Openness Course for Librarians - Orientation

Welcome

Usernames and passwords

The first task of this orientation session is to access the course on the Moodle platform. Use the 'username' and 'password' that was sent to you to login. Once successful you will be able to login to the course from anywhere where there in an internet connection. If you are seeing this paragraph, then you have successfully logged in! Check to see if your profile name appears in the top right hand corner of the platform screen. Below is a task you can complete inside the training platform before we start in earnest. 

Create your profile

1. In the top right-hand corner of the screen look for a grey circle and click on it. From the drop-down menu select 'Profile'.
2. Your profile is displayed but it has little useful information for others to see so click 'Edit Profile' in the Administration block on the left-hand side of the screen.
3. Ensure that your full name and email address are correctly captured
4. Fill in the city or town where you work.
5. In the textbox entitled 'Description' write a short biography of yourself. Please be sure to include the name of your library and your position there.
6. Look for the 'User Picture' button and upload a digital photo that clearly shows your face.
7. Make sure you select the 'Save' button!

Course overview and schedule

Here is a suggested breakdown of the AfLIA Openness for Librarians course. Please note:

• The course will run over 5 weeks.
• We recommend that you spend 3 hours a week on the course activities.
• The course materials are on the AfLIA Learning Management System (LMS), that is this Moodle platform. They are in the form of an interactive tutorial and course notes (PDF) that can be downloaded.
• There are 6 online meetings that will be held on Zoom.
• There is a WhatsApp course group which will be used to provide support. 

The Zoom sessions are at fixed times and will be advertised in the course WhatsApp group. Please diarize and make sure you attend.

The online session dates for Cohort 2 are as follows:

• 1^st online session: Orientation & module 1: 24^th July 2024 @ 12h00GMT
• 2^nd online session: Module 2: Wednesday 31^st July 2024 @ 12h00 GMT
• 3^rd online session: Module 3: Wednesday 7^th August 2024 @ 12h00 GMT
• 4^th online session: Module 4: Wednesday 14^th August 2024 @ 12h00 GMT
• 5^th online session: Module 5: Wednesday 21^st August 2024 @ 12h00 GMT
• 6^th online session: Course closing: Wednesday 28^th August 2024 @ 12h00 GMT

The Zoom link for all the online sessions is:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88338530903?pwd=ASvAWWLM9CHjUlRZyabZ0mXDlttXbC.1

Meeting ID: 883 3853 0903

Passcode: 912987

Click URL to access a recording of the Onboarding and Orientation session -https://youtu.be/DT5bx8XYxlk

Session 1: Recording of orientation

Click URL to access a recording of the Onboarding and Orientation session -https://youtu.be/DT5bx8XYxlk

Your course facilitators

Get to know your facilitators! Help them get to know you! When studying online you will need all the support you can get so make a note about how best to contact them should you have an issue. The list of facilitators assigned to this course is listed below.

Digital tools and accounts

In order to participate in this course you will need to ensure you've access to the following digital platforms and/or tools.

1. AfLIA's Learning management system (Moodle) - As you are reading this we assume you have successfully logged in and can access the resources and activities! If you intend accessing the Moodle platform on your mobile device it might be easier if you installed the Moodle for mobile app on your phone and logged in there. You can access the app for Android phones on Google Play here or Apple App store here. This app is free.
2. The Zoom app, installed on your computer, tablet and/or smart phone so that you can participate in real time online meetings. You can access the app for Android phones on Google Play here or Apple App store here. If you are using a laptop download the Zoom program here. Set up a free account. 
3. WhatsApp will be used to encourage discussion between peers and give you access to the facilitator for support. You can access the app for Android phones on Google Play here or Apple App store here. Set up a free account.
4. The course notes can be downloaded and printed if you prefer. The notes have been published as PDFs. If your device does not automatically open these files you can access the Adobe Acrobat Reader app for Android phones on Google Play here or Apple App store here. This app is free.

Peer assessment assignments

It is important to note that there are five assignments. These will be marked using 'Peer Assessment'. That means you will need to submit a weekly assignment and then mark 3 others. We will provide you with the marking memo and the platform will allocate you three of your peers' submissions. 

Note: Each week 80% of the module mark will be allocated to the quality of your submission. 20% is awarded for completing your duties as a marker of the three peer assignments allocated to you. Make sure you do both components to get full marks.