Tag: internal (Page 9 of 21)

Amand standing behind a handheld video camera

Guest Blogger: Jonny Bell – Video content as learning objects – Capturing more than just the lecture

March 2, 2020 / Jonny Bell / 0 Comments

We often advise lecturers to use more interesting content on their Moodle sites, rather than just lecture slides, PDFs and so on, but what does that mean in practice and how can lecturers facilitate this and manage their busy schedules?

Videos are an easy way to make sites more visually appealing and are more likely to engage students. We can use videos in two ways: either

(i) source already-created videos, via sites such as Youtube or Box of Broadcasts.

(ii) can create our own.

As an amateur videographer outside of work this is an area I am very interested in. During my time working in the Institute of Criminal Justice Studies I had the chance to interview some extraordinary characters, including government advisers on how to deal with terrorist attacks and ex-convicts who have been successfully rehabilitated into society.

These short interviews provided much better value to students than watching a rerun of a longer lecture. In fact, studies show that the length of the video directly links to how much of the content the student will watch. Whilst this study looks at MOOCs, I strongly believe we can translate this to a Higher Education environment also.

With the introduction of H5P functionality within Moodle we can make these videos interactive and make sure students answer questions to solidify the knowledge they’ve gained by watching them.

The generation of students coming through now have grown up on Youtube and Netflix, and academics are keen to tap into that mindset to provide videos of educational value. There’s various different styles of video to choose from, and I have personally been involved in 7 different ones.

In my current job in the Science and Health Faculty there has been a lot of scope to provide instructional or demonstration videos for specific pieces of equipment in laboratories, for example. Students can watch these videos outside of class, and it saves valuable lab time: students can get on with their work straight away rather than having to get to grips with the equipment.

I think videos also provide a vital link on Distance Learning courses: it’s often a great way for students to connect with the course, especially if the lecturer is happy to do bits to camera. It can humanise the experience if they can see who is teaching them.

Students want to feel they get value for money and just providing Powerpoints and PDFs isn’t enough these days. By creating our own in-house videos the students get an almost personalised learning experience. When I started in the Faculty there was some basic camera equipment, but I was able to purchase a higher-spec camera, lapel mics and some small studio lights via senior management. This means that I’m mobile and can go to the lecturer or a location they wish, rather than have everyone go to a dedicated filming space.

Projects currently in the pipeline are a “TV” style video with student presenters introducing pieces about their specific course, including how to present their poster assessment in front of a panel on a Pharmacy course; this will be invaluable for first-year students.

Looking to the future there have already been requests for my services on field trips for geography-type courses. This means we can increase the accessibility of these courses for students who, for various reasons, might be unable to get onto these trips. Having a short video on how to conduct experiments on soil, for example, means these students will have a similar experience to those who go on the trips. Ultimately, as an institution, we should be striving for all of our students to have consistent learning experiences and by creating short videos we can go some way to achieving that.

Credit Image: Photo by Seth Doyle on Unsplash

Jo and Sarah sitting on different sofas looking at each other

Introduction for Tel Tales

February 24, 2020 / Jo Fairwood / 0 Comments

Hello!

My name is Jo Fairwood and at the start of January 2020 I joined the Technology Enhanced Learning team as an Online Course Developer, on a one year secondment. I previously worked for the Institute of Criminal Justice Studies (ICJS) as a Student and Academic Administrator. I started there a long time ago, back in 2006, so I felt it was time for a change.

My role as Student and Academic Administrator was not a traditional one. As technology developed so did my role and so did my passion for technology. I was responsible for harnessing new technologies to engage and enthuse our undergraduate distance learning students. When I first started working in ICJS everything was paper-based and posted out to our students. Over the years I developed new ways of bringing the courses fully online so that the students receive the best experience possible, wherever they were located in the world. This included broadcasting a day’s worth of live and pre-recorded sessions to them in what we called Virtual Study Days. They’re a bit like ‘This Morning’ but with our own ‘Holly’. Sadly we didn’t have time for a fashion tips session!

As you can probably tell I’m into filming, film editing and all that goes with film production. I like being creative when it comes to multimedia and I relish the opportunity to try new technologies that help with this. I think communication is important so I really like using social media for engaging with students and the wider community, and I also enjoy sharing best practice with colleagues and collaborating with colleagues around the University.

In my spare time I play tenor saxophone in two function bands and I like keeping active, so I play a lot of sports including squash, football, golf and netball. I’m also a huge football fan, in particular, a Watford FC fan (I’m originally from Watford) but I’ll watch any football match over anything else if it’s an option. I’m currently listening to a hilarious podcast called That Peter Crouch Podcast. I recommend it to all football and non-football fans!

Anyway, enough about me. All that’s left to say is that I’m thoroughly looking forward to getting stuck in with the TEL team and working on new, exciting projects over the coming year.

Twitter @jofairwood

Jo is based in Mercantile House with the eLearning Support (TEL) team .

Welcome to the team, Jo!

Some comments on “The future of assessment”

February 17, 2020 / Stephen Webb / 0 Comments

The Curriculum Framework Specification document, which provides detailed precepts and guidance for the design, development and review of all new courses at the University, contains UoP’s policy on assessment. The policy’s authors made a conscious choice to call it an Assessment For Learning Policy: the policy advocates assessment for learning rather than assessment of learning. As the policy states, assessment for learning enables a culture in which:

students receive feedback from academics and peers that helps them to improve their work prior to final/summative assessments;
students understand what successful work looks like for each task they are doing;
students become more independent in their learning, taking part in peer and self-assessment;
formative assessment is, where possible, aligned to the module summative assessment, in order to facilitate cyclical feedback opportunities which will clarify expectations and standards for the summative assignment (e.g. the student’s exam or portfolio submission).

As the University considers how to implement its new five-year strategy, however, and how to meet its ambitious vision for 2030, might we need to rethink assessment? Not rethink the approach of assessing for learning, but look again at some of the details of how we assess?

The changing nature of assessment over the coming five-year period happens to be the subject of a recent publication from JISC: The Future of Assessment: Five Principles, Five Targets for 2025. This report, the output of a day-long meeting held in 2019, identifies five key aspects of assessment and the role that technology can play. The report argues that assessment should be (in alphabetical order, not order of importance):

Accessible – taking an inclusive approach to assessment is the ethical thing to do, of course, but we now have a legal requirement to meet certain accessibility standards. Digital technology can certainly help with accessibility. Contact DCQE if you would like further advice in this area.
Appropriately automated – it hardly needs to be said that marking and feedback, although crucial elements of the assessment process, is time consuming. Technology can help here, too. Technology can be used to automate the process and, if the assessment has been properly designed, students get the benefit of immediate feedback. Technology might also be used to improve the quality of feedback: in this regard TEL is currently exploring the Edword platform.
Authentic – this is, I believe, a key area for the University to develop. How does it benefit students to make them sit down for three hours and hand write an essay under exam conditions? This doesn’t prepare them for the world beyond university. Surely it’s better to assess students’ ability to work in teams; display their knowledge in a realistic setting; use the digital skills they will undoubtedly need in the workplace?
Continuous – in order to be successful in their chosen careers, our students will need to keep up with changes wrought by technology. So perhaps the most important skill we can teach our students is how to be independent, self-directed learners. An over-reliance on high-stakes, summative exams does not help. Of particular interest to me, in the JISC report, was the mention of using AI to personalise learning and assessment: the technology is not there yet, but it might come in the next few years.
Secure – if we are going to assess a student then we need to know we are assessing the right student! For a long time the focus in HE has been on detecting and deterring plagiarism. Nowadays, though, we also face the threat of essay mills and contract cheating. Once again technology can play a role: data forensics, stylistic analysis tools and online proctoring platforms can help tackle the problem. Such tools are best used, however, in a culture that promotes academic integrity: we should use technology to help promote a sense of academic community rather than to “catch the bad guys”.

The five principles identified by the JISC working group seem to me to be realistic and practical. They are also, if I’m being honest, slightly unambitious. I think mixed-reality technology, for example, opens up many opportunities to develop assessment for learning. But perhaps that is more for a 2030 vision than a 2025 strategy.

Credit Image: Needpix.com

Using animated videos to engage learners

February 10, 2020 / Becky Holman / 2 Comments

Sometimes we have a subject that we want to get across that can be tricky to make interesting. Giving students (or indeed anyone) some text, audio or PowerPoint slides can often mean that interest in the subject matter is quickly lost and information is not properly taken in. Studies have shown that students tend to find information in the form of videos far easier to absorb, and when this comes in the form of a snappy, animated video it instantly becomes dynamic and engaging.

As we know, hiring a videographer is an expensive and time consuming business, so I decided to look for a viable alternative. Previously, I have used a variety of online animation tools, that although they were easy to use and, most importantly, free, I felt that we could do better. I wanted to find a tool that was not only cost effective, but could easily create a professional looking video. I had a look in my mind already as to the type of animation tool I was looking for, I wanted these videos to look contemporary and fun so that we could apply the tool to a variety of subjects and engage viewers of different backgrounds, and levels of study. I didn’t want to disengage a viewer immediately by having a video look too ‘cartoony’. Eventually, I came across Vyond.

What is Vyond?

Vyond (previously known as GoAnimate) is a cloud based video platform that anyone can use to create visually engaging, animated videos. Vyond provides the user with thousands of pre-made templates and props royalty free-music and characters which you can use to create dynamic content that keeps your viewers attention.

How can using Vyond help me?

As I mentioned earlier, studies have shown that using a short, animated videos can increase students in higher education capability of understanding difficult subject matter, whilst staying engaged with the content provided. Vyond provides many different tools to assist you with making a fantastic looking video, whether it be purely for information or to get a particular subject matter across.

Resources – Use Vyond’s asset bank of thousands of pre-made props, templates and characters to enrich your video.
Animation – You can animate pretty much everything in Vyond, to the way a character looks, to how a slide exits the scene. It all comes down to your creativity!
Adding a voice – Upload an audio file that you have recorded to either add a voiceover or character dialogue. If you give a character a voice, you can also have the character lip sync to the track!
Music and sound effects – Vyond offers lots of royalty-free music and sound effects for you to use, but you can still upload your own if you wish.
Exporting and sharing – Once you’re ready to share your video, you can either download it and upload it somwhere (for instance YouTube), embed it or simply use the shareable link provided.

Tips for making a great video

Creating a video with Vyond is easy (honestly!), but you still need to put some thought into your project. Here are three tips to get you started…

Start off by creating a storyboard – You should already have a relatively good idea of what you want your video to look like and the message you need to get across. Start off by putting those ideas down on paper, either by brainstorming or making a storyboard.
Try and keep videos no longer than 5 minutes – Viewers are more likely to retain information when videos are short and concise. The perfect time has been shown to be no longer than 2 minutes, however if you need a bit longer then try not to go over 5 minutes! This can be tricky, but it’s also where step one comes in handy, so you can plan your video and make it more concise.
Take the time to record your narrative – Creating a colourful, animated video means that trying to provide dialogue via on screen text can be really distracting and overwhelming. Of course we need to include captions for accessibility, but try and take the time to record your script and then add text only at key points of the video.

Here’s one I made earlier!

I made the below video for our TEL advent calendar to showcase what Vyond can do, so take a look!

https://youtu.be/5E-XVOAOSeQ

How can I try it out?

Anyone can sign up for a two week trial via Vyond’s website and try it out themselves. After that you will be required to purchase a license. You can find out more about the packages available on Vyond’s site.

Already using Vyond or something similar – let us know!

We would love to hear from you if you are already using Vyond or a similar tool to create animations. You can feedback to us in the comment box below.

Image credit: Photo created using character templates within Vyond’s asset bank – https://www.vyond.com/

Guest Blogger: Ruth Geddes – Feel Good Fest 2020

February 3, 2020 / Ruth Geddes / 0 Comments

A celebration of all things that support us in our quest for wellbeing!

Each year, the Feel Good Fest brings together University staff and students with local artists and organisations to take part in an afternoon of FREE food, fun, and activities.

Together, we celebrate the diversity of what Portsmouth has to offer in supporting, encouraging, and inspiring us all in maintaining our personal wellbeing.

There is a wide range of activities, brought to you by University departments such as UoP Library, UoP Careers, Global, Sports and Rec, our UoP societies and Student Union, as well as local partners such as Highbury College and Southern Domestic Abuse Services. Portsmouth based artists such as Miss Bespoke Papercutting (a UoP alumni) and Hoopshaker also support the event.

This year, we are also excited to have secured Vidura Fonseka as a speaker and performer at our event. He speaks about his own journey with depression, and how dancing has provided him with a creative outlet to help manage his mental health and support his recovery and ongoing personal journey. (https://www.vidura.co.uk/and https://happiful.com/body-popping-my-way-back-to-health-viduras-story/)

The Festival is based on the Five Ways to Wellbeing – a set of actions proposed in 2008 by a government thinktank, (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/five-ways-to-mental-wellbeing) to decrease some mental health problems and help people to flourish.

The 5 actions to improve personal wellbeing are:

connect
be active
take notice
keep learning
give

The Festival therefore attempts to provide activities and performances that link and promote each of these five ways to wellbeing – giving staff and students an opportunity to experience new things and connect with new people, all in a fun and supportive environment.

In the past, we have taken over Third Space for the afternoon – this year we have expanded and have also secured The Waterhole space for the afternoon too !!

The performances this year are –

UoP Show Choir – opening the festival @ 1pm
UoP Capoiera Society – @ 1:30pm
Vidura – a speaker and performer with lived experience of Mental Health challenges @ 2pm
Individual performance slots of music from two students – @ 3:15 and 3:30pm

There is also –

Free food
Drop-in craft activities such as crochet and mug painting
Free Massage
Get Active sessions from Sports and Rec
Lego building
Try out static rowing and mini-trampoline’s

There will be giveaways and raffle prizes, and wellbeing staff to chat to – all under
one roof!

If, at the event, you need some quiet time away from all the action, The Huddle is the perfect place to have a space of calm.

No need to book – just turn up!

DATE: Wednesday 5th February 2020
TIME: 1.00pm–4.00pm
VENUE: Third Space and The Waterhole, Students’ Union

Follow us on social media for updates on the festival schedule, and if you would like to get involved on the day – get in touch !!

Personal Tutoring Project

January 27, 2020 / Alana Aldred / 0 Comments

As part of the OfS-funded project Raising Awareness, Raising Aspirations (RARA) staff from a number of teams – Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL), Information Systems, Academic Development, and the Academic Skills Unit – joined forces to develop a platform, website and learning resources to support tutors and tutees in the personal tutoring process.

RARA, a collaborative project between the University of Sheffield, King’s College London and the University of Portsmouth, investigated the extent to which an enhanced personal tutoring system might help reduce the attainment gap for Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) students and those from lower socioeconomic groups. The project had its roots in research (Cousin and Cuerton, 2012; Thomas, 2012; Mountford-Zimdars, 2015) which suggested that such a system could reduce the attainment gap, ‘based on evidence that the personal tutor can play a particularly important role in the academic integration of BME students and students from lower economic groups.’

We used an agile project methodology, drawing on the skills, experience and knowledge across the University. From the start we wanted to create a space for tutors, in consultation with tutors. From these consultations, it was clear that there was a varying understanding of the personal tutoring role across the university. Many personal tutors felt they were not equipped with the knowledge they needed to fulfill their role to the best of their ability, and this was especially true of those new to teaching.

TEL’s main project deliverable was to lead on creating staff- and student-based personal tutoring resources. In August 2018 we launched the website Personal Tutoring @ UoP for tutors and those that support this process. Since this initial launch TEL have been working to develop the site further – a new, more extensive version of the site will launch in February. The site provides information about the personal tutoring role, developing tutees, supporting and signposting tutees, and training resources.

TEL have also developed student-facing resources within Learning at Portsmouth – a student website to support transition into higher education. As well as online provision, we also developed a paper-based guide for all first-year, campus-based students to be given at their first tutorial session.

Burke et al. (2016) found that academic staff play a key role in how students construct their feelings about capability, which ultimately lead to success or failure in higher education.

The guides include information for students on how to develop themselves whilst at Portsmouth and also provided contact details of services across the University and their faculty to support them in their studies and in times of personal difficulties.

The end of the two-year RARA project was marked by our University’s first personal tutoring conference for academic staff, and the launch of a RARA personal tutoring toolkit. As an institution we are now well on our way to implementing the recommendations made in the 2019 RARA Report. Student and staff feedback has been positive – the website has not only had an impact at Portsmouth but has formed part of a national toolkit for personal tutors. These have been presented at conferences and have received positive feedback on the clarity of their design. Looking to the future, TEL will continue to work with colleagues across the institution in the development of work in this area so that as an institution we can help tackle the attainment gaps that are prevalent nationally in higher education.

References

Cousin, G., and D. Cureton. 2012. Disparities in Student Attainment (DISA). York: HEA.

Mountford-Zimdars, A., Sabri, D., Moore, J., Sanders, S., Jones, S., & Higham, L. (2015). Causes of Differences in Student Outcomes. Higher Education Funding Council for England, HEFCE. Accessed July 23, www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/rereports/Year/2015/diffout/Title,104725,en.html

Thomas, L. (2012). Building student engagement and belonging in Higher Education at a time of change: final report from the What Works? Student Retention & Success programme. London: Paul Hamlyn Foundation.

Different coloured wall lights spelling out the word google

Guest Blogger: James Lenthall – Google Apps Script

January 20, 2020 / James Lenthall / 0 Comments

Google Apps Script (GAS) is an extension for some Google Suite applications that allow for customisation. It could be compared to macros for Office or ExtendScript for Adobe. My experience of using it is mostly through Google Sheets so that’ll be my focus.

It’s incredibly versatile allowing you to read and write data, create your own functions, menus, pop ups, side bars and even entire web sites. This combined with integration that’s readily available with other Google services makes for an impressive toolkit for creating solutions for a wide range of tasks.

Why should you use it? Being cloud based with the ability to save versions as you work there’s no worry about losing anything, plus you can edit from anywhere. If you regularly do repetitive tasks, part of, or perhaps the entire task could be automated. Google forms don’t have the functionality you’re after? Build your own that can also populate a sheet. Trying to work out post dates? A custom function can automate that based on another cell’s data. Perhaps the most compelling reason to give it a try, taken from “7 Reasons Why Google Apps Script is a Great First Programming Language to Learn”; there’s no setup required and it’s completely free.

If you are already familiar with front end web development then it is quick and easy to pick up. GAS is entirely written in JavaScript. It’s very well documented so finding your way around is easy. There’s also sites such as Stack Overflow for assistance as more often than not, someone else has already asked the question you have.

I know there have been other cases in the University where it has been used to email all users on a spreadsheet or simply whichever row you’re on. Personally, as a follower of Don’t Repeat Yourself (DRY) principles I use GAS or similar tools anytime I have a repetitive task.

To give a very specific case where publishing a Google Sheet as a web application has helped. In our team as we handle all the drop boxes, instead of having administrators update a spreadsheet and send us emails of changes each time or not at all, we have them fill out a form and overnight the developers are sent a single email with a list of requests.

If you’re ever thinking “there’s got to be a better way,” Apps Script might be your answer.

If this is something you’re interested in and want to find out more, email: james.lenthall@port.ac.uk

Feature image: Photo by Arthur Osipyan on Unsplash

A side photo pf a person speaking into a microphone

Guest Blogger: Simon Brookes – A content capture policy for the University

January 13, 2020 / Simon Brookes / 0 Comments

For several years, the University has provided staff with the technology to record video and/or audio for the purpose of extending teaching and learning activity beyond the confines of the classroom. This has included the provision of limited lecture capture technology in some large lecture theatres, as well as providing access to software that allows staff to produce learning materials on their computers.

The content captured in these ways is of particular use for revision purposes, for scrutinising difficult concepts, for students with caring responsibilities, and for students for whom English is not their first language.

In response to growing demand from our student body, the University has been investigating the possibility of expanding the availability of content-captured materials. This investigation was co-ordinated by the Content Capture Working Group, and included a full consultation with all University staff and students, via online surveys, as well as in-depth discussions at a series of “town hall” meetings, which were attended by staff and students from across the University.

This consultation informed the development of a Content Capture Policy, which is now available here, in draft format, for further scrutiny. This Policy aims to promote inclusivity and increase the accessibility of our teaching whilst reducing any potential barriers to learning. By implementing these adjustments, which would benefit all students, it should reduce the need for individual adjustments, promote good practice and maximise learning opportunities. If you would like to provide feedback please email it to Harriet Dunbar-Morris, Dean of Learning and Teaching, at DeanLandT@port.ac.uk.

The Policy will go to the University’s Student Experience Committee, before making its way, via the University Education and Student Experience Committee, to Academic Council for final approval. It will then be published in time for the start of the next academic year.

We will be introducing staff development sessions prior to implementation. Please look out for these.

Image Credits: Photo by Forja2 Mx on Unsplash

Engaging students with online assessment feedback

January 13, 2020 / Mike Wilson / 1 Comment

An Exploration Project

Technology Enhanced Learning and Academic Development are leading an exploration project centered around engaging students with online assessment feedback. We’re specifically exploring an assessment platform called Edword.

It’s worth mentioning that we’re taking a more scientific approach to this project, you could almost imagine it as an education lab experiment.

Academics and educational technologists within our team have evaluated the functionality and advanced workflows that Edword offers. We think that it offers some real tangible benefits to students and staff. The platform has been designed based on some pedagogically sound principles, that’s really what’s most exciting about it. I’ll demonstrate some examples of these in action later in this post.

It’s not enough that we’re excited about a new assessment tool though. We need to explore and test whether our students and staff actually do experience a benefit from using Edword when compared to one of our existing assessment platforms such as Turnitin or the Moodle assignment.

In order for me to explain what Edword allows us to do, I need to explain what’s missing from our existing assessment systems.

Current feedback workflow

Turnitin / Moodle assignment

When an online assignment is handed back to a student via Moodle or Turnitin students see their grade immediately, before they’ve had a chance to read any inline or summary feedback added by their lecturer. The grade is often seen by students as the end point within their assessment, their grade is a students entry point to the next stage of their course. What we actually want students to engage with is the meaningful and constructive feedback their academics have produced for them. This will help students improve their next piece of work. Unfortunately many students don’t read their assessment feedback and miss out on the benefits to them.

Edword has a ‘lock grade’ feature which means students can’t see their grade until after they’ve read their feedback and potentially also submitted a reflection on how they will put their feedback into practise. In this way, Edword supports the feed forward model of good academic practise.

The Edword workflow looks more like this:

Edword workflow

We also hope the feedback provided within Edword will be more engaging. Academics can enrich inline feedback with learning objects such as videos or H5P interactive learning objects. Rather than the flat text based feedback comments within Turnitin and Moodle, feedback in Edword helps students understand the mistakes they are making along with an immediate way to re-test their knowledge. The platform supports assessment for learning concepts.

A H5P interactive learning object within feedback in Edword

Edword records how long a student spends engaging with their feedback and allows students to rate the usefulness of the feedback they receive. These metrics are presented to staff as a way to evaluate how engaged students are and which feedback comments could be improved from a student perspective.

We will make Edword available to staff and students during teaching block two with an on-boarding event for staff happening in early February. If you would like to take part in the project or ask some questions, please get in contact:

Mike Wilson

Ext. 3194

michael.wilson@port.ac.uk

A video introduction to Edword can be found here

New year, blank page, fresh start!

January 6, 2020 / Marie Kendall-Waters / 0 Comments

The festive season can be a hectic time for us all, rushing here there and everywhere, feeling that you’re constantly racing against the clock to get things done at home and at work. The last minute dash to the shops to buy your loved ones gifts for Christmas, the big food shop to get the all important ingredients for your Christmas dinner (the most eagerly awaited meal of the year!) and the work deadlines that seem to be ongoing and need to be met before everyone breaks up for annual leave – it can be relentless and can easily become overwhelming.

At this busy time, it’s important to take time out not only to recharge your batteries but also to take stock of what you’ve achieved over the last year, time to reflect and to look ahead to the coming year. The beginning of a new year brings with it a fresh start and blank page for all our hopes for 2020.

So, before we start thinking about the Tel team’s hopes for 2020, and all the things we want to achieve and work on, I would like to spend some time practicing ‘reflection’ (for tips on reflection visit my post: Through the mirror – learning through reflection) and look at what we’ve worked on in 2019. It’s easy to forget what we’ve achieved in a year and that’s why it’s so important when actively reflecting to make sure you have recorded your achievements and things you would like to improve on in some way or another. Our blog site, Tel Tales, is a great way of keeping a record of the Tel team’s work over the year and by contributing to the site it helps us take stock of what we have learnt, whether bad or good, collaboratively.

A whistle-stop tour of a year in the life of the Tel team

Accessibility was at the forefront of our minds in 2019. We wanted to ensure staff were aware that we, as a university, have a legal requirement to provide accessible content to our students. We developed Moodle Baseline and, to help with accessibility for digital content, we installed a plugin called Ally into Moodle. We looked at Grackle for accessible Google Docs and Slides, Automatic Media Transcription and how we could convert Print-based booklets to accessible online resources.

We attended conferences such as Remaking Marking Conference, Digifest 2019, a Adobe/Higher Times forum called: Making digital literacy a pillar of education, the 19th EAIR Forum, TED Global Conference and Wonkfest 2019.

We looked at Scenario Based Learning, Wikipedia, Online Exams in Moodle, Videos in Higher Education, Content Capture and Digital Badges. We revisited topics such as Copyright and the all-important informative Did you Know? posts for Moodle. Moodle was upgraded to 3.7. We explored the increasing interest in Audiovisual in Education.

Assessments and feedback were also running topics of 2019. We looked at the different types of online assessments we had to offer and looked at feedback and shifting culture in the way we provided feedback to our students by ‘feeding forward’ to students using Edword.

We started to think about 5G and how this may affect us, by looking at Education 4.0 and Natalie 4.0. We looked at the pedagogy behind practice in learning and how visual note taking such as doodling could aid concentration and memory.

We revisited our social media platforms and looked at ways we could revamp them a little to increase our followers on Instagram and Twitter. So far this has worked and we are now advertising Tel and AcDev workshops, which again has helped increase the number of attendees.

We made time to reflect and looked at the importance of reflection. We explored change particularly in our current climate at the university and how we react to change. We looked at technology and our mental health and wellbeing.

Our regular guest blogger; Adrian Sharkey, kindly contributed to Tel Tales to tell us all about the new Linkedin Learning and Julian Ingle told us all about his writing retreats.

Stuart Sims and Andy Clegg joined the AcDev team and I returned from maternity leave.

We said a fond farewell to Jerry, who was seconded to IS.

Finally, we finished the year by looking at Three Useful Apps in Learning and Teaching. The 12 apps of Christmas had a make-over and was revamped into 12 days of Christmas – Learning and Teaching Advent Calendar.

Phew! I think that was everything! Surprising, when you do take the time to reflect, just how much you can achieve in one year. As you can see, for us it’s quite a lot!!

What’s in store for 2020?

As you may have been aware we have had a few internal promotions within the team: Mike Wilson has been seconded to a Senior Lecturer In Digital Learning & Innovation for part of the working week and Senior Educational Technologist for Tel the rest of the week. Shaun Searle has now been seconded into Jerry Collingswood’s post as a Senior Educational Technologist and Tom Cripps seconded to back-fill Mike’s role when he is working with AcDev.

The new year will therefore welcome Jo Fairwood, seconded to Shaun’s original role on eLearn as an OCD, and Abigail Lee seconded to Tom’s OCD role.

Content capture will continue to grow organically and, following a staff–student consultation, the university will be introducing a Content Capture policy in 2020.

Accessibility will continue to be a focus for the Tel team. We will also be looking at best practice when it comes to external examiners.

We will continue to explore Edword, an online platform that will allow richer feedback to students. And we will be working much more closely with the AcDev team in 2020, which we are very much looking forward to!

We intend to carry on blogging away – so please, when you have a spare five minutes, check in with us to see what we’ve been up to. And feel free to follow us on our social media platforms! Please leave comments – we appreciate any feedback you have for us.

Finally – we are always looking for guest bloggers! So if you have something of interest that you would like to share on Tel Tales then please contact me at marie.kendall-waters@port.ac.uk.

So from myself and all the team we hope you all have a very happy 2020!

Image credits:

Photo by Jamie Street on Unsplash
Photo by Joanna Kosinska on Unsplash
Photo by Justin Luebke on Unsplash

Tag: internal (Page 9 of 21)

Guest Blogger: Jonny Bell – Video content as learning objects – Capturing more than just the lecture

Introduction for Tel Tales

Some comments on “The future of assessment”