Open Course Timetabler User Manual
Contents
1. Add new educational program HE tutorial oct Course Timetabler File Document Ech gel f Teachers Rooms Sample Schoo a Ee E gt Year 10 Busi Aea nen w educational program group a 10 Busine Document properties m TO Business gop oO Troe a pea Year 10 Infomation Technology E 10 Info Tech Group A THT A 10 year E 10 Info Tech Group B 1HT B 10 year a ee i EE ge E Enter the name of the new educational program and optionally the External ID Educational program group properties kg Hame Year 10 General Studies External ID ores 2 4 2 Classes Once you have created the Educational Program select it from the menu right click and select Add class Page 11 of 18 Open Course Timetabler User Manual File Document Educational program group Casi ILGE Courses Teachers Rooms Sample School 2008 P Year 10 Business Studies E 10 Business Group 10 BUS A 10 year Gl 10 Business Group E 10 BUS 6 10 year Taa T __ Educational program group properties Year Help lh oe Define allowed unallowed time slots Delete educational program group Print timetable for all belonging educational programs Enter the class details fo General Studies Group A fo Ll 2 4 3 Courses Select the Courses TAB from the menu right click on the Education2. select Add Room ff tutorial oct Open Course Timetabler File Document SqUCATCRAl proram arobi Cias aeba ee Ha Courses Teachers Rooms iy Lab Add room Eat Labe Delete all rooms i Lab3 peep Room Print timetable for all rooms gy Room fear Rooms Enter the room name capacity and optionally the external identifier Keep the room names short so they will fit on the printed timetable Room properties Hame Capacity External ID Cancel Tip Create a dummy room that can be used for a class that you don t know where they are going to be held yet Name the room AAA Not Allocated or something similar so that it appears at the top of the rooms list Set the number of students the room can hold to a large number eg 200 so you can place several classes in there until you find a permanent room for them Page 10 of 18 Open Course Timetabler User Manual 2 4 Input Educational Programs Classes and Courses As suggested above start with one Educational Program and enter all the classes and courses subjects for that program before you enter the next program Try printing timetables for rooms teachers and classes and make sure you are happy with the information shown and the layout especially use of class names and short names before you enter lots of data and have to change it later 2 4 1 Educational Program On the Courses TAB right click on the school name and select
3. A Maths lesson for Year 10 Business Studies students in Room 1 with Mr Smith from 9 00 am to 10 00 am If this group of students has a total of four 4 hours of Maths each week with this teacher they will be defined as four 4 separate lessons When you create a timetable you drag and drop each individual lesson into a vacant place on the timetable grid Terms A term in OCTT is a time period in which a lesson is taught Eg 09 00 10 00 1 3 Collect Information The next step is to gather the details of the resources that you will use for your timetable This includes all teacher names room names and courses 1 3 1 1 3 2 1 3 3 Teachers Prepare a list of teachers that includes all of the following e Title Mr Mrs Miss Dr etc e First Name e Last Name e Rank teacher senior teacher Head of Department Professor etc e External identifier If you have a student management system where teachers are identified by a code or number you can add this into the external identifier field Rooms Prepare a list of rooms that includes the following e Room number or names try to keep them short as they are used in the timetable reports and long names may be truncated e Capacity how many students can you fit in the room e External identifier If you have a student management system where you identify rooms by another number or code you can add this here Courses OCTT uses a three level hierarchy
4. timetable to your website for teachers and students to access You will need a web server with the mySQL database and PHP installed on your network to use this function 1 2 Understand the terminology used in OCTT 1 2 1 1 2 2 1 2 3 Educational Program An Educational Program is the highest level in the hierarchy Examples may include Year 10 Business Studies Year 11 Accounting Year 12 Information Technology or simply Year 5 for a junior school Class A class in OCTT is a sub set of an educational program If there are 40 students in Year 10 Business Studies they may be separated into classes as follows Year 10 Business Group A and Year 10 Business Group B with 20 students in each group In junior schools where there is no subject specialties they may simply be defined as Year 5A Year 5B Year 5C and Year 5D Course OCTT uses the term course in the same way as many schools use the term subject A course may be Maths English Information Technology Science etc When you define a course you specify the actual number of lessons the course will have each week If the course is split between two teachers then you must create two separate courses eg MathsA and MathsB so you can timetable the lessons according to teacher availability Page 3 of 18 Open Course Timetabler User Manual 1 2 4 Lesson 1 2 5 A lesson is a single period of time in which a group of students and a teacher meet in a classroom Eg
5. DAY i P Year 10 Business Studies Wm 10 Business Group A 10 BUS A 10 year Em 10 Business Group B 10 BUS B 10 year i P Year 10 General Studies i fl 10 General Studies Group A 104GS A 10 ye Year 10 Information Technology m 10 Info Tech Group A 10 T A 10 year E m 10 Info Tech Group B 10 IT B 10 year i The picture above shows the Excel lesson being dragged from the bottom of the screen onto the timetable grid Notice the only free space is Friday 11 00 12 00 If a lesson cannot be placed on a blank space it may be because e The teacher has another lesson at that time e The teacher has been scheduled as unavailable unallowed time slot After you place the lesson on the timetable you need to double click the room number and select an available room If a room is not shown in the list it may be because e The capacity of the room is less than the number of students enrolled e Room restrictions are set on that course allowing it to only be held in a specific room or group of allowed rooms Page 16 of 18 Open Course Timetabler User Manual 4 Time Saving Tips 4 1 Copying Courses You can copy courses from one class to another This can save a time if the courses are similar After copying make any small changes necessary to the new course BEFORE you start allocating the lessons to time slots If you want to change the course after you have moved all the lessons onto the timetable g
6. Open Course Timetabler User Manual Version 1 0 Open Course Timetabler www openctt org Open Course Timetabler OCTT is free software licenced under the GNU Public Licence and is copyright by Open Course Timetabler 2007 This software is being developed primarily by Ivan Curak and Augustin Juricic User Manual Author Daryl Moon daryl swtech com au Open Course Timetabler User Manual Table of Contents i Getting Started withy OC LD esseer aitaa aaien 3 LE THiS Call CG SOLOW ALC aneit E EES 3 Mode SIMS tC Wet oases cre E T E twee 3 LE dAnstall PHP Web Time tal 6 x 2 ces ctexcesanciv nde ES 3 1 2 Understand the terminology used in OCT T cccccsssscccsssscccsssscccsssccsssssccessssceeeess 3 bak Educational Prota stu etccaste A 3 Mi CN ASG craps T aceite ec write te ete cee eae 3 L23 COUE nenea sneaeaycte vaceaenia sccateslnesn gous E E 3 LZ TESSO enn ATANT E T 4 TI TEN e E E O AT 4 LS Colect Ilorin ation sosise rsin eaaa a ENa 4 Lod Teche erran EE 4 LS ROOMS aea A EA oes 4 WD C OUES micenea a NO 4 2 Enten Dala eean A EEEa EET 5 ZA Ant Days And Terms iosisscsescccecscvossstesssseciedccvdescndees de dacassucucasastentscouuscevssyisstecsecsosstcsewsees 5 22 Input PCACHICES cno aeee ceed cases ceeancosseetaecensscccowsaceaseeeuecees 8 23 DPU ROONIS sesiyasida eista a E eos is teeeedent ese aue incense 10 2 4 Input Educational Programs Classes and Courses ccccsccccsssccsss
7. al Program and select Add new course Page 12 of 18 Open Course Timetabler User Manual if tutorial be File Document Scucat robe dasse Course Teacher spase aa Courses Teachers Rooms se Sample School 2008 P Year 10 Business Studies T E 10 Business Group A 10 BUS A 10 year 99 00 40 m 10 Business Group B 10 BU5 B 10 year P Year 10 General Studies p a Se ee ee a Ta Fa 2 a ye ee 7 uted os tate P Year 10 ional Class properties E m 10 Into Teck Add new course Pao em ee a i Define allowed unallowed time slots Delete dass Print timetable for dass Enter the details you require for the new course Course properties xy Maths Course name Lesson type Num of less per week Num of enrolled stud 20 Group name External ID a IMPORTANT NOTE The course short name is used in the printed timetable Create your own set of codes to clearly identify the Educational Program Class and Course For example the short name 10 BUS A IT identifies Year 10 Business Studies Group A Information Technology Page 13 of 18 Open Course Timetabler User Manual 10 BUSINESS GROUP A 1 TUESDAY SEORESE RY 10 G A FRENCH i Room a 10 5 A FREMCH 5 Root 1 BLS A FRENCH Reemi I IHEUSA GE y Land pii PHELES MORAD E Laba The above is a sample of the PDF report for a cla
8. ave collected all your data start entering your resources in the following order ie a Days and Terms lesson times Teachers Rooms Courses 2 1 Input Days and Terms First Add the days your classes will be taught on by selecting Document from the main OCTT Menu and then selecting Add Day and ticking the days you will use Page 5 of 18 Open Course Timetabler User Manual Add new educational program group Add teacher Delete all teachers Print timetable for all teachers Add room Delete all rooms Print timetable for all rooms Add term Document properties Find Ctrl F Select Add day from the menu and tick the days that you require for classes Next add Terms lesson times by selecting Document from the main OCTT Menu and then selecting Add term Set the start and end times using 24 hour clock Page 6 of 18 Open Course Timetabler User Manual pe i eg Re ai S T T Gd DEF Al Gare OE Gigan kai in iaa Pe Add new educational program group Add teacher Delete all teachers Print timetable for all teachers Add room Delete all rooms Print timetable for all rooms Document properties Find Ctrl F Select Add term and enter the start and end times in 24 hour format for each lesson Later when you have input some classes and begin to build your timetable you will see these Terms time slots you have created Page 7 of 18 Ope
9. ble for clz II Microsoft Excel I Microsoft Word m info Tech Group I Databases i Sinis properes I Linux Add new course JA Microsoft Excell Add new course from dipboard Wl Microsoft Word Define allowed unallowed time slots 14 99 15 09 Delete all belonging courses Delete class Print timetable for class Finally make any changes to the new course including changing the short name Page 17 of 18 Open Course Timetabler User Manual 4 2 Copying a Timetable OCTT stores its timetable data file only one file with the extension of oct It is a plain text file that is formatted with XML The XML formatting looks similar to the HTML format you see in web pages If you wish to copy an entire timetable for example to make a new timetable for Term 2 based on Term 1 then simply copy the oct file and rename it Make sure the copy has the extension oct or OCTT will not be able to open it While it is possible to edit the oct file with a text editor such as notepad it is very easy to make a small mistake and OCTT will refuse to load the file and crash the program If you must edit the oct file make sure you make a backup of the file before you start editing it If you have any changes corrections or suggestions to improve this document please email the author Daryl Moon at daryl swtech com au Page 18 of 18
10. ccsssccssssccsssccssces 11 2d Educanonal Prostam eean isis ei iaes easiest sarataamccenets 11 R EE SCS cetera React cache ace ican cunts gta ma ae AEE oem agattneanumtedenees 11 De COWS a esa ease E ee 12 2 9 ANU ROOM Restrictions siistiin eea ue cocessabseeetessseeceae sense vueeceuevacessoueseee 14 3 P P ldme the PIMC LAD lCraseicscusisecascecsouscescxesceavcecewshiwcteeteg A 15 DI Time Savina TIPS aerer ee ENES EEEE EEEO EEAO 17 Page 2 of 18 Open Course Timetabler User Manual 1 Getting Started with OCTT Before you commence your timetable there are a few tasks that you need to complete in preparation Download and install the software carefully read the definitions of the terminology that is used in OCTT it is likely they will be different from what you currently use Visit the OCTT website and read about latest developments and comments questions in the online forum www openctt org 1 1 Install the software 1 1 1 Install OCTT Download and install the Open Course Timetable software from http sourceforge net projects openctt Download the latest msi file eg Release_0 7 1_ OCTTSetup msi and install it on a Windows 2000 XP Vista PC You also need Microsoft s NetFramework 1 1 or later from the Microsoft web site Install PHP WebTimetable While you are at the website you may want to download the PHP web timetable plug in OCTT_Release_0 7 1_ PhpWebTimetable zip This software allows you to upload your
11. e This is useful if you have part time teachers that only work mornings for example and you can block out the afternoons to prevent them being timetabled then If you have a staff development activity that you require staff to attend then you can also use this function In the example above the teacher is not available from 9 00 am to 12 00 am on Wednesday and not available from 12 00 13 00 lunch Room restrictions for a teacher can also be set for teachers right click on teacher and select Restrict Possible Rooms It may be more useful to set room restrictions by class instead of by teacher It is more likely that a class can only be held in a special type of room eg gymnasium or computer lab Lessons are restricted to folowing List of possible rooms to choose Tooma Lab 0 seats Lab 20 seats Lab3 20 seats Room 20 seats Room 0 seats Room 0 seats Page 9 of 18 Open Course Timetabler 2 3 User Manual In the example above the teacher can only teach in Lab 2 Tip Create a dummy teacher record that can be used for a class where you don t know who is teaching the class yet If you have several new teachers starting but have not appointed them yet you can setup several perhaps name them Vacant English Vacant Maths etc and just change the name when the teachers are appointed Input Rooms To input rooms select the Rooms TAB in the menu right click on the school name and
12. n Course Timetabler User Manual File Document Educational program group Class Course Teacher Room Tools Help eA ee Courses Teachers Rooms Timetable for class 10 General Studies Group A 10 GS A 10 year Sample School 2008 i P Year 10 Business Studies 10 Business Group A 10 BUS A 10 year 10 Business Group B 10 BUS B 10 year i P Year 10 General Studies i p Year 10 Information Technology 10 Info Tech Group A 10 T A 10 year 10 Info Tech Group B 10 T B 10 year Ry MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY 09 00 10 00 12 00 13 99 14 00 15 09 15 09 15 09 2 2 Input Teachers To input teachers select the Teachers TAB in the menu right click on the school name and select Add teacher He Document Educational program group Glass Cou han Ey an j Delete all teachers his Expert i Gates Print timetable for al teachers a Page Lany Mr Teacher Programming Hs Smith Mary Mrs Teacher English t Torvalds Linus Mr Teacher Linu Enter the title first name last name rank and optionally the external identifier for each teacher Educational rank External ID Page 8 of 18 Open Course Timetabler User Manual Time restrictions for teachers can be set by right clicking the teacher name and selecting define allowed unallowed timeslots This prevents a teacher from being scheduled for a class at that tim
13. oup A 10 BUS A 10 year AE Accounting 3 Ya en a ne Ta i narra Course properties AL Quickbooks mp ears m 10 Business Gri Define courses to hold together Year 10 General Sty o m 10 General Stui onyert ta Groups Year 10 Information E Dito Tech Gp oo o m 10 Info Tech a Copy course to dipboard r Em H E p Room restrictions for course Mic Lessons are restricted to folowing List of possible rooms to choose rooms Lab1 0 seats Room 0 seats lab 70 seats Room 0 seats Lab3 20 seats Rooms 0 seats The course above Microsoft Excel has been restricted to Lab1 Lab2 or Lab3 3 Build the Timetable If you have an existing timetable eg from last year then you may find it helpful to use this as a starting point when building your new timetable Once you have entered the educational programs classes and courses you can start building your timetable by dragging and dropping the lessons into a vacant space in the blank timetable grid Page 15 of 18 Open Course Timetabler User Manual tutorial oct Open Course Timetabler Fie Document ducational program group Class Course Teacher Room Tools Help Be AMoe ae Courses Teachers Rooms Timetable for class 10 Info Tech Group A 104T A 10 year E Sample School 2008 DAYTERM MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRI
14. rid you will have to move them all back to the bottom of the screen unallocated Make your changes then drag and drop the lessons back on the timetable grid To copy a course right click on the course you want to copy from and select Copy course to clipboard FE tutorial oct Open Course Timetabler File Dodiment Educstonal program group Class Course T Beha e M 4 Courses Teachers Rooms Sample School 2008 E Year 10 Business Studies il i 10 Business Group A 10 BUS A 10 year H E 10 Business Group B 10 BUS B 10 year Accounting AC eF A Microg GOurse properties AC Micros Restrict possible rooms E p A Hra Define courses to hold together EI ear TU Gene i E 10 Gener 5 Year 10 informi m 10 info Ta 05t AD Dateb Dicapai course te clipboard Next select the Class you want to copy the course to and right click and select Add new course from clipboard Piz tutorial oct Open Course Timetabler i File Document at pare 9 Class Be AB oe ae Courses Teachers Rooms Sample School 2008 P Year 10 Business Studies 10 Business Group A 10 BUS A 10 year 10 Business Group B 10 BUS B 10 year I Accounting IL French IC Microsoft Excel II Microsoft Word IC Quickbooks P Year 10 General Studies 10 General Studies Group A 104GS A 10 ye gt Year 10 Information Technology m 10 Info Tech Group A 1HIT A 10 year Timeta
15. ss note the use of the short names for courses Timetable for educational program Art VFC ART VFC sem MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY ee T16 Maths Science PNE TOS General Studies Artt Arti VEG ART WFC ART MATH VFC ART A WVPC ART FRENCH Drawing i Arti T16 Maths Science tial TOS General Studies WRO ART EWGE VWeO ART SPOR FE f YRFO ART A WEAR T MAT HA Practical i T16 Maths Science Sport 4 T16 Maths Science Arti VFC ART WORLD VFC ART SPORT VEC ART A VEC ART MATH 4083024430 T16 Maths Science Sport 4 cere T16 Maths Science Arti The above is a sample of the Web based report Again the short names for courses are used 2 5 Input Room Restrictions If you have some lessons that can only be held in a specific room or a small group of rooms then you can enter these restrictions before you start timetabling the classes Place the restriction by selecting the course after you input the courses right click and select Restrict Possible Rooms This makes selecting the room much quicker when you start timetabling as you are only presented with a small list of rooms to choose from or the room 1s automatically selected if you restrict it to only one room Page 14 of 18 Open Course Timetabler User Manual ay tutorial oct ee Course Timetabler File Document Scucar rour Class Courses Teacne Be Baloo laa Courses Teachers Rooms o Sample School 2008 gt Year 10 Business Studies m 10 Business Gr
16. to identify courses The three levels are 1 Educational Program 2 Class 3 Course you may refer to this as a subject For example Educational Program Year 12 Business Class 12 Business Group A Courses Accounting IT Maths Science Page 4 of 18 Open Course Timetabler User Manual first and experiment with the structure and naming conventions until you are happy with the way it works and how the timetable reports look Complete the timetable for this one program before you make lots of timetable entries and have to later change them Information you need to collect for courses includes Educational Program o name o external identifier optional o time restrictions when you cannot schedule classes optional Class Name o Code Name Year external identifier optional time restrictions when you cannot schedule classes optional O O 0 O Courses or lessons or subject classes o Course Name o Short Name used on printed timetables keep short consistent and meaningful o Lesson Type optional may be used to indicate variations like practical theory etc of the course or subject Number of lessons per week eg if you have one hour lessons and need 3 hours of maths place 3 here Number of enrolled students used when placing lessons into rooms Teacher select from existing list Group amp Group Name external identifier optional O O O 0 O 2 Enter Base Data Now you h
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