Since the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) came into effect in late May 2018, the web has become a more frustrating place. A vast majority of websites, both large and small, block access to their content until you consent to their data gathering and processing policies, including cookies to track you across the site and,…
‘Accessibility’, ‘Inclusive Practice’ and ‘Universal Design’ are terms that are used with increasing frequency within Higher Education, but the distinctions between them and the importance of the principles to which they refer is not always clear. In this video, Paddy Turner (LEAD lecturer and Chair of the National Association of Disability Practitioners) gives a brief…
The web is a great source of information, but the problem is that there is often just too much of it. If you’re like most people, you won’t look much past the first couple of pages of search results so it’s important that you get the most relevant results on those early pages. The simplest…
Trying to create strong and, more importantly, memorable passwords for all the different services that you use can be a real problem. Every site seems to require a different password length and combination of character types, which you often aren’t told about until after entering a non-compliant password. Combine this with being forced to change…
‘Flipped Classroom‘ is a term that refers to the restructuring of teaching in order to maximise the benefit of contact time between students and tutors. In a ‘flipped classroom’ the’ homework’ and ‘lecture’ elements of a traditional teaching approach are reversed, with the students engaging with the required information as pre-work so that the contact time can focus on…
A Digital Identity is information stored online that relates to a single individual. We generate our own with every on-line interaction and the data that we leave behind builds a profile of us – which may not be an accurate representation. It is important to understand what a Digital Identity is, so that you can take control…
After the Blackboard upgrade at the end of July, there will be some changes to the interface in Blackboard and shuspace. shuspace is being refreshed as part of the upgrade, with a new banner at the top and a modern look and feel for the channels and tabs. Some of the less used areas have…
As part of the upcoming Blackboard upgrade there are some changes to tools used for assessment and marking that are worth highlighting. Based on data which is being collected by Faculty teams this summer, we will try to create as many summative assessment items in your Blackboard site as we can, including reassessments. This means we…
After the upcoming Blackboard upgrade is complete, there will be improvements around using Blackboard Collaborate inside Blackboard sites. Currently staff can only have a single session of Collaborate Ultra. After the upgrade, staff will be able to schedule different sessions in their Blackboard site. Staff and students will also be able to download Collaborate Ultra recordings…
Towards the end of last year, Kieran McDonald and I were awarded a Teaching Enhancement Fund from ACES to investigate how Art & Design’s new studio spaces in the Head Post Office could be augmented through the incorporation of technology. Following discussion with students and staff, we integrated Bluetooth beacons into a Graphic Design studio…