STAFF DEVELOPMENT

Managing your Learning with

the…

Learning
Management
System

By Jesrine Clarke

© University of Sheffield November 2006

Jesrine Clarke Managing your Learning with Docent LMS

Contents

1. INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………… 3

2. ACCESSING THE LMS………………………………………………………… 4

3. VIEWING YOUR LEARNING PLAN………………………………………… 5

4. VIEWING LEARNING ACTIVITIES………………………………………….. 7

5. ENROLLING ON LEARNING ACTIVITIES………………………………… 10

6. AUTOMATED EMAILS…………………………………………………………. 12

7. PROBLEMS ACCESSING THE PMD E-LEARING MATERIALS……. 13

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1. Introduction

In 2004 the University of Sheffield implemented a Learning Management

System to manage and record the training and development activities
undertaken by staff and postgraduate research students. The system
being used is the Docent Learning Management System and it can be used
in the following ways.

• View a catalogues of ‘Learning Activities’ e.g. taught courses, e-

learning, and other flexible learning options, offered by SDU, CICS,
LDMU and Safety Services.

• Enrol or register an interest in a specific learning activity.

• Record your own personal learning activities including conference

attendance and other external development opportunities.

• Maintain an ongoing personal learning plan where you can record

learning activities you either plan to undertake, are currently taking
or have completed.

The Learning Management System (LMS) is web-based and very easy to use.
These notes outline its many uses.

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2. Accessing the LMS

The LMS can be accessed either from the Staff Development or CICS web
pages, see links below;

http://www.shef.ac.uk/stdu/lms
http://www.shef.ac.uk/cics/courses
http://www.shef.ac.uk/staff/training.html

If you want to access the LMS from home of off-campus you can do this via
MUSE. Once you have logged into MUSE; Click on the “Using MUSE” tab
and choose “Work” from the list under Channel Guide. Then click on the
“Learning Management System” link which will take you to a page where
you can login into the LMS.

To login to the LMS you will need to use your usual University network
user ID and password.

Please note: To exit the LMS please ensure that you always click the
Logout link on the left otherwise you may have problems logging in the
next time.

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3. Viewing your Learning Plan

The first page you will see is your Learning Plan. Your learning plan is
individual and you are the only person who can access this. Your individual
learning plan offers a summary of training and development activities that
you are planning to undertake, learning activities you are currently taking
or that you have completed. There are a number of views available, each
accessible via the links at the top of the page.

The first page of your learning plan is the summary view which is split into
two sections; In Progress and Planned Learning.

The In Progress section shows all learning activities that you are currently
undertaking but have not yet completed. It lists the name of each learning
activity, with its code, its status (for example Enrolled, Interested, In
Progress) and action, which could include links to launch, cancel interest,
unenrol, or mark an activity as complete.

The Planned Learning section shows any learning activities you have
added to your learning plan. This section should be used to plan your
learning and development by adding learning activities that you may wish
to do at a later date. It lists the name of each learning activity, with its
code, under requirement heading it will show whether the activity has
been recommended to you or whether you have been required to take it, a
due date will be displayed if you are required to complete the activity by a
certain date and the action heading will include links to allow you to edit or
remove the activity from your learning plan.

Once you have completed a learning activity it then appears in the

Transcript view of your learning plan. You can access this by clicking on
the Transcript link at the top of your learning plan.

You can also use your Learning Plan to record personal learning activities
that are not included in the LMS, such as attending an external conference,
a course or a qualification you are working towards.

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To add a personal learning activity to your learning plan:

Click on the Add a Personal Learning Activity link at the top on the right
hand side.

The ‘Create a Personal Learning Activity’ screen will be displayed.

On the ‘Create Personal Learning Activity’ page you must enter: the name
of the learning activity, the type (for example taught course, online
course), the vendor (the course provider), and start and end date for your
personal learning activity, the other information is optional. Click the
submit button at the bottom of the page when you have finished entering
the information.

The personal learning activity will then be shown in the summary view of
your learning plan.

To mark a personal learning activity as complete:

Once you have completed your personal learning activity you can mark it
as complete. Click on My Learning Plan link on the left. Click on the
‘Mark Complete’ link next to your personal learning activity. From the
Mark Complete page, Enter the date the personal learning activity was
completed, and ensure that the Has Completed box is selected and enter
any comments if you wish, then click Save button at the bottom of the
page. The learning activity will then move to the transcript view of your
learning plan.

To remove a personal learning activity from your learning plan:

Click on the Remove link from the learning plan page. You will then asked
to confirm that you wish to remove it by selecting the Delete button at the
bottom of the page.

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4. Viewing Learning Activities

4.1 Using the Catalogue to view learning activities

To view a list of all the learning and development activities offered within
the University click the Catalogue link on the left hand side.

The catalogue has been divided into sections and subsections to help
organise the different learning activities into topic areas. For example if
you were interested in web design you would find this in the Information
Technology section under the Internet and World Wide Web.

The catalogue lists the name of each learning activity, with its code and
indicates the type of learning activity, for example instructor led course,
other web based course.

4.2 Searching for Learning Activities

The LMS allows you to search for learning activities by Code, title, type or
description. The drop-down lists for code and title allow you to specify
whether your search criteria starts with, contains or matches the words
exactly.

To search for a learning activity:

Click on the Search link on the left. A Search page appears. Enter your
search criteria and then click the search button at the bottom of the page.
A list of learning activities will appear that matches the search criteria you
specified. You can also click on the More Options link to carry out a more
detailed search.

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4.3 Viewing Scheduled Learning Activities

Class Schedule Report

To view a list of courses that are scheduled to run in the near future.

Open the Reports menu by clicking on the link on the left and click Class
Schedule.

A schedule appears with a list of all upcoming courses.

Calendar view of Scheduled courses

You can also view all scheduled courses in a calendar view, which is
available from the Catalogue page.

Click on the Catalogue link on the left hand side. Then click the View
Scheduled Learning Activities link, which is at the top on the right hand
side of the catalogue page.

It does not show instructor led courses as default, so please ensure that
the box next to ‘Show Instructor Led Courses in: All’ is ticked and click the
Update button to refresh the view.

A calendar view appears showing all the scheduled courses.

You can click on the course title in the calendar to view the learning
activity details page.

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To find out more about any of the learning activities click on the title. This
will display a page summarising the learning activity details.

There may be a link to More Information, which you can click on to view
more detailed information about that learning activity.

If there are no dates scheduled for an instructor led course there will be a
link to Express Interest. This will allow the training provider to keep a
record of people interested in a particular learning activity and you will be
informed when dates have been arranged.

You can also add a learning activity to your learning plan if you wish to
pursue this learning activity at a later date or to help you plan for your next
SRDS. Items added to your learning plan can only be seen by you and
therefore does not register an interest in a learning activity so you will still
need to enrol or register an interest at a later date.

To do add and Learning Activity to your Learning Plan

Click on the Add to my Learning Plan link. The ‘Add to Learning Plan’ page
allows you to specify whether the activity is required of you or
recommended to you and to set a date to complete the activity.

The activity will then be shown under the ‘Planned Learning’ section of you
learning plan summary page.

You will also be able to enrol on a learning activity from this page.
Information on how to do this is outlined in the next section for each of the
different types of learning activities.

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5. Enrolling on Learning Activities

Once you have found a learning activity that you are interested in, the
procedure for enrolling or registering an interest is very straightforward.

5.1 Instructor Led courses

All instructor led courses available are listed in the catalogue. Some
courses will be scheduled to run in the near future, others will not have a
scheduled date but will allow you to express an interest.

If a course is scheduled to run, you will see a list available dates at the
bottom of the learning activity details page.

To book a place on a course:

Click on the Enrol link next to the date you are able to attend. Your
enrolment will be confirmed on screen and it will be added to the in
progress section of your learning plan. You will also receive an email
confirming your enrolment. A week before the course you will also receive
a reminder by email.

If a course is not scheduled to run in the near future, there will be no dates
listed. In this case you can express an interest, which will inform the
Training Coordinator that there is demand for that course to be run.

To express an interest in a course:

Click the Express Interest link. This will be confirmed on screen and it will
be added to the in progress section of your learning plan. You will also
receive an email confirming that you have expressed an interest in this
course. When the course is scheduled to run you will be invited to enrol
by email.

If you later find you are unable to attend a course that you have enrolled
on, you will be able to unenrol.

To unenrol from a course:

Click on the Unenrol link, either from your learning plan or the learning
activity details page. This will Unenrol you from the course and free up
your place for someone else.

You may find that a course is scheduled to run but there are no places left.
In this case you may have the option of adding yourself to the waiting list.

To join the waiting list:

Click on the Join Wait List link. This will add you to the waiting list and
automatically enrol you on the course as soon as a place becomes
available. You will be notified of this by email.

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5.2 Web Based learning activities

All web based learning activities available are listed in the catalogue.
Working through a web based course will allow you to learn online at your
own pace.

To enrol on a web based learning activity:

Click on the Enrol link from the learning activity details page. Your
enrolment will be confirmed on screen and it will be added to the in
progress section of your learning plan. Some web based learning activities
contain several course elements which you will need to enrol onto
individually. You will then receive an email confirming your enrolment.

To access the course materials:

Click on the Launch link. If the learning activity contains several course
elements you will need to enrol/launch the course materials from your
personal learning plan.

To mark a web based learning activity as complete:

When you have completed the learning activity you can click on the Mark
Complete link from either your personal learning plan or the learning
activity details page. The learning activity will then move to the transcript
page of your learning plan.

If you later decided that you are no longer interested in taking the web
based learning activity, you can then you can remove it from your learning
plan.

To unenrol from a web based learning activity:

Click on the Unenrol link from either your personal learning plan or the
learning activity details page.

Note: If you are experiencing problems accessing the online course

materials please see the following web page
http://www.shef.ac.uk/stdu/elearning/support/problems.html

5.3 Blended Learning Activities

A Blended Learning activity is a group of different learning activities that

you can study together to compliment the topic area. This could combine
different types of learning activities such as a taught course, a web based
course, a video and books. All Blended Learning activities available are
listed in the catalogue.

From the learning activity details page you will see a brief description
about the topic, and at the bottom you will see a list of the learning
activities contained within this topic. It will also specify how many of the
learning activities you need to take in order to complete that topic.

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To enrol on a blended learning activity:

Click on the Enrol link. Your enrolment will be confirmed on screen and
you will also receive an email confirming your enrolment. The learning
activity will be added to the in progress section of your learning plan along
with the contained learning activities which you can enrol onto individually.

To unenrol from a blended learning activity:

Click on the Unenrol link, either from your learning plan or the learning
activity details page. This will Unenrol you from the blended learning
activity and you will also be asked if you wish to unenrol from contained
learning activities.

6. Automated Emails

Please be aware that the Learning Management System generates automated

email messages whenever there are any changes in the system. Automated emails
are generated in the following circumstances;

• When you enrol or are enrolled onto a learning activity

• When you un-enrol from a learning activity
• When you register an interest in a learning activity
• If any of the course details change, i.e. location, date, time etc
• A week before a course starts you will receive a reminder by email
• Whenever you complete an online course, once you have marked it as
complete you will receive an email confirming this
• When you have attended a course you will receive an email requesting that
you give feedback
• If you join a waiting list for a course
• If your enrolment status changes for example if you move from a waiting
list status to enrolled, or if you are enrolled on a course but then cancel

As these emails are generated automatically you normally do not need to take
any action as they are for information purposes only. However, if you do have
any queries you can simply reply to the email and the appropriate training
provider will get back to you.

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7. Problems accessing the PMD e-Learning Materials

7.1 Managed XP Users
Staff using the Personal & Management Development e-Learning materials from
the Managed XP service may experience some difficulty launching the content.
Those on the Managed XP service will quite likely experience a failure due to a
Java Applet Failure. Instructions on how to fix this problem are as follows:

1. Open page of course and play

2. Go to start menu
3. Click on load applications
4. Click Academic
5. Click Internet Explorer Plug Ins
6. Choose IE Java Version
7. Follow Prompts
8. Open your course and it should work!

The above will 'stick' or remain so you won't have to do it each time you want to
use that course.

7.2 Windows XP users

Windows XP users, if you are running Internet Explorer and experiencing any
Java-based problems with these materials, then you will need to install the
Microsoft JVM which can be downloaded from the link below. Here are the
instructions on how to install the new software:

1. Download the file by clicking on the link below and save it to your hard
drive.
2. Once the file is on your hard drive, locate the file and double-click on it.
This loads the Virtual Machine software.
3. As the file begins execution, answer Yes to the License Agreement
question and then once complete, re-start your PC.
4. Once the PC is re-started the Virtual Machine software should be
installed and you should be able to use the e-learning materials.

www.meetingworks.com/files/msjavx86.exe

7.3 Conflicting versions of Java

It is possible that you have 2 versions of java (Sun and Microsoft VM) trying to run
on your machine. This could cause a conflict. If this is the case then to run the
Xebec materials, you must disable the Sun JRE. This is relatively simple.

1. In your Internet Explorer window, go to the Tools menu

2. Click Internet Options and then click the Advanced Options tab.
3. Scroll down until you can see Java (Sun). Make sure there is no tick on
this box (click on it again to uncheck it) and it’s done.

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