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.. IVLE - Informatics Virtual Learning Environment
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Copyright (C) 2007-2010 The University of Melbourne
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.. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
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it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
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the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
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(at your option) any later version.
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.. This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
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but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
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MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
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GNU General Public License for more details.
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.. You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
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along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
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Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA
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This page is designed to give a brief overview of IVLE, from a users point of
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view (including administrator and lecturer users). Here we assume that you
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have :ref:`set up a fresh copy of IVLE <ref-install>` and :ref:`installed the
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sample data <sample-data>`. This page refers to the sample data specifically.
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If you are just using an existing installation of IVLE, it might still make a
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bit of sense, but your mileage may vary.
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We will take the tour in three stages: first as a student, then as a lecturer,
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and finally as an administrator.
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Begin by logging into IVLE as a student (username: ``studenta``, password:
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You will see the IVLE home screen, which displays the subjects you are
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enrolled in, and your files for each subject. Along the top is the blue bar
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which is always visible in IVLE. Clicking the IVLE logo always returns you to
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The user ``studenta`` is enrolled in several subjects, and has several files
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already in her Subversion repository, but they aren't immediately accessible.
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First, click all of the *Checkout* buttons, to check out the Subversion
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repositories. Now you can explore the sample files, for example, in the
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Go into the ``stuff`` directory and left-click the file ``hello.py``. This will
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open the build-in text editor, which lets you modify the file. Along the top,
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there is a button marked *Serve*. Clicking this will *run* the Python code as
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a CGI application -- this should open a new window which reads "Hello,
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world!". You can also click *Run*, which will run the program in the built-in
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Python console (which pops up from the bottom of the screen). This will be
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much uglier, printing the CGI output.
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* *Serve* runs Python programs as CGI applications, showing their web output.
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* *Run* runs Python programs as command-line applications.
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Note that you can also use the console at the bottom of the screen as a
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generic Python console, whenever you wish.
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You can also serve other files, such as HTML files (try ``Welcome to
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IVLE.html``). This will just present them as normal web pages.
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Files also have full Subversion histories. If you click on a file in the file
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view (such as ``hello.py``), and go to *More Actions ‣ Subversion ‣ View Log*,
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you will see the history of a file, and be able to "select" then view a "diff"
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of the file. If you edit a file, you need to commit it (*More Actions ‣
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Subversion ‣ Commit*). If you create a new file (*More Actions ‣ Directory
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actions ‣ New file*), you need to add it (*More Actions ‣ Subversion ‣ Add*),
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This student has already completed a project, and is ready to submit it. Go
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into the *Intermediate IVLE ‣ mywork* directory. Select ``phase1.html`` and
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choose *More Actions ‣ Publishing ‣ Submit*. This takes you to the Submit
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Choose to submit to Phase 1, and click *Submit Project*. You should see a page
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telling you the submission was successful, with a link to *Verify*. Verify
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shows you exactly which files were submitted, and their contents at the time
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of submission (if the files have changed since then, you'll still see the
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submitted version). You should verify after each submission -- you can verify
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any submitted project from the subject page.
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If you go into the *Intermediate IVLE ‣ group1* directory, you will be able
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to make a group submission to Phase 2 (which is a group project). Also note
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that the file here (``phase2.html``) was edited by studenta and
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studentb collaboratively, as you can see in the project's revision log.
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Note that the Phase 3 submission has already closed. You can still make a
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"late submission" to a project that has closed, but there is an extra
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confirmation step. Lecturers are given details on late submissions and may
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deduct marks accordingly.
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Click on *Intermediate IVLE – Subject Home* from the home screen (or, from
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the IVLE pulldown menu, choose *Subjects* and select Intermediate IVLE). There
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is one worksheet, Worksheet Basics. Clicking this takes you to the worksheet,
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where students are challenged by Python questions.
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After reading the worksheet, attempt the first simple programming question,
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which is to write the "Hello world" program.
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First, click *Submit* without writing any code, and note that the system
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automatically runs a test case, which fails. Now change the code to be "almost
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right" (for example, write ``Hello world`` instead of ``Hello, world!``), and
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press *Submit* again. It will tell you that you almost got it right. In this
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way, the IVLE test framework can show users that they're on the right track.
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If you get it exactly right and click *Submit* a third time, you will pass the
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Note that you can also click *Run*, and it will execute your solution in the
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Python console. This doesn't cost you an "attempt", nor does it run the test
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cases. It just lets you test it out for yourself before making an official
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Back on the subject page, you will notice that the exercise appears complete,
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and you have been awarded a mark.
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A sample solution to the second exercise follows::
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Log into IVLE as a lecturer (username: ``lecturer``, password: ``password``).
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Many of these things are also possible as a tutor (try username: ``tutor``,
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password: ``password``).
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Being a lecturer or tutor is a per-subject privilege, so it only applies to
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certain subjects. All of your special powers are under the subject home for
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the subjects you are a tutor in. Note that everything a lecturer can do, an
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admin can also do, for all subjects in the system.
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Click *Intermediate IVLE – Subject home* (the one which does not display a
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semester -- implying the currently active semester). From here, you will see
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largely the same view as a student, but with more buttons. *Change details*
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allows you to modify the subject properties. *Administer enrolments* allows
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you to add existing IVLE users as students or tutors of the subject you are
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teaching, change the roles of existing members, and revoke enrolments.
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Click *Manage projects* to go to the project management screen. Note that the
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3 projects are grouped into "Solo projects" (projects submitted by each
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individual student) and "Group projects". Try adding a new Solo project, by
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clicking on *Add a new project* within that box. The fields should be fairly
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Group projects are complicated by what we call "project sets". A "project set"
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is a set of group projects where the student groups are the same throughout.
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For instance, you will see Phase 2 and Phase 3 inside the same project set
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box. This means students will get into groups of 3 to submit Phase 2, and then
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the same group will submit Phase 3.
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Clicking *Manage groups* lets you put students into groups for a given project
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Click *Add a new project set* and enter a group size of 6. Then, create a
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project in the new set. Each student must get into a new group for each
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project *set*. Note also that the groups will share a Subversion repository
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for all projects in a set, but if you create a new set, the students will have
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to start using a new repository.
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You can't delete a project set after it has been created (this could cause
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problems for groups and their repositories).
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Usually, the hassle of getting into new groups and creating new repositories
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means that you will want to create just two project sets for a subject: one
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for solo projects, and another for group projects.
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Lecturers and tutors can view any student or group's project submission, using
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an external Subversion client. As submissions are really just Subversion
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commits, you can examine a student's work by simply checking out the correct
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revision of the repository.
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From the offering page, click *View submissions* under the project of interest.
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This takes you to a page which lists the latest submissions from every student
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(presumably you will just see the submission made by ``studenta`` earlier in
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this tour). Next to each submission is a command line, beginning with
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``svn export``. For instance, you might see the line::
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svn export --username lecturer -r7 'http://svn.ivle.localhost/users/studenta/ivle-102/phase1.html' studenta.html
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Paste this line into a command-line (or, if you use a GUI Subversion client,
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use the username, revision and URL given). Subversion will likely prompt for a
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password. For the sample data, this password is ``password``, but in general, it
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will **not** be your normal IVLE password. You can learn your Subversion
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password by going to your user settings page (it is hidden by default, for
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This will download the student's work into the current directory, to inspect.
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This page shows late submissions in red, with a "*", and the number of
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days late, rounded upwards. Therefore, a submission which is 1 second late
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is shown with a "(1)", while a submission that is 24 hours and 1 second
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late is shown with a "(2)".
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You can also try to check out the group submission from Phase 2.
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Managing worksheets and exercises
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---------------------------------
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Returning to the subject home page, click *Manage worksheets*. On this page,
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you will see all of the worksheets for the subject. Here you can edit
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worksheets, add new ones, and re-order them. You can also edit any worksheet
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To get an idea of what a worksheet looks like in edit mode, click the edit
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action (pencil) next to "Worksheet Basics".
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* The *URL name* is the name of the worksheet as it appears in URLs.
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* The *Assessable* checkbox will make the exercises in the worksheet count
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towards each student's worksheet mark, if checked. Uncheck it for
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informational worksheets.
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* The *Format* selection controls the format used to write the worksheet in
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the box below. Leave it on *reStructuredText* unless you have a reason not
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Now, you can edit the worksheet content in reStructuredText. The existing text
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briefly explains this format. See `A ReStruecturedText Primer
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<http://docutils.sourceforge.net/docs/user/rst/quickstart.html>`_ for a full
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guide. Note that the exercises themselves are not defined in the worksheet.
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They are separate resources, which can be shared across subjects. Exercises
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can be embedded with a line like this::
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.. exercise:: factorial
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Click *Manage exercises* to see the exercises (in the sample data, just
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``factorial``). An exercise is a very complex thing, due to the fact that it
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runs automated testing on the student code. The details are outside the scope
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of this tour. Hopefully, you can figure out how they work by examining the
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existing ``factorial`` exercise.
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If you are game enough, create a new worksheet from scratch. If you are
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*really* game, create a new exercise for your worksheet.
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Viewing worksheet marks
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-----------------------
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You will probably have already noticed that the lecturer's worksheet view is
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not quite like the student's. It has a table at the top which shows some
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statistics about how students in this subject are going with each exercise.
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(Depending on settings, tutors may also be able to access these stats.)
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Lecturers (not tutors) can also get more specific feedback on individual
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students by selecting "View worksheet marks" at the bottom of the subject
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page. This shows the marks in each worksheet, and in the subject overall, for
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each student, and can be used to calculate each student's final grade.
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The marks are calculated from the current time, by default. However,
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normally, there is a cutoff time after which students cannot gain any
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additional marks for worksheets. You can set this cutoff in the offering
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edit page. Once set, the marks will be calculated based on submissions up
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until that date, and students will be notified of the cutoff time.
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The "Download as CSV file" link provides these same statistics in CSV format,
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which can be easily parsed.
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An administrator's view
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=======================
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Log into IVLE as an admin (username: ``admin``, password: ``password``).
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Administrator users in IVLE have significant privileges. Note, however, that
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for technical reasons, admins cannot read or write other users' files. This
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requires root access on the machine IVLE is installed on.
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Firstly, pull down the IVLE menu (top-left). There is an additional item for
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admins -- the *Users* page. This lists all users with an account in IVLE, and
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lets you create new ones. Clicking on a username takes you to the user's
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profile page. Try it with the user ``lecturer``.
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The profile page is exactly the same as the user himself would see it, but
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with a few more buttons on the side. *Change password* is the same as the
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user's own *Change password* page. However, *Reset password* is a special
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admin page which lets you change a user's password without knowing the old
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one. *Administer user* also lets you change administrative settings for the
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user, such as their full name (more formal than display name, which the user
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themselves can change) and student ID. You can also add/remove admin status
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for, or disable/enable (i.e., ban from IVLE) any user (except yourself, of
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course -- that could be bad).
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Use this with care. Making a user an admin gives them complete control over
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the system. They could even revoke *your* admin rights!
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Administering subjects and offerings
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------------------------------------
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Admin users also enjoy the same privileges as lecturers, for all subject
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offerings on the system. In addition, admins can enrol users in an offering as
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lecturers (this is the only way to become a lecturer), and change or delete a
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lecturer's enrolment. Go to the subject page for Advanced IVLE and enrol the
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user ``lecturer`` as a lecturer in the subject.
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Admins can also administer subjects. Here it is important to distinguish
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between a "subject" (a course on a specific topic which is repeated over a
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number of semesters or years) and an "offering" (a particular instance of a
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subject, for one semester). Lecturers can administer *offerings* they are
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enrolled in, but not *subjects*.
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As an admin, go to the *Subjects* page. You will see a link *Manage subjects
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and semesters*. The list at the top of the page shows all registered
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subjects. Click *Create new subject* to create a brand new subject (i.e., a
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new course). Call it "Introduction to Programming", with the URL name
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``intro-prog`` and subject code 200101.
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Now we have created a *subject* but not an *offering*, so nobody will be able
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to teach or enrol in this subject. From the "Introduction to Programming"
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page, click *Create new offering*. Select the semester in which the subject
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will be first taught. If you wish to create the first offering of a semester
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(e.g., 2011 semester 1), you will have to create a new semester first. Type
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in a subject description. (Note that each offering has an independent
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description.) Once you have created an offering, you can enrol lecturers, and
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they can in turn enrol students.
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Lecturers can take over administration duties of an offering (such as editing
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the description and managing projects), however it remains the admin's duty to
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administer the subjects, including creating new offerings each semester and
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Administering semesters
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-----------------------
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An important duty of the administrator is controlling the *state* of each
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semester. Return to the *Manage subjects and semesters* page. Note the
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*Semesters* table contains a list of all known semesters, and whether they are
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"past", "current" or "future".
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IVLE could automatically create and manage semesters based on the system
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clock, but it presently does not. That is because your institution may have
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a different concept of a "semester" to ours. (For example, what are the
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semester start and end dates?) IVLE has therefore been designed to require
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admins to manually activate new semesters and disable old ones.
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In the sample data, 2009 semester 2 is the "current" semester. Let us assume
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that we are moving into the start of 2010. Edit 2009 semester 2 and set its
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state to "Past". Then, edit 2010 semester 1 and set its state to "Current".
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This affects the system in several ways. Mainly, it just changes the UI for
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all users, in terms of which offerings are presented as "current".
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Marking a semester as anything other than "current" will make it impossible
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for students enrolled in offerings for that semester to submit projects.
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Only do this after the semester has fully closed.
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It is possible for multiple semesters to be marked as "current", if this is
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desired. Therefore, there is no need to disable one semester before enabling
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Unfortunately, there are still a few tasks which admins need to do which
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haven't been implemented in the UI for the IVLE web application. These tasks
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are available as command-line scripts which can be run by someone with root
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access on the machine IVLE is installed on. They are gradually being migrated
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over to proper UI features in IVLE itself.
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Details on these scripts can be found in :ref:`ref-admin-scripts`.
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doc/man/tour.rst
