LAMS Tutorials

Learners are the Main users of LAMS, participating in sequences that are created by Authors.

Learners may also want to check out the Activity Tutorials below for more specific information.

These winks relate to Specific Activities in LAMS. Each tutorial demonstrates creating the activity in the Authoring Environment, shows the Learner experience, and where applicable, demonstrates any special Monitoring features for the activity.

Informative Tools

• Noticeboard Tutorial
  Provide content-rich information for Learners.
• Create a Resource Sharing Activity
  Deliver online content in a controlled environment.
• NEW Create a Task List
  Create a series of tasks that Learners can complete.

Evaluative Tools

• Multiple Choice Quiz
  Create simple MCQ assessments for Learners.
• Author a Submit Files Activity
  Create a place for students to upload work to the LAMS server for assessment.

Collaborative Tools

• Chat and Scribe Tutorial
  Learners chat in groups and one learner generates a report.
• Forum Tutorial
  Asynchronous discussion of topics.
  Dimdim Conference Tutorial
  Create an online web conference from within a Lams Sequence.
• NEW Pixlr Image Suite Tutorial
  Learners edit and upload images in an online flash image suite.
  Learners can comment on and rate each others images.

Reflective Tools

• Question and Answer
  Assess learners with short answer responses.
• Survey Tutorial
  Collect and analyse Learner opinions on a topic.
• Voting Tutorial
  Determine an outcome from Learner choices.

The Monitoring Environment is where LAMS instructors can view their Learner's progress through a sequence.

• Starting a Lesson
  When a sequence has been Authored, it has to be "run" through the Monitoring Environment.

• Changing the Status of a Sequence
  The Status of a particular sequence determines how it appears to Learners. This animation shows how to change statuses, and what each status means.

• Rearrange Sequence on the Course Page
  Course Owners can move running lessons's up and down the Course page in LAMS; This animation shows you how.

• Using Live Edit
  Live Edit is a feature available in LAMS 2.0.3 that allows Monitors to modify sequences that have already been started.

• Live Edit Update in LAMS 2.1
  In LAMS 2.1 there are some slight changes to Live Edit what monitors can change using Live Edit. This Animation explains the changes and where they might be useful.

• Opening Schedule Gates before Assigned Time
  Sometimes a Schedule (Timed) Gate needs to be opened before the time specified by the Author. In LAMS 2.1, Monitors can now open Scheduled gates prematurely.

The Authoring environment is where LAMS sequences are created and modified.
These tutorials will introduce you to the authoring environment, and there are a few neat tricks in here as well.

• An Introduction to Authoring
  This animation demonstrates all the features of the LAMS2.1 Authoring Environment.

• Using Optional Activities
  Optional Activities allow Learners to choose an activity from a list. This animation shows you how to create them.

• Insert an Existing Sequence
  Authors can now insert entire sequences onto the canvas to use as part of another sequence.

• Importing and Exporting Sequences
  Importing and Exporting sequences allow you to share sequences with colleagues. Here's how to do it.

• Incorporate Google Gadgets
  Google Gadgets are small snippets of HTML code that add functionality to web pages. This animation demonstrates how to include these Gadgets as part of a LAMS sequence.

• Using the LAMS Community
  The LAMS Community is the central hub for sharing sequences and collaborating with other people using LAMS.

• Using Grouping Objects
  Grouping Objects divide an entire LAMS class into smaller groups for certain activities.

• Creating Offline Activities
  LAMS can also be used to describe the structure of a 'real-world' lesson. This animation also shows you how to add instructions and support documents to your LAMS sequences.

• Using the NEW FCKEditor Media Plugin
  The upgrade to the FCKEditor means that it's now easier to add Video and Audio to LAMS sequences. This animation shows you how.

• Including Zipped Web Pages in a Share Resources Activity
  LAMS can display entire Web Sites as Shared Resources. This animation demonstrates how.'

Branching Activities...

These activities create multiple 'paths' through a sequence. There are several ways to create Branches:

• ...by Teacher Selection
  The simplest form of Branching, allowing the teacher (monitor) to manually assign branches to specific students (learners).

• ...based on Groups
  Linking a Grouping Object with a Branching Object filters the members of each group to a specific branch.

• ...based on Tool Outputs
  Finally, the results from previous activities can determine which branch a learner is filtered to.

LAMS works well as a stand-alone e-learning system. It can also be integrated with other educational software such as a Learning Management System (LMS) / Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). A LAMS integration is module built for a specific LMS/ VLE that it handles the communication between the two systems. This module acts as a bridge between them making them behave as one unified system. 

Using a Shibboleth Joint Trust Federation, seperate LAMS servers can be set up to share Lessons, Students and Roles.

Click Here for a Demonstration.

You will also need the LAMS logos and images to create the preloader screen. These are available from here (LAMS Community Login required.

For information on creating Wink pages in Confluence, click here..

To see the latest winks that have been added to the site, check the box at the top of this column (Latest Winks), or run this search query.

• Over on the Greek space, all of the winks have been translated. Thanks to Spyros and his team for this.

• The LAMS Tutorials are created using DebugMode Wink presentation authoring software.
• To view the winks, you'll need a Flash Player installed. You can download one for free from the Adobe Website
  
  
  
  LAMS Interactive Tutorials by LAMS Foundation is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
  
  Based on a work at wiki.lamsfoundation.org.
  This license means that you are able to download our Wink Source files and modify the animations.
  However, You must attribute the original work to MELCOE, and the derivative work must use the same CC Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 license.