FLO - hints & tips

Can I still access topics and student data from previous years?

Short answer - yes.

Requests for content from previous years should be emailed to David Bain. A restore from a backup of the topic will be required. The process may take up to a week to complete.

What's the URL for logging in to FLO (Flinders Learning Online)?

• Staff should log in to FLO via the staff login page at learn.flinders.edu.au.
  

• Students should log in to FLO via the student portal at i.flinders.edu.au.

How do I get access to a topic that's not on my topic list?

If you need access to a topic that doesn't appear on your FLO topic list, it's likely that you're not listed as part of the topic teaching team in Student One. First stop is your School Office. Staff there can edit Student One so as to make a topic available to you in FLO.

Are there different kinds of access to a topic?

Yes, but in Student One the access levels are known as 'roles'. Definitions of available roles appear below:

The most common access levels in use are Instructor / Designer and Teaching Assistant. The most significant difference between the two is that TAs don't have access to the 'Build' tab inside the topic.

Reindexing a topic list

Sometimes the list of topics in the 'My Topics' screen get out of order. To put them back in order:

• click on the pencil icon to the right of the 'Course List' label (see image)
  

• Scroll to the bottom of the 'My Topics' screen

• Click on the 'Restore Default' button

• Click on 'OK'

Your topic list should now be in correct alpha order.

You can also use step 1 above to hide earlier topic versions if you wish.

Uploading Microsoft Office documents to FLO

This practice is currently causing students (and others) some grief, especially Microsoft Office 2007 documents.

The preferred option is to convert all Office documents to a pdf file and then upload the pdf document.

If staff or students are using Office 2007 then they should save the file as an Office 2003 format document (eg a Word document should be saved as .doc - not .docx).

Where staff don't have access to PDF creation software (eg Adobe Acrobat) then the development team are happy to provide support. Just send the document to us, along with details of which topic / area it should appear, and we'll do the rest.

Uploading PDF documents

The current recommendation is that PDF documents should be set up so that they open in a new window. That approach is consistent with the one taken for all web-based PDFs.

Problems with Java

No, we're not in the least bit interested in the brand of coffee you drink. Java is a piece of software that may or may not be running on your PC. You need to have Java version 1.6.x or lower running in order for FLO to function properly.

The most common symptom of not having the correct Java version is an inability to upload files into FLO.

In order to check that your PC environment supports FLO, use the browser check link on the FLO login page - the link is titled 'Check browser' and appears just underneath and to the right of the login dialog box on the FLO login page.

Preparing content for the next teaching period

It's tempting to put a date in FLO documents - try and resist the temptation. Even if you'll be delivering that same content at the same time each teaching period, the date will always change. Instead of changing the dates in your documentation, perhaps make reference to the timing in another way (eg Week 2 Lecture 5). That way the timing references become maintenance free!

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