Studying in an online learning environment Getting started with online studying

Studying online
In this chapter, we will take a look at the tools that help you study online; you will learn to use the different online learning environments at the University of Helsinki and to access your home directory remotely, from outside the university network. In addition, you will learn how to access other services that are restricted to use inside the university also from outside the university network.
Section 2.5 exercises
EXERCISE 1 – Checking your contact information in WebOodiGo to WebOodi and choose the page Personal data in the side menu on the left.
Check you personal information and change them if necessary. Save the changes.
EXERCISE 2 – Ordering a study transcript from WebOodiGo to My studies / Transcript and proceed to where you can order the transcript.
Choose the language you want for the transcript and order it to your e-mail.
Check the transcript that arrives in your inbox. Is all the information correct?
EXERCISE 3 – Flamma, the university’s online desktop
Login to Flamma. Find two pages whose information you might need later (for instance, pages on study grant and UniCafe) and add them to your favourites.
Save the link to interesting content on your Flamma page on the My page tab.
Studying in an online learning environment
Getting started with online studying
The term “online learning environment” refers to a service accessible with a web browser, providing students and staff with a common workspace. An online learning environment can provide users with lecture materials, a calendar with course schedules, exercises, tests, discussion areas, or the possibility to hand in assignments or take exams online.Your online learning will be most successful if you have sorted out at least the following issues concerning your course:
what will the environment be used for during the course in question (e.g. distributing lecture notes, course information, handing in assignments etc.)?
is there a schedule for using the online learning environment?
if there is a schedule, what is it like?
what are you expected to do in the learning environment?
The course may not always be evaluated with a final exam. Instead, it might be evaluated on the basis of participation in discussions carried out in the learning environment, or by other means. Most work strategies require good cooperation skills. The teacher has the right to define what you are expected to do, and he or she will evaluate your performance accordingly. When participating in online discussions, please take heed to the Internet etiquette.
Moodle – http://moodle.helsinki.fi
Moodle is the most commonly used learning environment at the University of Helsinki, although other services to support your studies are naturally also available, e.g. wikis and blogs.
Moodle has many features which support online learning. A course taught in the Moodle environment can be divided into several time periods, organized by different themes, or based upon the participants’ social interaction. Below is a screenshot of its user interface:

Moodle enables you e.g. to take part in discussions, answer polls, hand in assignments and take exams online. Log on to Moodle at http://moodle.helsinki.fi with your (AD) user account at the university.The basic features of Moodle are introduced further down on this page. You can find more information about them and other features in Moodle in the HYPERLINK "https://wiki.helsinki.fi/display/moodle/Opiskelijan+opas" \t "_blank"Moodle Manual for Studentscompiled by the Educational Centre for ICT at the University of Helsinki.
Course registrations
You can start registering to course areas once you have logged on to Moodle. Course registrations are carried out by the teacher on some courses, while on other courses participants manage the course registrations autonomously. This self-registration makes it possible for you to access course areas without the teacher having to intervene – although in most cases, you will have to acquire a course key, or password, with which you can then register to the desired course. The course teacher will provide you with the appropriate key needed in the self-registration process.
Please note that course registration procedures may vary between faculties, and you should check up on these procedures. In most cases, registration via Moodle does not count as a course registration. For example, HYPERLINK "http://www.helsinki.fi/weboodi" \t "_blank"WebOodi is often used for both course and exam registrations. Therefore, always check the course-specific registration instructions from your study guide before registering to courses.
All courses are organized into categories according to faculty in Moodle. You can browse the courses by clicking the link Front page with categories in the menu to the left on Moodle’s front page. You can see descriptions of the various courses available after proceeding to the category of your choice. You can also search for courses by typing in the name of the course in the search field and by pressing the Go button. Below is a screenshot of what a faculty’s course description list could look like.

As is shown in the image above, many courses have a key symbol next to them. This means that registration to these courses require a “key” (password), which you get from the teacher of the course. Once you have the key, you can register to the course by clicking on its name in the list and typing in the key when Moodle prompts for it.
Please note that when you log on to Moodle, a lot more information on the courses is displayed than what is shown in the image above. Therefore, please log on to Moodle first – and then search for the courses you want to find!
Profile information
You can access your profile in Moodle by clicking your name in the top right corner of the page. From there, you can access and change your profile information, read incoming messages, and see your grades for any gradeable assignments you have done in Moodle. Below is a screenshot of the Moodle profile for student Raimo Keski-Vääntö.

You can edit the information shown about you by clicking the Edit profile link shown in the picture. On the editing page, you can e.g. change the language used in Moodle, add a profile picture or add contact information for the instant messaging programs you use. Instructions for this are found in the HYPERLINK "https://wiki.helsinki.fi/display/moodle/Opiskelijan+opas" \t "_blank"Moodle Manual for Students.
E.g. the exam for the ICT driving license can be taken in Finnish, Swedish as well as in English, so it may be very useful to update your profile information!
You should make sure that your contact information shown in Moodle is accurate and up-to-date. By doing this, you will ensure that you will receive all important messages sent to you by you teacher and other course participants.
Broadcasting, recordings and web meetings
This page covers the following topics:
Video recordings at the universityUniTubeOther recordingsTelepresenceWeb meetingsSkype for BusinessAdobe ConnectVideo recordings and broadcastsThe University of Helsinki offers lots of different kinds of recordings of lectures and seminars, among others. The oldest recordings are collected in the HYPERLINK "http://video.helsinki.fi/Media-arkisto" \t "_blank"media archives. You can watch the videos both on campuses and at home using the network.
UniTube Viewer
UniTube is a channel for watching and distributing videos for people at the university. You can find the UniTube Viewer on the university’s open web site at www.helsinki.fi/fi/unitubeand in HYPERLINK "https://flamma.helsinki.fi/" \t "_blank"Flamma in the News and Events tab. When you log in to Flamma, you can find the UniTube Viewer in the News and Events tab. You can watch lectures, teaching and instruction videos and other recordings stored in the network using UniTube.

Videos are published as series in UniTube, so the easiest way to find a video is usually to sort the videos according to the series or faculty. Also note that some UniTube videos may have restricted viewing rights. They may, for example, only be available for the participants of a certain Moodle course, so not all videos can be viewed by all users.
UniTube Download Centre
All people at the university have the opportunity to upload their own recordings to the UniTube Download Centre. You can find the UniTube Download Centre in HYPERLINK "https://flamma.helsinki.fi/" \t "_blank"Flamma’s Tools tab. You can save in the download centre videos recorded using a tablet, smartphone camera or a video camera, computer animations, audio files created using a dictator or other media files.
There are also teaching facilities around the university with UniTube recording equipment. This equipment can be reserved separately and used for the filming and recording of videos directly into UniTube using the control panel in the room. Further information on the use of the UniTube Download Centre and lecture recording equipment can be found in the HYPERLINK "https://wiki.helsinki.fi/display/unitube?src=sidebar" \t "_blank"UniTube wiki.
Other recordings
In addition to the university’s media archives, several faculties provide videos to their students (not streamed videos). Depending on the faculty, older video materials may be available as downloadable files in the avi, mov or webm file format, among others. You can open these file formats using player software, although you may also be able to watch the videos directly in your browser window.
In addition to videos, university teaching materials are also available as audio files. Materials have been archived in the mp3 file format. The VLC player presented earlier can also be used for listening to audio files.
TelepresenceTelepresence refers to remote meetings implemented using special online meeting equipment. The telepresence room usually has two high definition screens or projectors, a camera and a microphone, and the room is equipped with good sound reproduction equipment. Telepresence equipment can typically only connect to one place at a time. If you want to combine several pieces of meeting equipment or software into the same telepresence meeting, telepresence bridges can be used for merging several participants into the same meeting. HY’s IT Center has HYPERLINK "https://helpdesk.it.helsinki.fi/en/help/3149" \t "_blank"telepresence rooms available for all in Kumpula, in the centre and in Meilahti. Remote support is available for these. The IT Center additionally provides telepresence bridge services as well as streaming and recording of telepresence meetings. Many departments also have their own telepresence equipment.
Web meetings
Meetings and lectures held over the web are becoming more and more common. The biggest benefit of web events is that the participants do not need to be in the same room, on the same campus or even in the same country. The requirements to equipment are less stringent than in telepresence meetings. Just a computer, Internet connection, a headset and access to the meeting room set up in the common web meeting system are sufficient. Those speaking in the event will also need a microphone and preferably a video camera connected to the computer. Depending on the event, web meetings can be used for sharing files, sharing additional materials (such as slide shows), drawing and writing as well as organising polls and surveys.
Skype for Business
Skype for Business (formerly Lync) is part of the University of Helsinki Microsoft Office 365 service (this was explained in more detail in this chapter above). Skype for Business provides instant messaging and web meeting services as well as audio and video calls. You can also maintain an address book which can be sorted, providing an easy overview of the contact and status information of friends, lecturers and others at the university.
Skype can be used both at your desk and with mobile phones and tablets. There are separate applications available for various mobile devices (such as tablet devices and phones, you can find more information on your device’s application store).
To get the most out of the service, first install the Microsoft Office suite on your computer. A free home use licence is available for installation on home computers.
The basic use of Skype is easy and its functions are intuitive. The most common uses are most likely sending instant messages and video calls. Get started:
Start typing the name in the field (see item 1 in the picture below). Skype automatically completes the list and proposes suitable persons. In the picture, Anu Pöyry is available, and you can have a video call with her (2).
You can send an instant message by right-clicking Send an IM. You can also start a video call by selecting Start a Video Call.
Write your message in the opened message window and select Enter.
The recipient will receive a notification of a received message and can select whether to Accept or Ignore it (see the picture below).
Adobe Connect
The Adobe Connect web meeting system is used extensively for web meetings at the University of Helsinki. It allows web meeting rooms of 100 people and web seminars of up to 1,500 participants. The IT Center of the University of Helsinki administers the HY Adobe Connect system and provides user instructions and guidance for web meetings. There is also a support blog for Adobe Connect, providing practical information on how to set up meetings, for example.

 
Remote access to home directories
If you want to, you can also access your home directory at the university (the Z drive) outside the university network, e.g. from your home computer. You can do this in two different ways:
By simply connecting via the VPN portal, or
By setting up your network drive to be used from your desktop, which enables you to edit and save files in it as easily as the files on your own computer’s hard drive
The VPN portal
The VPN portal is by far the easiest way to access your home directory from outside the university’s network. Just log on to the VPN portal at www.vpn.helsinki.fi and choose the network drive you wish from the list (see the example picture below).

In the opening view you can download files you have marked with a check mark from your network drive or upload new files. By clicking the life buoy (with the text Help) in the top right corner, more detailed instructions are displayed.
Opening the network drive on the desktop
Adding the network drive as a part of the desktop view requires some installing. It still may be even a more practical way than the portal for remotely using the network drive – especially if you wish to save files you have edited on your computer directly on the network drive, or if you often need to move different files between your home computer and the university’s network drive.
In practice, you can do this by connecting your computer to the university network (you will need a VPN connection) and telling the operating system to contact your Z drive. Then, the quick icon for your Z drive will be displayed in the My Computer window, and you can open and save the files there in the same way as when using a USB memory, for example (see example image below).
Detailed instructions on how to access your home directory from outside the university are available on the Helpdesk site.

Remote access to UH internal services
Many electronic materials and services that students at the University of Helsinki use are bound to the university’s network. Depending on the service, this might be due to data security, or since the services are chargeable and cannot therefore be accessed by others than students or personnel. Bound to the university’s network are, among others, several library services, such as dictionaries and reference- and full text databases and their material. Other services include e.g. accessing the home directory, which requires a connection with the university’s network.
When you are working from home or abroad, e.g. during your exchange year, you are normally outside the university’s network. Thus you cannot access the services bound to the university’s network without a connection with the university’s network.
There are three ways to form a connection with the university’s network:
Pulse SecureHY-VPN connection via the OpenVPN client software
The VPN portalRemote access to UH library materials
All of the above-mentioned are used in slightly different manners. As the services are different, some may fits your purposes better and other poorer. It is therefore recommended that you familiarise yourself with their features presented further on this page, so that you can choose the remote connection with the university’s network that suits you best!
Pulse Secure
Pulse Secure is an easy-to-use VPN connection software developed by Juniper Networks. Pulse Secure is available for all the most common operating systems and mobile devices. You can therefore use Pulse Secure to easily contact the university’s library databases and dictionaries also on your mobile phone or tablet.
Instructions and links for the installation and use of Pulse Secure can be found in the University of Helsinki’s Helpdesk site.
Below are listed some of the service’s pros and cons:
+ Easy to use after first installation
+ Mobile access– Installation requires reading the instructions, but they do help you get the installation done quickly
The VPN portal
The VPN portal is the newest addition to the selection of remote usage services. The VPN portal is a simple service accessible with a web browser that offers you with just one login the use of several services accessible only from within the university’s network, such as your Z home directory (this was discussed in more depth on the previous page), library databases and its MOT dictionaries. Hence, it can be considered a ‘lite’ version of the VPN client connection. Instructions and additional information about the VPN portal is found in theInstruction Index of the Center of Information Technology.
Below are listed the VPN portal’s features in a nutshell:
+ Log in on the web page at www.vpn.helsinki.fi and the service is at use: very easy to use
+ You can safely access e.g. your home directory through the web page
+ You access the most important library services with a single login
+ The VPN portal is the easiest way to access your home folder from home…
– …although managing files through it is more difficult than if you added the home folder on your desktop.
University of Helsinki VPN connection
HY-VPN refers to a service where a secure connection with the university’s network is established with a separate program. When you have installed the program with the proper settings and logged in with your university user account, the program creates a secure “tunnel” through which the network traffic circulates safely to the university’s servers. Your computer will also be assigned an IP address from within the university’s network space, which practically makes it part of the university’s network as long as the connection is open. Thanks to this, the VPN connection allows you to access all services within the university’s network, such as your own home directory. It is also recommended that you use the VPN connection when you are using an open network, such as the university’s HUPnet, in order to secure data transmission.
You can find instructions for using and installing the VPN program at the IT Center Helpdesk site. Note that you need administrator rights in order to use the program!
Below is a roundup of the program’s pros and cons:
+ A good choice for your own computer, as connecting and disconnecting is very easy once the program is installed
+ You’ll have access to all material within the university’s network with the VPN connection, unless access is explicitly blocked
+ The connection is secure all the way to the university, which means that evil-doers e.g. in open wireless networks cannot eavesdrop on your traffic
+ You can save direct URL’s for e.g. e-books or other electronic material without having to open them through another service requiring log-in
– Installation and use require administrator rights, which can be a bit tricky in some cases
– Connections previously established by other programs get temporarily disconnected when establishing a VPN connection
Remote access to UH library materials
The links to electronic materials acquired by the library which are used in the library search services (the library’s website, Helka, etc.) support remote access. The links supporting remote access lead to a login page asking for the user account of the University of Helsinki’s network. After you have logged in, you will get remote access to the materials. During remote access, the libproxy.helsinki.fi string is always included in the address of the service.
Below are listed some of the features of remote access links to library materials:
+ Requires no installing or gimmickry and works from everywhere once logged in to the service
– Only works with SFX and Helka links and other remote access links (such as the library’s own pages, personal remote access links or application bookmarks)
– Material accessible from remote is mainly bound to material licensed to libraries
Wikis and blogs at the University of Helsinki
Wikis and blogs in a nutshell
Wikis are social media designed for displaying online content which several users can produce and modify in collaboration. The popular encyclopedia, Wikipedia, is an example of content produced in this manner. Wikis are suitable e.g. as tools for online teamwork at the university.
Blogs are more suitable for slightly different kinds of online communication. A typical blog is a site maintained by one individual. The language used in blogs is usually less formal than in official communication, and news items published in them are usually somehow connected to the writer’s own life. A typical blog could be described as a diary which anyone can read and comment on; they also often contain links and references to current affairs and other blogs.
Basic use of the UH wiki
The University of Helsinki offers its users a wiki at http://wiki.helsinki.fi. A brief presentation of its use follows below.
Log in to the service by clicking on the Login button (see below) and selecting Helsinki University account as the login method in the next window. In the next window, enter your university username and password in the appropriate fields and click on “Kirjaudu”.

Search and favouritesIn the bottom left corner on the front page you see a list in alphabetical order on all site spaces you can see. After you have logged in, you can also favourite wiki pages or spaces in the list that you want to visit later. In order to do this, click on the star next to the space name in the list. If you want to mark a page as favourite, select Tools -> Favorite in the top right corner. After this you can find the dashboard in your favourites on the left under thePages tab (see example image below).

Please note that not all of the wiki spaces are public, so you will see more wiki spaces when you have logged in. You may need permission from the administrator of a space to gain access to it.
You will also find a search window at the top right of the dashboard. If you want to read a certain wiki but do not have its address, you can enter a search term in the search window and your search will yield a list as shown below.

Creation and basic modification of a wiki space
You can create your own wiki space by logging in to the university wiki service with your univesity user name. Then move the cursor over your own name shown at the top right-hand corner and select Add Personal Space from the opening  menu. Select whether you wish to create a private or public wiki account and then click Create.
Group work, however, is where wikis truly shine. If you wish to start a wiki for a course group project or a hobby group, for example, a group wiki that can be freely named is best suited for this purpose.
When you have created a wiki space, you can start working on the contents. In the top left corner, you can see the Create button (see image below), that you can use to create pages and content for your wiki space. Pressing the button opens up a window, where you can select either an empty page or one of the available templates.
To edit the wiki-space page that you are currently on, click on the Edit button at the top right. This will display the page in the editor view with buttons that are familiar from word-processing programs. The example below shows this so-called rich-text editor with its buttons. If you wish, you can also use wiki markup, a dedicated markup language for wikis, for editing.

Please note that the guidelines above only describe the basic features of wiki. For more detailed instructions, please see the quickguide for HY-wiki athttps://wiki.helsinki.fi/display/support/Pikaopas.
For more general information on wikis, see the additional reading material.
University blogs
The University of Helsinki also administrates a blog service where all university students and employees can create their own blogs. The blog service is available atHYPERLINK "http://blogs.helsinki.fi/" \t "_blank"http://blogs.helsinki.fi. The UH blog service, which runs on the popular WordPress platform, does not necessarily need to be used for “diary style” publications, as there is plenty of other types of communication happening in the blogs, such as teaching in particular. The ICT driver’s license material you are currently reading stands as an example of this.

As is typical of all blogs, the university blogs are open to everyone, i.e. anyone can read them. To create your own blog in the university blog service, update your own blog, and comment on the blogs of others, you have to log in to the serviced with your university user name.
Starting a blog
Starting your blog is easy. You simply need to sign in to the service at the addresshttps://blogs.helsinki.fi/wp-admin/. A blog with your user name as the address (e.g.blogs.helsinki.fi/rkeskiva) is created for you at once.
After starting a blog, you can add text by clicking New Post in the menu and typing away! You can edit the appearance of your blog by selecting Dashboard and Appearance. TheThemes menu lets you choose a new appearance for your blog with a single click, and from the Widgets menu you can choose elements that appear on the page, such as menus, links, news feeds etc. More information and help can be found in the UH blog site instructions.
An easy way to find more readers for your blog is to publish it in the UH blog directory at the address www.helsinki.fi/blogit. The directory also lets you browse and search for blogs by other people at the university, view the most recently updated entries and read instructions and guides.
General information about blogs can be found in the additional reading material.