Mastering Halo Learn: A Comprehensive Guide to Course Objectives and Navigation
Navigating an online learning platform can initially feel overwhelming. This article provides a comprehensive guide to understanding course objectives and effectively utilizing the Halo Learn platform. Designed to be accessible for learners of all levels, from those new to online learning to experienced students, this guide aims to demystify Halo Learn and empower you to succeed in your online courses.
The Syllabus: Your Central Source of Course Information
The syllabus is the cornerstone of any course within Halo Learn. Think of it as your detailed roadmap, providing essential information about assignments, quizzes, participation requirements, and overall course expectations.
Accessing Key Information within the Syllabus
Within the Syllabus, you can find detailed information on assignments, quizzes, and course requirements. You can view all assignment and quiz details while in the syllabus. The reading material for the topic can be found on the right under Resources. For more information about eBooks, we recommend checking out the eBook section of the Help Center.
Understanding Participation Requirements
GCU requires all students to participate while completing online classes. The syllabus provides detailed information on all the participation requirements within a course. The requirements are located after the list of topics. NOTE Even though there may be a separate assignment on the calendar labeled, Participation, it simply serves as a reminder to participate in class discussions. The Participation calendar card cannot be responded to and will be marked as "Completed" after you've met the participation requirements for the week.
Downloading the Syllabus
To download your Syllabus, locate and click the Download Syllabus button next to the Syllabus heading.
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Announcements: Staying Informed
Announcements are a primary communication tool used by instructors to keep students informed about important updates, changes, and reminders.
Posting and Viewing Announcements
Posting an announcement is a great way to communicate with all students in a class at once. Enter the Title, Start Date, Start Time, and Message. The End Date and Time are not required to publish the announcement. If needed, you can also attach a file by selecting the Add Attachment link beneath the textbox. NOTE Looking for assistance with how to use the text editor? Students can view announcements until the end date has passed. The announcement will be published to the Active tab, where announcements automatically appear from newest to oldest based on their start date and time. If multiple announcements share the same start date and time, they will display in the order they were originally created. From this view, you can also see how many students have acknowledged the announcement.
Editing and Archiving Announcements
You can start editing the draft right away. To edit a published announcement, click the three dots to the right of the announcement. NOTE Looking for assistance with the editing tools? If you no longer need an announcement and would like to remove it from your active and inactive tabs, you can archive it. A popup will appear on your screen confirming whether you would like to archive the announcement. NOTE Archived announcements cannot be reactivated after being archived.
Navigating the Halo Learn Interface
Learning how to navigate through your course can be one of the most difficult parts of having classes online. NOTE We also have a video series available on the Student Success Center that provides a brief overview of the Halo Classroom. The class navigation menu will always appear on the left side of your course. The home page of Halo | Learn provides access to your current and past classes. Each class cards contains information about the class, such as the dates in which it is active, the instructor's name, and the number of students on the roster. Past classes can be accessed using the “Past Classes” tab at the top of the Home Page.
The Class Calendar
When you access your course, you will be taken to the class calendar. Located on the calendar page is a Weekly Calendar which displays your current assignments, quizzes, discussion questions, and participation. Clicking on a specific week number at the top of the calendar will allow you to see any past, present, or future assignments.
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The Gradebook
The Gradebook provides up-to-date information on your personal progress in a course. You will be able to see your overall letter grade, percentage for the class, and points earned for all assignments and individual topics. All the assignments are listed under their correlated topic.
Discussion Forums
The Discussion Forums will allow you to view Class Introductions and all of the discussion questions for the course. The Class Questions section serves as an open forum to ask questions that anyone in the class can answer. If you’re used to attending in-person classes, this is the online equivalent to raising your hand and asking a question out loud.
Classroom Materials
The Classroom Materials is another place in your course to view the assignments, quizzes, and discussion questions. Each topic will be listed on the left side under Classroom Materials. After clicking on a topic, you will be able to view all the information for that topic. The materials needed for your course are all available within the Classroom Materials section of the Halo. If you prefer to look at one topic at a time outside of the syllabus, you can click on any of the topics listed under Classroom Materials. All assignments, quizzes, and discussion questions are listed under the assessment section of the topic. When first accessing the topic, all of the assessments will be expanded so you can see the details. Clicking Collapse All in the right corner of the assessments will hide the details for all assessments. You can review the description, start date, due date, and the points of an assessment from Classroom Materials. Expanding the assessment shows the full description as well as any requirements. Topics have required readings listed under Resources. The resources can include any books, library articles, outside resources, or programs needed for the topic. If the resource you're trying to access is an eBook, we recommend checking out the eBook section of the Help Center.
Institution Resources
The Institution Resources will give access to different resources GCU has to offer students.
Communication
To communicate with the instructor in your course, you can use the Messages button located at the upper left corner next to My Classes.
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GCU Time
In Halo | Learn, the GCU Time will always show you the current time that the classroom uses which is based on Arizona Mountain Standard Time (MST). We recommend checking this time to determine when you need to submit your assignments on time. You can also adjust your computer’s time to reflect the same time listed here.
Help and Resources
A “Help and Resources” menu will appear. If you can’t find a guide that helps with the issue you’re experiencing, click the GCU Help Center to look through articles that GCU Technical Support has to assist you with your class.
Halo Learn Mobile App: Stay Connected on the Go
The Halo Learn mobile app is designed as a companion application for all students and faculty using the Halo Learn Management System (LMS). The primary objective of the application is to provide near real-time push notifications for events identified by the user. This mobile app is designed to keep you connected to your Halo classroom with Halo Alerts, ensuring you stay up-to-date with the latest classroom alerts while on the go.
Enabling Halo Alerts
Once you install the Halo Learn mobile app, be sure to enable Halo Alerts for your account by clicking on the ‘My Halo Settings’ link under the No Halo Alerts message.
Customizing Alert Preferences
Students and Faculty can elect to receive several different Halo Alert messages in the mobile app. Both faculty and students can elect to receive alerts when new private messages and new announcements are posted. Halo students can choose to receive alerts when assessment grades are published, assessments are reassigned, and new group collaboration messages are posted for group assignments. All alerts in Halo are opt-in, giving you the flexibility to choose which alerts to receive and on which devices. Please note that you must have an active Halo Learn account with GCU or a GCU partner school to use the Halo Learn mobile app.
Accessing Closed Classes
Grand Canyon University’s online learning management systems are specifically intended to host classrooms for current and recently completed classes. They are not accessible indefinitely, however. It is the responsibility of each student to keep copies of all files uploaded to Halo | Learn. The University is not responsible to make course content or files submitted to the Halo | Learn available to students once the class has been removed. For more information, please see the University Policy Handbook from the Academic Catalog and Policies page.
Student Access
Students will retain access to their recently completed courses for six (6) weeks following the course end date. For the first three (3) weeks following the course end date, the student can still make changes in the classroom.
Faculty Access
Faculty will retain access to their recently completed courses for six (6) weeks + one (1) day following the course end date. For the entire six (6) weeks following the course end date, faculty will retain the ability to grade assignments. On the last day, faculty are unable to grade assignments and can only review their classroom content. After the six (6) weeks, the class will be moved to the Closed Classes section.
Post-Class Status
Previous courses will be noted with a Post-Class status label until you can no longer make edits (normally three weeks after course end date for students and six weeks after the course end date for faculty). Once you can no longer make edits, it will appear in the Past Classes tab, noted with a Closed status label until it expires.
Accessing and Navigating Closed Classes
Faculty have the opportunity to access all of their previous classes through the Closed Classes section of the Halo Learn platform. The Closed Classes section will show the inactive and closed classes that have ended but aren’t archived yet. Next, search for the class that you want to view. You can either search using class information like the Class Code, SIS Class ID, and start date or using the user information. After pressing Search, you will see a list of the closed classes. You will now be able to view and navigate through the classroom. Keep in mind that the class is closed, and you will not be able to make any changes in the class.
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