What is a Mode, and when should I use it?
A Mode is a feature that allows a teacher to restrict your class content and activities to your choosing during an active class. This means that your students will only be able to access your desired materials, Sites, and Applications during the duration of the mode.
Modes can be used to run a quiz or an exam during your class, or simply run a focused class session for your learners.
Let's start looking into more details about Modes with the initial setup
Creating a new Mode
A Mode is created in the All Modes section before a class begins. Let us start with creating a new Mode before your season.
- On the navigation panel, click on “All Modes”
- Select “Create Mode”
- Ensure that you give your Mode a Name. The Mode customisation also allows you to link any of your other classes to the mode.
- Once you have clicked Create Mode, you will be presented with your Mode setup. Here you can add your class Content, allowed Apps and Web Filter settings for the specific Mode.
The Mode content can include various materials. You can add existing Class Material to the Modes, which allows you to share any PDFs, YouTube links, etc., that you have already configured for your class. The Mode can also include applications that you will allow during the Active Mode.
- Go to Apps, then click Add Apps
- Select the OS related to the Application
- Type the name of the application in the Search apps field, you would like to allow during your mode.
- Finally, your mode also has an Web Filter tab; simply add a specific URL or a wildcard to allow access to for your mode.
- Once you have completed it, you are ready to use your mode.
Using your Mode
Once you have set up your Modes, they are now available for you to activate when starting a class or during the class.
- You can start your class in a mode. You can do this by clicking Start Class, configuring your class settings, scrolling down to Class Mode and selecting your Mode from the list displayed.
- Then simply click start class, this will start your class automatically in the select mode.
Modes During Class
You can also activate a Mode during an active class
- Navigate to the Modes drop-down menu. Select the Mode you would like to activate.
- This will automatically start your selected Mode. The dashboard will display the selected active Mode.
Switching Modes in Active Classroom
Modes can be turned on during your active class, this also means that you also switch between different Modes during your class.
- If you have activated a mode during your class and you wish to switch it off or switch to another Mode, navigate to the Mode drop-down menu on your Dashboard.
- Here you can select to switch the current mode off or select one of your other configured Modes. Once you have selected our Mode, it will automatically activate on your dashboard and your class devices.
FAQs about Modes
Multiple Teachers in Class
Your class might have more than one Teacher or tutor in it, if this teacher has access to the edMesh dashboard they will also have access to the Modes.
The additional teachers in your class will have access to all the class content and settings as well as the modes and therefore can also activate the Mode during the class.
Therefore, when a Mode is edited, we do need the teacher to confirm the changes to the Mode so that they are aware of the impact of the change.
Unlinking a Mode
You can link a Mode to numerous classes and therefore unlink any of your classes from your Mode.
- Navigate to All Modes and click on the actions kebab and select View Mode.
- In the Link Classes section, you can unlink the classes by clicking on the trash bin icon.
Now that you have all the information around setting up and running your class Modes, go ahead and try setting one up on your Dashboard.
We hope you found this article useful.
Thanks for reading 🙂