthesearchedwordshavebeenfound.

75/176

Chapter 14 Structure: Learning paths

14.1 Introduction
AlearningpathinChamiloisanorganizationalconcept/toolwhichpresentsactivitiesorlearning
objects from the course in an organized sequence to guide and support learning. It can be
constructedinvariouswaysappropriatetocoursecontent.Atitssimplestitconstitutesacleartable
ofcontents or,dependingonthenatureoftheactivities involved,itcanprovidethenecessary
agendafortheacquisitionofagivenareaofknowledge,understandingorskill.
Alearningpathcanbesequencedinawaywhichissuggestive(simplydisplayingsectionsoneafter
anotherlikeamenu)orprescriptive(thelearnerisrequiredtofollowthesectionsinagivenorder).
Itisimportanttobearinmindthatalearningpathismorethanjustdicedupcoursecontent:it
represents a pedagogical itinerary which might include tests, discussions, evaluations,
experimentation etc. Structuring a path effectively to guide students through these learning
experiencesisakeyfactoringoodcoursedesign.
Onthecoursehomepage,clickontheLearningpathlink:
Usingthelearningpathtool,youcaneitherimportanexistingAICCorSCORMcourse,createa
newlearningpathwithinChamilooreditanexistinglearningpath:

Illustration73:Thelearningpathtool:

76/176

14.2 Create a learning path

Clickonthecreatenewcourse*icon:

Illustration74:LearningpathsCreatinganewlearningpath
Giveanametoyourlearningpathandclick Continue.Thelearningpathiscreatedimmediately
(withoutcontentforthetimebeing).Itwillappearinthelearningpathslist.Oncethelearningpath
iscreated,yougetaccesstoaseriesoftoolsto:
1. updatethelearningpath'ssettings
2. addandorderelementsasyoubuildthelearningpath
3. addanactivity/object/document
4. addanewsection
5. useapreviewscreentocheckhowit'sgoingtolookforlearners

NotethatChamilousesthesimpletermcoursehereratherthanlearningpath.Don'tconfuse
thiswiththethetermcourseasappliedtotheoverallcourse(LearnEnglishintheillustration)
*

77/176

Illustration75:LearningpathsLearningpathsAddingalearningobjectoractivity

14.2.1 Learning path's settings

Clickingonthesettingsicon willopenthesettingspage.Theexampleimageontherightofthe
formrepresentswhatwillbeseenbythelearnerwhenusingthelearningpath,dependingonthe
optionsconfiguredintheform.

Illustration76:LearningpathsSettings

78/176

14.3 Add Learning Objects and Activities

Asyoubuildyourlearningpath/course,youhavetheoptiontoincludeexistinglearningobjectsor
activitiesortocreateyourownusingChamilo.

Illustration77:Addingalearningobjectoractivitytoacourse

14.3.1 Create a new document

Thisoptionallowsyoutogenerateadocumentwhichwillbeautomaticallyaddedtothelearning
pathandsavedin.htmlformatinthelearningpathdocuments.
Inessence,itispossibletousetherichtexteditortoeditstyles,addimages,videos,etc.Youcan
togglebetweenhtmlandtheWYSIWYGeditortoproducewhatevercontentyouwish.Inother
words,Chamiloprovidesyouwithacompletelearningpathcreationtool.
Tobegin,clicktheRichmediapage/activityicon

toseethefollowingpage:

Illustration78:LearningpathsRichmediacreationtool

79/176

14.3.2 Use existing resources

Youcanuseanydocumentyouhavepreviouslyimportedorcreatedinthedocumentstoolofthe
course (e.g. a SCORM course, .html pages, videos, images, etc. see Authoring content in
Chamilo).
Youcanalsoaddtests,links,assignmentsandforumsbydraggingthemacrosstothelearningpaths
listontheleftofthepageusingthegreenhandle .Thechosenresourcewillappearsinthe
whereveryouchooseinthelearningpath.Usethehandletoreorderitems,andthepencil and
cross iconstoedit/deleteelements.

Illustration79:LearningpathsImportingexistingresources
Links, tests, assignments and forums can be created prior to building the learning path in the
AuthoringorInteractionsectionsonyourcourse'shomepage,andthenaddedfromthesesections
intoyourlearningpathviatherelevanttabonthelearningpathpage.(Alternatively,theycanbe
createddirectlyfromwithinthetabsthemselvesasyoubuildthelearningpath:)

14.3.3 Add a new section

The Sections tool isasimplebuteffectivetoolallowingyoutogroupactivitiesinthethe
learningpathunderheadingsforclarity.

Illustration80:LearningpathsNewsections
80/176

14.3.4 Display the learning path

Displaytheresultsofthelearningpathyoujustbuilt:

Illustration81:LearningpathsLearner'sview
Youcantogglebetweentheaboveteacherandlearnerviewsbyclickingtheteacher/learnerview
button
:

14.4 Import AICC and SCORM

ChamilousesstandardslikeSCORMandAICCfortheexchangeofcontents.Importingsuchfiles
couldn'tbeeasier.ClicktheLearningPathicon ontheLearningpathspage:

Illustration82:LearningpathsImportSCORM
Clickchoosefiletoselecttherelevantdocumentonyourharddiskandsendtouploadit.That'sit.
Yourimportedcourseisreadytouse.

81/176

Note:Chamilo1.8andallitsderivations(includingD0keos)onlysupportSCORMinversion1.2.

14.5 Managing learning paths

GotoMycourses,pickacourseandclicktheLearningpathsicon

Illustration83:LearningpathsList
Therightsidecolumn,Authoringoptionsincludestoolstomanageyourlearningpaths:
Icons

Features
Updatethelearningpath'ssettings
Deletethelearningpath
Editthelearningpath

Show/hidethelearningpathto/fromlearners

Show/hidethelearningpageonthecoursehomepage
Export the learning path in .zip format, to later use as SCORM
contentinsideothertools

Allow/preventmultipleattemptsbylearners

Togglebetweenfullscreenornormal(embedded)view

Reorderthelearningpaths
Export the complete learning path as a large multipages PDF
document

82/176

Copylearningpath

14.6 Prerequisites
Ifalearningpathcontainsseveralelements,itispossibletoestablishthecompletionoftasksand
targetsexpectedoflearnersfollowingthelearningpathusingtheprerequisitesfeature.
Clickontheprerequisitesbutton nexttoanyelementinthepath(or ineditview):

Illustration84:LearningpathsPrerequisites
Thisallowstheteachertorequirethelearnertohavecompletedanothertaskinthelearningpath
(e.g.theprecedingtask)beforetheycanaccessthiselement,andalso,e.g.inthecaseofatestor
assessment,tohaveachievedagivenminimumscore.
Usingthe prerequisiteoptions buttoninthetoolbar,prerequisitestocompletetheprecedingstep
canbesetgloballyforallstepsinthepath,oralternativelyallprerequisitescanbeclearedfromthe
path.

Illustration85:LearningpathsPrerequisitesoptions

83/176

14.7 Generating certificates

Youcanreadilycreateacertificateforstudentssuccessfullycompletingthecourse.Todoso,just
makethelaststepinyourcourseacertificatewhichstudentscanvieworprintoff.Youcanupload
an existing premade certificate to the course documents area (e.g. an image or .pdf file).
Alternatively, Chamilo offers a tool for creating certificate templates, which allows for the
automatic generationofa certificatedetailing relevantdataforeach learnerinthe course(see
Chapter18).

84/176

Chapter 15 Reporting
Chamiloallowsteacherstofollowtheprogressoftheirlearnersusingvarioustools,primarilyvia
the Reporting tool (accessedviathe Administrationtools sectionatthebottomofthecourse
homepage)butalsothroughtheassignmentofhomeworkandtests/exercisesduringthecourse.The
reporting tool allows teachers tomonitor the activities andprogress of individual learners,the
overallprogressofclassesthroughcourses,andthedevelopmentofcontentandresources.

15.1 Tracking learners

Bydefault,clickingontheReportingiconwilldisplaysummarydetailsforalistoflearnersonthe
course.Itincludessummaryinformationabouttestscores,timespentonline,logindetailsetc.

Illustration86:ReportingLearners
Onthispagetheteacher,aswellasviewingasummarytableofstudents'overallactivityand
progress,caneasilyaddcolumnstothetabledrawingonstudents'profileinformation(country,date
ofbirth)aswellasdataheldelsewhereinthecourse(coursecode,performancedata,assignments,
messages,surveys).He/shecanhighlight learnersabsentfromthecourseforaspecifiedlength
oftimeandatoneclicknotifylearnerswithanappropriateannouncementusingaconfigurable
announcementtool(seechapter21)accessedbyclickingthenotifybutton
.Theteacher
canalsoprintoutthetable orexportitasacsvfile .

15.2 Show individual learner's details

Onthe Reporting page,clickthe Details icon nexttothenameofthelearneryouwantto
checkon.Thenewpageshowsthelearner'sdetailsinsummary,includingprofileinformation,
photo,connectionandsummaryprogressdetails,butalsodetailedinformationaboutthestudent's
progressthrougheachlearningpath,resultsintests,andpotentiallyusefulinformationaboutother
85/176

activitiessuchasassignments,messagessent,linksvisited,documentsuploadedandchat.

Illustration87:Reportingindividualstudent'sdetails
Theinformationcanbeprinted ,exportedasacsvfile ormailed byclickingonthe
relevanttoolbariconatthetopofthepage.Furtherdetailsabouttestattemptsandscoresand
progressthroughlearningpathscanbeaccessedbyclickingonthevariousiconsonthepage.
ClickingontheAccessDetailsicon inthetoolbarallowstheteachertoseethecourse(timesand
dates).Thisgeneralreportingscreengivesageneralideaoftheparticipationofthelearner,which
isusefulforjudgingoftheinvolvementofthelearnerinsidethecourse.

Illustration88:UsersAccessdetails

86/176

15.3 Course reporting

Clickingonthecoursereporticon ontheReportingpageprovidesglobalinformationaboutthe
courseasawholethattheteachercanuseinevaluatingordevelopingthecourse.Thisincludes
informationsuchasgeneralprogressthroughlearningpaths,overalltestscores,participationin
forumandchats,toolsused,documents downloadedandlinks visited.As withotherreporting
pages,informationcanbereadilyexportedascsvfilesorprintedbyclickingtherelevanttoolbar
icons.

15.4 Resource Reporting

Toaccessdetailsofresourcesusedonthecourse,clickontheReportonresourceicon onthe
mainReportingpage.Thiswilldisplayalistofresourcesaddedanddeletedtothecourse,including
resourcesaddedbystudents.

Illustration89:Reportonresource
Asearchfacilityallowsteacherstofilterandfindtheresourcestheyareinterestedin,andthelinks
ontheleftallowshim/hertonavigateeasilytotheresource.Therearealsolinkstotheuserprofile
fortheuseraddingeachlink,andevenanIPaddresswhichcanbeusedtoindicatethelocationof
users.

87/176

15.5 Test/exam Reporting

Theexamtrackingtoolisusefulforteacherswantingtofocusonmonitoringlearners'performance
intests.Byclickingonthe exam tracking icon onthemainreportingpage,theteacheris
providedwithalistoftestsandstudents'scores/percentages,includingnumberofattempts.They
canselectindividualtestsandfilterresultsbyagivenpercentagee.g.todisplayalistofstudents
passingacourse,orexcellingintheirscore.ThisdatacanbeexportedasastandardMSExcel
file.

Illustration90:Examtracking

88/176

Chapter 16 Assignments
Theassignmentstool
(accessiblefromthehomepage)allowsalearneroragroupoflearnersto
uploaddocumentsfortheteachertoreview.Assignmentscanbeseenanddownloadedbyother
learnersunlessconfiguredasinvisible( )bytheteacher.
Assignmentdocumentsareusuallyhomeworkexercisessetbytheteacher,buttheycouldalsobe
filesofinteresttootherswhichalearnermaywishtoshare.Theassignmentstoolcanthereforebe
usedtoreceiveindividualorcollectivereports,tocollectanswerstoopenquestions,orindeedany
otherformofdocumentdevelopedbylearners.
Thetoolalsoallowstheteachertomodifythedefaultvisibilityoftheassignmentssent/postedby
learners.Thisensuresstudentscansentfiles(exercises,reports,writtenproduction,)inprivacy
tothecourseforevaluationbytheteacherorcoursedelegate.ClickonAssignmentsettings on
theAssignmentspage:

Illustration91:Assignmentsettings
Making assignments visible by default to all users enables learners to check one another's
assignments.Thiscanbeavaluablelearningtechnique,aspupilscanlearnalotthroughsharing
eachother'swork,butithasofcoursetobeusedcarefully;notalllearnersarenotreadytobegiven
somuchfreedom!Thechoicebetweenprivate(onlyvisibletotheteachers)orpublicassignments
(alllearnerscanseeassignmentsfromothers)canbemadebyclickingtheappropriatevisibility
settings.Theteachercanmakeanypostvisibleorinvisibletootherlearnersbycheckingthe or
iconnexttotherelevantentryinthelistoflearnerpostsshownforanygivenassignment.
Note:Asignificantimprovementin1.9isthatassignmentscanalsonowbewrittenandsubmitted
directlywithintheassignmentstool,insteadofrequiringtobeuploadedasdocuments.

89/176

16.1 Assignment creation

Tocreateanewassignment:
clickontheCreateassignmenttool
giveyournewassignmentaname,
addadescription(optional),
clicktheValidatebutton.

intheAssignmentspage:

Illustration92:Createanewassignment

Advancedsettingsallowyouto:
Assignamaximumscorefortheassignment
Includetheassignmentintheassessment/gradebooktool
pickadeadlinefortheassignmenttobecompletedandsent
pickafinalenddatefortheassignment(andhideittostudents)
Includethedeadlineinthecourseagenda/calendar.
Allowstudentstohandintheirassignmentdirectlyfromtheassignmenteditor

16.2 Completion of assignments by students

Studentshavetheoptioneithertodotheirassignmentonlineortouploadafileordocumentthey
havechosentocompleteoutsideoftheChamiloplatform(n.b.toensurestudentshavethischoice,
theteacherwillneedtochecktherelevantboxintheadvancedsettingsoptionsofthe Create
assignment page)Thestudentsimply needstoclickontheassignmenttitleandthenthe submit
papericon tobetakentoapagewheretheycanuploadafileusingtherelevanttooland/orwrite
theirassignmentusingChamilo'srichtexteditor.

90/176

Illustration93:Student'sassignmentpaper

16.3 Manage assignments

Ifthenumberoflearnersinyourcourseissignificant,therewillbeplentyofassignmentstomark..!
Chamiloeasestheburdenalittlebykeepinganorganizedrecordofassignmentssetandstudent
postsonthemainpageforeachassignmentset.Itliststheassignmentscompletedbylearnersas
eachissubmitted,flagsupclearlyiftheyneedtobemarked,offersarecordofdates,allowsquick
navigationtoeachassignmentexerciseforreviewanddisplayseachlearner'sscores.Clickingon
thecolumnheadingsallowsforthequickandeasyreorderingofentriese.g.accordingtodate,
studentsname,scoreetc.Thetoolbarincludeslistings formissingsubmissionsfromstudents
onthecourse(includinganoptiontosendareminder),andthelistcanbedownloadedasa.zipfile.

Illustration94:Mainpageforanassignmentsetbytheteacher

91/176

16.4 Setting up the assignment evaluation

The teacher's evaluation of student assignments can be automatically included within the
assessments tool. The marks assigned to corrected assignments will form part of the overall
assessment,andaweightingassignedforeachparticularassignment.
Toincludeassignments'evaluationintheassessments:
clickontheAdvancedsettingslinkintheCreate/editassignmentpage
assignaMaximumscoregreaterthan0
checktheAddtogradebookbox
choosetherelevantassessmentfromthedropdownlist
assignaweightingwithintheassessment
clickontheValidatebutton.

Illustration95:AssignmentsAdvancedsettings

92/176

16.5 Assignment expiry dates

Chamiloofferstwotimebasedoptionsfortheassignments:
ahandingoverdeadline:thedatepastwhichallassignmentssentbythelearnerstotheplatform
aremarkedasexpiredinredinthelistofassignments.Pastthisdate,assignmentscanstillbesent,
buttheyaremarkedtoindicatelatedelivery.
afinalacceptancedate:thisisthedatepastwhichitbecomesimpossibleforthelearnerstosend
anassignment.Itisthedefinitivedateafterwhichtheteacherwillnotconsideranymorework
sent.
Toconfigurethese,checktherelevantboxesinthe advancedsettings ofthe Createassignment
page.

Illustration96:Assignmentssettingexpirydates

93/176

16.6 Marking assignments

Tomarkadocumentuploadedbyalearner,gotothemainpagefortherelevantassignment.Inthe
righthandcolumnheadedDetail,clickontheSaveicon todownloadandviewafilethestudent
hassubmitted,thenclicktheCorrectandrateicon toaddfeedback/commentsandascore.Ifthe
studenthasnotuploadedafile,butsubmittedtheirassignmentusingtheonlineeditor,thesave
iconwillnotshowinsteadthestudent'sassignmentwillbeautomaticallyshownintheeditorto
whichtheteachercanaddfeedbacketcwhenscoringthework.

Illustration97:Markingstudents'assignments
Tosavethescore/feedback,clicktheUpdatethistaskbutton.

94/176

Chapter 17 Users
The Users tool
gathersalllearnersandteacherssubscribedtothecourse.Itallowsyouto
manage a list of subscribed users, register new learners and assign specific roles and
responsibilities.Italsoallowsyoutomonitortheactivitiesofalluserssubscribedtothecourse.

Illustration98:UsersMainscreen

17.1 Subscribe users

Let'slookfirstathowtosubscribenewusersaslearnerstothecourse.OnthemainUserspage
toolbar,clickontheEnrolluserstocourseicon .Thiswilldisplayalistofusersregisteredon
theplatformnotsubscribedtothecourse:

Illustration99:UsersActionbuttons
Tosubscribeasinglelearner,justclicktheRegisterlink
totherightoftheirlisting.
Tosubscribeseverallearnersatonce,checktherelevantboxesonthelefthandside,thenselect
theRegisteroptioninthedropdownlistheadedDetailatthebottomofthetable(aconfirmation
window appears to ensure you want to subscribe them: once confirmed, a confirmation list
appearsindicatingwhichlearnershavebeensubscribed.)

95/176

17.1.1 Add teachers

Youcanalsosubscribeanotheruserasteacherinyourcourse.JustclickthesecondEnrollteacher
icon (he'swearingatie!)andrepeattheprocessasforlearners.Userssubscribedusingthislink
willhavethestatusofTeacheronthecourse.

17.1.2 Unsubscribe a user

Youcanunsubscribeusersindividuallyorasagroupfromacourse.
Tounsubscribeasingleuser,clicktheUnregisterbutton
confirmyourchoice.

nexttothecorrespondinguserand

Tounsubscribeagroupofusers,checktherelevantboxesontheleftsideofthetableandselect
UnregisterinthedropdownlistheadedDetailatthebottomofthetable,thenclickUnregister.
Note:Asateacheryoucannotremovethemainteacherofacourse(bydefaultdescribedinthe
listingasTrainer)fromthisscreen.Onlytheplatformadministratorcandothat.

17.1.3 Add/update a user's description

ClicktheEditicon totherightoftherelevantuser'sentrytoviewtheuser'sbasicdetails;
Complete/updatetheDescriptionfieldtoinformotherusersoftheroleplayedbythisuser;
Savechanges.
TheAssistantbox(previouslytitledTutor)allowstheteachertoassignaspecialCourseassistant
rolewithitscorrespondingpermissions.Thesepermissionsallowtheassistanttoviewtestand
assignmentsresultsfromotherlearnersinthecourse,tohelphimassisttheteacherinthisrole.

17.1.4 Search for a subscribed learner

Iftheteacherneedstofindaspecificlearnerinthelistofuserssubscribedtothecourse,thesearch
featurewillallowhimtofindoneorseveralusersfromallorpartofhisfirstnameorlastname.
Just fill in the search field with the relevant characters and click the Search button. A list of
matchinguserswillbedisplayed.

17.1.5 Export the list of subscribed users

Youmightwant,(independentlyofthebackupcopiestakenbyyourcarefuladministrator!)tokeep
aseparatecopyofyouruserslist.Todoso,fromthemainUserspage,clickoneoftheexporticons
inthetoolbar(CSVexport Excelexport or.pdfexport )todownloadthelistofusersin
thecorrespondingformat.
Note:notallusersdetailsareexportedthroughthisfeature(theirpasswords,forexample,are
confidentialinformationnotavailabletootherusers,noteventotheteacher).
96/176

17.1.6 Display learners reporting

TheteachercandirectlyaccessdetailsfromthemainUserspageabouteachlearner'sparticipation
inthecoursebyclickingontheReportingicon nexttotheuser'slisting.Thiswilllinktothe
Learnersdetailsincoursepage,describedmorefullyinchapter15above.

97/176

Chapter 18 Assessments
TheAssessmentstool
iswhereyou,asteacher,canestablishsuccesscriteriaforthecourse(i.e.
thepassmark,meritrankingsetc.),involvingtheallocationofweightingstovariousactivities,tests
etc.Youcanalsousetheassessmentstooltogenerateandissuecertificatestolearnersonsuccessful
completionofthecourse.ClickonthetooltodisplaythemainAssessmentspagewhichmay(once
setupforthecourse)looklikethistotheteacher.

Illustration100:AssessmentsExampleteacherview
Itallowsyoutoprepareanoverviewreportcompilinglearners'achievementsinthecourseoverall,
drawingontheresultsofactivitiesundertakeninvirtuallyeverypartoftheonlinecourse,butalso
includingexternalactivitiesundertakeninyourclassroom,outsideoftheonlinecourse.
Thelearnercanusetheassessmentstoolasagradebooktomonitorhisownprogress,andwill
seeasimpler,personalizedviewwhenheclicksontheAssessmentstoolwhichwilllooksomething
likethis:

Illustration101:AssessmentsExamplelearnerview
(Note:Beforelookingfurtherintotheassessmentstool,makesureyouhaveatleastonelearner
subscribedtoyourcourse.(ThisiswhywecleverlyputtheUserschapterbeforethisone!).Inthis
chapter,itwillbemucheasiertofollowtheexamplesifyoualreadyhavelearnerssubscribedanda
seriesofactivitiescreated.Don'tforgetuntilyouchoosetoallowit,theuserwillnotbeableto
seethecourseanyway,aslongasisconfiguredasclosed.)
98/176

18.1 Assessments pre-configuration

Theassessmenttool,inordertoworkperfectly,requiresseveralsettingtobecorrectlyconfigured:
theactivitiesweighting,aminimumcertificationscore(passmark),skillsrankingsandacertificate
template.Ifthesearenotsetcorrectly,andorangealertwillbedisplayedonthemainAssessments
pagee.g.

18.1.1 Total weight and minimum certification score

Toviewandeditthisbasicconfiguration,clickontheediticon

ontherightsideofthetoolbar:

Illustration102:AssessmentsGeneralsettings
The Totalweight ofthecourseisimportantforassigningindividualweightingstoactivities(see
below).TheMinimumcertificationscoredefinesthepassmarkforthecourse.

99/176

18.1.2 Weights
Theweightsallowyoutodefinetherelativeimportanceofeachoftheactivities(fromtheplatform
orinperson)withintheassessment.ClickontheWeightinreporticon togothegeneralweights
page.(Ifyoudon'thaveanyactivityregisteredatthispoint,comebacktothissectionabitlater.)

Illustration103:AssessmentsWeights
Itisstronglyrecommendedthatyoudefinethetotaloftheweightsas100(ortheequivalenttotal
valueforthecoursedefinedintheprevioussection),otherwiseitbecomesreallycomplicatedto
understandallthepossiblerelativescoringissues.

18.1.3 Skills ranking

Skillsrankingallowyoutodefineranksforthescores,sothattheycanbemoreeasilyrepresented
literallyandgraphically.Clickonthepodiumicon :

Illustration104:AssessmentsSkillsranking
Aswellasapassmark,youcanaddadditionaloptions:e.g.thenamesyouwanttogivetoany
scorebandtomakeitfastertoreadgenericreports.

100/176

18.1.4 Certificate template

Finally,itispossibletocreateacertificategeneratedautomaticallyusingthelearner'sdatastoredin
theplatform.Tosetthisup,clickthelargecertificateicon onthetoolbar.Thiswillbringupa
screen displaying a list of existing certificates, with toolbar options to import or create
certificates.Clickthe Createcertificateicon togotoapagesimilartothedocumentcreation
tool,whichallowsyoutodesignacertificate:

Illustration105:AssessmentsCertificatetemplatecreation

Notethatabovethemainonlineeditor,thepagealso
displaysalistoftagswhichcanbeusedtogeneratea
certificate template displaying the appropriate data
foranygivenlearneroncehe/shefinallyfulfillsall
theassessmentobjectives.
Illustration106:Tagsforuse
inthecertificatetemplate

101/176

ThemainCertificatepageliststhecertificatesthathavebeenuploadedorcreated.

Illustration107:AssessmentsCertificatestemplateslist
Clickonthe icontoselectthisdocumentasthedefaultcertificatetemplate(Itwillturncoloured
when selected). This is the certificate which will be issued tostudents.Youcan return to the
assessmentsscreenthroughthebreadcrumbnavigation(clickAssessments).

18.2 Add a classroom activity

Aclassroomactivityreferstoanycomponentoftheoverallassessmentnotundertakeninsidethe
Chamiloplatform.Anyassessedactivitycanbeaddedaclassroomactivityandthereforebecome
partofyouroverallcourseassessment.Assuch,youwillofcourseneedtoaddtherelevantdetails
manuallytotheAssessments.Todothis,inthemainassessmentpage,clickontheAddclassroom
assessmenticon inthetoolbar.

Illustration108:AssessmentsClassroomactivity
Thename,weightingandmaximumscorefortheactivityneedtobeentered,andtheteachercan
alsochoosewhethertomaketheactivityvisibleandwhethertogradelearners.
Youwillonlybeabletoaddresultsforclassroomactivitiesforlearnerssubscribedtoyourcourse.
ScoringtheClassroomactivityisstraightforwardclicktherelevantactivitylistedinthemain
102/176

Assessmentspageandthentheediticon
learners)inthetoolbar:

eithernexttothelearner'slistingor(toscorealistof

Illustration109:AssessmentsClassroomactivitiesFillinginresults
Thescoreswillbeaddedtotheassessmentdataandincludedineachstudent'sgradebook.

18.3 Add an online activity

WithintheChamilocourse,notonlytestsbutawholerangeofactivitiescanbescoredandaddedto
theAssessmentstoolforconsiderationintheoverallgradingofstudents.TheAddanonlineactivity
tool allowsyoutocreatealinkfromtheassessmenttooneofthefollowingtypesofresourcesin
yourcourse(theseresourcesalreadyhavescoringcapabilities):
Tests,
Assignments,
Learningpaths,
Forumthreads,
Attendances,
Surveys
Workthroughthedropdownliststo
locatetheactivityvisibleinthelist
ofactivitiesforthisassessment,and
click to include the activity in the
assessmentssothatitcountstowards
thelearners'overallgrade.

Illustration110:AssessmentsAddonlineactivity

103/176

18.4 List view

Thelistview viewintheAssessmentstoolallowsyoutolistalllearnersandtheirresultsatany
point through the course, as well as charts illustrating students' achievements overall for each
assessmentandacombinedchartforallresources.(Thisresourceisobviouslymoreusefulatthe
endofacoursewhenstudentshavecompletedalltheassessedactivities).Theviewcanbeprinted
orexportedinvariousformats(.xml,.doc,.pdf,.csv)usingtherelevanttoolbaricons.

Illustration111:AssessmentsListview
Note:Thisviewonlyworksifskillsrankingruleshavebeenfullydefined.

104/176

18.5 Manage activities

ItispossibletomanageactivitieslistedintheAssessmentspagequicklyandefficientlyusingthe
iconsfoundnexttoeachindividualactivity:
Icons

Features
Updatetheactivity'ssettings(title,weight,etc)
Removeanactivityfromtheassessment.Classroomactivitieswillbe
deleted,onlineactivitiesdetachedfromtheassessment
Change the visibility of the results of the activity in the learners'
gradebookview.
Showthehistoryofchangesofthisactivity'ssettings

It is also possible togroup assessment activities within several categories within the overall
assessmentforthecourse.Becarefulwhenyoudothisaboutassigningtotalscoresandweightings
fortheoverallcourseandforcategorieswithinthecourseitcangetyourheadinaspin!To
createacategoryfolder,clickthe CreateAssessment icon inthetoolbarandcompletethe
requireddetails:

Illustration112:Assessmentscreatingcategories
Assessmentactivitiescanbeaddedtothevariouscategoriesthroughthedropdownlistinthe
creation/editingformforeachactivity.Quicknavigationisalsopossiblefromcategoriesinthelist
totheweightingspage andtothelistview .

105/176

Chapter 19 Wiki
TheWikitool
isacollectiveorcollaborativeredactiontool.Itallowsuserstoworktogetheron
asingledocument,andtofollowthehistoryofmodifications.Italsoallowsyoutosavetimeandbe
moreefficientduringagrouptask.Inmanyways,itcomplementstheforumtool.
Awikipagecancontainmanylinkstootherpages,whichmayormaynot(yet)haveexisting
content.Wikipagescanbeupdated;eachcontributorsharingthesamerightstowriteandedit
content. Originally designed to support collaboration between learners, the wiki may, at the
beginningofacourse,consistonlyofalistoflinksinsertedbytheteacher,pointingtoemptypages
whicheachlearnerwillhavetobuildusingoneanother'sideas,viewsandexperiences.

19.1 Starting the wiki

Themainpageistheentrypointofthewiki.Itcaninitiallybeeditedonlybytheteacher,who
unlocksitthroughthisinitialaction.Untilhedoesthis,learnerscannotaccessit.

Illustration113:WikiMainpage
ClicktheEditthispageicon ,
Removetheexistingcontentandreplaceitbynewcontent(forexample,alistoflinkspointingto
otherpagesofthewiki),
Addacommentexplainingyourcontribution,
ClickSave.

19.2 Add a new linked page

Fromthepageyou'regoingtoaddthelinkto:
clicktheEditthispageicon,
clickthelineyouwanttoaddthelinkon,theneither:
addthetextbetweendoublesquarebrackets [[linktothepagetobecreated]].Oncesaved,the
textenteredbetweenbracketswillbetransformedintoalinktoanewemptypage,
106/176

 or clicktheInsert/EditWikiLinkiconintheeditortoindicatethenameofthenewpagetobe
created,

clickSave.

19.3 Add a new orphan page

Byclickingthe Addnewpagelinkinsidethedropdownmenuicon ,youcreateanewpage,
unrelatedtotherestofthewiki.Thisisonewayofpreparingapagewhichwilltemporarilynotbe
visibletousers(atleastnotintheusualway).
Note:OrphanpagescanbelistedfromtheAllpageslinkinthedropdownmenu.

19.4 Commenting a page

ByclickingtheDiscussthispageicon ,yougetaccesstoaformtoadd/seecomments.Thisarea
isvisibleandcanbeupdatedbyanyuser.Otheractionswhichcanbeexecutedonwikipagesare:
Icons

Features
Checkthehistoryofchangesofapage
Showalistofpageslinkedtothecurrentpage
Deletethecurrentpage
ExportthepageasanHTMLdocument
ExportthepageasaPDFdocument
Getanemailnotificationofallchangesmadetothispage
Makeapagevisible/invisibletolearners

Lock/Unlockapageforeditionbylearners

107/176

19.5 Other wiki features

Themenulocatedinthetopleftcorner(dropdownmenu)givesaccesstootherwikifeatures,
regardlessofthecurrentpage:
searchtitlesorcontentsofpages,
displayalistofallthepages,
listonlythelatestmodifications,
removethewholewiki(becarefulwiththiscommand!),
seethemostactiveusers,
seethemostvisitedpages,
seethemostupdatedpages,
seeallorphanpages,
seeallemptypages (wantedpages)createdas suchinordertoinvitesomebodyelsetoadd
contentonagiventopic.

108/176

Chapter 20 Links
TheLinkstool
allowsyoutocreatealibraryofinternalandexternallinkswhichlearnerscan
useinacourseastheyworktheirwaythroughthelearningpath.

Illustration114:TheLinkspage

20.1 Links categories

YoucancreatelinkscategoriesinChamilo,allowingforabetterorganizationalstructurewhenyour
librarycontainsalotoflinks.
ClicktheAddacategoryicon ,
Giveaclearnametoyourcategory,
Addadescriptionifneeded,
ClicktheAddacategorybutton.

Illustration115:LinksAddacategory
109/176

20.2 Links
Alinkcanbeaddedinacategoryorattherootlevel:

Illustration116:LinksAddlink
Toaddalink:
ClicktheAddalinkicon
Addthelink'sURL,
Giveitalabel,
Addadescriptionofwhatisontheothersideofthelink,ifdesired,
Selectacategoryifdesired,
Choosewhethertoshowthelinkonthecoursehomepageornot,
ClicktheSavelinkbutton.

20.3 Manage links

Linksmanagementusestheusualactionicons:
Icons

Features
Editlinksorcategories
Removelinksorcategories
Reorganizelinksandcategoriesorder

Show/Hidealink

110/176

20.4 Links checker

Sinceversion1.8.8.4,youcan(manually)checkwhetheralinkisalive.Todothis,clickthesmall
magnifiericon ontherightsideofthelinkasitislistedintheLinkspage.Afterafewseconds
(orless),aniconappears.Agreentick meansthelinkisvalid.Aredsign meansthelinkis
broken.
Note:thelinkscheckereffectivelytriestoconnecttothegivenlinkfromtheserver.Assuch,alink
thatworksforyoumightnotworkfortheserver,andviceversa.Thiswillrequiretheservertobe
equippedwiththeCURLlibrary.Checkwithyouradminifthisisthecase.

111/176

Chapter 21 Announcements
TheAnnouncementstool
letsyousendamessagebyemailtoyourlearnersand/orpublishan
messagedirectlytothecourse.
Theseannouncementscanbeused,forexample,toinformlearnersoftherecentavailabilityofa
document,ofthedeadlineforanassignmentoranynewsorinformationrelatedtothecourse.

Illustration117:Announcementspage

21.1 Add an announcement

FromthemainAnnouncementpage:
clicktheAddanannouncementicon

Illustration118:Addanannouncement

112/176

 bydefault,theannouncementwillbesenttoallusers,butitispossibletoeditthelistofrecipients
byclickingonthevisibletolink
theannouncementcanbesentbyemailtothecourseusers(checktheSendthisannouncementby
emailtoselectedgroups/usersbox),
addanannouncementsubject,
writethemainannouncementusingtheeditor,
addanattachmentifdesired,
clickSendannouncement.
Note:sinceversion1.8.8.4,youcanusetagsinsideyourannouncements(justcopypastethem).
These tags will beautomatically replaced bythecorrespondingvaluewhensent byemailor
displayedontheplatformtousers.
Announcementswillappeartorecipientslikethisontheplatform:

Illustration119:Announcementslearnerview

21.2 Announcements management

Announcementscanbemanagedthroughthefamiliaractionicons:
Icons

Features
Updatethetitle,bodyorsettingsoftheannouncement
Reorderannouncementsposition

Show/Hideannouncementtolearners
Indicatestheannouncementhasbeensentbyemail
Indicatestheannouncementincludesanattachment

113/176

Chapter 22 Glossary
Chamilointegratesaglossarytool
toallowtheteachertodefinetermsorexpressionsinthe
samewayasadictionary.Notermisdefinedbydefaultitistheteacher'sresponsibilitytodefine
importantterms.

Illustration120:GlossaryTableview

22.1 New term

Toaddanewterm:
clickonAddnewglossaryterm
entertheterminthefirstfield,
givetheterm'sdefinition,
clicktheSavetermbutton.

Adefinitioncanbeenrichedbyimagesandlinks:

Illustration121:Glossaryaddaterm

114/176

BydefaulttermsaredisplayedinTableview suitableforalargenumberoftermswithabrief
definition.Forasmallerlistoffullerdefinitions,bothteacherandlearnermaywishtochoosethe
moreattractiveListview :

Illustration122:GlossaryListview

22.2 Glossary terms management

Glossarytermsmanagementisdonethroughtheusualactionicons:
Icons

Features
Editterm
Deleteterm
Showthelistview
Showthetableview

Export/importglossaryasa.csvfile
Exportto.pdf

115/176

Chapter 23 Attendances
In2010,anacademical institution cofinancedthedevelopmentoftheAttendances tool
as
wellasthecourseprogresstool(seenextchapter)withasetofbasicspecifications.Overtimeit
hasevolved,thankstothemanysuggestionsfromcommunityusersandthefinancialsupportof
somecustomers.Todayit'samoreadvancedtool,butitisstillveryyoung,whichexplainswhyits
interfacestillleavesroomforimprovement.

Illustration123:Attendancesmainpage
Beforeyougofurtherwiththischapter,domakesureyouhavelearnerssubscribedtoyourcourse,
otherwiseyourattemptstouseitwillnotwork.Ifneedbe,reviewtheUserschapteronpage95.
Withoutlearnerssubscribed,itispracticallyimpossibletomakesenseoftheattendancestool.

23.1 Create an attendance sheet

Togetstarted,clicktheCreateanewattendancelisticon

Illustration124:AttendancesNewattendancesform

116/176

Fillinthemaintitle/descriptionfieldsandtickifyouwishtogradetheattendances.Ifyoudoso
youcanselectanassessmenttolinkattendancesto,writeacolumnheaderforthereportandadda
weightingtoactivities.Finally,clicksaveandyouwillbepromptedtoaddatimeanddate:

Illustration125:AttendancesIntermediarystepfordatescreation

Selectingrepeatdateallowstoyouquicklygenerateaseriesdatesandtimeforregularsessionse.g.
weeklyat22.00hrs.ClickSaveagaintoviewalistofthedateschosen:
These are fully editable (e.g. if one week is a
holiday,delete)and,equally,youcanaddtothe
dates/timesusingthe addadateandtime icon
inthetoolbar.Youcanalsocleartheentire

Illustration126:Attendancescalendar

list of dates and times using the clear the

calendar of all lists icon . To view the
attendancesheetfortherelevantactivityclickthe
Attendancesheeticon

23.2 Recording attendances

Havingsetupyourcoursesessions,you'llneedtostartrecordingyourlearners'attendances.Youdo
thisusingtheAttendancessheet,whichyoucanaccessfromthemainAttendancespagebyclicking
ontherelevantlisting.You'llseealistoflearners'namesinthefirstcolumn,thenonecolumnfor
eachattendancedate.Generally,thedefaultcolumnenabledwillbethefirstonethathasn'tbeen
modifiedyet.
TheAttendancesheetdisplaysatablewithcolumnslistingusers,theirattendanceanddates/times.
WhatdatesyouviewiscontrolledbytheFilterdropdownmenuinthetoolbar(choosealland
clickfiltertoseethemall).Toenableeditingofeachdatecolumn,clickthepadlock inthe
columnheading.

117/176

Illustration127:Attendancessheet
Bydefault,thesystemassumesalllearnersareattendingthecoursesession,so onlytakenoteof
missinglearners,byuncheckingthelearner'sboxtomarkhisabsence.
Alearnermissingmorethan10%ofthetotalnumberofsessionswillbemarkedbyanorange
background.Alearnermissingmorethan25%ofthesessionswillbemarkedbyaredbackground.
(Thesecolouringsarefixedparameterswhichcannot,atthispointintime,bemodifiedinsidethe
platform.)
Anattendancesheetcanbeincludedintheassessmentstoolasamarkedresource,tocounttowards
astudentsoverallgradesforthecourse.

118/176

Chapter 24 Course progress

The Course progress tool
(or perhaps Coursediary the name of this tool is still under
consideration)allowstheteachertobuildacourseprogramtobeshown(optionally)onthecourse
homepagetoincludeaprogressstatusrelativetothecurrentteachersandlearners'progressinthe
scheduledtopicpreparation.

Illustration128:CourseprogressLearnerview
Thistoolisonlyusefulinthecaseofsynchronouscourses,inwhichtheteacherandthelearners
progress throughthecourseconcurrently.Configuring Courseprogress isquiteeasy,although
quitealengthyprocess.

Illustration129:CourseprogressTeacherview

119/176

24.1 Create a thematic section

Thethematicsectionsrepresentthehighestlevelinthecourseprogress'structure.Youneedto
createsectionsinordertobeabletocreateotherlevelsofthestructure.
Tocreatethefirstsection,createtheNewthematicsectionicon
usingtext,imagesetc.

andcompletetherelevantfields

Illustration130:Courseprogressinvitationtocreateathematicplan
OnclickingSaveyouwillbeinvitedtocreatenewthematicplan:

Illustration131:Courseprogressinvitationtocreateathematicplan/advance

24.2 Define the thematic plan

Oncethethematicsectionhasbeencreated,youcanedititsentryintheThematicplancolumn.The
Thematicplanisthedefinitionoftheobjectives,methodologyandotherdetailsofthenewlycreated
thematicsection.ClickontheThematicplanicon toshowaformcontainingseveralfieldsin
eachofwhichwhichyoucanenteratitleanddescriptionwhichwillbedisplayedonthemain
Courseprogresspage.Bydefault,thefieldsaretitled:Objectives,skillstoacquire,Methodology,
Infrastructure,AssessmentandOther,althoughthesecanbeeditedasappropriate.Fieldswithno
descriptionaddedwillnotbedisplayed.

120/176

Illustration132:Courseprogressexampletitleanddescriptionfields

24.3 Create steps for the course progress

Thesteps(termedThematicadvance)arethedatesonwhichyouwillteachthespecificcontentof
therelevantThematicsection.Havingsavedthethematicplan,returntothemaincourseprogress
page using the breadcrumb navigation and click on the New thematic advance icon in the
relevantsection.

Illustration133:CourseprogressStepscreation
Hereyoucan,enterthedateforeachteachingsessionandthecontentsofwhatistobecovered
specifically in that session. You can either enter dates and times manually or link to dates
previouslydefinedintheattendancesheets(seeAttendancesAttendancesonpage116).Wherethe
Courseprogresstoolisused,progressthroughthecoursewillbedisplayedonthemaincourse
page:

121/176

Chapter 25 Agenda
TheAgendatool
allowstheteachertomanageacoursecalendar/diarywhichintegrateswith
thepersonalAgendatoolavailabletoeachindividualuser.InChamilo1.9theuserinterfaceofthe
tool is very different (and more uptodate) than in previous versions, though the underlying
functionalityremainsessentiallythesame.Eachcoursehasit'sownAgenda,whileaglobalview
(i.e.aviewofeventsfromallthecoursestowhichtheuserissubscribed)isalsoavailableviathe
Personal Agenda tab.The Personal Agenda tabdisplayscourseeventsingreen,andalsoallows
userstoaddpersonalevents,displayedinblue,whichwillnotappearinotherusers'agendas.A
teachercanviewandeditcourseandpersonalevents,whilelearnerswillhavethesameview,but
willonlybeabletoedittheirownpersonalevents.

llustration134:PersonalAgenda

ViewingandnavigatingthecourseAgendaandPersonalAgendaisstraightforwardandintuitive.
Theusercanchooseamonth,weekordayviewusingthebuttonsonthetoprightofthepage,move
forwardandbackwardsthroughthemonths/weeks/daysusingtheleftandrightarrows,andreturn
totoday'sviewusingthebuttonontheleft.Detailsofeacheventcanbeviewedsimplyby
hoveringoverorclickingontheeventtitleinthecalendar.

25.1 Adding an event to the course agenda

EventscanbeaddedtothecourseAgendaintwoways.Thesimplestandquickestwayissimplyto
clickontherelevantdate/day/timeinthecourse Agenda (chooseweekordayviewtoselecta
specifictimeortimescale).Youcanselectuserswhocanseetheevent,addatitleandabriefverbal
description,anddecidewhethertoalsosendtheeventasanannouncement/email:

122/176

Illustration135:Addinganeventdirectlytothecalendar
Foramorefullyconfiguredevententry,however,clicktheAddeventicon inthetoolbar.This
willopenadialoguepageallowingentryofatitleandtheselectionofusers,butalsoaricher
description(e.g.usinggraphics),automaticrepeatconfiguration(daily,weekly,monthly,yearly)
andtheoptiontoaddanattachment(toaccompanyemailannouncements).

Illustration136:AddinganeventusingtheAddeventtool

123/176

25.2 Import and export events

TheChamiloAgendatoolsupportstheimportandexportofstandardcalendarfiles(Outlook,iCal).
ToimportanOutlookfile,clicktheImportOutlookicon inthetoolbarinthecourseAgenda
anduploadtherelevantfileasprompted.ThenreturntotheAgendausingtheAgendaicon .
UserscanexporteventsasiCalfromthepopupwindowthatappearswhentheyclickonanevent
toviewdetails.TheycanselecttheappropriateiCalformat(confidential,private,public)forthe
exportatthebottomofthepopupwindow,andteacherscaneditordeletetheeventusingthe
appropriatebuttoninthepopupwindow:

Illustration137:Export,editordeleteanevent
(Note:Teachersonlyhaveaccesstothedelete/editbuttonsviathecourseAgendafromthecourse
homepage not via the Personal Agenda tab, where, like learners, they can only view/export
events).

25.3 Adding an event to the personal Agenda

ThePersonalAgenda,availableatanypointwhilenavigatingChamiloviatherelevanttab,works
inexactlythesamewayasthecourseAgenda,exceptthatoptionstocreateeventsarelimitedtothe
directmethod(i.e.clicking/draggingontherelevantdate/timestoopenasimplepopupdialogue
window(seeabove).Deleting,editingandexportingoptions forpersonalevents canalsobe
effected(aswiththecourseAgenda)simplybyclickingonaneventtodisplayapopupdialogue
box.Teachersandlearnersneedtobearinmindthatthe(blue)personaleventscannotbeviewedby
anyoneotherthanthemselves.

124/176

Chapter 26 Dropbox
The Dropbox (documentsharing)tool
provideaplacewhereuserscanleavefilesforeach
other,tobedownloadedasconvenient,avoidingheavyemaildownloads.Filescanbedropped
therebytheteacherforlearnerstocollect,byalearnerforotherlearners(ifallowedbytheplatform
administrator)orbyalearnerfortheteacher(althoughitisnotreallyintendedforthedeliveryof
homeworkorassignments,forwhichtheAssignmentstoolshouldbeused.)
WhilethebasicconceptofthistoolissimilartopopulartoolssuchasDropboxorGoogleDrive,it
actuallypredatesthesemoderntoolsanddoesn'tworkinquitethesameway.Forexample,when
workingcollaborativelyononedocument,ratherthanopenthesharedfiletoviewandeditit
directlyuserssimplydownloadthesharedfile,workonit,anduploaditagaintothedropbox(e.g.
with changes). By default, altered files won't overwrite the original version even though the
filenameisthesame,effectivelymakingiteasytomanageversionsofadocumentdifferentiated
bydate/timeofupload.Allusershavetheoptiontoaddacommentwithinthedropboxwindowtoa
shareddocument,againausefuldeviceforseriouscollaborativework.Forexample,itallowsa
teachertomakeabriefnoteabouteachstudent'scontribution.

Illustration138:Dropboxsentfiles

26.1 Folders
Theteachercanaddfolderstocategorizehisfilesabitmoreclearly.Thesharedfolders(bethey
sentorreceived)areinvisibletolearnersandareonlytherefororganizationalpurposes.
Tocreateanewfolder,clickontheAddanewfoldericon ,enteranameforitinthefieldthat
appearsatthetopofthescreenandclicktheCreatecategorybutton.

125/176

26.2 Send a file to specific users

clicktheShareanewfileicon
clickthechoosefilebuttonandselectthefileonyourcomputer,
decidewhethertooverwriteotherfileswiththesamename
intheSendtolist,selectthepeopletosharethedocumentwith(groupscanalsobeselectedby
holdingtheCTRLkeypressedwhileclickingthenames)
clicktheUploadbutton.

Illustration139:DropboxSendingafile
Fileswillbelistedunderthesentfilestabiftheyhavebeenuploadedbytheuser,andunderthe
receivedfiletabifthefilewasuploadedbysomeoneelseallfilescanbeinstantlyaccessedbythe
recipientaswellasthesender.

126/176

26.3 Managing dropbox files

Aswellasthefamiliaricons,thedropboxtooloffersaseriesofnewmanagementicons:
Icons

Features
Editthenameofafolder
Deleteafolder
Addacommenttothesharedfile
Showsnexttothenameofanynewfile
Movethefiletoanotherfolder
Saveonyourcomputeracompressedarchiveofallthefilesinthefolder
Saveacopyofthecorrespondingfileonyourcomputer

Note:Whenalearnerdeletesafilesenttothesystem,thisfileisstillavailabletotheteacher

26.4 Read and add comments on a file

clicktheCommenticonnexttothefile'sname,
readtheexistingcomments,
addafeedbackcommentinthetextareaavailable,
clicktheSavefeedbackbutton.

illustration140:DropboxComments

127/176

Chapter 27 Groups
TheGroupstool
allowsateachertocreateandmanageworkinggroupsoflearners.Thisisa
simpleorganizationaltoolallowingfortheautomaticormanualgroupingoflearners,yetfroma
pedagogical point of view this can be a very powerful tool for online learning. Group work
encouragespeersupportandinteraction,helpingastudentovercomethatsenseofisolationwhichis
oneofthemainchallengeshe/shemayfaceinonlinestudy.Inconjunctionwithothertools,theuse
oftheGroupstoolcanhelptodevelopteamworkskills,providingopportunitiesfortaskleadership
andformutualreflectionandfeedbackbetweenlearners.Assuch,itcanhelpstudentskeepontask
andenrichtheironlinestudyexperienceconsiderably.
The Groups tool allows a teacher to assign a range of Chamilo tools (documents, agenda,
assignments,announcements,forum,wikiandchat)toagroupwhichcanbeconfiguredasprivate
tothegroup,effectivelyprovidingstudentswithsecureonlineworkspaceswhichcannotbeviewed
byotherlearnersorgroups.

27.1 Create a group

OnthemainGroupspage,clicktheCreatenewgroup(s)icon .Youwillbepromptedtoenter
thenumberofgroupstocreate(thiswillspeeduptheprocessifyouwanttocreatemorethanone
group)andclicktheProceedtocreategroup(s)button:

Illustration141:Createagroup
Giveitaname,enterthenumberofemptyseatsyouwantinthegroup,andclickCreategroup(s).
Thenewgroupwillappearinthelistingsinthemain Groups page.Itcanbedeletedusingthe
usualDeleteicon .

27.2 Groups settings

AteachercanaccesssettingsforthegroupfromthetoolbarinthemainGroupspage.Clickingthe
Editsettings icon takesyoutoapagewhichallowsyoutolimitthenumberofgroupsan
individualusercanbelongto,andtomakedefaultsettingsforallgroupsincludingmaximumgroup
size, self registration and access privileges for all the associated tools (documents, agenda,
assignments,announcements,forum,wikiandchat):
128/176

Illustration142:Groupssettings
RemembertoclicktheSavesettingsbuttonatthebottomofthepage.Thesedefaultsettingscanbe
editedbytheteacherforeachgroupusingtheEditthisgroupicon totherightofeachgroup
listinginthemainpage.

129/176

27.3 Auto-filling a group

Toquicklyaddcoursememberstoagroup,clicktheAddusersicon ontherightofthegroup
listing on the main Groups page. Use the batch processing (dropdown list at the bottom) to
automatically fill several groups.Youcan't set parameters forfilling groups (e.g. alphabetical,
randometc),butyoucanalwayseditthegroupmembershipmanuallyafterwards.Youcanclearall
membersfromagroupbyclickingtheUnsubscribeallusersicon inthelisting.Ifyouhavea
longlistofgroupstomanage,usethecheckboxesontheleftandthebatchprocessingoption(i.e.
thedropdownlistatthebottom)toautomaticallyfillseveralgroups:

Illustration143:GroupsAutofillgroups

130/176

27.4 Fill a group manually

Foravarietyofreasons,ateachermaywanttoselectgroupmembersmanually,i.e.choosewhich
learnerswillworktogether,e.g.learnerswithsimilarinterestsorgoal,oranexperiencedlearner
withalatecomertothecourse.Todothis,(whetherornotthegroupshavealreadybeenautofilled)
clicktheEditthisgroupicon toaddusersmanually:

ation144:GroupsFillingagroupmanually

Illustr

Selectandadd/removeusersasrequiredusingthearrows.Anyusercanbeaddedasacoach(i.e.
groupleader,tutoretc.)orasaGroupmemberthiswillbeshowninthelisting.

27.5 Getting into a group space

Groupmemberscanaccessthegroup'sworkspacesimplybyclickingthenameoftherelevant
groupinthelistingonthemainGroupspage.Thepagewilldisplaythegroupdescription(e.g.alist
ofaimsandobjectives)anddetailsofmembership,aswellasit'sowntoolbaroflinkstothe
group'svarioustools(Forums,Documents,Agenda,Assignments,Announcements,Wikiandchat)
whichlinktothevarious(private)groupworkspaces:

131/176

Illustration145:GroupsGroupspace
Fromthegroupspace,youcanqueryalearner'sinformationsheetbysimplyclickingonhername
inthelistofmembersinthelowerpartofthepage.

27.6 Overview /Export of group members

AteachercanquicklyviewalistofgroupmembersbyclickingontheGroupsoverviewicon on
themainGroupspage.Fromhere,youcanusetheexportfeature,whichisdescribedmorefullyin
thechapterdedicatedtotheUserstool.JustclickontheExcelexporticon thenopenorsavethe
fileonyourcomputer.

132/176

27.7 Groups management

Ateachercanmanagegroupsintwowaysusingtheiconsontherightofeachlistinginthemain
Groupspage(listedbelow)tomanageindividualgroups,andusingthebatchmanagementfeature
(tickboxes,buttonsanddropdownlists)displayedonthesamepage,whichallowstheteacherto
applythesamefunctionstoseveralorallgroupsatonce.Usingthesemethodstogethercansavethe
teacheralotoftimeconsumingorganization.
Features

Icons
Updateagroup'ssettings

Deleteagroup(confirmationpopup)andallitscontents
Fillagroupwithusersautomatically
Emptythegroup

133/176

Chapter 28 Chat
TheChattool
isaninstantmessagingtoolwhichallowsusersinacoursetoexchangeideas,
questionsandanswersinlive,writtenconversation.
Whileitmayseemratherslow(threesecondsperpost)andlimitedinfeaturestotodaysonline
users,thebigadvantageofthistoolcomparedtoe.g.Skype,Facebookchattoolsisitworksaspart
oftheplatformand,assuch,doesnotrequireanyexternaltool,beingguaranteedtoworkonall
computerswiththecapabilitytouseChamilo.

Illustration146:Thechatwindow
IfusershaveconfiguredtheirpictureintheSocialnetwork(orProfile)tab,itwillappearnextto
theirname.It'suptotheteachertodeletepreviousmessageswhenheconsidersitnecessary.

28.1 Send a message

Enterthetextinsidethefieldlocatedatthebottomofthepage,thenclicktheSendmessagebutton.
Insidethemessageslist,themessagesfromtheteacherappearwithacorrespondingiconinfrontof
theuser'sname.

28.2 Empty messages

Youcandisconnectfromtheplatformandstillhaveaccesstopreviousmessages,providingyour
reconnectthesameday.
Todeleteaconversationbeforestartinganewone,clicktheClearthechatlink.
Note:Chathistorylogsarenormallysavedinsidethedocumentstool,inahiddenfoldercalled
Chathistory.Clearingthechatwillalsodeletethehistoryofthechatforthiswholedate.

134/176

Chapter 29 Survey
TheSurvey tool
allowstheteachertocollectinformation,viewsand opinions fromcourse
participants.Itmighttypicallybeusedduringorattheendofacourseasanaidtooverallcourse
evaluation,oritmaybeusedatthebeginningofacoursetogatherinformationaboutlearners'
interests,aspirations,previousachievementsetc.inordertohelptheteachertailoraspectsofthe
coursecontenttosuithislearners.

29.1 Survey creation

Tocreateasurvey,clicktheCreatesurveyicon

onthemainSurveypage:

Illustration147:SurveysCreationform
Completethefields,givingyoursurveyaCode,aTitle,andaSubtitle(description).Optionally,
youcansetastartandenddatesothesurveyisonlyavailableforalimitedtime.Youcanchoose
whetheryoursurveywillbeanonymous(users'answerswillnotbeidentifiable)bycheckingthe
relevantbox.Finally,writeasurveyintroduction(thisisatextthatwillappearjustbeforetheuser
startsthesurvey)andaFinalthanksmessage(thiswillappearwhentheusersfinishthesurvey,to
thankthemandmaybeinformthemofwhentheresultswillbecompiledandused).
135/176

Inthe Advancedsettings,youcanchoosewhetheryouwantthis surveytobeconsideredan

essentialelementoftheAssessments(Gradebook)stool,whetheryouwantittobeattachedtoa
parentsurvey(notdocumentedinthisguideyet),whetheryouwanttohaveonequestionperpage
orwhetheryouwanttoshufflequestions.
RemembertoclicktheCreatesurveybutton.

29.2 Add survey questions

Oncetheshellofyoursurveyhasbeencreated,you'llhavetodefineaseriesofquestionsusinga
fewpredefinedtypes(similarinmanywaystotheTeststool):Yes/No,MultipleChoice,Multiple
Answer,Open,Dropdown,Percentage,Performance,Comment.

Illustration148:SurveysQuestionscreation
Tocreatequestions,clicktherelevanticonandfillintherelevantfieldsasrequired.

136/176

29.3 Survey preview

Oncethequestionshavebeencreated,youcanpreviewyoursurveybeforepublishingitClickthe
Previewicon andthepreviewscreenleadsyouthroughthequestionsasifyouwerealearner:

Illustration149:SurveysPreviewsurvey

29.4 Survey publication

Ifyouaresatisfiedwiththesurvey,youjustneedtopublishit(makesureyoudon'tcontradict
yourselfwiththestartdate,sendingtheinvitationbyemailforasurveywhichisnotyetavailable!)
ClickthePublishicon

.Selectthecourseuserstosendthesurveyinvitationto:

Illustration150:SurveysPublication:selectcoursemembers
Inaddition/alternatively,sendinvitationsusingthesameformdirectlybyemail(separateemail
addressesusingsemicolons).Invitationscanbesenttopeoplewhoarenotregisteredusersonthe
platform(e.g.youmaywishtosendtheinvitationtopotentialcustomers,ortoparentsoflearners):

137/176

Illustration151:SurveysPublication:emailadditionalrecipients
Onceyouhavecompletedthefields,remembertoclickthePublishsurveybutton.
Note:youcanalsoinviteanonymousindividualswithoutrequiringanemailaddress(e.g.visitors
toawebpage)usingtheGenerateaccesslinkicon inthesurveylistings.

29.5 Results
Analyzingsurveyresultscanbeanexhaustingprocess.Thetoolsprovidedinthissectionshouldbe
of great assistance. Click the Reporting icon to view a menu of automatically generated
statisticalandgraphicalreports,eachofwhichwillpresentacompletereportwhichcanbeexported
asa.csvor.xmlfile.

Illustration152:SurveysResults
138/176

29.6 Surveys management

Aseriesofcommoniconsaremadeavailableforthemanagementofsurveys,aswellasafew
specificicons.
Icons

Features
Editsurveysettings
Deletesurveys
Emptysurveyresults

Surveypreview
Publishsurvey
Generatesurveyaccesslink
Accessreportfeatures
Changetheorderofthequestionsinsidethesurvey

139/176

Chapter 30 Notebook
ThePersonalnotes(orNotebook)tool
isakindofnotepadattachedtoeachcourse.Itallows
theuserstotakenoteofthingstheywouldotherwisewriteonapieceofpaper.

Illustration153:NotebookList
Notescanbeupdatedasneededanddatesofcreationandlatestupdatearesaved.Notestakenbya
userarenotvisiblebyotherusers.Inthissense,theyare,indeed,personal.

30.1 Notes creation

clickontheAddnewnoteinmypersonalnotebookicon
giveyournoteashorttitle,
writedownyournote,
clickCreatenote.

Illustration154:NotebookCreationform

30.2 Sort notes

UsingthetoolsinthetoolbarontheNotespage,notescanbesortedbydatecreated
modified orbytitle .

,datelast

140/176

Chapter 31 Projects
TheProjectsorBlogstool
wasdevelopedin2006attherequestofalargeBelgiantelecoms
company. The idea behind it was to implement a blog with lightweight project management
features, which was tagged under the name of Smart blogs.Its philosophy is to allow for the
assignmentoftaskstothelearnersinordertowritethecontentsofastorytellingtypeblog.
Theteachertakesresponsibilityforchoosinglearnerswhowillcontributetotheblog,anddefines
theprojectandtheassignmentoftasks(orrolestakenbythelearners).Thecreationofarticlesis
sharedbetweentheteacherandthelearners.
Thetoolcan,however,beusedasaclassicblog.
Note:Whenanewprojectiscreated,itappearsinthelistofcourseAuthoringtoolsonthecourse
homepage. Its visibility can be controlled like that of other tools. One main difference by
comparisontoothertoolsisthatonecancreateseveralblogsinthesamecourse.Theywillappear
asmultipleentriesintheAuthoringtoolsinmuchthesamewayaswithlinksandlearningpaths.

Illustration155:ProjectsList

31.1 Project creation

Fromtheprojectshomepage:
clicktheCreateanewprojecticon,
giveyourprojectanameandashortdescription,
clickSaveblog.

Illustration156:BlogsBlogcreation

141/176

31.2 Subscribe learners to a project

Yourcanmanageseveralprojectswithinthesamecourse,andthereforeselectindividuallearnersto
contributetoeachproject.
Tosubscribelearnerstoaprojectfromthehomepageofthisproject:
clicktheUsersmanagementicon ,
checktheboxesnexttothelearnersyouwanttoassociatewiththisproject,
clicktheValidatebutton.

Illustration157:ProjectsUsersmanagement

31.3 New article/task

Fromtheproject'shomepage:
clicktheNewtaskicon :
givethearticleaname,
writedowntherealarticle,
attachadocument(optional),
clicktheSavebutton.

142/176

Illustration158:ProjectsNewtask

31.4 Roles management

TheRolesmanagementicon

displaysapagelistingtheroles/taskscreatedandassignedtousers:

Illustration159:ProjectsRolesmanagement
FromtheRolesmanagementpageyoucancreatedetailedtasksofaprojectsteporassignrolesto
themembersofaproject.
143/176

Tocreateanewtask/role:
clicktheAddanewroleicon ,
givetheroleatitle,descriptionandassignpermissions,
chooseacolorusingtothedropdownbar,
clickSave.

Illustration161:ProjectsNewrole
Thenewroleappearsintheroleslist.

31.5 Assign a role to a learner

Oncetherolehasbeencreated,youmustassignittoalearner:
clickontheAssignroleslink ,
selectalearnertoassigntheroleto,
selectthetasktobeassigned,
selectadatetoachievetheobjectiveoftherole,
clicktheValidatebutton.

Illustration162:ProjectsAssignarole
144/176

31.6 Indicate the execution of a task

Whetherforateacheroralearner,tasksassignedtoanyuserareshownatthebottomleftofthe
projectspageundersectionMytasks.
Toindicatethesuccessfulexecutionofatask:
clickonanexecutedtask,
intheprojectstepslist,selectthearticleyouwanttoattachthetaskto,
intheresultingscreen,fillthetaskname,acommentandoptionallyadocument,
clickSave.
Theexecutionreportofthetaskappearsasacommenttothearticle.

Illustration163:ProjectsTaskscomments

145/176

31.7 Learners' task management

ByclickingtheUsersrightsmanagementicon intherolesmanagementpage,yougetatable
describingusersrightswithintheprojectwhichcanbeeditedasappropriate.Clickontheredhasn't
rightsicons orthegreenhasrightsticks totogglebetweenthem.

Illustration164:ProjectsUsersmanagement

146/176

Chapter 32 Course settings

TheSettingstool
intheAdministrationsectionofthecoursehomepageallowsyoutoeditthe
overallbehaviourofthecourse(mostoptionswillaffectseveraltools).Althoughitisplacedina
remotelocationatthebottomofthepage(andattheendofthismanual),itisgenerallyagoodidea
touseitatthebeginningofyourcoursetomanagesubscriptionsettingsandcourseaccess(see
later:VisibilityandaccessVisibilityandaccesssection).
Note: Course tutors using the course inside the session will not have access to this tool as
configurationchangesmightaffectothersessions.

32.1 Update general course settings

Bydefault,thispage(aseriesofverticaltabs)displaysthemainCoursesettingswhereyoucan:
enteroreditthecoursetitle,
enter/editthegeneralcategorytowhichthecoursebelongs,
choosethelanguageinwhichthecourseinterfaceisset(thiscanbesettolanguageotherthanthat
oftheplatform,particularlyusefulforatotalimmersionlanguagecourse).
enteraDepartmentnameand/orwebaddress
addapicturetobedisplayedinthecoursecatalogue(importantformarketingyourcourse)
chooseastylesheetforthiscoursefromadropdownmenu(bydefaultthatoftheplatform)

Illustration165:CoursesettingsGeneral

147/176

Illustration166:CoursescatalogExampleofcoursesillustrations
Note:theDepartmentisafeatureforwhichsupporthasbeendroppedsofar.Dependingonvisual
styles,thedepartmentmightappearasalinkinthecampusheader(forold,deprecatedstyles).This
isalladepartmentwillchange.InmorerecentversionofChamilo1.8,ifyouneedtomanage
coursesbydepartmentsinsideauniversity,werecommendyouusethemultiurlfeature,described
intheadministrator'sguide,littlebrotherofthisguide.

32.2 Visibility and access

The Courseaccess section allowsyoutodefinehowopenaccesstoyourcoursewillbeby
selectingthe Coursevisibility settings(alreadydescribedin Controlcourseaccess onpage 20).
Thesesettings(public,open,privateorclosed)arefullydefinedonthepage.Onthispageyoucan
also:
obtainadirectlinktosende.g.viaemailorawebpagetoinviteregistrationtothiscourse
allowselfsubscriptionandunsubscription
providearegistrationpasswordtoallowaccessbyunsubscribedusers
establishlegaltermstobedisplayedonentrytothecourse

148/176

32.3 E-mail notifications

Emailnotifications areaeffectivewaytoensuretheteacherisaware,throughimmediatealerts,
ofkeyeventsinhiscourseastheyhappen.Thevarioussettingsarefillydescribedonthesection:

Illustration167:CoursesettingsEmailnotifications
Inthissection,youcanchoosetoreceiveanemailnotificationif:
ausersubscribedtoyourcourse(thisfeaturehastobeenabledbytheplatformadmin),
anewfileissubmittedintheAssignmentsortheDropboxtools,
atestispassedbyalearner.
Itisalsopossibletosetanemailnotificationtoalluserswhenanewassignmentiscreated.

32.4 User rights

The User rights section allows you to set particular permissions for users in this course,
includingtherighttoaddeventstotheAgenda,toaddAnnouncements.Italsoallowsyoutohide
personaluserpicturesintheForums,aswellasdecidewhetherusershaveaccesstotheUserslist.
(Note:Thisisindependentofthevisibilityofthetoolinthecoursehomepageandisarealaccess
change(thevisibilityoftoolsisonlyahomepagesettinganddoesnotpreventusersenteringthe
tooliftheyknowtheURL).

Illustration168:CoursesettingsUsersrights
149/176

32.5 Chat settings

Inthe Chat section , selectingtheappropriateoptionallowsyoutochoosewhetherthechat
openswithininthepageorinanewwindow:

Illustration169:CoursesettingsChatsettings

32.6 Learning path settings

TheLearningpathsection canbeusedtoenabletheautolaunchoflearningpathsandthestyle
(orgraphicaltheme)forthecourse.

Illustration170:CoursesettingsLearningpathsettings
Theautolaunchfeatureallowstheteachertoselectonespecificlearningpathtoautostartwhenthe
userentersthecoursehomepage.Inordertousethisfeature,you'llneedtoenabletheoptioninthe
coursesettings(rememberingtosavethechanges)thengotothelearningpathslistandclickonthe
rocketiconwhichrepresentstheautolaunchofoneofthelearningpaths:

Illustration171:LearningpathsAutolaunch
Onlyonelearningpathcanbesetasautolaunchatatime,anditwillstartassoonasthelearner
entersthecoursehomepage.Otherlearningpathsshowagrayrocketicon.Totestthisoption,you'll
havetoconnectasalearnerasithasbeendisabledforteachersforpracticalreasons.
Aslongastheplatformadministratorhasenabledthisfeature,theteachercanselectthe Allow
trainingthemeoption tochoosethegraphicalstyleofhiscourse.Itisalsopossibletoselecta
150/176

separatethemeforanindividualLearningPath.Thismeansthatalearnermighttheoreticallyenter
hisChamilocampus,seetheplatforminaparticularvisualstyle,(e.g.mostlyblue),enteracourse
andseethestylechangetored,thenenteralearningpathandseethestylemostlygreen...For
visualcomfort,itisrecommended,however,toavoidstylechangesunlesstheyarejustifiedforreal
pedagogicalreasons.
Note: alearner will be able to return tothe course homepage from the left menu inside the
learningpath.Theideahereisnottodisableorhidethecoursehomepage,butrathertospeed
accesstothecoursecontent.

32.7 Thematic advance settings

ThisThematicadvancesection allowsyoutochoosewhichoptionsfortheCourseprogresswill
bevisibleonthecoursehomepage(ontherighthandsideoftheintroductionsection).

Illustration172:CoursessettingsCourseprogress
Theseoptionsrequireaproperunderstandingofthecourseprogresstool.Theresultsofthethird
option,forexample,willbesimilartotheonesshowintheillustrationbelow).

Illustration173:CourseprogressDisplayoncoursehomepage

151/176

Chapter 33 Backup
Chamilomakes adistinctionbetweenmaintenancetoolsandcoursesettingstosimplifycourse
maintenance and backup. Deleting, emptying, copying, saving or recovering the contents of a
course(partlyorcompletely)canbeexecutedquicklyandefficientlyusingtheBackuptool :

Illustration174:BackupGeneral
Note:Featuresforsaving,copying,recoveringetc.havebeendevelopedwiththeintentionof
managingcontent.Forthisreason,interactionswithorbetweenusersarenotsaved.Tosavethem,
you'llhavetoaskyourplatformadministratortodoafullbackupoftheportal.Ifyouarethe
administrator,thisprocedureisdescribedintheadminguide.

152/176

33.1 Create a backup

For security and procedural reasons, it is recommended that you create a backup copy of the
completecontentsofyourcourse.Thisprocedureisautomated.Itallowsyoutocreateeithera
completebackuporapartialbackup,basedonyourselectionofwhattosave,usingafewsimple
clicks.Tobeginbackup:
clickontheCreatebackuplinkintheBackupandimportsection ,
onthenextpage,selectwhetheryouwantafullcopyorjustaselectionofelements(inwhich
caseyouwillhavetoselectthemonthenextpageandclickValidate),
clicktheCreatebackupbuttontolaunchtheprocedure.

Illustration175:MaintenanceBackupcreation
Thebackupismadeavailableintheformofacompressedfilewhichyoucandownloadonyour
computer.Itisalsostoredontheserverforquickrestorationifneeded.

33.2 Import backup

Each backup is a compressed file (a Zip file) which is stored on the server (in the archive/
directory).Itcanalsobedownloadedtoyourcomputer.
Chamiloalsoallowsyoutoimportthecontentsofabackupcopyinsideanewemptycourse.This
canbeusefulforateachercreatinganewcourse.
Tostarttheimport:
clicktheImportbackuplinkintheBackupandimportsection
153/176

 choosethesourceofbackup:eithera.zipfileonyourcomputeroronestoredontheserver,
choosewhetheryouwanttoimportthewholecourseoronlyspecificsections(tobeselectedin
thenextscreen),
decidewhethertoduplicatespecificfilesduringtheimportationoperationortoreplacethem,
clickImportbackuptostarttheimport.

Illustration176:BackupImport

Note:Amessagewillconfirmthebackuprestorationexecutedsuccessfully

33.3 Copy course

TheCopycoursefeature allowsyoutocopyallorpartofacoursetoanother(empty)course.To
useit,youfirstneedtohaveanothercourseavailabletocopyitto.
FromtheBackuppage:
clickCopycourse,
selectthedestinationcourse
selecttheelementstocopy(allorpartoftheorigincourse)
selectwhattodowhenthefilesinthedestinationcoursealreadyexist(renameoroverwrite),
clicktheCopycoursebutton.
Note:Amessagewillconfirmifthecoursewassuccessfullycopied

154/176

33.4 Empty this course

TheEmptythiscoursefeature empties(recycles)eitherthewholecourseorselectedelements.
Itdeletesdocuments,forums,links,etc.Thisprocedurecanbeexecutedafteracoursehasended
andwhenyouwanttostartanewinthesamespace.Ofcourse,itisgenerallyrecommendedthat
youkeepahistoryofthesecourses.
Warning:Beforeyouemptythecourse,makesureyoutakeabackupcopy,justincase!
Toemptyacourse:
clickontheEmptythiscourselink,
selectwhetheryouwanttoemptythewholecourseorjustspecifictools,
clicktheEmptythiscoursebuttontoproceed.

Illustration177:MaintenanceEmptycourse

33.4.1 Delete the course area

ClicktheDeletethecoursearea linktodeletethecoursecompletelyfromtheserver.
Giventhefactthere'snowaybackfromthis,wehighlyrecommendyouconsiderthistwicebefore
confirmingit.
Warning:Thisfeatureshouldbeusedwithextremecaution!

Illustration178:MaintenanceCoursedeleting
155/176

Chapter 34 The Reporting tab

ThischapterrelatedtoReportingtabasopposedtothereportingtooldiscussedinearlierchapters
whichisaccessedfromthecoursehomepageandrelatesonlytothatspecificcourse.TheReporting
tab allowsyoutogetanoverviewofwhat'shappeninginside all yourcoursesorsessions. The
Reporting linkinsideacourseisessentiallyjustafilteredversionofthefollowingandhasbeen
describedindetailinchapter15,soyoucanrefertothatchapterasregardsthedetails ofthe
reportingpages.

34.1 Own courses and sessions reporting

ThemainpageoftheReporting tabdisplays summarytablesofferingageneraloverview,some
statisticsrelatingtousersonyourcourses(eachentryshowssomestatisticaldatawhichallowsyou
totracktheprogressandtheresultsofalllearnersasanaveragevalue),andalistofcoursesand
sessionsforwhichyouareresponsible:

Illustration179:Reportingtabmainpage
ClickingtheDetailsicon willshowyouamoredetailedlistforthatspecificcourseorsession.
Clickingonfurther Details iconinanyofthosescreenswillshowyouadeeperlevelofdetail.
Thereareabout45levelsofdetailandthisguidedoesnotcoverthemall.Werecommendyoutake
sometimetohavealookthroughalltheoptionsandseewhichreportbestmeetsyourneeds.

156/176

Chapter 35 Social network

Chamilorecognizesthateffectiveonlinesocialinteractionisanimportantelementinsuccessful
online learning. The Social Network facility offered on the platform is designed to optimize
support, within the platform, for teachers and learners wanting to make use of various social
network features as an integral part of their online learning (and teaching) experience. These
includesimpleprofiling,aninternalmessagingsystemavailabletousersandthefacilitytocreate
interestgroups.(Notethatsomeofthesefeaturesneedtobeenabledbytheplatformadministrator.)

Illustration180:SocialnetworkHome

35.1 Profile information

Toenter/edityourpersonaldetails,gototheSocialnetworktab:
clicktheEditprofilelink,
updatethefields,
clickSavesettings.
Profileoptionsallowyoutoedityourname,yourChamilocode,youremailandyouphonenumber,
aswellasaprofile pictureandpreferred language.Otherfields(ifenabledbytheadministrator)
allow you to choose a graphical theme and enter details of personal competences, diplomas
(qualifications), and what you are able to teach. You can upload any relevant file using
productions, and write any other relevant information in my personal open area. More recent
versionsofChamiloalsoinviteyoutoenter/edityour password, tags, rss feeds, timezone, email
notifications,yourGooglecalendarURL,yourcountry,yourbirthdayandevenarangeofpersonal
socialnetworkinglinks:

157/176

Illustration181:SocialnetworkExtendedprofileupdate
Remembertoclickthesavebuttonwhenyou'vecompletedentering/editingyourprofiledetails!

158/176

35.2 Internal messaging

From the Social network tab (left menu) the Messages entry allows you to send or receive
messages.Itissimilartomostmessagingtools.

Illustration182:SocialnetworkInternalmessagingInbox
Towriteamessagetoanotheruser(orafriend)subscribedtotheplatform:
clicktheMessageslinkbelowyourpicture,
clicktheComposemessageicon ,
Chamilowillautocompletethesendtofieldwithknowncontacts,
enterthesubjectandmessage(optionallyyoucanaddanattachedfile),
clicktheSendmessagebutton.
Iftherecipienthasenteredtheiremailintheirprofile,themessagewillalsogoautomaticallygoto
theiremailaddress.
Note:Iftheotheruserhaschosento,themessagewillalsobesenttohisemailasanotificationof
internalmessage.However,hewillhavetoentertheplatformtoansweryou.

35.3 Friends
IntheSocialnetworktab,youcanmakecontactsandinvitethemasFriends(aratherfreeuseofthe
termfriend!).Youcansearchforpeopleby:
clickingtheInvitationslinkintheleftmenu
clickSearch.

Bysimplyenteringafewcharactersoftheuser'sfirstorlastname,Chamilowillhelpbyproposing
alistofusersmatchingthesecharacters.Theinvitationcanthenbesenttotheuser,whocanchoose
whethertoacceptorrefuseit.

159/176


Illustration183:Socialnetworksendandreceiveinvitations
TheFriendslink gathersallfriendsyouhavelinkedtoontheplatform.Itallowsyoutoseethe
sharedprofileoftheuserandsendhimamessagewithaclickonhisname.

Illustration184:SocialnetworkSharedprofile

35.4 Social groups

TheSocialgroupslink compilestogetherallgroupsthatexistontheplatform.Thesegroupscan
onlybecreatedbyadministrators,unlesstheyhaveenabledthisoptionforallusers.
Therearetwotypesofgroups,dependingonaccess:
public(everybodycanjoin)
private(thegroupadministratormustauthorizethemembershiprequest)

160/176

Illustration185:SocialnetworkSocialgroups
TheMygroupstabliststhegroupsofwhichyouareamember.Thesegroupsworkasaforum.The
administrator(ormoderator)createsdiscussiontopicsandusersstartcontributing.

Illustration186:SocialnetworkSocialgroupsinterface

161/176

35.5 My files
Ausercanusethe Myfiles link inthesocialnetworktouploadandstorepersonalfiles(e.g.
profilepictures,notes,assignmentdocumentsetc.).Thelinkbringsupaninterfacewheretheuser
canuploadandorganizefilesontheserver:

Illustration187:SocialnetworkMyfiles
Filescanbeviewedordownloadedbyclickingonthem.

162/176

Chapter 36 Session view

FromChamilo1.8.8platformsonwards,ifyourplatformusesCoursesessionsanewviewtypehas
becomeavailablefromtheMycoursestab.Thisisaspecialsessionsview,whichyouwillfindis
averydifferentwayofpresentingcoursesandtools(specificallylearningpathsandtests).

Illustration188:MycoursesSessions
OnemaindifferencefrompreviousversionsofChamiloisthatthesessiontitleisnowalinkwhich
leadsdirectlytoapagewhoseappearancediffersinmanywaysfromtherestofChamilo.(Thisisa
newformatofpresentationthatwewillbestudyingoverthenextfewmonths,andwe'recounting
on your help and feedback. Do let us know what you think on the Chamilo forum:
http://www.chamilo.org/)
Thisnewconceptreliesessentiallyonanewwayofsettinguptestsandlearningpathsbasedon
timescales.Bymakingsureeachexerciseandlearningpathhasastartandenddate,thedatashown
inthesescreensmakefarmoresense.(Assuch,itisnotwellsuitedtoasynchronousteachingi.e.
purelyremoteelearning,withitsrelativelyfreetimescales.)

Illustration189:SessionsNewsessionscreen
163/176

Clickontherelevantsessionicon displayedintheMycoursespageThemainscreendisplays
fourtabs:Courses,Learningpaths,MyMCQ(MultipleChoiceQuestions),andMystatistics

36.1 Courses tab

TheCoursestabshowsalistofcoursesavailableinsidethesessions.Clickononeofthesecourses
(thetextwillturnblack)tofiltertherestofthetabstoshowonlyitemsfromthiscourse.
Clickingdirectlyononeofthetabswillshowacompletelistofallcorrespondingresourcesinthe
session(ifyoudon'tclickononespecificcourseinthefirsttab,theLearningpathstabwillshow
alllearningpathsinthesession,allcoursesmixedup).

36.2 Learning paths tab

TheLearningpathstabshowsalistoflearningpathsinthesession,filteredaccordingtocourse(as
longasyouclickedacourseinthefirsttab).

Illustration190:SessionsLearningpaths
Thepublicationdateofeachlearningpathgivesyouanideaofthechronologicalorderofthe
learningpaths.Whereyouhaveseveralsimultaneouscourses(whichmightbethecaseinasession)
allofferingseverallearningpaths,organizingtherightlearningpathsschedulewillprovidethe
learnerwithaclearindicationoftheorderinwhichweexpecthimtofollowthem.Thelearnercan
enteralearningpathdirectlyfromthisscreen,simplybyclickingitsname.
Note:therearethreeviewtypesforlearningpaths:All,Perweek,Bycourse.Theydonotaffectthe
waycontentsareordered,sodon'thesitatetotrythemout.

164/176

36.3 My MCQ tab

TheMyMCQtabcontainsalltestspertainingtocoursesinthesession,sortedbypublicationdate.
Becausethedisplayofthesetestisrelative(comparingresultstothoseofotherlearners)andisina
chronologicalorder,itisdoublycriticaltoestablishpublicationdatesforallyourtests.

Illustration191:SessionsMyQCMtab
Exerciseswhichhavenotyetbeenattemptedareindicatedbyayellowstar .Thenumberof
attemptsisindicatedaswellastheexerciseresults,andalsothehighestscoresobtainedbyany
learnerinthesession.Finally,thepositioninthetablereflectsalearner'srelativeresultswithinthis
session.Byclickingthetesttitle,thelearnergoesdirectlytothetestor,onceallattemptshavebeen
exhausted,directlytothetestresultsscreen.

165/176

36.4 My statistics tab

TheMystatisticstaboffersteachersandlearnersaninnovativesetoffeatures,providedpublication
dateshavebeenestablishedforexercises.Learnerswillthenbeabletoseeavisualresultoftheir
scoresincomparisonwiththoseofotherlearners.

Illustration192:SessionsMystatisticstab
Byclickingthedoublebluearrowforanycourse,you'llbeabletoviewaseriesofmoredetailed
resultinformation:

166/176

Illustration193:SessionsStatisticaldetails
Thisdetailedviewpresentsagraphicalvisualizationofthescoresrepartition.Eachbarrepresentsa
rank of results (020%, 2140%, 4160%, 6180%, 81100%). The global chart represents the
repartitionofallstudents'resultsforthisexercise.Theorangebaristhebarinwhichthecurrent
user'sresultsarelocated.Youcanclickthecharttogetanexplodedview.

167/176

Chapter 37 Appendix
37.1 Glossary

Administrator:ThemasteruserwhocontrolsandmanagestheChamiloportalglobally.
Courseadministrator:Seeteacher
Student:Seelearner
Courseassistant:alearnerwithadditionalrightslimitedtoaspecificcourse:hecantrack
otherlearners'results,checktheirassignmentsandtheirtestresults
Coach:ateacherofacourseinthecontextofaSession
Course:acoursearea,orcoursespace,withits20oddtools
Learner:Auserwhohastheright,withinacourse,toaccessresourcesastheteacher
preparedthem
Trainer:Seeteacher
Training:Seecourse.Inversions1.8.5to1.8.8ofChamilo,thetermTrainingreplacedthe
term Course, resultinginanawfullotofconfusion,notonlyinEnglish,butalsoinother
languages which depended on English for translations. The term can be of course be
redefinedoneachportaldependingonneedsthroughtheportaladministrationinterface,but
Courseisthetermusedgloballynow.
Teacher:Theuserwhocreatesand/orcontrolsacourse(outwiththeSessioncontext)
Tutor:SeeCoach
User:AnyuserwhohasanaccesstoyourChamiloportal,regardlessofhisrole

37.2 Frequently asked questions

Thislistofshortquestionsandanswersmighthelpyousortouthowtodospecificthingswith
Chamilowhicharenotexplicitlyexplainedinthepreviouschapters.

37.2.1 How can I set a survey as a requirement to complete a

course?
ThenotionofcompletingacoursecanonlybebuiltupontheAssessmentstool,bysettingupa
certificatethatwillonlybegeneratedwhenachievingacertainsetoflearningobjectives(exercises,
learningpaths,assignments,etc).Surveyscanthenbeconfiguredasalockingmechanismwhere
astudentcannotgetacertificateifhedoesn'tcompletethesurvey.
Todothis,gotothesurveytoolandcreateyoursurvey.IntheAdvancedsettings,checktheQualify
ingradebookboxandselectaweightof50(yes,50,that'susuallyquitelarge).
NowgototheAssessmentstoolandclickthepercentageicon(Weightinreport).Whateverthetotal
weighthasbeensetto,ensurethatthesurveyisworthhalfofit(ifthetotalweightis100,the
survey mustweight50,butyoucanalsosetthetotalweightto200andmakethesurveyweigh
168/176

100).Theotherobjectives,combined,willbeworthhalftheweight.Thismeansthat,evenifthe
learnerhas thebestresults,hewillonlyeverbeabletoachievea50%score,whichshouldn'tbe
enoughtogetthecertificate.Becausethesurveyisjustayes/notypeofresult(answeredornot
answered),thereisnoothereasywaytomakethesurveybearequiredelement.
Oncethelearnerhascompletedthesurvey,hisresultswilljumpuptothesufficientresulttogethis
certificate.
Justmakesurethattheavailabilitydatesforyoursurveydonotpreventcompletelyausergetting
hiscertificate,justbecausehecan'ttakethevalidationsurvey.

37.2.2 How can I create a crosswords-type question?

Inanyexercise,createanew Filltheblanks typequestion.Inthequestioneditingbox(online
media editor), click the Table icon and choose how many rows and columns you want your
crosswordstobe.Nowfillthecrosswordswithletters.Onceyou'redone,selectthelettersyouwant
userstofindoutandreplacethemwiththesameletterwithbracketsaroundit.Theseletterswill
nowdisappearfromthestudentviewandthey'llbeabletocompletethetablethatway.

37.3 Document license

Allrightreserved.
Rightsgivenbythecopyleftlicensesareindicatedbelow.
Copyright(c)20072i2LSarl.Permissionisgrantedtocopy,distributeand/ormodifythisdocument
under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version
publishedbytheFreeSoftwareFoundation;withnoInvariantSections,noFrontCoverTexts,and
no BackCover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free
DocumentationLicense".
Thecontentsofthistutorialareavailableunderadoublecopyleftlicense:
GNUFDL:http://www.gnu.org/licenses/fdl.txt
and
CCBYSA:http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bysa/2.0/fr/
AsmallamountofillustrationshavebeenborrowedfromtheOpenClipartlibrary.
Inthetruespiritofsoftwarefreedom,allfixesandupdatestothistutorialarewelcomeatthisemail
address:info@chamilo.org

169/176

37.4 Illustrations index

Illustration1:Righttouse,studyandmodify,shareanddistributethesoftware................................8
Illustration2:Iconslabel....................................................................................................................10
Illustration3:Foldedhelp..................................................................................................................11
Illustration4:Unfoldedhelp..............................................................................................................11
Illustration5:Contextualhelppopup................................................................................................11
Illustration6:HistoryofChamiloinstallationsaroundtheworld,uptoMay2013..........................12
Illustration7:Homepage....................................................................................................................15
Illustration8:"Mycourses"page.......................................................................................................16
Illustration9:Chamiloheader............................................................................................................17
Illustration10:BreadcrumbNavigation.............................................................................................17
Illustration11:Studentview..............................................................................................................17
Illustration12:Personalmenublocks................................................................................................18
Illustration13:Creatingacourseshortversion...............................................................................18
Illustration14:Createacourseextendedversion............................................................................19
Illustration15:Coursecreationfollowuppage.................................................................................19
Illustration16:Courseadministrationtools.......................................................................................20
Illustration17:CoursesettingsVisibility........................................................................................20
Illustration18:Sortmycourses..........................................................................................................21
Illustration19:Personalcategorycreationform................................................................................21
Illustration20:Personalcoursescategorycreated.............................................................................21
Illustration21:Personalcoursescategories.......................................................................................22
Illustration22:Coursescatalog..........................................................................................................22
Illustration23:CoursetoolsClassicaloption..................................................................................24
Illustration24:Authoringtoolsinipadtypeview..............................................................................25
Illustration25:CoursehomepageIntroductiontext........................................................................26
Illustration26:Authoringtools..........................................................................................................27
Illustration27:Interactiontools.........................................................................................................30
Illustration28:Administrationtools..................................................................................................32
Illustration29:Documentscreatingdirectories.............................................................................34
Illustration30:DocumentsListofdefaultdirectories.....................................................................35
Illustration31:DocumentsIconsUpload......................................................................................36
Illustration32:DocumentsDocumentsupload...............................................................................36
Illustration33:DocumentsDocumentsuploadinprogress............................................................36
Illustration34:DocumentsDocumentuploadfinished...................................................................37
Illustration35:Documentstoolbar...................................................................................................37
Illustration36:DocumentsCreatinganewdocument....................................................................38
Illustration37:DocumentsDownloadacopy.................................................................................40
Illustration38:DocumentsOptions.................................................................................................40
Illustration39:DocumentsQuota....................................................................................................41
Illustration40:Documentsquotachart..............................................................................................41
Illustration41:ImagegallerySlideshowview.................................................................................42
Illustration42:Thumbnailsview........................................................................................................42
Illustration43:ExercisesCreateanewtest.....................................................................................44
Illustration44:ExercisesList...........................................................................................................44
170/176

Illustration45:ExercisesCreatinganexerciseAdvancedoptions...............................................44
Illustration46:Firstviewofthequestionslist...................................................................................48
Illustration47:ExercisesQuestiontypes........................................................................................48
Illustration48:TestsMultiplechoice,singleanswer......................................................................50
Illustration49:TestsMultipleanswerquestion..............................................................................51
Illustration50:TestsFilltheblanks.................................................................................................52
Illustration51:TestsMatchingtextelements.................................................................................53
Illustration52:TestsOpenquestions...............................................................................................54
Illustration53:TestsOralexpression..............................................................................................55
Illustration54:ExercisesHotspotquestioncreation.......................................................................57
Illustration55:ExercisesHotspotlearnerview..............................................................................58
Illustration56:TestsExactcombination..........................................................................................59
Illustration57:Testsuniqueanswerwithunknown........................................................................60
Illustration58:TestsMultipleanswertrue/false/don'tknow..........................................................61
Illustration59:TestsCombinationtrue/false/don'tknow...............................................................62
Illustration60:TestsGlobalmultipleanswer.................................................................................63
Illustration61:TestsQuestionsdatabase........................................................................................64
Illustration62:TestsimportexternaltestsfromTestspage............................................................65
Illustration63:TestsImportHotPotatoes,Qti2andExceltests......................................................65
Illustration64:ExercisesList...........................................................................................................66
Illustration65:ExercisesResultslist..............................................................................................66
Illustration66:ForumGlobalview.................................................................................................67
Illustration67:ForumDisplaymodes.............................................................................................68
Illustration68:ForumNewcategory..............................................................................................68
Illustration69:ForumForumcreationform...................................................................................69
Illustration70:ForumDiscussionthread........................................................................................71
Illustration71:Assigningamaximumscoretoadiscussionthread..................................................72
Illustration72:ForumMarkingathread.........................................................................................73
Illustration73:Thelearningpathtool:...............................................................................................75
Illustration74:LearningpathsCreatinganewlearningpath..........................................................76
Illustration75:LearningpathsLearningpathsAddingalearningobjectoractivity...................77
Illustration76:LearningpathsSettings...........................................................................................77
Illustration77:Addingalearningobjectoractivitytoacourse........................................................78
Illustration78:LearningpathsRichmediacreationtool................................................................78
Illustration79:LearningpathsImportingexistingresources..........................................................79
Illustration80:LearningpathsNewsections..................................................................................79
Illustration81:LearningpathsLearner'sview................................................................................80
Illustration82:LearningpathsImportSCORM..............................................................................80
Illustration83:LearningpathsList.................................................................................................81
Illustration84:LearningpathsPrerequisites...................................................................................82
Illustration85:LearningpathsPrerequisitesoptions......................................................................82
Illustration86:ReportingLearners.................................................................................................84
Illustration87:Reportingindividualstudent'sdetails.....................................................................85
Illustration88:UsersAccessdetails................................................................................................85
Illustration89:Reportonresource.....................................................................................................86
Illustration90:Examtracking............................................................................................................87
171/176

Illustration91:Assignmentsettings...................................................................................................88
Illustration92:Createanewassignment............................................................................................89
Illustration93:Student'sassignmentpaper........................................................................................90
Illustration94:Mainpageforanassignmentsetbytheteacher.......................................................90
Illustration95:AssignmentsAdvancedsettings.............................................................................91
Illustration96:Assignmentssettingexpirydates............................................................................92
Illustration97:Markingstudents'assignments..................................................................................93
Illustration98:UsersMainscreen...................................................................................................94
Illustration99:UsersActionbuttons...............................................................................................94
Illustration100:AssessmentsExampleteacherview......................................................................97
Illustration101:AssessmentsExamplelearnerview......................................................................97
Illustration102:AssessmentsGeneralsettings...............................................................................98
Illustration103:AssessmentsWeights............................................................................................99
Illustration104:AssessmentsSkillsranking...................................................................................99
Illustration105:AssessmentsCertificatetemplatecreation..........................................................100
Illustration106:Tagsforuse...........................................................................................................100
Illustration107:AssessmentsCertificatestemplateslist..............................................................101
Illustration108:AssessmentsClassroomactivity.........................................................................101
Illustration109:AssessmentsClassroomactivitiesFillinginresults........................................102
Illustration110:AssessmentsAddonlineactivity........................................................................102
Illustration111:AssessmentsListview........................................................................................103
Illustration112:Assessmentscreatingcategories.........................................................................104
Illustration113:WikiMainpage..................................................................................................105
Illustration114:TheLinkspage.......................................................................................................108
Illustration115:LinksAddacategory...........................................................................................108
Illustration116:LinksAddlink.....................................................................................................109
Illustration117:Announcementspage.............................................................................................111
Illustration118:Addanannouncement...........................................................................................111
Illustration119:Announcementslearnerview..............................................................................112
Illustration120:GlossaryTableview...........................................................................................113
Illustration121:Glossaryaddaterm............................................................................................113
Illustration122:GlossaryListview..............................................................................................114
Illustration123:Attendancesmainpage.......................................................................................115
Illustration124:AttendancesNewattendancesform....................................................................115
Illustration125:AttendancesIntermediarystepfordatescreation...............................................116
Illustration126:Attendancescalendar.............................................................................................116
Illustration127:Attendancessheet..................................................................................................117
Illustration128:CourseprogressLearnerview............................................................................118
Illustration129:CourseprogressTeacherview............................................................................118
Illustration130:Courseprogressinvitationtocreateathematicplan..........................................119
Illustration131:Courseprogressinvitationtocreateathematicplan/advance............................119
Illustration132:Courseprogressexampletitleanddescriptionfields.........................................120
Illustration133:CourseprogressStepscreation...........................................................................120
Illustration134:PersonalAgenda....................................................................................................121
Illustration135:Addinganeventdirectlytothecalendar...............................................................122
Illustration136:AddinganeventusingtheAddeventtool.............................................................122
172/176

Illustration137:Export,editordeleteanevent...............................................................................123
Illustration138:Dropboxsentfiles...............................................................................................124
Illustration139:DropboxSendingafile.......................................................................................125
illustration140:DropboxComments.............................................................................................126
Illustration141:Createagroup........................................................................................................127
Illustration142:Groupssettings.....................................................................................................128
Illustration143:GroupsAutofillgroups......................................................................................129
Illustration144:GroupsFillingagroupmanually........................................................................130
Illustration145:GroupsGroupspace............................................................................................131
Illustration146:Thechatwindow....................................................................................................133
Illustration147:SurveysCreationform........................................................................................134
Illustration148:SurveysQuestionscreation.................................................................................135
Illustration149:SurveysPreviewsurvey......................................................................................136
Illustration150:SurveysPublication:selectcoursemembers......................................................136
Illustration151:SurveysPublication:emailadditionalrecipients................................................137
Illustration152:SurveysResults...................................................................................................137
Illustration153:NotebookList......................................................................................................139
Illustration154:NotebookCreationform.....................................................................................139
Illustration155:ProjectsList.........................................................................................................140
Illustration156:BlogsBlogcreation............................................................................................140
Illustration157:ProjectsUsersmanagement................................................................................141
Illustration158:ProjectsNewtask................................................................................................142
Illustration159:ProjectsRolesmanagement.................................................................................142
Illustration160:ProjectsRolesmanagementpage.......................................................................142
Illustration161:ProjectsNewrole................................................................................................143
Illustration162:ProjectsAssignarole.........................................................................................143
Illustration163:ProjectsTaskscomments....................................................................................144
Illustration164:ProjectsUsersmanagement................................................................................145
Illustration165:CoursesettingsGeneral.......................................................................................146
Illustration166:CoursescatalogExampleofcoursesillustrations...............................................147
Illustration167:CoursesettingsEmailnotifications...................................................................148
Illustration168:CoursesettingsUsersrights................................................................................148
Illustration169:CoursesettingsChatsettings..............................................................................149
Illustration170:CoursesettingsLearningpathsettings...............................................................149
Illustration171:LearningpathsAutolaunch...............................................................................149
Illustration172:CoursessettingsCourseprogress........................................................................150
Illustration173:CourseprogressDisplayoncoursehomepage...................................................150
Illustration174:BackupGeneral...................................................................................................151
Illustration175:MaintenanceBackupcreation.............................................................................152
Illustration176:BackupImport.....................................................................................................153
Illustration177:MaintenanceEmptycourse.................................................................................154
Illustration178:MaintenanceCoursedeleting..............................................................................154
Illustration179:Reportingtabmainpage.....................................................................................155
Illustration180:SocialnetworkHome..........................................................................................156
Illustration181:SocialnetworkExtendedprofileupdate.............................................................157
Illustration182:SocialnetworkInternalmessagingInbox........................................................158
173/176

Illustration183:Socialnetworksendandreceiveinvitations.......................................................159
Illustration184:SocialnetworkSharedprofile.............................................................................159
Illustration185:SocialnetworkSocialgroups.............................................................................160
Illustration186:SocialnetworkSocialgroupsinterface..............................................................160
Illustration187:SocialnetworkMyfiles......................................................................................161
Illustration188:MycoursesSessions............................................................................................162
Illustration189:SessionsNewsessionscreen..............................................................................162
Illustration190:SessionsLearningpaths......................................................................................163
Illustration191:SessionsMyQCMtab........................................................................................164
Illustration192:SessionsMystatisticstab...................................................................................165
Illustration193:SessionsStatisticaldetails..................................................................................166

37.5 Alphabetical index

activityview.......................................................................................................................................25
AICC.............................................................................................................................................76,81
Audioanswer......................................................................................................................................56
availablespace....................................................................................................................................41
AVI.....................................................................................................................................................34
certificates...........................................................................................................................................84
certificationscore...............................................................................................................................99
Chatsettings.......................................................................................................................................32
Clearthechat....................................................................................................................................134
Courseaccess......................................................................................................................................32
courseadmin.......................................................................................................................................18
coursecatalog.....................................................................................................................................27
coursecategory...................................................................................................................................18
coursecode.........................................................................................................................................18
coursedescription...............................................................................................................................27
Coursesettings....................................................................................................................................32
Createassignment...............................................................................................................................90
Createfolder.......................................................................................................................................35
createforumthread.............................................................................................................................73
CURL...............................................................................................................................................111
democontent......................................................................................................................................19
difficultylevel....................................................................................................................................50
Emailnotifications............................................................................................................................32
enrichquestion....................................................................................................................................49
Excel...................................................................................................................................................66
feedback........................................................................................................................................49,94
Filltheblanks.....................................................................................................................................53
Flash...................................................................................................................................................34
Forumcreation....................................................................................................................................70
gradeatopic.......................................................................................................................................73
gradebook...........................................................................................................................................28
Groups..............................................................................................................................................128
174/176

Hotspot..............................................................................................................................................58
HTML.................................................................................................................................................34
imagearea...........................................................................................................................................58
IMS/QTI.............................................................................................................................................66
introductiontext..................................................................................................................................26
IPaddress............................................................................................................................................87
language..............................................................................................................................................18
Learnerview.......................................................................................................................................17
Learningpathssettings.......................................................................................................................32
LibreOffice.........................................................................................................................................34
maintenance........................................................................................................................................20
Matchinganswers...............................................................................................................................54
Moodle................................................................................................................................................28
MP3....................................................................................................................................................34
MSExcel.........................................................................................................................................34
MSPowerPoint...............................................................................................................................34
MSWord............................................................................................................................................34
MSWord.........................................................................................................................................34
multipleanswer..................................................................................................................................52
Multipleanswer..................................................................................................................................62
multiplechoice...................................................................................................................................50
OGG...................................................................................................................................................34
Openquestion.....................................................................................................................................55
OpenOffice.org...................................................................................................................................34
opinions............................................................................................................................................135
PDF...............................................................................................................................................34,41
personalcoursecategory....................................................................................................................21
Photoshop........................................................................................................................................38
privateassignments............................................................................................................................89
publicassignments..............................................................................................................................89
questionscategory..............................................................................................................................50
questionsdatabase..............................................................................................................................65
Quicktime........................................................................................................................................34
Recyclingquestions............................................................................................................................65
Reportonresource..............................................................................................................................87
Reporting............................................................................................................................................87
score....................................................................................................................................................46
SCORM........................................................................................................................................76,81
Sendmessage....................................................................................................................................134
showfeedback....................................................................................................................................49
Singleanswer......................................................................................................................................51
Teacherview......................................................................................................................................17
template..............................................................................................................................................40
Thematicadvance...............................................................................................................................32
True/False/Don'tknow.......................................................................................................................62
Uniqueanswer....................................................................................................................................61
175/176

Userspermissions...............................................................................................................................32
workinggroups.................................................................................................................................128

37.6 Document history

Date

Collaborator

Contact

Updated

2010

2i2l.fr,AnalBoulier

info@2i2l.fr

RdactiondumanuelpourChamilo1.8.7.

Avril2011

BeezNestBelgiumSPRL,YannickWarnier info@beeznest.com

Misejourpour1.8.8,correctifs,miseonpage,ajoutsdedtails.

Juillet2011

BeezNestBelgiumSPRL,YannickWarnier info@beeznest.com

Misejourpour1.8.8.4androrganisationdeschapitres;rcriturede
l'introduction, listing des options, ajout des nouvelles fonctionnalits,
rvisiondutexte.revoir:outilsSuiviandRseausocial.

August
2011

BeezNestBelgiumSPRL,YannickWarnier info@beeznest.com

AddedFAQ,fixesanddetails.
BasictranslationtoEnglish.

March2013 BeezNestBelgiumSPRL,YannickWarnier info@beeznest.com

Updatedto1.9.6.

April2013

CompleterevisionandupdateofEnglishtextandscreenshotsbasedon
1.9.4.Iconsaddedinlinetotextforclarity.Someadditionalparagraphs
onpedagogicaluse.

SteveMiller

stephanibus@gmail.com

176/176