Exporting Files from Moodle to Elgg 

An ePortfolio is an electronic system for gathering records, information, facts, files, and other evidence of learning.  It allows students as well as teachers to monitor progress, plan learning, and present proofs of learning and achievement.  Eportfolios contribute to the advancement of learning by providing teachers and students with a way to organize, archive, and display pieces of work.

ePortfolios are an important way to assess student work over a longer period of time and across different courses.  Within a specific course or class, teachers may require the students to produce an assignment, a paper work, or any learning product such as an essay or project.  MEL allows teachers to easily integrate this type of classwork with a longer term portfolio system.  Below is a summary to illustrate the scenario.

1. A teacher creates an "activity" within a class which includes submitting an assignment.
2. When an activity has been created, a student, ready with his assignment, may submit his work by uploading the file.
3. As soon as the student submits or uploads his assignment, the teacher evaluates the work and grades the student, if desired.
4. When the activity reaches the Due Date set by the teacher, the student exports his files by clicking the Export files link.  Automatically, the files are transferred to the student's eportfolio.

Below is a step-by-step illustration with screen shots to help you understand and appreciate this feature on our demo site.

1. Log on to the site as a teacher with a correct user name and password.  For demo purposes, you may use the teacher account with "sgteacher" as the user name and password.
   
   
   
   Logging in successfully brings you to the Main page of the demo site.
   
2. From My Courses, click Features Tour Demo Course. This brings you to the course page where topics related to Features Tour Demo Course are listed.
   
   
   
   
3. Click Turn editing on located at the upper right section of the page, just below the header. You may also click the Turn editing on link on the left column of the page. This displays and makes available on the page all buttons that are necessary for creating and editing activities.
   
   
   
   
4. From the list displayed in the center column, create an activity.  To do this, go to the last empty row, click Add an activity, and select Upload a single file.
   
   
   
   This further brings you to the Adding a new Assignment page where you may specify the Assignment Name, Description, other instructions instruction, date of availability, Due Date, and other specifications or information related to the activity.
   
   
   
   Make sure to indicate the correct dates, especially the Due Date, as this will play an essential role when the students export their files. A student may only export files when the activity has reached its due date.
   
5. Click Save changes to save the specified details or Cancel to abort saving. Clicking Cancel brings you back to the previous page. Saving will allow you to proceed to the next page where the information such as the available date, due date, and number of assignments submitted by the students will be displayed.
   
   
   
   If you wish to edit or update this activity, click Update this Assignment and make the necessary changes.
6. When all the necessary specifications related to the activity have been completed, you may now log off as a teacher. 
7. At this point, when the activity has already been created, a student may now upload an assignment or a file.  Note that when a student uploads an assignment, this assignment or file is actually uploaded to Moodle.
   
8. To upload a file, begin by logging on to the site as a student with a correct user name and password.  If you do not have a student account yet, you may using "sgstudent" as the user name and password for demo purposes.  You may also create a new account.  In this case, you will need to wait for an email notification confirming your account details before you can log on to the demo site.
   
   
   
   Successfully logging on to the site will bring you to the site's Main page.
9. From My Courses, click on Features Tour Demo Course and enroll in this course. Note that if you are using the demo student account, you may no longer be asked to enroll.  However, if you are using a new student account and this is your first time to log on using your user name and password, you will be asked to enroll in this course. Enroll in the Features Tour Demo Course by clicking Yes.
   
   
   
   This further brings you to the course page where topics related to Features Tour Demo Course are listed.
   
   
   
10. Join ePortfolio by clicking Your e-Portfolio from the e-portfolio block located on the right column of the page. This brings you to Elgg page where your membership to e-Portfolio is confirmed.
    
    
11. Go back to the Features Tour Demo Course page.  From the list of activities in the center column, click on the activity where your assignment, work, or file will belong or will be relate to.
    
    
    
    
12. Clicking on an activity further brings you to the next step where you may now upload a file.  This file will be the assignment that you are required to submit as part of the selected activity. Click Browse to locate this file from your local directory.
    
    
    
    Note that the date of availability and due date are displayed on the page. Thus, a student may only submit a file on the inclusive date.
    
13. Click Upload this file to proceed.
14. The system confirms when file has been uploaded successfully.  Click Continue. You will then return to the previous page where you may upload another file, if necessary.
15. When you have uploaded your file successfully, you may now log off from the site. 
16. At this point, the teacher may now view the submitted assignment.  To do this, log on again to the site as a teacher.  Again, use "sgteacher" as your user name and password for demo purposes.
17. Go to Features Tour Demo Course, click on the activity you have created earlier as a teacher and then click on View # submitted assignments.
    
    
    
    This brings you further to the submissions page where details such as names of students, grade, comment, last modified (student), last modified (teacher), and status are displayed.
    
    
18. Click Grade to give a feedback and grade to the corresponding student. This brings you to the feedback page where you may indicate the grade you want to give the student and your comments or feedback.
    
    
19. Click Save changes to save the details, Cancel to abort saving, Save and show next to save the details and proceed to the next student, or Next to simply proceed to the next student without saving.
20. When you have finished grading the students, log off from the site.
21. At this point, when the teacher has given the grades and feedback to the students, the students may now either view the teacher's feedback  on their assignment or export their files to e-Portfolio. To do this, log on to the site again as a student.  You may either use your own student account or use "sgstudent" for demo purposes.
22. To view the feedback and grade, go to Features Tour Demo Course and click on the activity again where you submitted your assignment. The system will display the Feedback from the Teacher page.
    
    
    
    
23. If you do not wish to view the feedback, you may proceed exporting your files.  Note, however, that files may only be exported from Moodle to Elgg if the activity has reached the end or Due Date, as the Export files link will only be available when the activity has been completed. Otherwise, when activity has not reached the Due Date, the Export files link will not be available on the page and files may not yet be exported.
24. To export your file, go back to Features Tour Demo Course and click Export files.
    
    
    
    This brings you to the Export to e-Portfolio page.
    
    
25. Check or mark the check box that corresponds to the file you want to export and then click Export now to continue to the next page where you will be asked to confirm the selected file for export.
    
26. On the next page, click Export now to proceed or Cancel to abort. Aborting the export will bring you back to the Export to e-Portfolio page.
27. The system confirms when export has been successful. Once complete, you will be brought back to the Features Tour Demo Course page.
28. To check if the file had been exported to Elgg or e-Portfolio, click on Your e-portfolio from the e-Portfolio block located at the right column of the page. This brings you again to the Elgg page.
    
    
    
29. Click Your files located at the top of the page to open your root folder. Then, click the folder icon or the "private" link next to the folder icon until you are able to display all files contained in the folder.