As part of the ‘Realising Our Potential’ professional development programme we have scheduled a series of roundtable discussion events to provide an opportunity for informal discussion about practice in e learning. These are now underway but you can still sign up for the remaining sessions. Please use the links below to book a place. You…
An article in the inaugural issue of the Student Engagement and Experience Journal (SEEJ) describes research into the use of smartphones by students in ACES. Aware of rising levels of smartphone ownership and the impressive capabilities that these provide, the authors wanted to explore whether student use of smartphones might increase student engagement with learning and…
This article is the third in a series of six articles about accessibility issues in e-learning. Adding images to text on your Blackboard site or in a document can be a good way to make it more visually appealing and to break up the long pieces of text. It is worth noting that not everyone will be…
We’re pleased to announce that we had the highest satisfaction rating (94.2%) for our virtual learning environment out of the 65 institutions who participated globally in the 2011 International Student Barometer! This is the second year we have achieved this honor (see last year’s announcement). The university also had the highest satisfaction rating out of UK institutions for available learning technology in general, and second…
This year the annual upgrade of Blackboard will take place on 20 or 21 July. Depending on the length of time needed for the upgrade, Blackboard will be unavailable either Friday evening or Saturday morning/afternoon. Students will not be able to access shuspace and Blackboard sites during the upgrade period. In the unexpected and unlikely event that the upgrade cannot be completed on Friday/Saturday,…
This article is the second in a series of six articles about accessibility issues in e-learning. Blackboard sites can have a lot of information on them. Good organisation of that information becomes essential when this happens, with a clear folder structure and pattern for where to find that information. In an attempt to help students find information…
In this case study, Engineering students worked in teams to develop multimedia presentations around one of two research topics. The previous way of teaching the material did not engage students particularly well, so the module team hoped that the hands on aspects of multimedia production would help engage students, open up a creative dimension and…
We are offering a series of roundtable events to provide an opportunity for informal discussion about practice in e-learning. You are welcome to bring lunch to the discussion table. Please click on the date/place information below to book a place. Moving forward with online feedback With Stuart Hepplestone This event will provide an opportunity to…
This article is the fifth in a series of five articles about scenarios for mobile learning. These are linked to an initiative to promote and capture innovation in e-learning. What is it? Students engage in ‘back-channel’ discussion during a presented session by posting short text-based messages from their devices. Comments can be made available on…
This article is the first in a series of six articles about accessibility issues in e-learning. It’s become fairly common for some folks to make web links using the words ‘click here’ or ‘here’ to ensure that users know where to find a link. Unfortunately this is not accessible web design for making links and can cause confusion for students…