Currently viewing the tag: "Wikis"

A number of staff are designing e-tivities (online learning activities) that require students to undertake some independent research and then share a link to the online resource with peers who can then click on the link and view the article for themselves.

If the article has been found and accessed through NELSON and the link shared with students who are not already authenticated through the University systems then they will be faced with either a dead link or an ‘Access Denied’ message.

In this situation the solution is as follows:

  • Ask students to include the full reference for the journal so that potential viewers can access the article themselves via the Library ‘Find My Reference’ tool. By using this route, students will be prompted to login with their University login in order to get access to the article.

If this applies to you, please change your e-tivity instructions to ask for articles to be shared using the University of Northampton Harvard referencing style. Include this link to a Skills Hub video that shows quickly how to use the ‘Find My Reference’ tool. You might also want to include an example of how to reference a journal using the Harvard journal – guidance is available from the Help Tab in NILE.

The added bonus for the students, of course, is practice in Harvard referencing!

With thanks to Hannah Rose, Academic Librarian for helping us with the solution

All sessions have now been mapped to the UK Professional Skills Framework as attendees may include these as evidence for Fellowship applications or ongoing professional development.

The list below represents the scheduled sessions however they can be run as a bespoke session for three or more staff at any mutually convenient time.

SaGE Essentials
(Link to the UK PSF – A3, K4)
This session is for both staff who are new to the Submission and Grading Electronically (SaGE) Project and those who need a refresher on the current process. The event will cover the SaGE workflow including marking in Turnitin;  passing grades to the NILE grade centre; downloading grades to send to the SATs; and working with the External Examiner. (12 places). All sessions will be run in the Tpod at Park Campus

Date Time
10th January 9:30-12:00
14th January 2-4:30
23rd January 9:30-12:00
28th January 2-4:30
12th February 9:30-12:00
24th February 2-4:30
13th March 2-4:30
26th March 9:30-12:00

Register on https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sage-essentials-tickets-9654618223

 

Adding value to your SaGE experiences
(Link to the UK PSF – A3, K4, K5)
Available for staff who already have SaGE experience but would like to attend a small group session to review their current processes and make sure that the most up to date processes and recommendations are being used. The session may look at aspects of the full SaGE workflow (including grades to SATs, Smart Views for the External and external moderation). All sessions will be run in the Tpod at Park Campus
(Limited to 4 places)

Date Time
20th February 9:30-11:30
18th March 2-4:00

Register on: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/adding-value-to-your-sage-experiences-tickets-9654762655

 

SaGE – Providing quality feedback using rubrics
(Link to the UK PSF – A3, K4, V2)
A dedicated session for those who have already attended the SaGE Essentials session and are confident with the basic SaGE workflow. The event will focus on both Turnitin and NILE rubrics. Rubrics are useful for various styles of marking and can be used for qualitative and quantitative feedback.(12 places). All sessions will be run in the Tpod at Park Campus.

Date Time
13th February 2-4

Register on https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sage-providing-quality-feedback-using-rubrics-tickets-9654814811

 

Using the NILE assignment submission area and managing groups
(Link to the UK PSF – A3, K4, V1)
A dedicated session for those who have already attended the SaGE Essentials session and are confident with the basic SaGE workflow. This event will focus on the NILE assignment submission area which may be used for both individuals and groups. (12 places). All sessions will be run in the Tpod at Park Campus

Date Time
23rd January 2-4

Register on https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/using-the-nile-assignment-submission-area-and-managing-groups-tickets-9654856937

 

NILE Essentials – Making the most of your NILE site
(Link to the UK PSF – A4, K4, V2)
This session will introduce the NILE sites which are being used for all module and course areas. Find out the Top Ten most common mistakes with existing NILE sites and how to avoid them to improve the student experience. Attendees will develop confidence with working in their NILE area to add new and exciting content.(12 places). All sessions will be run in the Tpod at Park Campus.

Date Time
18th February 2-4

Register on https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/nile-essentials-making-the-most-of-your-nile-site-tickets-9654895051

 

NILE – Encouraging collaboration and NILE interaction using Blogs, Discussion Boards, Journals and Wikis
(Link to the UK PSF – A2, K2, V1)
This session will allow participants to explore the Blogs, Journals, Discussion Boards and Wikis tools inside NILE which encourage greater collaboration.(12 places). All sessions will be run in the Tpod at Park Campus.

Date Time
4th March 2-4

Register on https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/nile-encouraging-collaboration-and-nile-interaction-using-blogs-discussion-boards-journals-and-wikis-tickets-9654935171

 

NILE – Developing assessments using Tests and Pools
(Link to the UK PSF – A3, K4)
This session will explore the test, survey and question pool tools within NILE. There is a range of functionality which provides the option of auto marked formative and summative assessment with question choices like multiple choice and fill in the blanks. These tools may be used with features such as adaptive release and the performance dashboard to allow greater student interaction with content and a higher level of tutor understanding of student engagement.(12 places). All sessions will be run in the Tpod at Park Campus.

Date Time
13th March 10-12

Register on: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/nile-developing-assessments-using-tests-and-pools-tickets-9654949213

 

NILE – Understanding and working with the NILE Grade Centre
(Link to the UK PSF – K4, K5)
This session will explore the NILE Grade Centre where all grades created by students within NILE are held and managed. In addition to being the link between NILE and the Student Record System, this tool allows you to manage the student view of grades, collate grades between assignments and manage grades and feedback on physical artefacts and performances/presentations.(12 places). All sessions will be run in the Tpod at Park Campus.

Date Time
30th January 2-4

Register on: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/nile-understanding-and-working-with-the-nile-grade-centre-tickets-9654971279

 

Recording lectures and creating videos for students using Panopto
(Link to the UK PSF – A2, K2, K4)
Find out about the most recent advances which will allow you to capture individual student presentations or whole lectures. The session will provide an introduction to Panopto. (12 places). All sessions will be run in the Tpod at Park Campus.

Date Time
13th February 10-12

Register on: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/recording-lectures-and-creating-videos-for-students-using-panopto-tickets-9655007387

 

Working with sound and video using Kaltura
(Link to the UK PSF – A2, K2, K4)
Find out about the most recent advances which will allow you to upload and share videos using the tool embedded in NILE (Kaltura). This tool may be used as part of the SaGE process to allow for video submissions.(12 places). All sessions will be run in the Tpod at Park Campus.

Date Time
17th March 10-12

Register on: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/working-with-sound-and-video-using-kaltura-tickets-9655029453

 

Making best use of smartboards
(Link to the UK PSF – A2,K2,K4)
Many opportunities now exist to increase the amount of student interaction within traditional lectures. Smartboards are located in many of the teaching spaces but are often only used to display PowerPoints. This event will introduce the range of tools which allow the Smartboard to ‘come alive’. This event will provide practical experience on using these tools.(12 places). All sessions will be run in the Tpod at Park Campus.

Date Time
16th January 2-3:30

Register on: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/making-best-use-of-smartboards-tickets-9655061549

 

Increasing in class session interaction using the voting handsets
(Link to the UK PSF – A2, K2, V2)
Many opportunities now exist to increase the amount of student interaction within traditional lectures. Voting handsets may be used to increase the amount of feedback students provide within sessions. This event will provide practical experience on using these tools.(12 places). All sessions will be run in the Tpod at Park Campus.

Date Time
27th February 2-3:30

Register on: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/increasing-in-class-session-interaction-using-the-voting-handsets-tickets-9655091639

 

All of the sessions above  are also available on request for bespoke events (such as for Subject group training). Please contact your Learning Technologist or mail LearnTech@northampton.ac.uk  for details on arranging these.

Thomas Cochrane and Vickel Narayan from AUT University in Auckland New Zealand have piloted the use of an intentional community of practice model to transform lecturer CPD through the embedding of mobile web 2.0 technologies (http://goo.gl/eEQLZ / DOI: 10.3402/rlt.v21i0.19226). Their research over two iterations of the course has significant implications for transforming how lecturing staff approach their role, moving from a heavily pedagogical approach through andragogy to heutagogy. Heutagogy (student-directed learning) requires lecturers to undergo a reconceptualization of their role and to take advantage of the mobility offered by the various Web 2.0 tools (including Twitter, blogs, wikis, Skype) with their own learning experiences being scaffolded through sustained engagement and support; these latter two elements proving essential to their success.

Although they offer a different approach to the five stage approach to e-learning offered by Gilly Salmon (http://www.gillysalmon.com/five-stage-model.html) Cochrane and Narayan’s approach is not new per se, just not so widely reported in academic circles. For example, they argue that “heutagogy … need not be the domain of postgraduate research students only” and having attempted a similar approach myself when teaching HNC law I would agree, but would also reflect that moving away from a didactic approach to a place where individual learners control their own learning journey requires a willingness to relinquish that control and permit a transformation of the teacher role into that of co-learner and facilitator.

Conceptualising students as transformative agents of change is not new, and the ability to take advantage of new technologies like the iPad have a real potential to see learning move up Bloom’s taxonomy to a place where creativity is not only more possible, but also more likely and even encouraged.

Cochrane and Narayan’s redesigned CPD course is actually similar to the Moderating Online Groups (MOG) / Collaborative Learning Experience Online (CLEO) CPD course co-ordinated by the Institute of Learning and Teaching here at Northampton, in that it encourages staff to take advantage of the benefits offered by new technologies and to incorporate them in the classroom by allowing them to experience using those technologies as a student. However, Cochrane and Narayan necessarily have the opportunity to provide lectures with real opportunities to implement their learning and experiment with Web 2.0 in their own learning environments as their course is run over 6 weeks as opposed to 6 hours which is the case with the MOG/CLEO. It will be interesting to see if their model can be implemented at Northampton resulting in a deeper embedding of Web 2.0 in our practice, particularly in more theoretical and academic, rather than the vocational programmes which formed the majority of the subjects taught by the New Zealand staff.

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This case study talks about a Wiki in NILE which was used to help podiatry students select their undergraduate dissertation project.

The main aims of this pilot were to see if there was a more efficient way to allocate dissertation topics.

“Easiest thing I have ever used ! Didn’t even have to think twice about how to use it” Student Comment

Full Case study detail (case study, PDF 495KB)

All Student Comments (case study, PDF 324KB)

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During the next few weeks, there will be a number of changes to the systems which the Learntech team supports. Many of these changes have been made as a direct response to feedback which has been provided over the year and will represent a considerable investment in improvements to the current environment.

NILE

Following the decision by the University Executive Team to remain with Blackboard for a further three years, we will be upgrading this to the latest release which will provide a number of security updates and new features. Some of the key changes include an improved look and feel and enhanced features for assessment and monitoring. A separate page provides full details on these changes.

As previously announced, there will be a move from the Campus Pack blogs and wikis within NILE to using the Blackboard tools. Staff should continue to migrate content out of these areas if required and ensure they are familiar with the new tools.

As part of closer integration with the student record system, student demand for greater clarity and the future need to transfer grades from NILE, there will be a change to the way in which modules and courses are setup. All courses and modules will be created on NILE as they are validated, using an agreed template. Students will be automatically added, and when the site has been developed and made available by the tutor, students will see this in their list of modules when they login to NILE. For full details on the QNIG project, please view the blog posting.

SaGE (Submission and Grading Electronically)

The above changes to NILE will support the University drive to move to e-submission and grading of work, as the site template will help tutors to provide clearer instructions to students on where they need to submit work and how they will obtain results. The SaGE blog continues to be updated with the latest information and guidance.

MyPAD (e-portfolios)

Following the announcement on May 2nd the product which currently underpins MyPAD will be replaced with a new system based on WordPress (supplied by Edublogs). This will provide significantly improved flexibility for students in their choice of layout and ability to share with a wide range of individuals. Some tutors within The School of Health are continuing to use PebblePad where there is a need for highly structured portfolios.

Northampton YouTube

During 2012, a new product for video streaming similar to that used by YouTube will be introduced to Northampton. Provided by Kaltura, there will be a significant improvement in the integration with NILE and in the functionality over our current video streaming system. Further details will be made available as this work progresses.

Mobile (iNorthampton)

As of May 2012, there have been nearly 10,000 downloads of the iNorthampton app. A further update to iNorthampton is planned shortly based on feedback to the first phase – keep an eye on the website for the latest project news.

 

All of the above changes represents a considerable investment and improvement in the Learning Technology environment. Do not panic as the Learntech team are here to help you and many of the changes are additional features to the current systems.

If you wish to discuss some of these improvements in more detail then please come along to one of theLearntech Friday sessions or just contact the team at any time.

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This guide is based on discussion and contributions by the E-learning and the First Year Student Experience (ELFYSE) special interest group (SIG).

Bringing together the areas of e-learning and student transition, retention and progression, this guide draws on both theory and practice to provide recommendations for and guidance to both academic and support staff on using learning technologies to support the first-year student experience. It is designed to help you think about ways of approaching and incorporating the use of learning technologies to support and enhance your students’ first-year experience.

Our own Learning Technologist, Julie Usher has contributed to two of the articles which have been included:

“Addressing issues of plagiarism in the first year” and “Easing cultural transition through peer-to-peer interactions”