Calendar

In your personal calendar you can see your private events as well as events regarding calendars of groups and courses. You can hide or unhide calendars via the calendar list. Should your calendar remain empty or should certain events not appear, it could be that you forgot to select that calendar in the calendar list.

It is possible to create private entries. While only you can see and access private entries, all registered OpenOLAT users can see public entries including all details on your calendar.

Subscriptions

Thanks to OpenOLAT's notifications you are always up-to-date regarding your courses or groups. OpenOLAT assists you in getting information on modifications regarding subscribed objects. In order to get this information you have to first determine the relevant objects you want to stay informed on. You will be informed about e.g new documents in a folder, about answers to forum entries or modified Wiki pages. In many places you can select the option "Subscribe" within the relevant objects to be kept informed. The following objects can be subscribed: Forum, folder, Wiki, task, file discussion, Portfolios. If you have the right to use the assessment tool you can be notified in case of new incoming test results or new registered users.

OpenOLAT will send you an appropriate e-mail once a day, and if the the Portal is activated, news will be displayed immediately in the Portal under "My Notifications". If you prefer to receive such messages more or less often or not at all you can change this in the "Settings" in the tab "System". You will also find your news in the personal menu under "Subscriptions". You can choose to be shown any modifications within a certain period of time in the tab "News" or you can choose to have sent those modifications once again via e-mail. The tab "Subscriptions" provides you with a list of all subscribed objects. You have also the possibility to get information on modifications via RSS.

 News via RSS

Why should I know what RSS is?:

By means of RSS you will quickly and comfortably get information on modifications of forums and folders you have subscribed to. Just one look and you will see the titles of new entries as well as what has happend since your last login. Furthermore, you will receive relevant links in order to get directly to the new stuff in OpenOLAT. All you need to get this service is the Internet address of the RSS files provided for you and a so-called RSS reader.

Where do I find this address of a RSS file?:

Click on the icon A new window will be opened. Ignore the page's content and copy the URL to the temporary folder. Then paste the URL to your RSS reader.

How do I get a RSS reader?:
We suggest the the following search terms: RSS reader, RSS newsreader, feedreader in order for you to find a suitable RSS reader

For more information:
Wikipedia

If you do not need your subscription any longer you can either unsubscribe it (same place as "Subscribe") or you can select the option "Delete" in the section "Subscriptions," right next to your resource.

Personal Folder

In your personal folder OpenOLAT provides you with storage space. Here you can store presentations you want to use from another computer or cache a research paper, etc.

This personal folder contains two areas, the "Private" and the "Public" one. Only you will have access to your private area. In the subfolder "Public" you can store files you want to share with other OpenOLAT users. By means of the link "Other users" you can search for other OpenOLAT users and have access to those users' "Public" folder via the menu item "Folder."

The personal folder is WebDAV compatible, i.e. folders in OpenOLAT act as a regular network drive. Therefore it is very easy to copy, move or delete files. For more information please go to " Using WebDAV".

Notes

You can take notes in each course. You can collect and edit your notes before even printing them.

Evidence of Achievement

An evidence of achievement is a certification of some assessment, e.g. tests, written examinations, or other tasks handed in to be reviewed. Course authors determine if OpenOLAT should create assessments in their course. Course participants will see their evidences of achievement after taking a test, etc. that has been assessed. If a certificate is provided along with an evidence of achievement, you can view and download the certificate in the detailed view of the respective evidence of achievement.

Bookings

Bookings displays all learning resources you booked so far within OpenOLAT. The bookings list as well as the detailed views provide you with information on booking number, date, status, booking method and costs. If you do not see this menu item, it was disabled system-wide by a system administrator.

Other Users

Search for other OpenOLAT users! Have a look at their visiting card, at the "Public" area of their personal folder, at any released portfolio folders, or send them a message by means of a contact form.

ePortfolio

An ePortfolio is used to document learning results as well as learning processes and is therefore meant to assist in reflecting on someone's process of development. The menu entry ePortfolio serves to create binders of portfolios before making those accessible to certain people (OpenOLAT users as well as guests). You can also have a look at other users' portfolios or perform portfolio tasks of an OpenOLAT course.

Artefacts

In order to create a portfolio folder or perform a portfolio task you have to create or assemble artefacts first. Artefacts are documents of your learning process as well as your work performed. Artefacts can be e.g. texts, files, posts in a forum or blog, or evidences of achievement.

You can assemble the following artefacts:

• Posts in forums
• Files in folders
• Wiki pages
• Evidences of achievement
• Posts in blogs

First you have to select the ePortfolio icon (e.g. in a post of yours) before following the steps of your accumulative artefact tool. You can indicate the title as well as the description of your artefact; you can provide it with key words (commonly known as tags) to facilitate your search later on or you can write a text as memory aid to justify the selection of your artefact, a so-called reflection.

If you have already created a binder you will be able to link your artefacts to that portfolio.

You can create artefacts by clicking on "Add artefact" within the tab "My artefacts." Just select the required artefact type before creating your text,file or blog artefact. Similar to the accumulative artefact tool you just have to follow the directions of the artefact creation tool. You can write a text, upload a file, or create a learning journal. A learning journal is a blog to document your learning progress. Afterwards you have to indicate a title and a description before deciding on key words for your artefact. Then you confirm that you are the author of that artefact and indicate your reflections before selecting binder. The steps "Confirm Authorship" and "Reflection" might be disabled.

You can also create text, file and blog artefacts from within a portfolio by clicking on the "Link artefact"-icon in the folder view. Within in the now open artefact browser, click on "Add artefact" and select the required artefact type. The new artefact is then displayed in the artefact browser, where it can be selected. Depending on the view and sorting filter, the newly created artefact might be found at the end of the list.

After creating or assembling artefacts you can also search for artefacts by means of the menu item "My artefacts" in order to e.g. edit artefacts or delete ones from your list. There are two possibilities to search for artefacts. The tag browser will help you to browse for key words of your artefact (tags). Then you can use the artefact search feature to additionally search for the type, the creation date, the title or the description of an artefact. Furthermore you can save your queries to avoid having to indicate your search criterion anew. These queries can be adapted or deleted as required.

You can have a look at your artefacts in the detailed view or the table view. This table view presents an overview of your artefacts and provides a possibility to sort columns alphabetically. In the detailed view you can edit or delete your artefacts.

Changelog

The Changelog page is an integral part of any portfolio. The following changes to a portfolio task or binder will be displayed:

• new page
• new structural element
• new artefact
• new comment
• new rating
• altered rating

Changes made by you as well as your coach are displayed in the changelog. In order to be kept informed if the above mentionend changes occurred in a portfolio task or binder, you should select "Subscribe" on the changelog page. This is especially useful if portfolios have been released for you to assess or comment. Modifications will get to you by e-mail or you will see them under "My notifications."

Binders

You can create folders or allocate artefacts in the tab "My binders". Such a folder can be structured according to your needs by inserting pages or other structural elements. In the editing mode you can adapt your folder as required, e.g. by determining your display settings or moving structural elements and artefacts via "Drag&Drop."

By selecting a layout from the drop-down list you can modify your folder's design.

To add elements just select the position required in your table of contents before clicking on the "Plus" icon. Depending on the position you can add pages as well as structural elements or link artefacts. In case you want to delete an element just highlight it in your table of contents before clicking on the "Delete" icon.

It is possible to move structural elements and artefacts later on. Just select the element required in your table of contents and move it via "Drag&Drop" to its final position. This option is only available in folders created by yourself.

It is possible to edit elements. Just highlight these elements in your table of contents. You can choose if artefacts should be listed as tables or if they should appear in your detailed view.

Additionally you can comment on folder entries or assess them.

When copying binders you can choose between adopting only their structure or also their artefacts.

Release options

OLAT folders are only visible for their owners by default. You can release folders for other users and define a space of time during which your folder should be accessible. By means of release rules you can grant the following users access to your folder: specific OLAT users or groups as well as external people.

Click on "Create release rule" to define your first rule. By means of the +/- buttons you can create additional rules or delete those already existing.

You can release your binder as follows:

• for one or more distinctive OpenOLAT users: You can select specific, single users by indicating their names. Users already existing will be suggested while typing. It is not necessary to define a new rule for each user; you can select several users by means of the same rule.
• for all OpenOLAT users
• for one or more OpenOLAT groups: You can release your folder for specific groups. However, this is only possible if you are a member or the creator of such a group. Selecting such groups is similar to selecting users.
• for one or more persons not registered in OpenOLAT: It is possible to release a folder for users not registered in OLAT. Just fill in the fields "First name," "Last name," and "E-mail" since this information is needed to grant access. Then copy your link via its URL before sending it via e-mail to users not registered in OLAT. By clicking on that link those users will be logged on automatically and directed to your folder.

If you opt for this last-mentioned option please use a release invitation. You can determine a space of time for your folder to be released on all levels. Just indicate a start as well as an end date for your release. By clicking on the button "Send invitation" an e-mail will be automatically sent to the address provided. This e-mail will contain your name as well as a link to your released folder.

In the tab "Released binders" you can see any folders you have access to. By changing your view you will also be able to browse through portfolios released for all OpenOLAT users. You can have a look at them in detail, comment on them or evalute them by means of the I-like feature.

Portfolio tasks

In the tab "My portfolio tasks" you will find portfolio tasks of OpenOLAT courses. You can perform those tasks (i.e. link required artefacts to that folder) before submitting them. In case you have already performed those tasks you can still have a look at them.