DOI: 10.5683/sp3/phavnp
title: OLabERATE: Utility of Help Guides

description: Some of the concepts and functions that we are advancing in the OLabERATE project(1) are initially confusing for teachers and learners. While they are not hard to figure out, there is a lot to take in all at once and many users are overwhelmed at first. 

In several of the class sessions in the OLabERATE project,(1) we noticed a wide variation in how well participants were prepared and how quickly they adapted to TTalk and OLab etc. 

There is also a wide variation in how participants want to get help. More and more, we see that short videos are preferred, even though most of us can read faster than we can watch. 

Videos, with their linear delivery, may be less amenable to random access, but they remain the preferred route for many. 

Increasingly in our projects, we have found that providing how-to guides and user documents via a variety of modalities is helpful.
description: OLab
description: Information about OLab4 is available at https://olab.ca

Information about OLab3 is available at https://openlabyrinth.ca
description: README on what to do with these files
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You have downloaded an OLab zip file. See the second zip file contained within this download. Extract it and save it as a single zip file so this can be imported into an existing OpenLabyrinth v3 or OLab4 server. You do not need to expand this second zip file -- the import process will expand the contents into the correct locations on the OLab server. 

What are OLab scenarios?
An OLab virtual scenario is a case or story, or it might be a wee test to challenge your learners. It might be a simple 3-step set of pages and questions. It might be a complex choose-your-own-adventure style of branching narrative. 

Why do I need an OLab server?
To simply play the original scenario, look at the metadata in the Dataverse that you downloaded this zip from. There will be a link to a playable version - for this, you only need a web browser. (No software download needed.) 

But if you want to be able to edit the scenario, examine how it was crafted or use it as a template on which to build a new one, you start with this zip file and import it into an OLab server. 

You will need an account on that OLab server that gives you author privileges. 

If you do not have an account, contact us using the contact information given in the metadata in the Dataverse. 

How do I import this scenario into an OLab server?
There are more detailed instructions available in the OLab User Guide. 
Briefly the steps are as follows:
1. Login to your OLab server as usual. 
2. Under the Labyrinths or Maps menu, click on Import
3. Tell the server which zip file to import.
4. It should only take a few seconds to import most zip files. More complex scenarios might take a couple of minutes at most. 
5. When imported, the scenario should appear in your list of Labyrinths or Maps.
description: This zip file should contain a secondary zip file. The secondary zip file is Medbiq MVP formatted export of the scenario. It can be imported into an OLab4 or OpenLabyrinth v3 server for further editing on that server. If you do not see a zip file in this listing, the uploading author may have forgotten to create one. In this case, download all of the files that you see attached to this dataset and compress them into a single zip file, which you can then import into your OLab server.