Case Study: Providing student support by video chat

This case study focusses on the use of Skype to support students who are away from the University for their study or placement.  The use of this technology was considered to improve supervision and isolation while away from the university. Two modules were identified by tutors as particularly benefiting from online student support and after…

HEA staff development events for technology enhanced learning

The HEA have teamed up with ALT and JISC to offer a series of free staff development events.  These include a series of one-day events around technology enhanced learning which focus on specific disciplines and more general online webinars covering a range of topics. We wanted to highlight these opportunities to any staff that might be…

Reminder: Sessions about the minimum expectations and consultation

This is a reminder that there are still places on the remaining face-to-face sessions to discuss the consultation to make Blackboard processes more automatic.  If you are interested, please book by clicking on the links below: Thursday 7 Feb, 14:00-15:00 – Main Building D006, Collegiate Friday 8 Feb, 11:00-12:00 – Owen 1032 Tuesday 12 Feb,…

Support resources for new minimum expectations of e-learning

Last week we announced the new minimum expectations of e-learning. We are pleased to announce that we have now finished the support pages for them. We have amended the minimum expectations document to include a link to a support page for each of the expectations. Just click on the link for any expectation to find guidance about…

Sessions to discuss Blackboard automatic site setup consultation

Last week we announced a consultation about changing Blackboard processes to align them with the new minimum expectations for e-learning, and reduce the admin burden on staff preparing Blackboard sites. We have scheduled a series of workshops to introduce the new expectations and get feedback on the proposed changes in the consultation. The sessions will include a short presentation on the new minimum expectations…

Use RSS feeds to engage students in your Blackboard sites

Including an RSS feed on your Blackboard site is a simple and effective way to make it more engaging to students. An RSS (‘Really Simple Syndication’) feed presents a bulletin of key information from an external site, just like having a subscription to your favourite website or online content. When additional content becomes available, it automatically appears…

Don’t forget to make your site available to students!

Hopefully you’ve been able to fully prepare your 2012/3 Blackboard sites so they are ready to use with your students (see key things you need to do to prepare your site).  However some staff forget the crucial last step of making a site available to students.  If you don’t make your sites available, then your students won’t be…