The Resources tab that is located along the top of your P.L.A.T.O. Course Home page contains many helpful resources. The list includes: Attendance, Awards, Calendar, Checklist, Competencies, Glossary, Links, Rubrics, and Surveys. These resources wll help you to keep track of your course work, assignment rubrics, and links to important materials. Listed below are short summaries of the different features linked under the Resources tab in P.L.A.T.O.
The first option under the Resources tab is Attendance. Fortunately for you, the attendance tab is configured by your professor and you do not need to do anything in this category. Your contribution for this section is to go to class, actively participate in it, and turn your assignments in on time. As a student, work hard in all of your classes and try to take advantage of all the opportunities presented to you while you are at Penn College--working hard while in college will help you to excel in you chosen career path.
We all enjoy receiving awards, and this section in P.L.A.T.O. can give awards and badges to students. As with some other features in P.L.A.T.O., the Awards are enabled by your professor, so not every class will have awards. Even if your class does not have awards, you still should try your best in all your classes.
The Calendar feature is an extremely helpful tool. As a college student, life can be quite busy, and it can be easy for due dates to be forgotten as a result. Fortunately, you have the Calendar which shows your different assignment due dates and test dates, along with meetings and other appointments. You can add tasks to the Calendar and alter the view from Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Agenda (which shows your next due date or test date), or List view (where you can limit by different factors like Grades or Quizzes/Exams).
A tool that can help you to see all that you need to accomplish for your class is the Checklist. The Checklist feature can list out the different aspects of a project that you can check off as you go through your course. But if your class does not have a Checklist, do not worry! Some professors use the Checklist tool more than others--not every class will use the Checklist tool.
The Competencies tab is not often used, but it can be used as a measuring stick to make sure a class meets specific goals. The different competencies could include communication, critical thinking, or information literacy to name a few. As with some other tabs we have mentioned so far, this is another tab that is not widely used.
The Glossary option is another that is not used as often. A glossary is a list of words and their definitions that can be uncommon or industry/subject specific. If your class uses the glossary tool, a pop up window will appear with you click on Glossary. The Glossary is arranged alphabetically and you can either browse through the entire glossary or click and view the words under a specific letter.
The Links tool can be a great help because it allows you to access all of the links that your faculty member added in your Course Content. Links can include links to articles, videos, and websites. You have the option to limit links based on the category that your professor will determine, or you can browse through all of the links used in your class.
A option you will likely use is Rubrics. To define it simply, rubrics are criteria that you paper must meet to earn a good grade. Typically, when you are assigned a project or paper, a rubric will be included that breaks down certain aspects of an assignment and what you need to include to earn full credit. Rubrics can be very helpful, so if your assignment has a rubric, follow along and make sure that you include everything that te rubric specifies. You can use a rubrics as a way to "see" into your professor's thought process and improve the quality of your assignment. A word of warning, even if a rubric is not listed under Rubrics, sometimes rubrics are located under Content or Course Content so check under those locations, too.
Depending on what your professor wants for the class, your course may or may not contain surveys under the Resources tab. Some classes might require you to take many surveys, but most will likely not include surveys. You will be asked to take a survey about your courses, but that will be through another platform, not through P.L.A.T.O.