SmartKlass at a glance

SmartKlass is a dashboard that should be included as a part of the Moodle virtual learning platform to empower teachers to manage the learning journey of their students.

By analyzing student’s behavioral data we create a rich picture of the evolution of the students in an online course:

• We help teachers to identify the students lagging behind.

• We help teachers to identify the students that content is not challenging enough for them.

• We help teachers to compare participation and results to other courses.

• We provide this information so the teacher can take action like contact directly with the students, assign special content, encourage participation or provide special tutoring.

• We also help teachers by helping students: Students could learn about their performance, individually and compared with the group.

The SmartKlass local extension could be used with Moodle 2.4 version and above.

This guide covers the installation and the steps that should be done after the installation extension has completed.

Installing

You have the following options to install SmartKlass plugin:

Moodle versions 2.5+ and above

Installing directly from the Moodle plugins directory

1. Login as an admin and go to *Administration > Site administration > Plugins > Install plugins.

2. Click the button 'Install plugins from Moodle plugins directory'.

3. Search in moodle.org for the SmartKlass extension with the “Install” button (so you can be sure that it will be compatible with your Moodle version). Click the Install button then click Continue.

4. Check that you obtain a 'Validation passed!' message, then click the button 'Install plugin'.

5. Follow the instructions on your screen.

Installing via uploaded ZIP file

1. Go to the Moodle SmartKlass plugin
2. Select your current Moodle version (2.5+ or above), then choose the SmartKlass plugin, click Download and download the ZIP file
3. Login to your Moodle site as an admin and go to Administration > Site administration > Plugins > Install plugins.
4. Upload the ZIP file and select the appropriate plugin type (local),
5. Tick the acknowledgement checkbox, then click the button 'Install plugin from the ZIP file'.
6. Check that you obtain a 'Validation passed!' message, then click the button 'Install plugin'.
7. Follow the instructions on your screen.

Moodle versions before 2.5+

If you can't deploy the plugin code via the administration web interface as explained above, you have to copy the plugin to the server file system manually (e.g. if the web server process does not have write access to the Moodle installation tree to do this for you or if your Moodle version is older than 2.5+).

1. Go to the Moodle SmartKlass plugin
2. Select your current Moodle version (2.4 or above), then choose the SmartKlass plugin, click Download and download the ZIP file.
3. Upload or copy it to your Moodle server.
4. Unzip it in the right place for the plugin:

/path/to/moodle/local/ A new location will appear: /path/to/moodle/local/SmartKlass

5. In your Moodle site (as admin) go to Settings > Site administration > Notifications

You should get a message saying the plugin is installed.

When installing manually:

• Check the file permissions. The web server needs to be able to read the plugin files. If the the rest of Moodle works then try to make the plugin permissions and ownership match. Configure the permissions for all the files and installed code trees with your preferred FTP client or your web host dashboard. (e.g. change /moodle/local/SmartKlass to 755 and check if it works).

• Did you definitely unzip or install the plugin in the correct place? SmartKlass plugin should be unzipped in: /path/to/moodle/local/SmartKlass Where /path/to/moodle/ is the root code tree in your server.

• Because Moodle scans plugin folders for new plugins you cannot have any other files or folders there. Make sure you deleted the zip file and don't try to rename (for example) an old version of the plugin to some other name - it will break.

• Make sure the directory name for the plugin is correct. All the names have to match. If you change the name then it won't work. The name for the plugin directory should be called SmartKlass and should be included in local.

Configuring

SmartKlass plugin uses the Cron process in Moodle. You should follow the setting up instructions from Cron at https://docs.moodle.org/28/en/Cron

Note: Do not skip setting up the cron process on your server for your Moodle. SmartKlass plugin will not work properly without it.

Updating

In Moodle 2.4 onwards, you can enable the automatic updates notification in:

Administration> Site Administration > Server > Update notifications

If the automatic check for available updates is enabled and there is a new update available for SmartKlass, a notification will be sent to all site admins via email and/or popup message (according to the admin's messaging preferences in their profile settings).

Install this update button will be shown on the Plugins overview page:

Settings > Site Administration > Plugins > Plugins overview.

An admin can also check for available updates using the 'Check for available updates' button in this same Plugins overview page.

Any updates available are highlighted, with further information and a download link in the notes column opposite the plugin.

Uninstalling

To uninstall the plugin:

1. Go to Administration> Site Administration > Plugins > Plugins overview and click the Uninstall link opposite the plugin you wish to remove.

2. Use a file manager to remove/delete the actual plugin directory (/path/to/moodle/local/SmartKlass) as instructed, otherwise Moodle will reinstall it next time you access the site administration.