Each month we will share some of our timely frequently asked questions around educational technology.

Is it possible to run a discussion forum in my shared Int / Ext FLO site in random groups of 5 students, where distance students participate separately to the internal students?

Yes. First, you need to create the groups – FLO has an auto-create function to assist with random allocation. Create a set of groups for the internal students (using the Student Two group) and then create a set of groups for the external students (using the Student Two group). You will need to allocate all groups to the same grouping.

Once you have all your groups in the grouping, apply the grouping to the discussion forum settings. Under Common module settings, change Group mode to Separate groups to give each group their own private forum, or Visible groups to create a forum for each group and allow other groups to view (but not post to).

For more information see the groups and groupings help documentation on the eLearning Gateway or enrol in the FLO: Managing groups workshop.

In my topic students will partake in 10 quizzes spread over 10 weeks, but only be assessed for the 5 top scoring ones. Can I configure Gradebook to calculate the result?

Yes. In Gradebook (Setup > Gradebook setup), create a category called (say) ‘Weekly quizzes’ and move all the relevant weekly quizzes inside it.

Edit the settings for the new category. Set the Aggregation to Weighted mean of grades. Click the Show more link and type ‘5’ in the Keep the highest value box. In Category total, set the maximum grade for the category.

Ensure the weighting factor (Weights column) for the category of combined quizzes matches the information in the SAM. Most other settings can be left as defaults. Save the changes, and then give each quiz a weighting of 1.0 inside the category you have created.

Gradebook will now add up the top five quizzes in the category, ignoring the other five, and then contribute to the final topic total.

For assistance, contact your local eLearning support team. Further information about Gradebook is provided in the eLearning Gateway.

Contributed by Paul Stoll
eLearning & Media Support Officer – CILT/CoNHS