Contents

What is LORO and who can use it?
Why should I use LORO?
What is the difference between a resource, a collection and an activity?
What are Creative Commons licenses?
What kind of information do I need to give for the resources I upload?
What is a tag and why should I tag my resources?
What language should I use for the tags and description of my resources?
What kind of resources can I upload?
Can LORO be accessed from any computer?
Is there a maximum file size for resources uploaded to LORO?
Is there a limit to the amount of resources that I can upload?
What do I do if my resource does not belong to a particular course, or belongs to more than one?
How do I point someone to a particular resource?
What is the difference between the options "share with OU staff" and "share with everyone"?
Can I share my resources with my OU colleagues only?
Why can I not download the resource I want?
How do I acknowledge LORO when using a resource I've found there?
How do I upload a resource?
If I download a resource to modify it and re-upload it, who do I attribute the new resource to?
Can I upload my own pictures?
Can I upload free pictures I found from the internet?

Frequently Asked Questions

What is LORO and who can use it?

LORO is a repository of language teaching materials based at the Department of Languages of The Open University.

Anybody can use LORO although it is aimed at language teaching professional mainly.

Why should I use LORO?

To find ideas for activities, to find materials for your teaching, to see how other colleagues do things, to share your materials with others, to showcase your best work, to "publish" your materials openly, to contribute to creating a richer bank of language teaching materials.

What is the difference between a resource, a collection and an activity?

A resource is a folder where you deposit all the files that go with a particular activity or set of activities. They may (or may not) include an activity plan or some instructions, a set of slides, handouts, audio or video files, links to online resources you've used for your activity, etc.

A collection is a way of organising your resources. Each resource that you have uploaded can belong to more than one collection. For example a video about a particular cultural event can belong to a collection you have called Videos, another one you have called Advanced stuff, and another one that you have called Residential School.

An activity is self-contained and includes a set of instructions (which may include learning objectives/outcomes) and the materials that you use to implement/deliver it.

What are Creative Commons licenses?

The materials made available via LORO ("Materials") are released under the terms of either of two Creative Commons licences mentioned below accessed through the following link http://creativecommons.org.licenses ("Creative Commons Licence"). You should select whichever one you feel is appropriate for the use of your works.

i) The Attribution, Non-commercial, No Derivatives license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/)

This allows others to download your works and share them with others as long as they credit you, but they can't change them in any way or use them commercially.

ii) The Attribution, Non-commercial Share Alike license. (this is the most flexible of the two licenses . http://creativecommons.org/licences/by-nc- sa/3.0/)

This allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon your work non- commercially, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the same or similar license to this one.

Please read the Creative Commons License in full before uploading your works or downloading or otherwise making use of the Materials. If you do not agree to be bound by the Creative Commons Licence then you must not use this Site and its Materials, not must you upload content.

What kind of information do I need to give for the resources I upload?

You need to give your resource a meaningful title, some tags and a description of what it entails. If your resource belongs to a particular language, course or unit, this information can also be specified. By default the system will attribute your resource to you, so if you have based it on someone else's idea, you should also acknowledge this in the Attribution box.

What is a tag and why should I tag my resources?

Tags are keywords that you assign to your resources in order to help others find them. For example, if you have created a resource for students to practise the past tense while talking about a recent holiday, you can use "holidays" and "past tense" as tags. Remember that for tags to be recognised as a string by the system, they must be separated by a comma.

What language should I use for the tags and description of my resources?

Tags should be written in English to help everyone find your resources. You can also add a tag in a specific language, if you think your resource will be better represented this way _for example, hay in Spanish, passéomposén French or Pa mor bell? in Welsh. The description of your resources should always be written in English to make sure that everyone benefits, not only those who teach the particular language.

What kind of resources can I upload?

You can upload resources in any kind of format: word documents, pdf files, powerpoint presentations, Elluminate whiteboards, photographs, mp3 files, video files, etc.

Can LORO be accessed from any computer?

Yes, LORO can be accessed from any computer with an internet connection.

Is there a maximum file size for resources uploaded to LORO?

No, there is no maximum file size for resources uploaded to LORO. However, be aware that uploading and downloading huge files on a slow internet connection will take a long time.

Is there a limit to the amount of resources that I can upload?

No, there is no limit to the amount of resources that you can upload to LORO.

What do I do if my resource does not belong to a particular course, or belongs to more than one?

If your resource does not belong to a particular course, you should choose the "unspecified" option from the course menu, then you can choose which language it belongs to, if that's relevant, or which level. If your resource belongs to more than one course choose the "unspecified" option from the course code menu then choose the language or level it belongs to. You can use the Description Box to explain that your resource is relevant to several courses.

How do I point someone to a particular resource?

Go to the particular resource you want in LORO, copy the address in the address bat at the top of your screen, then paste this link wherever you want it advertised.

What is the difference between the options "share with OU staff" and "share with everyone"?

When you upload a resource to LORO, you have the options of sharing it with OU staff only or with everyone. If you choose "share with OU staff only", only OU staff will have access to your resource. If you choose "share with everyone", any person in the world with a computer and an internet connection will be able to download your resource.

Can I share my resources with my OU colleagues only?

Yes. On the editing page, tick the "Share with OU staff" option.

Why can I not download the resource I want?

If you have an OU id and password, make sure that you log in to LORO through the OU Login button; this will give you access to all resources. If you do not have an OU login, then you will not be able to download any resource whose author has chosen to share it only with OU staff.

How do I acknowledge LORO when using a resource I've found there?

When you download a particular resource, the name of the person you should attribute it to appears on the right-hand side of the screen under the Resource Metadata section. You can also provide a link to the resource by copying and pasting the url in the address bar.

How do I upload a resource?

For instructions on how to upload a resource to LORO, please visit the Help section.

If I download a resource to modify it and re-upload it, who do I attribute the new resource to?

By default the system will attribute to you any resource that you upload. What you should do is indicate in the Attribution box that the resource that you are uploading is based on someone else's resource, and provide the name of the original author and the the title of their resource.

Can I upload my own pictures?

Yes.

Can I upload free pictures I found from the internet?

Yes, if those pictures have been published under the Creative Commons licenses and you attribute them to their author.