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Managing Learning Activities - Stage 2

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Managing Database Activities

Margarita Berezyanskaya

Last Update a month ago

Avenue courseware arrives with pre-made Database activities in the PBLA Resources topic. These have several purposes. Some are provided to assist instructors to administer needs and goals assessments at the beginning of a course. If the database Approval required setting is set to Yes, student database entries remain private unless the teacher approves the submission (for sharing).


Other databases complement learning activities and the results can also be used in follow up activities, such as group discussion, or compiling useful student-generated resources, or even as a student file storage area. Again, the entries by individual students can be viewed by other students or remain anonymous using the Approval required setting.


Databases can also be used to document data about individual learners. By providing learners with surveys that elicit PBLA-oriented responses, the Database module can support PBLA. These database forms can be printed and added to the print-based binder or they can be kept in digital format.


Instructions for creating your own Database activity form from scratch are available in the following Stage 3 articles:


Exemplars

Sample databases are demonstrated in the Stage 2/3 Exemplar course.


The sample databases include:


  • Needs and Goals – a multilevel needs and goals assessment using checkboxes, drop-down menus, and text input areas;

  • Learning Style Preferences – can be used to gather information about learning style preferences in your class (the example is for CLB 4+, courses below CLB 4 use a Poll/Choice to report Learning Style Preferences);

  • My Weekly Personal Reflection on Learning – a text-based Database that can be used to help students record their reflections at regular intervals throughout the course;

  • Writing an Email Request –an example of a possible writing activity that simulates an email to a community centre program coordinator.

Student View of a Database Activity

The following steps explain how a student would use a Database with your class. The steps are similar when using the other Avenue courseware Databases.


1. On their course home page, students click on a Database activity link.



Note: A Database appears with instructions and a set of tabs. These tabs include: View list, View single, Search, and Add entry.



2. To add a Database entry, a student clicks on the Add entry tab.



A database New entry form appears.


3. Students complete the form based on the database prompts.


4. Students click on the Save and view button to submit their Database entry.



Note: The new Database entry appears.



5. To see all of the other students' entries which have been approved, a student clicks on the View list tab.


Note: To allow students to see a classmate's entry, the teacher must first approve it, by clicking on the Approve entry thumbs-up icon below the entry in the Database. By approving the entry, it becomes visible to the other students. The best practice is to wait until all the students have completed the task before approving the entries to avoid the possibility of copying by others.
6. Using the icons below the Database entries in the list view, students can use the single view icon to see the full details of any entry. They can also edit or remove their own entries. 


7. In the View single tab, students can see any entry, and they can edit or delete any of their own entries.


 

Teacher View of Database Activities

The following steps explain how to use an Avenue Database. In Stage 3, you will learn how to create an Avenue Database activity.


1. Go to your course home page, and click on a Database activity.



2. If you would like to add a model/sample Database entry for your students, click on the Add entry tab to begin. Fill out the form and click on the Save and view, or the Save and add another button.



To view student entries, click on the View List or View single tabs. 

Note: View List will often have an abbreviated form of the entries. Look at the View Single tab for the complete entries.



Note: If you click on the Approve entry icon for the entries on either of the View List or View single tabs, the entry will become visible to all users in the course. For many of the PBLA Database modules, you will not want to do this as the entries are of a personal nature. If you want students to see your model entry, you must approve it.



3. On the View single tab, you can leave comments and action-oriented feedback for learners via the Comments area for each entry. Click on the Comments link to open the Comments text box, write your comments, and then click on Save Comment to add your feedback for the entry.


 

Resources

Moodle Documents: Database


Moodle Documents : Using the Database