Student guide

Courses contain two kinds of elements: resources, which you read, watch or download, and activities, in which you do something (submit, answer, discuss). This chapter covers the resources and the interactive learning activities H5P and Lesson.

Overview of resources

Type	What it is	How to use it
Page	A web page with text, images, videos and embedded maps.	Click the name, read, and mark as done if required.
Book	A multi-page text divided into chapters and sub-chapters.	See "Working with a book" below.
File	A document (PDF, Word, PowerPoint), a data set (for example GeoJSON, CSV, shapefile in ZIP) or a video.	Click the name – it opens in the browser or is downloaded.
Folder	Several files together, for example all data for a lab exercise.	Open the folder and click individual files, or use Download folder to get a ZIP file.
URL	A link to an external web page (open data portal, article, video).	Click the name; the page opens in the same or a new window.
Text and media area	Text, images or a video shown directly on the course page (earlier called Label).	Nothing to click – read it on the course page. The "Team chat" instruction in the template course is such an area.

Working with a book

1. Open the book. On the left (or at the top on a phone) you see the Table of contents; the current chapter is highlighted.
2. Use Next and Previous at the bottom of the chapter, or click a chapter in the table of contents.
3. If printing is enabled, use Print book or Print this chapter in the More menu of the book. In the print dialogue of the browser you can also choose "Save as PDF".
4. After the last chapter click Exit book to return to the course.

Tip: The book counts as "viewed" as soon as you open it, but read all chapters – the self-check quiz usually covers the whole book.

Files: formats and downloading

• PDF files open in the browser. Use the browser's download button to save them.
• Office documents and data files are usually downloaded. Open GIS data with QGIS or in the lab (chapter 18).
• All learning materials are published under the CC BY 4.0 licence unless stated otherwise – you may reuse them if you name the author (chapter 17).

H5P – interactive content

H5P activities (shown as Interactive content) are small interactive exercises directly in the course: interactive video with questions, course presentation, drag and drop, fill in the blanks, question set, flash cards and more.

1. Open the H5P activity and work through the content. In an interactive video the video stops at questions; answer to continue.
2. Use the buttons inside the content: Check shows whether your answer is correct, Retry starts again, Show solution shows the correct answer (if allowed).
3. If the activity is graded, your result is saved automatically when you finish. Open My attempts to see your previous attempts and scores.
4. Under the content there may be buttons such as Reuse (download the .h5p file), Embed and Fullscreen.

Note: Most H5P content types can be used with the keyboard. If an exercise (for example drag and drop) is difficult for you with your assistive technology, tell the teacher – they can provide an alternative task.

Lesson – learning path with questions

A Lesson leads you through a series of pages. After a content page there is often a question; depending on your answer you continue, go back to repeat the explanation, or take a different branch. The template module contains for example the lesson "From data to decision".

1. Open the lesson and read the first page. Use Continue or the buttons at the bottom of the page to move on.
2. Answer the question and click Submit. The platform tells you That's the correct answer or That's the wrong answer and may show an explanation.
3. A Progress bar (if enabled) shows how far you are. A timed lesson shows the remaining time.
4. At the end you see Congratulations – end of lesson reached and, in a graded lesson, your grade. Depending on the settings you may retake the lesson.

Tip: If you leave a lesson in the middle, the platform usually asks you next time whether you want to continue where you stopped.

Other resources

Occasionally you may meet SCORM packages or IMS content packages – ready-made e-learning units from other systems. Open them like any other activity; they may open in a new window and save your progress automatically.