We’re delighted to see that in the October 2010 International Student Barometer, 96% of our international students were satisfied with the virtual learning environment (VLE), Blackboard. The International Student Barometer tracks the opinion of international students and measures their satisfaction with arrival, learning experience, living experience and student support. This is the 6th year we have participated in…
Last January we launched the Refreshing e-learning at Sheffield Hallam initiative, setting out to refresh e-learning processes and practices across the University over a year period. This month marks the formal close of the initiative, though development work and support around e-learning will continue as usual. Some of the key activities during the initiative: Changed archiving practices so…
Our e-learning blog has been a popular source of information for staff around e-learning. We’ve noticed that some students have been checking it to find out the latest news on such topics, so we thought it was worth starting a blog aimed more directly at student needs. We’re proud to introduce the launch of the shuTech blog. Of…
In December we announced that SHUgo, the university’s mobile app, would be released shortly. The release took longer than expected due to unforeseen complications in releasing the app. However, we’re pleased to say that it is now available for use by staff, students and visitors at the University. For everyone who got a new smartphone for…
As the Refreshing e-learning initiative draws to a close this month, we’re going to restructure both the Bb-support tab in shuspace and this blog. For the last year we’ve focused on supporting staff through the initiative’s changes, such as introducing Blackboard version 9.0. Now that the initiative is ending, we’re looking at how we can improve these tools to best support…
Each year the University has an upgrade period for Blackboard, normally the second Friday of July. This year the upgrade period will start 8 July at 17:30. During the upgrade, there will be no access to shuspace or Blackboard sites. It is predicted that the upgrade period will end late on Friday evening, leading to a total downtime of…
We have been working with Blackboard to make improvements to the Assignment Handler tool, and the upgrade is planned for the evening of Friday 7 January. If you are not familiar with the Assignment Handler it is essentially a tool that allows students to submit work online and for tutors to download, grade and provide…
Shortly we will be launching SHUgo, a mobile app that is designed for students and staff at the University. The initial SHUgo release will provide access to campus maps, library information, campus news, a staff/student directory and an interface for accessing Blackboard sites. The app will work with the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad initially, with versions for Blackberry…
A lecturer at the University of Chichester is evaluating the use of technology in undergraduate teaching for his PhD. He has asked if we can circulate a survey to SHU academics as part of this research. The survey should take 10-15 minutes to complete and is completely anonymous (Further details from the survey author). If you…
Turnitin will be upgraded at the beginning of September, and will see the launch of Turnitin2. You don’t need to do anything except note that Turnitin will not be available from 6pm on Saturday 4 September 2010 until 2am on Sunday 5 September 2010. You and your students will not be able to submit work…