Thursday, 28 March 2024, 7:51 PM
Site: Professional Learning Portal
Course: Professional Learning Portal (Home)
Glossary: FAQ
Site Administrator

Are Education Support staff eligible to register?

Yes they can, provided they have an Edumail account. The school can arrange an Edumail account for any staff member.

Can I access my course from home?

Yes, the courses on this site can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection.

Can I access my course out of school hours?

Yes you can. The courses on this site are self-paced and can be accessed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Can I access the courses on an iPad?

Yes, you can access all of the activities on an iPad. However, please note that certain elements of the site may not appear exactly as they do on a computer. 

Can I register with any email account?

Yes, you can register with any email address. However, if you have a Gmail or Hotmail account, your confirmation email may go into your SPAM folder. If you do not receive your confirmation email within one minute, please check your SPAM folder. 

How can I register and participate in a course?

  1. Click the 'Create new account' button in the 'Login' box and fill in the registration form. An email will be immediately sent to your email address.
  2. Click on the confirmation link in the email. Your account will be confirmed and you will be logged in.
  3. Select the course you wish to participate in.
  4. Enter your 'enrolment key', when prompted. If you do not have your enrolment key, speak to your school leader or the course administrator.
  5. Once you have entered your 'enrolment key', you will be enrolled in the course. You will not require your enrolment key the next time you log in.

How can I unlock the next module?

Once you have completed all activities within a module, a link will appear at the bottom of the screen that reads 'Click here to unlock the next module and continue the course'. Simply, click this link to and the content in the next module will be unlocked.

If you cannot see this 'Unlock' link, check that all activities on the course page are ticked. A tick means it has been completed. Revisit and complete any activities which do not have a completion tick next to them. The Unlock link will appear once all activities are ticked as complete.  

How can I unsubscribe from email notifications?

If you find that you are receiving email notifications whenever someone from your group posts a message in the discussion forum, there are three different ways you can unsubscribe. 

  1. Each email notification you receive will contain a link to unsubscribe from email notifications - either from one specific forum or all forums on the site. You will need to enter your login details after clicking the relevant link. 
  2. You can login to the Professional Learning Portal at anytime, and click on the 'Edit profile' link in the 'Welcome' box on the right hand side of the screen. Go to the drop down menu called 'Forum auto-subscribe' and select 'No, don't automatically subscribe me to forums'. Then, scroll down and click the 'Update profile' button.
  3. If you do not wish to switch notifications off altogether, you can switch them off for particular forums only. Each time you post to a forum, you will see a drop down menu called 'Subscription'. Select the option 'I don't want copies of posts to this forum'.

How can I view survey responses?

Some surveys allow you to view a visual summary of the responses from others. However, if a survey is marked as anonymous, and only one response has been completed, it will not show the responses to anyone. 

Some surveys only show the responses to users with elevated priveleges, such as users with the 'Mentor' role. When you click on the activity, you will see instructions which will explain whether or not you have permission to view the survey responses.

If you are a mentor and would like to access survey responses for your group, simply click on the activity link, then click the 'Analysis' tab which will appear. Refer to the screenshot attached. 

If the survey is anonymous, mentors will still only see a summary of responses and will not see any names associated with the responses. 

How can I view the progress of the participants in my group?

Only users who have been granted 'mentor' privileges will be able to view the progress of other users in their group. These privileges are usually granted to principals or coaches who are facilitating the group's professional learning.

If you have mentor privileges, you will see a 'Reports' menu on the left hand side of the screen, which looks like the image shown below.

Reports block

The 'Activity completion' link in the menu takes you to a report which shows an overview of the progress of the participants in your group.

The 'Activity views' link in the menu takes you to a report which shows the number of times particular activities has been viewed by members of your group. 

As a 'mentor', you will also be able to track which participants have completed the course in its entirety. Once you reach the 'Certificate of completion' activity in the final module of the course, you will see a link in the top right corner of the report to 'View issued certificates'. 

How do I participate in a forum activity?

When visiting a discussion activity, an activity may require you to add a new discussion thread of your own, or it may allow you to simply read and reply to your colleagues' discussion threads, in order to complete the activity. Read the activity instructions to find out the requirements for each activity. 

To add your own discussion thread (or topic), click the 'Add a new discussion' button. Type your message and then press the 'Post to forum' button. 

To reply to another person's message, simply click the 'Reply' link beneath their discussion post. Type your message and then press the 'Post to forum' button.  

If your post has been saved successfully, you will see a confirmation message that reads: 'Your post was successfully added. This activity has been marked as complete. You have 30 mins to edit it if you want to make any changes.'

I can't find the answer to my question. Who can I contact for support?

If your question is not answered in this FAQ list, please contact the relevant course administrator for your course. 

Course Contact email
ABLES – Victorian Catholic schools flennon@vcea.catholic.edu.au
ABLES – Western Australian schools ablewahelpdesk@tech-savvy.com.au
Early ABLES – Victoria earlyables@education.vic.gov.au

I created an account but I did not receive a confirmation email. What should I do?

When you create an account, you should receive a confirmation email within about 1 minute. If you have not received your confirmation email within 10 minutes, then something has gone wrong.

Here's what you can try:

  1. Click on 'Create an account' and try completing the form again. If you receive the message 'This email address is already registered', this means that your first attempt was successful and your account was created. This confirms that a confirmation email was sent to your registered email address. Proceed to Step 2. 
  2. Your confirmation email may have arrived in your junk email folder. Please check to see if it is there. If your confirmation email is there, mark it as 'Not junk' and click on the link within it to confirm your account. If the email is not there, proceed to Step 3.
  3. If you are accessing your email through an email software on your computer (such as Microsoft Outlook), try accessing your email account using webmail instead, and remember to look in the junk folder there too. If the confirmation email is still not there, please contact the course administrator for your course. When contacting the course administrator, be sure to use the email address that you signed up with to verify you are the owner of the account.

I don't have an enrolment key, where can I get one?

You will need to ask your school leader for the enrolment key for your school.

If your principal has not received an enrolment key, please ask your principal to contact the Course Administrator.

I forgot my password. How can I reset it?

Go to the following link to reset your password.

If this does not work, please contact the Course Administrator.

Is there a way I can be notified if someone in my group posts a message in a forum?

You are able to reveive notifications whenever someone from your group posts a message in a discussion forum. There are two different ways you can subscribe to email notifications: 

  1. You can login to the Professional Learning Portal at anytime, and click on the 'Edit profile' link in the 'Welcome' box on the right hand side of the screen. Go to the drop down menu called 'Forum auto-subscribe' and select 'Yes, when I post, subscribe me to that forum.'. Then, scroll down and click the 'Update profile' button.
  2. If you do not wish to receive email notifications for all forums, then you can switch them on for particular forums only. Each time you post to a forum, you will see a drop down menu called 'Subscription'. Select the option 'Send me email copies of posts to this forum'.

Why do my bookmarks generate errors?

Some pages in the Professional Learning Portal require additional information that isn't stored in the address bar. A bookmark can only store the address and no additional information causing these pages to fail.

It is recommended that you start from the Professional Learning Portal homepage or your My Courses page, then navigating the site through the menus.