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The Virtual Campus
The primary purpose of a Virtual Campus (VC), is to provide a means by which a Learner can study via the Internet. It displays study content and gives the Learner facilities to access different parts of modules under study.
The Virtual Campus also has facilities to enable the Learner to:
- Engage in Discussion Groups with a tutor and other people studying the same modules. A Discussion Group enables Learners to type a message, such as a question about a topic in a study module, that other participants can read when they look at the discussion group area. People can type a reply to the Learner’s message and so separate discussions can build on a range of topics.
- Engage in Conference sessions with a tutor and other Learners at an agreed time. Conference members each type what they want the other conference members to read. Learners may also have access to the audio conference facility where they can speak to, and hear the replies of, other Conference members.
- Access Notice Boards that contain information on courses of studies together with Word documents, PowerPoint presentations and any other files that the tutor wants groups of Learners to receive.
How do Learners use the Virtual Campus ?
Learners apply to join a particular course or module of study by contacting GTG’s F.E. Centre co-ordinator.
When the Learner has been registered for a particular course, authorisation to connect to and ‘enter’ the Campus is given.
When connection has been achieved a screen like the following one will appear:
Using the supplied ID and password, the Learner then simply clicks on the Login button.
How do Learners access the different parts of the Virtual Campus ?
Learners can enter each area by clicking on the appropriate words in a user friendly navigation bar. For example, the study modules are in Unit Support, the Discussion Groups and Conference Rooms are within Communications and the Learner’s diary and the results of his/her work are in Personal Management.
How are the study modules accessed ?
The Learner clicks on the words Unit Support in the blue bar. This will inform the Virtual Campus that the Learner wants to look at the menu of work available for selection.
In this example the user has clicked on the yellow folder called Presentation Skills and this has expanded to show that there are a number of items that can be viewed.
The  pictures mean that clicking on the associated title e.g. Introduction will display the content of the study materials and the  picture means that clicking on the Questions title will display a set of questions on this study material.
When the Learner has clicked on the menu item wanted, it will be displayed in the large area on the right hand of the screen. In the following example the first item on the menu i.e. "Introduction" was selected. After a short while the screen displays the first screen for this chapter.
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The coloured buttons at the bottom of the screen enable the Learner to work with the study content. Their purpose is as follows:
- Selecting Next will show the next screen of the study material and clicking on Previous allows Learners to retrace their steps through the material.
- The Contents button will show the Learner a list of the Contents of this chapter. Learners can use this facility to go directly to a title that interests them - rather than working through the material page by page.
- The Bookmark button enables Learners to record which page they have reached. The next time the Learner accesses the chapter s/he will be taken directly to the page that s/he Bookmarked.
- The Refresh button can be used if the page is not correctly displayed and the Learner wants the Virtual Campus to redisplay the content.
- The Print button enables the Learner to print the information on the screen onto a printer.
- The Download button can be used to download from the Virtual Campus all the files that are needed to display the study materials before the Learner starts to work through them. This can save time waiting for each page to download whilst the Learner is actually studying - although s/he will have to wait initially whilst all the files are downloaded.
How do I find more information about the Virtual Campus ?
A current list of study topics is held by the F.E. Centre Co-Ordinator, as are registration details. Contact information is listed in the ‘Contacts’ section of this Website.
After registration, the Learner can read the comprehensive User Guide within the Virtual Campus by going to "Your start page" and clicking on the picture of three books called "User Guides" followed by the menu item "Users guide". This will produce, on screen, a comprehensive guide to using the Virtual Campus.
Want to find out more?
Take the next step towards training in the future, call
01452 423461
8 Chancel Close
Eastern Avenue
Gloucester GL4 3SN
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