Overview

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ThingLink is an online learning tool tailored to prioritizing learner engagement through asynchronous learning activities and instructional materials. Its intuitive interface can have you creating interactive infographics, images, videos, virtual tours, learning scenarios, and more within minutes. Under UCF's Academic license, every member of the UCF community - faculty, staff, and students, can access their personal ThingLink account with SSO. This facilitates collaborative efforts on diverse media and projects, which can be seamlessly integrated into Webcourses@UCF, on your website, or as assignment submissions for students.

This module aims to provide you with basic guidance of ThingLink's interface and step-by-step training on how to use the platform. While the FMC's Training & Resources webcourse is intended for UCF faculty, you are welcome to share these training guides and videos with learners to assist them in the creation process.

You can also check out and share UCF's ThingLink Landing Page, which will include 2-10 minute training videos for all the features in ThingLink's platform. You will find these videos throughout this module, along with interactive ThingLink activities.

Training Guides

Throughout this module, you will review best practices for using ThingLink in your course development and trainings. While we recommend reviewing this module in its entirety, you can select the topic below that best meets your needs:

Table of Contents for the ThingLink module
Page Link	Description
Overview	Introduction to the ThingLink Module.
Enabling ThingLink in Webcourses@UCF	Add ThingLink to a Webcourse navigation menu to ensure student access with SSO.
Create a Group for your Course Section	Create groups to share your media, tours, and scenarios with specific groups of students at a time.
Collaboration	Manage access and privacy settings to Based Media and folders within the Media Dashboard.
Supported Base Media	Learn about the different file formats, sizes, and resolution that ThingLink supports for 2D images, 2D videos, 360-images, 360-videos, and 3D models.
Organizing Media Assets	Upload base media and organize it using proper file naming structure and folder hierarchies.
Base Media Editor and Tags	Learn about the base media editor's interface to make your content interactive. Brief descriptions and demonstrations of the different types of interactive tags that can be added in the editor.
Self-Guided Virtual Tours	Use transit tags to create self-guided virtual tours in the base media editor.
Scenario-Based Learning (SBL)	Create learning scenarios, simulations, and escape rooms based on real-world applications in ThingLink's Scenarios dashboard. Learn about the different types of blocks and how to create a scenario.
Sharing in Webcourses@UCF	Change the Privacy Settings on your base media and scenarios for sharing in Webcourse pages. Use the ThingLink plug in to make sure you gathering the correct student data.
Grading with ThingLink	Sync your ThingLink scenarios with your webcourse grade book for automatic grading using an External Submission Tool. Please note, his feature is only available for scenarios and does not include base media unless the scenes are added as Media blocks within the scenario.
Augmented Reality (AR)	Download and use ThingLink's AR Viewer app to make physical spaces digitally interactive.
Generative AI with Skybox and Dall-E	Use popular AI image generators to create 2D and 360 images directly within ThingLink's platform. (Only available for UCF faculty and staff)
Accessibility Best Practices	Use WCAG 2.1AA accessibility standards of text, color contrast, alt text, audio transcriptions, and captions to your ThingLink content. Interact with ThingLink's Accessibility Player.

Additional Support

The FMC will be your primary resource for technical support and training for ThingLink campus-wide. We will regularly be offering workshops for hands-on demonstrations of ThingLink's interface and newest features. You can also schedule a ThingLink Assistance appointment on the FMC's website to meet with the FMC one-on-one to answer your questions or for a project consultation.

For more information, contact FMC@ucf.edu or call 407-823-0519.

ThingLink's Certified Creator course

ThingLink offers comprehensive guidance and support materials for leveraging the platform's capabilities effectively in their complimentary Certified Creator course. Although estimated to require approximately 5 hours to complete, the course permits flexible pacing and perpetual availability. It is advisable to undertake this course before engaging with ThingLink to gain a comprehensive understanding of its tools, features, and to explore various sample creations.