Posts by: robhowe
Di presented on her experiences of using Panopto at The University of Northampton’s Technology Enhanced Learning Showcase 7/7/11. The event used Twitter hashtag #TELUoN.
Lecture Capture is now available throughout the University of Northampton and Di explained her early experiences in using this tool.
Richard presented on his experiences of Using the iPad in the teaching of Journalism at The University of Northampton’s Technology Enhanced Learning Showcase 7/7/11. The event used Twitter hashtag #TELUoN.
This session demonstrated a number of apps for the iPad that will allow the delivery of lectures, support in broadcast subjects and portable access to your desk top. The session also illustrated some of the new ways of delivering the news.
During 2011 we are changing the way we run inductions for Learning Technology. Student feedback indicates that they feel overloaded with information during welcome week, and many either do not attend their designated induction slot, or find they have quickly forgotten the information that we provide. Feedback also tells us that NILE inductions are more helpful when they are hands-on and task-focused, and so a decision has been made to discontinue the demonstration-style ‘overview of NILE’ sessions previously offered during this period.
Changes being made over the summer will simplify the process of getting access to and using NILE:
- From August 3rd, 2011 NILE will use the same username and password which is used to log on to University computers.
- Changes made to passwords used to log on to University computers via the central system (http://www.northampton.ac.uk/user) will also update those on NILE.
- NILE will use the same email address as held centrally by the University
Students are able to check the email address that the University has recorded on the Student Record System.
If the email the University has recorded is incorrect they will need to contact their Student Admin Team. (Follow the link if you’re not sure how to get in contact with your Schools’ team)
Information on NILE will also be available from library staff, who will be meeting all students during the Deans’ talks on the Monday of Welcome Week to outline what the department has to offer them. They will also be out on the floors in the library for two weeks offering support at point of need.
Additional guidance and information for students will be available from the Help tab on NILE and via the LTSupport email address, and drop-in sessions will be available for any students who feel that they would value more detailed assistance with IT systems – these will be advertised during September. The team will also continue to offer a variety of more in-depth sessions throughout the year working alongside and in response to academic staff.
As always, we recommend that tutors introduce NILE in an integrated way, along with other teaching methods and resources, both in face-to-face sessions and in information packs sent out to new students.
If you feel that this approach does not suit your students needs, then please contact a member of the Learntech team, who will be happy to discuss alternatives.
Xerte may be used as a tool to create interactive content and material which may be used within NILE / Blackboard or just on general webpages. Angela presented on her experiences in using this tool for international students at The University of Northampton’s Technology Enhanced Learning Showcase 7/7/11. The event used Twitter hashtag #TELUoN
Further notes from Angela regarding this session are listed below:
The Virtual International Students’ Orientation Programme (VISOP) on the web is located on The University of Northampton’s International Students Support website:
Scroll to bottom of page to:
Other resources
The University of Nottingham Xerte Project
View examples of available templates
JISC Techdis – HEI advisory service
The use of Xerte is currently being piloted for more general use at The University of Northampton. Further information regarding this and training sessions will be available in October.
16th June (Association for Learning)
A day of presentation from institutions sharing their experiences in trialling and rolling out Lecture Capture projects. Invaluable lessons learnt and offers of shared best practice from high profile Universities:
- JISC funded project “ELTAC” – Support for Lecture Capture http://cuba.coventry.ac.uk/lecturecapture
- Legal Issues (plus general lecture capture support) – material made available from University of Sheffield http://www.shef.ac.uk/cics/myecho
- Example of an Institute that has embraced lecture capture (their aim is to make science available to others especially developing countries) http://ictp.tv/ This institute uses a freely available webcast technology running on Linux Ubuntu – further details from web site – http://www.openeya.org/
- ViTAL – Video in Education http://vital-sig.ning.com/
- Media Enhanced Learning (MELSIG) http://melsig.com/
Contact Rob Davis – Learning Technologist for more details (01604 893531 rob.davis@northampton.ac.uk)
Rob, Julie and Adel were lucky enough to go to Amsterdam to have a tour of the Blackboard (the product underpinning NILE) offices and data centre where our servers are housed.
The trip involved a morning of meetings with Blackboard staff and representatives from Bath Spa, and Birmingham University at the the Blackboard offices which are based near Dam Square the in the heart of Amsterdam. Jan-Willem Van der Zalm (Director EMEA, Managed Hosting at Blackboard) lead the discussion where we talked about the service they provide and where their roadmap will be taking the service in the future.
The meeting confirmed many of the reasons why we pay Blackboard to provide this service. It includes everything from systems monitoring, security and backups to front line support, project planning, and handling of upgrades. With all of this handled by Blackboards team of experts, and service level agreements in place guaranteeing 99.9% uptime, we can concentrate on supporting staff and students in using technology to enhance their teaching and learning practice.
The Blackboard servers are housed in an Equinix Data Centre where the security just to get in was like something out of ’24’, requiring passports, pre-booking and a registered user whose finger prints are recorded. We had a tour of the facility including a room containing 5 generators which can keep power going into the centre for 51 hours without needing a fuel top up. The Data Centre is a sophisticated building with millions being invested in the continued maintenance, security provision and safety of the equipment and data held within its walls.
We finished the tour by going into the Blackboard ‘cage’. Some of the Blackboard servers are run from this relatively new area where there is a lot of space available for expansion. There are other Data Centres containing Blackboard servers in Virginia, USA and Sydney, Australia. The Blackboard Data Centre/Infrastructure engineer gave us an enthusiastic overview of the set up within the cage demonstrating the physical structure of an otherwise virtual system.
The whole visit gave us a clearer understanding and appreciation of the work that goes on behind the scenes to support and maintain NILE. Pretty good value as far as we’re concerned.
Since NILE was formally established in 2002, the system has developed organically based on staff and student feedback. To date NILE has not been linked with other institutional systems, and this has sometimes caused confusion both at module and user level – modules listed on this system often did not have the same name or code as that held elsewhere within the University, and passwords and email addresses used for NILE have not been consistent with those used for other systems. The Learning Technology team have been monitoring these issues, and QNIG (QLS / NILE Integration Group) was set up to address them, and starting this summer, a programme of improvements will begin.
Feedback received
A number of comments have been received based around the following points:
- Some users have reported issues with logging into NILE because their password is different to that used on other systems.
- Some users have reported that they have not received communications being sent out by NILE via email, because of a mismatch in email address. Some users also report that they have received information from courses and modules which they are no longer taking, because they are not automatically removed from NILE sites.
- Students often have problems finding their correct modules on NILE, as the site may not have the name they were expecting or is listed inside another course site. Students appreciate being added in advance to the sites they need on NILE, so that they don’t need to search for them, but for staff, adding students to sites can be a long task.
- Staff sometimes need sites at the field or course level rather than just at the module level, and sometimes sites which do not fit with any of the course, field or module descriptions (for example: a site for particular project activity).
- Students are currently removed from NILE sites each year which means that they will lose access to previously used materials unless they are separately saved. Again, the process of removing students from sites is time consuming for staff.
- Staff would like to make better use of the information held in the Grade Centre in NILE, as some of this contains information which also needs to be located on the student record system.
Future Planning
As a result of the feedback above, a number of actions are now being taken forward in a phased process:
Phase 1 (2 / 3 August 2011)
The usernames, passwords and email addresses held in NILE will be linked to the central identity management system. When a user changes their centrally held password or email address then this will be automatically updated on NILE.
Phase 2 (piloting Jun – Dec 2011)
New sites on NILE will be named with a specific ID which matches exactly with that held on the student record system. The ID will define the module, field or course; the cohort (e.g. Autumn, Spring or Summer); and the year of activity.
Any requested site which is not specifically related to a module, field or course will be set up on an ad hoc basis by the Learning Technology team, and normally listed under the Organisation section of NILE rather than within the Module tab.
Once the pilot is complete and any issues have been addressed, this will be rolled out for all NILE sites. Existing course and module sites will be recreated with new codes, and sites not related to taught courses or modules will be moved to organisations. Once this is done we should be able to proceed to automatically enrol students onto the course and module sites they need.
The specific setup of the sites will also mean that a new site will be created for each different cohort and each new year. The implications for this on storage are currently being assessed but this should mean that students could have access to previously taken modules and courses. The setup of new sites will mean that there is no need for staff to manage site enrolments, and communication to specific cohorts will be easier.
Phase 3 (2012 onwards)
Pilots will be undertaken to look at how Grade Centre data from NILE may be passed directly into the student record system. This will potentially speed up student access to grades and reduce administration.
Further Information
If you have any comments or questions on the above then please email Rob.Howe@northampton.ac.uk
Sign up for the following session at www.northampton.ac.uk/it-training
- Creating Large documents
- Remote Working
- Refworks
- PowerPoint
Join the Learning Technology Team on the 7th July for a showcase event where staff will be talking about their experiences with using technology in their teaching.
Sign up at: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/1759108541
The Learning Technology team have successfully supported a live radio streaming event for The School of the Arts at the University.
Richard Hollingum (Principal Lecturer – Arts – Media, English & Culture) created a unique opportunity for students to broadcast a live radio programe from The School of the Arts Radio Broadcasting suite at Avenue Campus.
The broadcast was routed through the Helix Streaming Server at the University and was subsequently made available to the World Wide Web via an embedded link to a “Real” player within the School of the Arts University web page.
The broadcast period lasted three days (8th – 10th June 2011).
Further details can be obtained from Rob Davis – Learning Technologist – 01604 893531)
