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Edit global settings

Under Edit global settings, the system administrator can edit a number of different settings. You can find Edit global settings on the Admin tab. This topic describes all the settings you can edit.

Quick links

• Features and security
• Files
• Layout
• Set default course settings
• Absence
• Manage assessment settings
• Manage submission statuses
• Manage login page settings
• Manage export settings
• Regional settings 

Features and security

Here you can edit general site settings such as:

• Available functions:
  • Enable digital exam and bulletin board options.
  • Set page to be displayed when users log out.
  • Set quarantine period, the length of time that items can be in the trash can before they can be deleted permanently.
• Set password rules. Select, for example, which password complexity to use. You have three options:

Option	Description
None	All passwords are accepted.
Medium	Must be at least 7 characters long. Cannot contain names or user names. Must contain characters from each of the following three groups: Upper case letters (A-Z). Lower case letters (a-z). Numbers (0-9).
Strong	Must be at least 7 characters long. Cannot contain names or user names. Must contain characters from each of the following three groups: Upper case letters (A-Z). Lower case letters (a-z). Numbers (0-9). Symbols (@ ! ; + - etc).

• Set login rules.

Files

Here you can manage templates, file types and file viewers. The Files settings determine the types of files that can be added and uploaded to itslearning. If, for example, you want to use special mathematics software, you can define the file type and the application in the settings and enter the address to the web site where learners can download the program to their computers. You can also restrict certain file types from being used, for example, MP3 files.

Template documents

As default, itslearning comes with a set of default templates. These are used when new files are added in itslearning. Administrators can delete and edit templates. By clicking Add, you can add new templates. For example: A school can insert its logo in all the documents.

When you add a template document, you are required to enter information in the following fields:

File types

Under this heading, you can see the file types available in itslearning. If users report that they cannot open a certain file type, you should make sure that the file type is defined under File types.

As a system administrator, you are allowed to edit and delete file types. Another option you have is to decide whether the file should be opened in a new window, or in the work area in itslearning.

File extensions

The file extension is the ending that appears after the full stop in a filename, such as 'jpg' (indicating a picture format) or 'docx' (for an MS Word 2007 (or more recent) document).

MIME type

The MIME type is text representing the type of content in the file. All machines have a table of MIME types enabling the operating system to know the program with which it can open a file (Windows and Linux also use the file’s extension). itslearning uses a table of file types to identify files. When a file is up- or downloaded, itslearning looks in this table to find the corresponding MIME type. When the document is downloaded, the MIME type is sent with the file to the browser so that the correct program is used to open the file.

Example: JPG files have the MIME type 'image/jpg', and .doc files have the MIME type 'application/msword'.

When you add a file type, you are required to enter information in the following fields:

File viewers

The file viewer decides what application to use when opening specific file type. This can come in handy if users are using different software on the same files, or if users do not have, for example, MS Word on the computers on which they are working. When you add a file viewer, you are required to enter the following information:

Layout

The layout page has the following options:

• Site logo: Replace the itslearning logo at the top left corner with your own. It will also replace the itslearning logo in the login page. It has to be in PNG format and be 47 pixels high. The width must not exceed 250 pixels.
• Define links for the site: The links appear in the main menu. You can add up to five links and decide what profiles confer ability to see the links. However, to prevent the main menu from being full of links, you may consider keeping the amount of links to a minimum and post them on the site dashboard instead. For the same reason, keep the link labels short. In the screenshot below, a link to BBC Education is added to the site:
  
  
• Custom user information: Allows you to add custom information on profiles. The custom fields appear as an option when you add new users, and can be, for example, student or employee number, Skype address or similar.

Set default course settings

Here you are allowed to set:

• What elements and functionalities to use in courses by default
  • Show Links
  • Show Participants
  • Show Status and follow-up
  • Use Calendar
  • Use grade book
  • Use Attendance reporting
  • Show Bulletin board
  • Use Files in course
• Available course reports for course administrators and teachers
  • Summary
  • Assignments
  • Personal reports
  • Progress status
  • Learning objective achievement reports
• Available course reports for learners
  • Personal reports
• Set available functionalities
  • Course files are in a folder that is placed in My Web files, but this material is also accessible from the course settings.Files in course
  • Portfolio assessment
  • Learning objectives

Absence

Under Absence you can define terms and dates for different terms. You can:

• Add terms
• Add and edit absence types
• Edit the absence settings

Manage assessment settings

Here you can manage assessment settings and define assessment scales. The assessment scales are scales such as ‘Grades A to F’, ‘Grades 1 to 6’, and ‘Passed / Not passed’. You can create, delete and edit the scales. See "Grade book"

Warning: If teachers have already begun using the scales, it is highly recommended to not to edit them. Instead, add a new scale.

How-tos

Adding a new assessment scale

1. Click the Admin tab.
2. Click Edit global settings.
3. Click Manage assessment settings.
4. Click Create.
5. Enter information in the following fields:




Field	Description
Title	Enter a title for the assessment scale.
Totals	In the Totals drop-down list, select Recommended if you have a scale that goes from, for example, 1 to 10. In a summary, this option represents calculation of the average mark – for example, 7.Average or Recommended if you have a non-numeric scale, such as 'Very good', 'Good' and 'Bad'. In a summary, this option counts the grades instead of giving the average. Example: ‘Very good: 3 learners’, ‘Good: 8 learners’ and so on.Count. Average is the average of a given number of grades. If a learner is given the marks 1, 2 and 3, the average is 2. The count is summed from all assessments given – for example, 'Very good: 3 learners’, ‘Good: 8 learners’ and so on.
Description	Perhaps this assessment scale applies to particular group of learners only? In that case, describe it here to prevent the teachers from being confused when selecting assessment scales.
Calculate percentages automatically	Check this box if you want itslearning to calculate the percentages of each assessment. Example scale: A scale that goes from 1 to 5, where 5 is the best assessment: 0-–19.9 % = 1 20–39.9% = 2 and so on. If you uncheck this box, you are allowed to edit the percentages.
Percentages can be changed when used with tests	If you check this box, you allow teachers to change the percentages in the test interface if the assessment scale is used on this test. This option is not recommended if the assessment contains many rows.




6. Enter a grade in the first Title field. This must be the highest grade in your scale, for example, A. Entering a description in the Description field is optional. Continue to enter the grades in a descending order. If you need more rows, click Add new row. You can move the rows up and down by selecting them and using the Move up and Move down buttons.
7. Click Save.

Manage submission statuses

Allows you to define submission statuses for use when evaluating assignments. The submission status might be, for example, 'Not submitted', 'Submitted', 'Not corrected' or 'Correction in progress'.

Manage login page settings

Allows you to manage the news and links that appear on the login page. You can decide whether to show:

• News: Here you are allowed to add custom news and add it to the login page. Click Change to add or news.
• Course catalogue: Check this box to add a link to your course catalogue on the login page.
• Links: Here you are allowed to add custom links and add them to the login page. Click Change to add or edit links.
• ePortfolio list: A random list of ePortfolios from your site's users. The list changes every hour.

You can add news or links by clicking Change. Click Add news to add a news on the login page.

The news function also has an RSS feed. That means that everyone can receive news updates from this page.

Manage export settings

Here you can edit the column separator when exporting grade books and similar export settings.

Regional settings

Here you can set the regional settings of the site as shown in the following screenshot:

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