Administration
From an administrator's home page, the Admin page can be reached by clicking
the "Go to Admin Page" link near the end of the page.
Not all the options described here may be available to you depending upon
your rights setting
Creating Courses
Create a new course by clicking the "Add New Course" button.
Course Creation Settings
When you add a new course or click the "Modify" link next to a course name,
enter the course name and an enrollment key. If you are allowing students to self-enroll then the enrollment key should be
given to students, and will be required for them to enroll in this course, along with the Course ID.
For new courses, the course ID will display when you return to the Admin page.
Other option:
- Enrollment Key: A entry password for students to self-enroll in the course. If you provide a semicolon-separated
list of keys, students can enroll with any of them, and the key will get recorded as the student's section
- Available: Whether course is available to students, and whether it should display on the instructor's
home page
- Lock for Assessment: Shuts down access to the course except for the specified assessment. Intended for
in-class testing situations.
- Theme: Change the look and feel of your course
- Icons: Whether to display icons next to different course items.
- Allow self un-enroll: Whether students should be able to unenroll themselves from your course (usually NO is
the best choice, so students can't accidentally delete their scores)
- Allow other instructors to copy: Whether other instructors should be allowed to copy
course items without needing an enrollment key. You can limit this ability to instructors in your
own group.
- Message System: allows you decide which features of the internal messaging system you
want to enable. This allows you restrict who, if anyone, the student can send messages to.
- Live Chat: Enable a live chat room for this course
- Student Quick-Pick Top Bar: What items, if any, to have in a bar at the top of the student's course page
- Instructor Quick-Pick Top Bar: What items, if any, to have in a bar at the top of the instructor's course page
- Instructor Course Management Links: Whether to have course management links at the bottom or along the
left side of the instructor's course page
- LTI access secret: A secret code to allow placement of your course into a BasicLTI consumer. More info
Adding Teachers
After creating a course, click the "Add/Remove Teachers" link after the course
name. Here you can add or remove users authorized as a teacher for this course. Only Group and
full Admins have rights to add/remove teachers.
Transfering Ownership
Click the "Transfer" link after the course name to transfer the ownership
of the course to another teacher/admin. In general, course ownership is not
highly important, but Course Creators can only modify courses for which
they have ownership.
Deleting
Clicking the "Delete" link after the course name will delete the course and
all items contained within the course. However, it will not delete any
questions added to the Question Set from within the course; the Question Set
is shared, and not linked to any course
Question Set Management
Manage Question Set
Clicking the "Manage Question Set" link will allow you to search through the
Question Set, modify questions, add questions, remove question, transfer ownership, or
add a set of questions to a question library. Only administrators or question owners
have the rights to remove a question. Be aware that if you remove
a question that is currently being used in an assessment (as shown in the "Times
Used" column), it will mess up that assessment.
The options available in the question set manager are:
- Modify: Change the source code of the question and make library assignments. You will only see this option for
questions you own or when the owner has given permission for anyone to modify the question.
- View: View the source code of the question and make library assignements. You will only see this option for question
you do not own.
- Template: Create a new question, using the code of an existing question as a starting point. When you template a
question, the original question is not changed.
- Delete: Delete the question completely from the questionset and all libraries. You will only see this option for
questions you own or when the owner has given permission for anyone to modify the question. You can delete many questions at once
by selecting questions with the checkboxes, then clicking the Delete button near the top of the page.
- Transfer: Transfer ownership of the question to another user. You will only see this option for
questions you own. You can transfer many questions at once
by selecting questions with the checkboxes, then clicking the Transfer button near the top of the page.
- Library Assignment: The Library Assignment button near the top of the page can be used with the checkboxes to add or change your
library assignments for the selected questions. This will not affect other people's assignments
Note that the assignment of questions into libraries can be done by anyone, but only the person who made the assignment is able
to remove the question from the assigned library
Export Question Set
Use the "Export Question Set" feature to export a portion of the Question Set
for backup or sharing. Use the search feature with the checkboxes to select
questions for inclusion in the export. Clicking the "Finalize" button, you
will be asked for a Library Description.
Import Question Set
Use the "Import Question Set" feature to import a Question Set that you or
someone else had exported from MyOpenMath. Be sure to only import question sets from
trusted sources. After specifying an import file, you will be given a chance
to select specific questions from the set to be imported.
Imported questions will have ownership assigned to the importer. Select the
userights you want to apply to all imported questions. You also can import
the questions directly into an existing or new question library
If any questions (identified by a unique id) already exist in your system, you
will be asked if you want to update the existing questions, or add as new questions.
If you have modified questions previously imported, you may want to add as new.
Library Management
Manage Libraries
Use the library manager to remove, rename, change rights, change parent, or transfer
ownership of question libraries. Be aware that if a library is deleted, the
questions in that library will become unassigned; they are not deleted.
Libraries have a tree structure, where each library has a parent library. When you
add or modify a library, you can change it's parent library. If you change a library's
parent, all children library move with a library. You can only specify an empty
library or existing parent library as a parent.
Libraries have use rights. Options are:
- Private: Only the owner or an administrator can list questions in these libraries
- Closed to group, private to others: Anyone in group can list and use questions, , but only
the owner or an admin can add questions to the library. Hidden to anyone outside the group.
- Open to group, private to others: Anyone in group can list and use questions and add to the library.
Hidden to anyone outside the group.
- Closed to all: Everyone can list and use questions, but only the owner or an admin can add questions to the library
- Open to group, close to others: Anyone in group can list and use questions and add to the library.
Outside the group, users can only list and use questions; they cannot add questions to the library
- Open to all: Everyone can list and use questions and add to the library
With library rights, child rights take precedence over parent rights. For example,
if an open library is a child to a private library, the parent will not be hidden
from other users. However a private library as child to a private parent will be
hidden from other users.
Depending upon the system configuration, non-admins may be limited to creating libraries that are private
to others outside their group. If this is the case, a non-admin will need to contact an admin to create a library
that is closed or open to all.
Library assignments are done in question management. Library assignments can be done
by any user, but only the person who made the assignment can remove that assignment.
Export Libraries
Use the "Export Libraries" feature to export an entire library or tree
of libraries for backup or sharing. Use the tree to select libraries to export.
Note that if a parent library is selected, it's children libraries are automatically
included in the export, and heirarchy will be maintained. If libraries from different
trees are selected, the topmost libraries in each branch selected will be exported
at the same level.
Import Libraries
Use the "Import Libraries" feature to import an entire library or tree
of libraries. After selecting a file, the tree of libraries in the import file
will be shown, and you can deselect libraries you do not want to import. Note that
if a parent library is not selected, NONE of the children libraries will be added,
regardless of whether they're checked or not.
You will be asked if you want to update existing questions/libraries, or add as new. If
a library or question (identified by a unique id) in the import already exists on your system,
this will tell the importer whether to update the existing libraries/questions, or import
the libraries/questions as a new copy (a new unique id is assigned).
If you have modified questions previously imported, you may want to add as new.
Imported libraries and questions will have ownership assigned to the importer. Select the
userights you want to apply to all imported questions and libraries. You can select
a parent in the library tree for all (top level) imported libraries
If you load a file that does not have a library tree embedded in the file, you will
be told to use the Import Question Set feature instead. Even if a file has a library
tree, you can use the Import Question Set feature to import specific questions from
the file.
Install Macro File
A Macro Library contains macros (functions) which can be used in questions. These
expand the capabilities of MyOpenMath. If allowed, installation requires selecting the file name
from your local computer and clicking "Submit". Be aware that any existing
macro library of the same name will be replaced. A help file is automatically
generated for newly installed macro libraries.
Warning!: Macro libraries are pure PHP (programming code), and have a large
security risk. Only install macro libraries from a trusted source
Delete Old Users
Use the Delete Old Users option to delete users who have not accessed the system within
some specified number of months. You can delete just students, or all non-Admin users.
Import Students from File
Use the Import Students from File feature to register and enroll a set of students
automatically from a CSV (commas separated values) file. You can generate a CSV
file using any spreadsheet program.
The form will guide you through specifying which columns of the CSV file contain
First name, Last name, email address, and desired username. Once setting these options,
the first five rows of the file will be displayed so you can verify that the import
settings are correct. If you selected a class to enroll the imported students in,
the students will be both registered and enrolled in that class upon submission.
Manage Groups
Groups allow instructors to be divided into groups (by school, for example). Groups
can create group-specific libraries, and Group Admins can be assigned to have Admin
rights over group users and libraries. By default, users are added to a Default group.
Click Edit Groups to add, modify, or delete groups.
Diagnostics
Diagnostics allow you to create a special login page for larger-scale diagnostic assessment.
This provides a way for students to access and take the diagnostic without needing
to register and enroll in a course. Also, it delivers them the correct assessment based
on a specified selection.
If you are a group admin or full admin, click the "Add New Diagnostic" button to set up
a new diagnostic. Diagnostics are linked with assessments in a course, so you should first
create a course and add your diagnostic assessments to that course.
Over two pages, you will be asked for:
- Diagnostic name: the name of your diagnostic to display to students on the login page
- Term designator: Can be changed each term for ongoing assessments to keep track of which term an assessment was taken in. Also will create a unique
username for each term, so same student ID could take the assessment again in the different term.
- Linked with course: What course contains your diagnostic assessments. You must be listed as a teacher for the course
- Available: Whether students can take the diagnostic
- Public: Whether the diagnostic should be listed on the main Diagnostics list page at $imasroot/diag. If set to no,
students will have to be provided with the direct link to the diagnostic.
- Allow Reentry: Whether students should be forced to complete the diagnostic in one sitting, or whether you'll allow them
to reaccess the test at a later time. If Yes, you can set a testing window that limits the number of minutes after first accessing
the diagnostic they can reenter the diagnostic.
- Unique ID prompt: How you want to word the prompt for a unique user id
- ID entry format: Lets you specify the format of the unique ID, so ensure valid IDs
- Allow access IP addresses: IP addressed for which the diagnostic can be taken without a password. If you want to
allow access from anywhere, enter "*". You can use "*" for a wildcard as well, e.g. 123.45.* to allow any IP beginning
with 123.45.
- Passwords: Passwords which will allow access to the diagnostic from other IP addresses. Passwords are not case sensitive.
- Super passwords: These passwords will override the "allow reentry" time limit, if you specified one earlier. These passwords would be intended
for use by instructors or proctors, and generally would not be shared directly with students.
- First level selector name: Students will be asked to select two items from pull-down lists, with the values in the second
depending upon the values in the first. The choice in the first list also dictates which assessment is delivered. For
selector name, specify what this selection should be called, filling in the blank "Please enter your ______". In many cases
the two selectors will be Course and Instructor, or Course and Section
- First level selector options: Add options for the first level selector
- Second level selector name: Secondary selection, with values depending upon the first-level selector choice. Fill in the blank
"Enter your _________". Second level selectors will be become the student's section identifier in the course, allowing you to
use the tutor system with diagnostics.
- Deliver assessment: For each first-level selector, specify which assessment should be delivered if the student
selects that option
- Second level selector options: For each first-level selector, specify the options for the second level selector.
After submitting the second page, you will be provided with the direct access link to the diagnostic, which you can
provide to students or use to create a link from another website
In courses for which a diagnostic has been set up, the gradebook will display differently, showing the student unique ID,
the term, and the first and second selector values in addition to the students' names and scores
Managing Administrators and Teachers
At the bottom of the admin page is a list of users. Group Admins will see the teachers in their group. For Full Admins,
teacher and higher level users are grouped by instructor Group, or are in the Default
group if you haven't defined groups. Student accounts can be listed by choosing the corresponding first letter of the last name. To approve
teachers who have filled out the "new instructor account request" form, choose Pending from the list. Note that if you require email confirmation
of students, they might also show up in the Pending list until they confirm their account.
Adding Administrators and Teachers
You can add a new administrator, teacher, or student by clicking the "Add New User"
button. You will be asked to provide a username, user's name, and email. The
user's password defaults to 'password'. If a user
already has self-registered, and you want to promote them to administrator or teacher,
find them in the user list and click the "Change Rights" link.
Rights
When adding a new administrator or changing rights, there are several rights levels, each
higher level including the rights of the lower levels:
- Guest: Can access all class materials, including taking tests (however, test is restarted next time the guest user
accesses the test). Cannot enroll or unenroll in courses, or change
user info or password. Cannot post in forums
- Student: Can only access class materials - cannot edit anything
- Teacher: Can edit course materials and create assessments, but only in courses
to which they have been assigned as a teacher
- Course Creator: Can add courses, and they are automatically assigned as the teacher. Can delete courses
that they create.
- Diagnostic Creator: Can add courses, and they are automatically assigned as the teacher. Can delete courses
that they create. Can create diagnostics.
- Group Admin: Can add/delete teachers and set user rights, but only for users in their group. Can modify/delete questions
and libraries created by members of the group regardless of ownership or use rights. Can always create "open to all" libraries
- Full Administrator: Can add/delete administrators and set user rights. Can import macro files, if installation allows.
Can modify/delete questions and libraries regardless of ownership or use rights
Resetting Admin Passwords
You can reset a user's password to 'password' by clicking the "Reset Password" link
next to the user's name.
Deleting
You can delete an administrator by clicking the "Delete" button next to their name.
Note that if they were teaching a course, this will unset them as a teacher, but
does not delete the course itself.