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Supporting you at every step

This user guide contains information and tips for getting the most from Stories that Move, both before you start and once you are using it. Please email us at info@storiesthatmove.org if you have any suggestions or issues that arise when using the tool – your feedback helps us continue to develop and improve it.

How to sign up as a teacher

You can sign up for a free account by starting the toolbox. From there, select ‘educators’ and fill in the information requested.

Watch this video for a step-by-step guide:

Using Stories that Move without an account

You’re welcome to use the teaching materials without setting up an account, but you will miss out on some of the benefits of the full toolbox. For example, you won’t have access to the five learning paths.
However, if you want to, you can:

Creating a class

It shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes to set up an account and create a class.
Each digital class has a PIN. You give it to your students. With that they can login.
If your students don’t have an email address, they can create an account with their own special student code. You create this for them in your dashboard.
We advise you to ask students to set up their accounts ahead of time, to make sure you can start the class easily. You can do this during class, when you first introduce the upcoming lesson, or as homework.

How to sign up as a student

Students need an account to follow the online learning paths. They can create this account with or without their own email address.
In the first step, they log in with the PIN of the digital class, which they receive from their teacher.
In the second step they can log in with or without an email address.

  • Create an account with an email address:
  • – fill in your full name, your email address, and your country
    – come up with a password and enter it.
    – you will receive a confirmation email, and click on the link
    – come back to the dashboard and enter your email and password
    – and now the screen appears with the learning paths that your teacher has prepared

  • Create an account without email:
  • – click on “Login with special code”
    – enter the special code, which you received from the teacher
    – fill in your full name and your country
    – and now the screen appears with the learning paths that your teacher has prepared

How to use Stories that Move in the classroom

Where should I start?

Consider a preparatory lesson in which you introduce the themes for discussion. You might also want to discuss with your group some rules for everyone to follow, so that everyone feels they can safely be honest about their opinions.

What is a learning path?

A learning path can be seen as a teaching module with lessons, called tracks. Each track has online and offline components, and individual and group activities. An educator can decide which learning paths and which tracks fit best to the needs of his or her learners and connect best to the curriculum.
Each learning path and each track can be used as a stand-alone lesson. However, there is a logical sequence in the tracks, each one leading on from the previous one, allowing for a secure learning curve. It is best not to tackle the complex questions in haste, but to strive for a slow and thoughtful learning process. We suggest you devise your own series of lessons, keeping in mind the pedagogical principles on which these learning paths were designed.

Which learning paths should I use?

You are completely free to use the learning paths with topics that best suit you and your students.
Our advice is to choose one learning path based on its theme, read the educators’ guide to better understand the topics it covers, and then choose one of the lessons you feel is appropriate. This will help you experience how the tool works. There is no need to know the whole tool (five learning paths, 13 lessons) before you start.
Some schools choose to use different paths for different year groups, so students revisit the tool each year. This means they engage with the central themes on a recurring basis, but using different content and methods.

How long does one learning path take?

A learning path consists of one or more tracks. Each track takes one or two lessons to complete. This overview gives a clear indication of the time needed for each path and track.

How do I create a class?

Log in as a teacher. You will then see the ‘Create new class‘ button at the top right of the dashboard. Enter the name of the class and select the assignments you want to cover.
Click on the ‘Save‘ button at the bottom right of the screen to save the class. After that you will receive the PIN of the class. The students need this to log in to the tool and participate in the digital classroom.

How do I know what my students see?

For each class you can easily view the tool from the students’ perspective by clicking on ‘follow class like a student’.

How do I switch between learning paths and assignments?

Just click the navigation button at the top left of the screen (button with three horizontal lines). You can also see an overview of the progress per learning path and/or assignment there.

Can I see the answers my learners are giving?

Yes, you can follow your learners’ progress and see all their answers on the Educators’ page, under ‘Students progress’. Learners are told that their answers will be shared – sometimes anonymously, sometimes with their names – with the rest of the class or group and with the educator.

How do I respond if a student’s answer is inappropriate?

It’s important to address answers that indicate the learner is not working seriously, as well as comments that might be hurtful to others. This should, however, be done in a respectful way. We want all students to feel heard. Consider what Lutz van Dijk has to say about this.

If you expect any problems concerning provocative or inappropriate language, consider letting students know that they will be expected to download a PDF of all their answers and send this to you when a lesson is completed.

Who else sees my students’ answers?

Only you, the educator who created the class. In some instances the class will see each other’s answers, as an important part of the blended learning method.

How can I change the size and position of the subtitles in a video?

Sometimes the subtitles of a video are too small to watch. You can change the size of the letters by clicking on the settings button at the bottom of the video. This opens a black screen with two tabs. The left tab offers available subtitle languages. The right tab offers other options, such as font size and font color.
When the subtitles are not visible from the back of the class, you can place it higher by pressing a subtitle in the video with your left mouse button so that it gets a border. Then you can move it. When you release your mouse button, it will stay there.

Overcoming obstacles

Some of my pupils don’t have an email address. Can we still use the tool?

Students do not need an email address to create an account. They can also do that with a special student code. You have to make it for them.

You might also consider asking your students to set up accounts and spend a preparatory lesson discussing why they might need an email address and things to consider, such as an appropriate name.

How can I use the "special student code"?

You can use the special student code if one or more students don’t have an email address or cannot use it to create an account.
In your dashboard, the digital classes are shown in separate white boxes. Click in the box of the digital class on the blue button with “Student codes”.
In the next screen, “Manage student special codes”, click on the button “Generate a new code”. A new one will appear in a white box, with “pending” to the right of it.
After a student has created an account with this code, his or her name will appear here.
You create the student codes one by one. When you have enough, you can print this screen via the browser or save it as a PDF. Then you can add the names of the students and avoid giving the same code to different students.

Where do I find help for using the teacher’s portal?

After setting up a class, the most important next step is to choose which learning path and which track you want your students to use. When you click on the button to the left of the track name, it will be added to the class (and become visible to the students).
Detailed information on each learning path and track (lesson) can be found in the educators’ guides, of which there is one per learning path.
You can follow your students’ progress in the teacher’s environment. Our advice is not to do this during class unless you particularly need to.

Can I use the tool without internet access?

Stories that Move is based around film clips with personal stories recounted by young people, and the online and interactive elements are core to it. This means you and your students will need internet access to use it. You might also want to use a projector to show the videos in the classroom.

What if we don’t have computers for everyone?

Students can work in pairs or very small groups, sharing one computer. The online tool has not yet been developed to be used on mobile devices. It can be done, but some functions (for example, drag and drop answers) will only work on laptops and tablets.

Troubleshooting

I’m the teacher but I can’t log in. Why?

The most common problem with setting up an account is incomplete email addresses, and the delay in getting the confirmation email. Please check you have spelled your email address correctly.

Why can’t my students log in?

Check that all your students have used an existing email address, that they have filled it in correctly, and that they have taken all the steps required to use the tool (including clicking on the confirmation email). Check that they have used the PIN you gave them. A common mistake is using the capital letter O instead of a zero (0). The PIN consists of a combination of numbers and letters.

I didn't receive a confirmation email.

Check your spam folder for the confirmation email. Depending on your provider, it might take a while (up to several hours, sometimes) to arrive. In rare cases, an email confirmation may not be delivered due to some unexpected error while our servers communicate with the servers of your email provider. You can try again using a new email address, or email info@storiesthatmove.org for help.

I’ve forgotten my login details.

If you forget your password, click on ‘Lost your password?’ on the login screen. Your account password will be reset, and you can choose a new one.
We are continuously working hard to fix technical problems, and we appreciate your help. If problems arise, please let us know via info@storiesthatmove.org. It’s helpful if you include a screenshot showing the technical problem you’re experiencing.

Funding and support

How much does Stories that Move cost to use?

Nothing! Using the Stories that Move tool is completely free for everybody. The projected is funded by grants from the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union and the German foundation Remembrance, Responsibility, Future – EVZ.

I want to support the project. How can I help?

We are looking forward to further developing and improving our tool, and we are always interested in working with new partners. Please email info@storiesthatmove.org to discuss various options.

Terms and conditions

The full T&Cs for using Stories that Move are here.

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