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Adding a document
From Qedoc
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Reasons for adding documents
The documents you add will typically be student handouts containing learning material or reference material. Handouts will contain static learning material such as notes, long reading texts and complex tabular data. You should not add documents which contain interactive material such as questions and quizzes, because these are things which you use the Qedoc software itself for. Documents are things which the Qedoc software isn't really design to present itself, but which you can attach so that the learners have the knowledge to complete the Qedoc activities which you have defined.
The Qedoc software contains task types for simple presentation pages. Presentation pages can have images, audio and text arranged in a number layouts. However these are suitable only for simple presentations. You would add a document instead:
- when you already have a well-developed handout and you prefer not to convert it into Qedoc presentation pages.
- the handout is too long or too detailed to convert into Qedoc presentation pages.
Types of documents which can be added
Any type of document can be attached which you reasonably believe learners will be able to view in an appropriate external application.
Examples of formats you may wish to use:
- Adobe Reader formats; e.g. pdf
- Microsoft Office formats; e.g. doc, xls, ppt
Flash files (SWF) can be viewed directly in the Qedoc software - enter flash files as "images/media" rather than as "documents". The same goes for other movie formats and audio formats.
How to do it
A screenshot is displayed to the right which shows three points of interest on the Qedoc Quiz Maker interface.
- At the bottom of the image you can see an extra button on the editor panel where you edit the question. The button is marked "add document". Click this button. A pop-up dialogue appears.
- In the middle of the image you can see the pop-up dialogue for selecting a document. Click "load" and browse your local file system using the loading dialogue. When you select a file to add, the Quiz Maker will display a further pop-up dialogue for adding the document to the media bank. This dialogue will ask you to specific authorship and licencing for the handout. If you wrote the handout yourself, enter your name as the copyright holder and select something like "Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike" as your licence type. Do not leave "unknown licence" in the drop-down box. If you wish to edit author and licence later, switch to the media bank where you will find your document has been automatically listed.
- Higher up the screenshot, you will see the result of adding the document. A transparent button appears across the whole width of the Qedoc task. When this button is clicked, the document launches in an appropriate external application.
Where to do it
Where should you add your documents in a Qedoc module?
You can add a single document to any task or question. You can add a document to a multiple choice question, or a gapfill task, or a drag-and-drop pair-matching task - anywhere.
However you may wish to define a "reading" or "introductory" activity as the first of your activities in the module, and have this activity consist of just one or more presentation pages. Presentation pages are a very simple form of non-interactive task where you can insert text and media - and a document as well if you wish. Create a presentation page for each of your documents, attach your documents to these pages, and then group these pages (using categories) into the reading activity.
Limitations
Unlike Qedoc presentation pages, attached documents are displayed using external applications. If a particular learner doesn't have that external application on their computer, they can't view your document. If your attachment is an Excel file, but the learner does not have Excel (or an alternative viewer) installed, then they will be unable to read the file. Therefore: please stick with documents which are written in very common formats, or where you are sure your learner will have an appropriate application.
Watchpoints
Bytesize is a big watchpoint, especially if you are adding graphically rich documents such as Powerpoint presentations. If you attach a document which is 5 megabytes in size, the Qedoc module increases in size by 5 megabytes. Please remember that Qedoc recommends a maximum 2 megabyte module size if you wish to publish via Qedoc. Please be careful with the bytesize of your documents. Contact us if you need advice about optimising a document.
