OCA Spaces Support & Guidance
This activity contains support and guidance regarding the use of OCA Spaces, including how to access and sign in, creating a new learning log and subsequent blog posts, to more intermediate and advanced features available.
Privacy Settings
Your choice of privacy setting, selected when creating your learning log, will impact who can and cannot access your learning log, although can be continuously updated if necessary.
Outlined below are the various options available;
- ‘Yes’ or ‘Allow search engines to index this site’: Publicly accessible and increases the likelihood of appearing in search engines, such as Google, Bing or Yahoo.
- ‘No’ or ‘Discourage search engines to index this site’: Publicly accessible but aims, although not always, reduces the likelihood of appearing in search engine results.
- Visible only to registered users of this network: Limited to those with an OCA email account and access to OCA Spaces, such as fellow students and staff. The TEL Team recommends this option.
- Visible only to registered users of this site: Limited to those registered as a user your site. Users can be added - thus granting permission - or removed - thus revoking permission. For further information regarding adding or removing a user, please visit the Add or Remove Users sub-chapter.
- Visible only to administrators of this site: As above, but requires the ‘Administrator’ role, and the TEL Team strongly recommends against using this option.
Your learning logs privacy setting should be seen as the primary and overarching privacy setting, and any blog posts published should be made ‘Public’ - the default option when using the Gutenberg editor and cannot be amended using the frontend editor - or will otherwise be inaccessible to everyone, regardless of your learning logs privacy setting. If you'd like to keep a blog post private, the TEL Team would recommend you consider changing your learning logs privacy setting and not the post.
To later amend your learning logs privacy setting, first access the WordPress Dashboard and select ‘Settings’ - located in the left hand menu - followed by ‘Reading’. On the following page and located beneath the ‘Site Visibility’ heading are the various options available and as outlined above. In the event you change this setting, please ensure to select the blue ‘Save Changes’ option before navigating away from the page.
Add or Remove a User(s)
This section is particular applicable to students who've selected the 'Visible to registered users of this site' option and therefore need to add their tutor as a user, thus granting access. This section is also applicable to students' whose tutor is unable to access their learning log.
Having accessed the WordPress Dashboard, select the 'Users' option, located in the left hand menu, where on the following page you'll find a list of users who are able to access your learning log; the only exception being students who've selected the 'Visible only to administrators of this site' option - which the TEL Team strongly recommends against - and the user isn't listed as an 'Administrator'.
Add a User
Having accessed the WordPress Dashboard and selecting the 'Users' option, located in the left hand menu, next select the 'Add New' option. On the following page and within the 'Email or Username' field, enter the user's OCA email address, and ensure the default 'Subscriber' role is selected. Although not essential, the TEL Team also recommends selecting the 'Add the user without sending an email that requires their confirmation' option; selecting this option will immediately add the individual as a user on your learning log, without requiring their confirmation. Finish by selecting the blue 'Add Existing User' option.
Remove a User
Having accessed the WordPress Dashboard and selecting the 'Users' option, located in the left hand menu, use the tick-box, located to the left of a user's name, to select the user(s) you'd like to remove from your learning log, thus revoking access. With the desired user(s) selected, select the 'Bulk Actions' dropdown menu, followed by 'Remove' and 'Apply'.
Assessment
Students including their learning log in their assessment submission first ensure their learning log is accessible to assessors and external examiners.
Students whom have selected the 'Visible to registered users of this network' or earlier do not need to take any further action. Students who've selected 'Visible to registered users of this site' and do not wish to make their learning log accessible to within OCA using the 'Visible to registered users of this network' option should add the 'externalexaminer@oca.ac.uk' account as a user on their site, while also informing the Assessment Team. For information on how to add or remove a user from your learning log, please visit the Add or Remove a User(s) sub-chapter.