Tel Tales

Adventures in Technology Enhanced Learning @ UoP

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A collage of images taken at Digifest 2020

Into the unknown – part 3

May 26, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Digifest (#Digifest20) runs across 2 days and provides a wide range of thought provoking sessions to engage and challenge the audience. 

Day 2 started with a keynote from Hayley Mulenda (@hayleymulenda on Twitter) that was one of the most heartfelt and eye opening talks I have ever watched called “The Hidden Filter”. Hayley talked about her experiences at university, her journey through depression and anxiety. How she felt while having to deal with family and friends all the time maintaining the focus on her learning. This is something that I can not do justice to with my attempt to write about it now. Just to say that if you ever get a chance to hear her speak, I would take it. It will demonstrate how many students are facing challenges that (depending on your age and year of study) you may never have even considered. It equally demonstrated to me that there were times in my life where I was depressed and emotionally raw but not realising it because I was in the middle of the situation, it is only when I think back and reflect that I can see the damage I was doing to myself. 

She concluded her talk with the notion that we should not rely on technology in this ‘technology driven world’ (which has become an even bigger issue at the time of writing during the COVID lockdown). We now face an even greater challenge to support each other those who may be isolated, not only literally but figuratively. (I will provide some wellbeing support and guidance at the bottom of this blog for extra reading). It is with the “Hidden Filter” that Hayley addressed that our reliance on presenting a show of permanent strength and happiness in a digital world can ultimately lead to a rise in negative and harmful experiences in the “real” world. My favourite quote of her session was “You don’t need to listen to respond, you need to listen to understand”. 

The second day was just as inspiring as the first, with sessions covering a range of ideas, however the last one, I want to mention for this series of blogs is the one hosted by Michelle Capes and Sean Randall of the Wiltshire College and University Centre. This session was on digital escape rooms and demonstrated how you could use Microsoft OneNote to create pages of questions, restricted by passwords that require you to challenge your students and get them to investigate the material. Creating riddles and puzzles that can be discovered through online research as well as having to work around physical locations to find the information. 

During this session, I was inspired to look at how Moodle may be a potential option in creating ‘Digital Escape Rooms’. I found that it was possible to recreate using a Moodle book to house H5P activities that are all set with restrictions that require a set score from a previous question. It was a quick test I did during the presentation but with more work, the idea could be developed using a range of activities and conditions within Moodle that create more a more in depth experience. What it demonstrated to me was the idea that we are often limited by our own creativity and not the technical limitations. The OneNote option being demostrated was simple but very effective!

What I realised is that often we are all working on creative solutions to problems or have ideas that we don’t elaborate on and this can lead us to the point where we are not always great at sharing those ideas that we have. With that in mind, if you have worked on something in Moodle that is slightly more interesting, or have an idea that you are not sure what to do with, please do get in touch with myself, your Online Course Developer (many of whom have kindly written for the blog) or the TEL team, and we can discuss these ideas and potential solutions. 

To close this post and my experiences of DigiFest 2020, I would recommend to everyone that can attend this event in the future, they do! It is a fantastic example of creative minds and inspiring innovations that demonstrate learning and teaching within the FE and HE sector. It has made me think about things we should be looking at for our institution and what I can personally do to inspire others with the technology we have available. It demonstrated to me that there are more aspects to the life we lead within a university that we might miss from the students perspective (thanks @hayleymulenda). We traditionally work in silos a lot of the time, and it is an easy trap to fall into, but we should be looking at how best we can connect our work with others throughout the university. There is more we can offer, but we might not see the direct value elsewhere or how others might also be able to apply it to their subject. It is a very easy mindset to create, isolating ourselves and not sharing our work or innovations. Often this is not deliberate but just one factor in how we approach what we do in our daily working life. Digifest has shown me we should be singing each other’s praises and looking at ways to connect and integrate our best practice around the university and also what we can offer the wider community (be it learning and teaching practice or what we can offer others who might use our teaching ideas in the outside world). 

Guidance and Support for Wellbeing:

and breathe . . .

21 day self care challenge – the result

May 21, 2020 / / 0 Comments

At the beginning of social distancing, I envisaged that lockdown was definitely going to be a challenge for my little family, however I never anticipated how difficult it would get! Trying to work from home, both myself and my husband, homeschooling our 4 year old, whilst trying to entertain our 2 year old  (who is currently in the throws of the ‘tantrum-y terrible twos’), breaking up on-going sibling punch ups, whilst trying to keep some kind of sanity – yep it was going to be tough! Forever the optimist though, and at times, yes it has been super challenging, we managed to juggle through everything and try to remain positive and safe.

As if I didn’t have enough to concentrate on, I decided to take on the 21 day self care challenge (please see my ‘Isolation motivation – are you up for a challenge’ post for more info). I was looking for that zap of energy, I felt sluggish after being cooped up in the house for 4 weeks and was in need of some isolation motivation – so I accepted the challenge. 

The challenge

The 21 day self care challenge included the following:

I had to choose 2 things to drop from my life over 21 days from the following list.

I choose:

  1.  All white carbs, or bread and,
  2.  Sugar (inc. sweets, chocolate and fruit juice)

And choose to add 2 things into my life over 21 days.

I chose:

  1. Drink 2L of water per day and, 
  2. Extra 2,000 steps a day (try to get above 10,000 a day)

So how did I do? – Focusing on the positives . . .

At the beginning of the self care challenge, I lost someone very close to me to covid and another family member had contracted the virus whilst being in hospital. It was a hard time for me and my family and restrictions around funerals made it even tougher. What we were seeing on the news suddenly became our reality and it was very real for us. Not being able to be with loved ones at such a difficult time was hard.

I’ve always enjoyed exercise and going to the gym. Exercise has helped me in the past to gain focus and control during difficult times in my life and I was keen on getting back into it. I was in the middle of Joe Wick’s 90 day plan before I fell pregnant with my second child, but I was looking for a different type of exercise, ‘not a quick HITT’, something I could escape into. I always enjoyed running at school but hadn’t ran since then. I decided to download the Couch to 5K app and give it a try. To begin with I was anxious about being able to run again but now after 6 weeks using the app – I’m loving it! It’s helped to clear my mind and it’s given me some ‘me-time’ back. Some mornings I wake up and I can’t wait to run, it’s definitely lifted my spirits and helped my mental health.

I am now able to easily get above 10,000 steps and an extra 2,000 a day on my Fitbit. As I’m exercising more I’m also finding that I’m able to drink 2L of water per day. I have more energy and feel fitter in myself.

I’ve found it hard to cut out white carbs and sugar completely, so I eat them occasionally and monitor my food/drink intake – everything in moderation. We are all going to have bad days and slip ups – it’s just remembering to not be too hard on ourselves when we do and know that tomorrow is always another day to reboot and start being good again!

Lessons learned

What I have learnt from the 21 day self care challenge is to make time for me – something that is often hard to do especially when I have a young family. I’ve also dropped another thing from the list which I feel has helped me mentally. I’ve now permanently turned off my work app notifications, this is a huge thing for me as I’m a bit of a workaholic, but my ‘family time’ is no longer interrupted by work notifications on days when I’m not working. When I am working is when I deal with any notifications and only then.

Taking a step back from online chat has helped me to re-focus on my work and what I need to get done during the day. Having a busy and very noisy current working environment, it can often feel overwhelming – it’s full on 24/7.  I’m finding it useful to make to-do lists and preparing as much as I can for each day, it helps me to stay on track with work and homeschooling and it helps the children if we have some kind of routine. If I’m able to tick off one thing on the list then I feel I’ve achieved at least one thing during the day. We are all going through our own rollercoaster of emotions and experiencing very different stresses during this unsettling time. Being kind to one another and being supportive is key to getting through this! 

I’m glad I took on the 21 day self care challenge and I think it’s a useful tool to dip in and out of when you are feeling a bit low, particularly during lockdown and looking for some motivation. It’s helped me to get back on track after a difficult time and become stronger both mentally and physically. Isolating with children, working and homeschooling, all confined to the lounge can feel at times very exhausting and claustrophobic. The 21 day challenge has helped me to remember how crucial it is to take some time out for me, even if it is a short run and breathe!

runner

 

Image credits:

Photo by Georgia de Lotz on Unsplash

Photo by Emma Simpson on Unsplash

be kind, stay home, save lives

Guest Blogger: Fiona Cook – Isolation Reflections and Co-worker Jealousy

May 18, 2020 / / 0 Comments

A month ago I posted on LinkedIn, sharing what I’d learnt about working from home after doing so for three weeks. Yesterday, I was asked if my advice would still be the same and I realise that seven weeks of home working, with an unknown number of weeks left, meant it wouldn’t be. 

There are still a few basics that help me. I only work at my desk, in my spare room, so that I can keep a work-life balance and switch off when I’m done for the day. I also have space from my boyfriend so that we can catch up with friends independently, as we would do in the outside world. The rest, however, has evolved a bit since I first shared it.

Two computer screens on and a cat sitting on a chair in front of them looking at the screens

I’m now less fussed about dressing as I would for work every day. Although I’m lucky to have a fairly decent desk set-up it’s not completely optimal, so I have put a bit more value on being comfortable in what I wear. This also helps ensure I have time for a workout at lunch, which is actually something I’ll surprisingly miss when I’m back in the office. And no-one can see my trackies in a video meeting, anyway! 

I drink less hot drinks when the weather is warmer but I’m still making sure I’m taking breaks when I need them. There’s a quote I’ve seen a lot which is “You are not working from home; you are at your home during a crisis trying to work.” This really resonates with me and it’s a great reminder that things aren’t normal right now and we can’t be expected to act as if they were. My boss has been flexible and supportive and I know that it’s okay if I’m not quite with it sometimes. 

Staying in touch with people, both for work and socially, hasn’t been too hard – even with the odd technical glitch. However, last week a lot of people seemed to be getting fatigued with lockdown and I actually felt socially drained. I’ve found that people are reaching out more than usual and whilst it’s great to know that friends want to stay in touch I felt my introverted self wanting to hide after four days of video calls and messages from numerous group chats. My boyfriend and I now make sure one evening a week is a phone-free film night so that we can focus on ourselves and not be glued to screens all the time. I also try not to feel bad about ignoring my phone when I need to switch off, and my friends completely understand when I explain why I’ve gone awol. That being said, despite the anxiety of having video calls with friendship groups for the first time, I arranged a video quiz with friends who I ordinarily might not have seen as a group and it was really wonderful to see their faces. 

I’ve also not gone on many walks lately. As I don’t drive I already had a recurring food delivery pre-lockdown and the deliveries are slowly becoming more reliable so I haven’t often had to go out, which I’m grateful for. Part of me feels like I’m wasting the sunshine and Pompey seafront, but I’m able to work out in my lounge and sit in the garden so I can still get exercise and fresh air. I want to go out, and I imagine I will soon, but I know it’s safer at home so I’m trying not to beat myself up for staying safe when I can. 

It’s not easy, especially as people close to me have to go out to work or deal with difficult employers, but we all need to work out what is best for us and our individual circumstances without comparing everything we do. I’ve only baked twice, I’d already recently started exercising, and I’m not learning any new skills. It’s okay to focus on your wellbeing to get through this and not emerge as a new shiny version of yourself, which is definitely worth remembering during Cat curled up fast asleep on a cover Mental Health Awareness Week. Be kind, to others but also to yourself.

Oh, and I’m also still very jealous of my new colleagues who sleep all day.

 

 

Credit Image: Photo by Mish Vizesi on Unsplash

Ablue background with four outlined images on people's heads in a semi circle around the earth, with piles of books either side of the earth

Guest Blogger: Ankur Shah – Are we ready to deliver Online Learning?

May 11, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Overview

With COVID-19, teaching delivery has had an impact across the higher education sector. With the unknown of lockdown being lifted, higher education across the UK faces a challenge of delivering courses online for the new academic year. This post considers options, suggestions from the University of Portsmouth perspective and identifies how the university can be ready to deliver online teaching.

Challenge

Everyone across the university had to change the way they deliver teaching when the lockdown or closure of university premises was implemented. Academic members have had to not only figure out what technology to use, but have also needed to think about how the technology they use fits in with the pedagogy for their modules.

The second challenge was to think about the implications on  assessments and exams and how they would be conducted online.

There was a requirement to provide essential training or tools to our academic colleagues for delivering teaching online and also a concern over student engagement due to the suspension of face to face teaching.

How did we overcome the challenges?

BAL Staff Help Pages

In order to ensure teaching can be delivered and support can be provided to both staff/students, there was an initiative to design a one stop support page defining all the necessary tools, technology and pedagogical approaches academics can use to deliver their teaching. We directed staff to our faculty support page and also TEL’s elearning tool site. Within our faculty we started email communication everyday highlighting key tools/technology and training guidance to academic members to make this period as smooth as possible for them. 

There was also constant communication with the students on a regular basis to reassure them in this pandemic period. Support teams across the university worked really hard to ensure that staff/students can access the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) Moodle without any issues.

From an academic perspective there were some very good practices noticed within our faculty in terms of using the technology to integrate with the pedagogy of learning. Recording tools (Camtasia, Screencastify, PowerPoint Recording) were used extensively to create short recordings followed by longer ones for the lecture/seminar – examples can be found on the BAL Good Examples – Modules on Moodle. Video conferencing applications (Webex and Google Meet) were used in high demand to conduct live sessions, record student presentations for assessments, seminars etc.

Looking forward

Being the uncertainty of the country, due to COVID-19, no one knows when face-to-face teaching will resume and there are plans for the university to consider delivering online teaching for the new academic year.

If we look back on how the university approached this before Easter when the lockdown was implemented, we can argue that quite a lot of things were done on the fly such as using Google meet for sessions, recording using Powerpoint recorder if no access to Camtasia or recording software, or finding other tools that are not supported but still did the job in terms of delivering teaching.

However going forward this can’t be the case, for the new academic year if the plan is to deliver online teaching then we need to consider the following…

  1. A robust lecture capture solution with the capability of captioning to ensure recordings are fit from the accessibility side of things as well (this can be beneficial for distance learning and on campus delivery).
  2. Provide essential training to academic members to deliver their teaching smoothly.
  3. Identify the preferred application to deliver live sessions that can integrate easily with Moodle (Webex or Google Meet). 
  4. Implement a standard structure across Moodle pages to keep consistency.
  5. Identify how students engage with the content on Moodle pages (i.e. thinking about specifying time a student might require to complete an activity or read an resource).
  6. With regards to online submissions of coursework, have a standard deadline time across the university.
  7. Consider the communication channel you will use with the students (emails, forums on Moodle, video chat etc.).
  8. Think about how attendance can be monitored during the interim period of online teaching.
  9. Ensure all the materials uploaded on Moodle pages are easily accessible for the students.

Conclusion

Based on the consideration made above and also from experience, the university needs to take action on this rapidly, as there is less time to act on the changes mentioned above. Once the academic year starts, students attending, whether on or off campus, will have expectations to get value for their money. There is also a potential expectation on a lecturer to design their materials fit for online, so stating the requirements to them as early as possible could prove beneficial.

Ankur Shah

Ankuh working remotely.

Credit image: Photo by https://pixabay.com/illustrations/online-library-education-book-4091231/

Fiona Cook Feature Image

Guest Blogger: Fiona Cook – Introduction to Tel Tales

May 4, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Hi, I’m Fiona Cook and I am the new Research Associate for the Department of Curriculum and Quality Enhancement (DCQE). 

I have joined the University after nearly four years, across three roles, at the University of Portsmouth Students’ Union (UPSU). My latest role at UPSU was Insights Lead and I was responsible for leading all consultation, research, benchmarking, and data management, and for supporting GDPR compliance. Previously, I worked for the Student Focus team which covered areas such as academic representation, quality assurance, and collaborative partners. I have also worked in FE where I supported multiple departments including all HE provision. 

I have joined DCQE to support the University’s work on widening access to and participation in HE and enhancing the student experience. My role focuses on projects across the University that support the Access and Participation Plan, particularly those around BAME students, WP, innovation in learning and teaching, and student voice. When I saw the posting for my new role it seemed like the perfect opportunity to bring together my experience and interests! 

My previous roles at UPSU means I have already worked closely with the University, and DCQE, on similar projects including content capture, the NSS, the student charter, and the TEF. Working within the Student Focus and Insights teams means I have a lot of experience with student voice, and I thankfully already know quite a few of the many acronyms used in this area. 

I think student feedback is crucial in the development of both strategic and operational planning, and I’ve been able to share my work on using data to drive the student experience at conferences such as the University’s Learning & Teaching Conference and Qualtrics X4 which was one of the highlights of my career to date! The relationship between the University and the UPSU Insights team was also mentioned in the newest APP, demonstrating the importance of collaboration and inclusion.

I am keen to support access and participation through equity of opportunity, and I am excited to continue to contribute to this in my new role. I hope to bring my experience of these key areas and use it to support the development of University activities, whilst also developing my own research and analysis skills. 

It’s quite strange that after just over six weeks into a new role I’m now working at home daily. I shared some of my top tips for remote working on LinkedIn, and it’s been really useful to access the TEL resources as I adjust to regular video calls and life online.

Outside of work I am interested in dancing, politics, and baking – although I made my sister’s wedding cake last year so I’m on a slight hiatus. I’ve also recently adopted an eight-year-old cat called Mimi. 

Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn. 

Fiona is based in Mercantile with AcDev and the Tel team.

Welcome to the team, Fiona! We look forward to hearing more about your projects in the not so distant future on Tel Tales.

I'll start working when my coffee does

Staying Healthy

April 30, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Lockdown has been in place for around 5 weeks now and in our own way we’re trying to cope and work from home. How are you doing? Remember, don’t be too hard on yourself, you’re doing the best you can in unusual circumstances.  

Right at the beginning of the pandemic the Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) team put together some tips on working from home.  Marie’s blog post ‘Are you ready to work from home? – Tips from TEL’ was published on the 23rd March. If you haven’t read it yet, grab a drink and have a read -there could be some advice here which might just help you! Also in this blog are the links to the eLearning Tools Site which features useful resources and information on working from home, particularly teaching remotely for staff at the University of Portsmouth. 

Whether you’re a student or a member of staff, staying inside and staying healthy is everyones’ main priority at the moment. Many students are probably used to shutting themselves off for hours while they work on their latest assignment or revise for an exam. However, for a lot of people this is the first time they’ve had to work from home, life as they know it has certainly changed. Being able to log onto a device and access work or study materials is only one part of remote working. Having a routine, some physical activity and making sure you take regular screen breaks are just as important for your wellbeing.

Get Dressed

How many of you thought it’d be great just to lay around all day chilling out in your pjs and laying on the settee, whilst working on your laptop? By keeping to your normal morning routine of getting dressed, making breakfast etc, these activities all help your mind to adjust from sleep-mode to work-mode. I’ll be honest I’m not wearing the same clothes I’d wear for work, but what I am wearing are the clothes I exercise in. This is so that when I have a break, I can jump on my exercise bike, no excuses. 

Move 

For those of you with a smartwatch you’ll be familiar with a buzz on your wrist 10 minutes before the hour if you haven’t got around to walking 250 steps.  Don’t ignore the buzz, it serves two purposes. The first, is you need a screen break, but don’t go from your screen to another kind of screen, like your mobile. The second reason is for some activity: get up and move around, pop along to the kitchen and grab yourself a drink (water is good to keep you hydrated) or check on the rest of your family. If you don’t have a smartwatch, set the alarm on your mobile.  

Lunch Break

Whilst working at home it’s easy to forget about your lunch break, don’t!!  More than anything it’s especially important at the moment, it’s time for you to step away from the computer/laptop. Now’s the opportunity to take a walk around the block, get some fresh air or log onto Facebook and follow one of the UoP Sports live sessions. Try to do some kind of activity. Maybe spend time with your family or if you have a garden and it’s dry, take your lunch outside and have a picnic!

Log OffChild playing on the living room floor whilst a lady's faded in the background looking at a laptop

It’s important to maintain a good work-life balance, so after working on and off for eight hours (remember to take short breaks often, and long breaks, less often) or so, log off.  When working from home it’s easy to ignore the separation between professional and personal time, don’t! If you’re lucky and you have a separate room as an office, log off and close the door behind you.  If, like me you’re sitting at your dining room table, log off and put your laptop away. Remember, your home “office” is also your personal space, a place for relaxing and recharging your batteries.

21 Day Self-Care Challenge

The challenge may have started already, but you can start your 21 days at any time.The aim is to help to increase our own self-care with simple tools, strategies and personal challenges to get us through this difficult time. Small changes can have such a huge impact, to your wellbeing. Read more about the challenge in the Isolation Motivation – are you up for the challenge? blog post. Then let us know in the comments box which two things you’re going to drop and the two you’re going to take up.

Positive Pictures from TEL

If you have a minute or two go to our Instagram account #telportsmouth and here you’ll find that we’ve been sharing with our audience some great positive photos taken by members of the TEL Team whilst they’ve been out and about on their daily exercise. Enjoy!

For a more concise interpretation of working from home please refer to Marie Kendall-Waters blog post: Are you ready to work from home? Tips from TEL.

Areas covered in the blog post are:

  1. Create a dedicated work space
  2. Use to-do lists
  3. Learn to deal with distractions
  4. Take regular breaks
  5. Don’t lose touch with your colleagues
  6. Make sure to drink and eat
  7. Make working comfortable
  8. Deal with being disconnected
  9. Don’t be hard on yourself

For regular updates and tips for working at home following us on Instagram #telportsmouth and/or on our Twitter account @TelPortsmouth

Credit image: Photo by Charles Deluvio on Unsplash and Photo by Emma Matthews Digital Content Production on Unsplash

Google icon written in various colours

Google in a time of lockdown

April 27, 2020 / / 0 Comments

2020 marks the fifteenth anniversary of the beta version of Gmail, Google’s first move beyond being just a search engine. Since then Google has created an extensive suite of applications many of which are extremely useful for teaching and learning. In this blog I’ll be looking at some of, what I think, are the most useful apps and why, during the current lockdown, Google can be useful in helping deliver online learning.

Possibly the most useful change Google has made in light of the lockdown was to extend video conferencing (Hangouts Meet)  to all GSuite accounts allowing up to 250 participants in any online meeting. Setting up an online meeting using Hangouts Meet can be done via the Google calendar thus notifying participants automatically. While this particular app lacks some of the functionality of Webex, it is useful for hosting and running a simple meeting or online seminar.

In this time of distributive learning, collaboration can still be facilitated and Google provides tools such as jamboard that will allow students to contribute to online tasks and discussions. Jamboard provides a pin-board style interface onto which students can pin their ideas and contributions to group tasks. While apps such as Google docs do clearly provide opportunities for online collaboration, jamboard provides a tool for more focused tasks with a clear and easy to read interface.

On the Degree Apprenticeship programme, we make major use of G Suite including Shared Drives and Google Docs, indeed without these, it would be difficult to see how we could manage some of the required administrative tasks. The ability to enhance the functionality of some Google products such as sheets, also means that they can be tailored to best meet the needs of our students. For example, all degree apprenticeship students are required to keep a log of their off the job training activities, such as their weekly University sessions, to help them complete these logs we use Google forms linked to Google sheets. Being able to add a script to the sheets means that emails can automatically be sent out allowing course administrators to more easily monitor log entries.

In terms of teaching and learning, one of the most useful Google products, and certainly the most ubiquitous in terms of videos, is YouTube, bought by Google back in 2006. By virtue of having a Google account, all members of the University automatically have a YouTube account. This, combined with the unlimited storage offered by Google, provides staff and students with an invaluable teaching and learning platform. Google’s screen capture app, Screencastify, integrates nicely with Youtube allowing users to edit and then upload directly to their YouTube channel.

So, out of the range of apps, Google provides, which ones are my favourites?

Having worked with apprenticeship students in the Business faculty for over two years, helping them with their ePortfolios, I’ve become a convert to Google Sites. I found the old version while having plenty of functionality, a bit clunky and not that user-friendly, often having to write HTML to achieve what I wanted. A downside of New Google Sites was the lack of template functionality, but this issue is being addressed as the addition of templates is currently in development.

But, on a day to day level, Google docs and Shared Drives have pretty much transformed the way I work, simplifying working collaboratively with colleagues and students. 

The pace of development of Google products is also impressive and I’m looking forward to making use of Smart Compose (https://gsuiteupdates.googleblog.com/2020/02/smart-compose-ga.html) and neural grammar correction, currently in beta. While Word does ship with far greater functionality and even slightly complicated Word documents do not convert well to Google, for the majority of users, the tools available with Docs are generally more than enough and thinglink (https://www.thinglink.com/scene/1282367584611598339) is great for those new to Docs. Google has also made it slightly easier to share documents with non-Google account holders, users can now use their existing email address to set themselves up with Google to enable access to shared Google docs, Sites etc. while a PIN verification system, currently in beta, will remove the need to set up any kind of Google account at all.

The current situation has thrown up considerable challenges in continuing to provide engaging and high quality teaching and learning especially in terms of students working collaboratively, Google clearly does not provide all the solutions required, but its suite of apps are certainly a good starting point.

Image by Saveliy Morozov  from Pixabay

A lady sitting on her bed with a laptop on her knees, whilst her golden Labrador lays next to her

Guest Blogger: Adrian Sharkey – Making the best of a bad situation – digital capabilities

April 23, 2020 / / 0 Comments

One really positive thing to come out of the current situation is how creative and adaptable students and staff have been in using digital tools to keep the University running virtually. They’ve been backed up by the awesome support from IS and other digital support teams like Technology Enhanced Learning and faculty Online Course Developers. Lecturers and students have quickly adapted to teaching and learning online, using tools like Webex and Google Meet. Support staff have transitioned to online working using video conferencing along with messaging tools like Google Chat and Slack. It’s also been impressive to see how social media has been used to keep staff and students connected, the UoP Sport Facebook group being a great example. Although setup to share fitness tips, it does much more than that in keeping people connected.

It would be great to keep this momentum going once things get back to normal. If this has shown anything it’s that the workplace is quickly changing and along with changes brought by Industry/Education 4.0 everyone is going to need the skills to be creative and adaptable as technology changes quicker than ever.

One of the tools we have available to help with this is the Digital Capability Discovery Tool. Also, one of the really hard things to get across is that digital capabilities are not basic literacy skills. All of us will have areas of digital expertise, but there will be gaps in our capability, whether in information, data or media literacy, digital creation or presentation, or even digital well-being. The framework the tool is based on is designed to help students and staff develop their digital capabilities to cope with how things are changing.

Give it a go, you might be quite surprised about the results. Available for both students and staff, when you sign up you’ll be asked if you are a new or continuing student or if you are academic or professional services staff and then taken through a questionnaire. It’s not a test of your knowledge, it’s a self assessment of your confidence in the different areas of digital capability. It will take a bit of thought for you to decide on honest answers and be around 45 minutes to complete. It is personal to you, the University doesn’t see individual results, only aggregated ones so we can compare ourselves in the sector and possibly see where resources can be emphasised.

As a result of this effort you’ll get a tailored comprehensive report on your capabilities with links to great resources. Check out the LinkedIn Learning landing page linkedinlearning.port.ac.uk  where there are learning paths with resources mapped to the different areas of the framework.

Lastly, if you have any groups of students or staff that you support and who might be interested, we have a presentation that can be dusted off to explain all of this, which we’d be happy to deliver. If you find it useful, please recommend it to colleagues, or you may use it to inform your PDR process, teaching staff could use it with students perhaps to help with a ‘baseline’ of digital capability.. However you feel it might be useful please feel free to get in touch with me or ittraining@port.ac.uk

@adrianjsharkey

Image Credit: Photo by BRUNO CERVERA on Unsplash

Black background with a traffic light light with the red, yellow and green bright

Guest Blogger: Ankur Shah – Moodle Module Test (MOT)

April 20, 2020 / / 2 Comments

How to ensure your Moodle pages are consistent and easy to access for student

Overview

Within the Faculty of Business and Law there has always been a push for implementing a consistent approach for the Moodle pages that students use for assessing their learning materials.

Current approach

Over the years, we have put in place, design and navigation standards document which informs academics on the approach they need to take for their Moodle pages. Overall,  this has been a beneficial exercise as it has provided academics to gauge an understanding of what is considered as best practice, however the long term goal is to ensure that consistency across the Moodle pages is maintained year on year.

Hightlighed words and key paragraphs

The first block that you see on a module page in Moodle is a Baseline which is 5 tabs which supply information about the moduleMoodle Announcement & Q&A discussion board

Here’s the link to the page: BAL Best Practice

What is on the horizon?

One of the key points to take out from the 2030 vision, and also from the new strategy, is the push towards innovation through digital technologies and the learning environment can be crucial for this. Hence, having a process in place that can work as the enabler for this within the faculty and across the university is essential.

Moodle Module Test (MOT)

The Moodle Module Test (MOT) process is designed to inform and allow academics to rate their module pages in the form of a traffic light system. In order to make the process more robust, the initial proposal is to undertake the module MOT via subject group meetings, and face-to-face consultations. As that will allow us to gather feedback in terms of what works and what doesn’t work.

We have also assembled a checklist and guidance on hand for academics, that can help them rate their module using the traffic lights (from red to green)

A diagram showing the traffic light system and what actions are required to get a green light

What is involved and how long will the MOT take?

As this is a new process to encourage best practice in the faculty and potentially across the University, the plan is to conduct this exercise by my team first and consult academics based on the findings we have acquired for their respective module. The aim is to respond back within a working week with the rating and additional notes to advise academics on the steps forward.

How often will the MOT be conducted?

In order to implement a consistent approach and also help the faculty in adopting a best practice approach towards online learning, the recommendation is to carry out this exercise quarterly with the respective academic to ensure they are improving on the suggestions made to have consistency on their module. This will allow academics and us in the faculty to understand what are the key areas that need more attention and help in making a leaner approach.

If you would like to discuss more about this or any other Moodle related issues, please email ankur.shah@port.ac.uk

Credit Image: Photo by Harshal Desai on Unsplash 

are you up for a challenge?

Isolation motivation – are you up for a challenge?

April 16, 2020 / / 4 Comments

We are now 4 weeks into social distancing, lockdown can feel isolating and it’s difficult to get used to this new way of living. We are missing socialising with our friends and family and it can often feel hard to feel productive when working from home – we’re trying to juggle lots of things at one time, whilst confined to our homes – it’s hard!  Trying to find time to exercise regularly and eat the ‘right’ food takes effort, it’s easier to snack on sweet treats and binge watch box sets on Netflix. Are you feeling sluggish, could do with a zap of energy? Then why not try the 21-day-self-care challenge!

Want to know more?

Sodexo (the company that manages and maintains our Employee Benefits Platform) have teamed up with Simon Schmid, an experienced lifestyle coach, who will be helping Sodexo run a free ‘21-day self-care challenge’ from 20th April (this Monday coming!). The aim is to help us to increase our own self-care immediately with simple tools, strategies and personal challenges to get us through this difficult time. Sounds good right?

Apparently, there’s a rule that says:

it only takes 21 days to change a habit but do it for 90 days and it can completely change your life!

So who’s up for it and what do we have to do?

There are 3 steps we have to follow on the 21-day-self-care challenge …

STEP 1

Open the self-care challenge list here and choose 2 things to drop from your life for 21 days from Monday 20th April.

For me it has to be:

  1.  All white carbs, or bread and,
  2.  Sugar (inc. sweets, chocolate and fruit juice)

Since lockdown we’ve been eating A LOT of white bread, so that’s definitely got to change. Easter hasn’t helped with the chocolate intake, we’ve been snacking more on the sweet stuff, which isn’t good, it’s going to be difficult as I have two little ones (a 2 year old and a 4 year old) and sometimes I need the SUGAR to get through the day lol! Since social distancing we haven’t had a takeaway, we don’t drink fizzy drinks, I could probably do with turning off my work-app notifications and not spending so much time on social media too. It’s pretty difficult to find just 2 things to drop!

STEP 2

Now choose 2 things you’d like to add into your life for 21 days from Monday 20th April.

Again for me, it has to be:

  1. Drink 2L of water per day and, 
  2. Extra 2,000 steps a day (try to get above 10,000 a day)

I could definitely do with upping my water intake on a daily basis. It would also be good to do more regular exercise and set myself a challenge of increasing my daily steps on my Fitbit.

I’m pretty good with catching up with people and making sure everyone is ok and we are keeping daily journals of what we are doing through home-schooling apps and Instagram. However, I’m not so great on making time for ‘me’ but think that’s just a ‘Mum thing’ – I do think the exercise and water intake will help me to feel a bit more energised and motivated, which can only be a plus for me at the moment.

STEP 3

Start your individual journey with Sodexo and Simon on 20th April. They’ll be hosting bi-weekly videos from Simon including motivational talks, Q&A sessions and expert advice. They’ll also have a dedicated Facebook page for us to follow and interact with other challengers, which I’ll add to this post on Monday – so keep your eyes peeled!

So who’s going to join me?

Pop your 2 things you would drop and the 2 things you would add below in the comments. In 21 days time I’ll write another post reflecting on my 21-day-self-care challenge and how I got on – wish me luck and best of luck to those that are doing it with me!! 

Update

Have you started your 21-day-self-care challenge? As promised here is a link to access the dedicated Facebook page for you to follow others taking on the challenge! 

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