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As we fly through this year’s exam period and summer approaches, the LearnTech team has been looking ahead to the next academic year and preparing the 2017-18 NILE templates.
This year we have chosen to differentiate between courses taught at the University and those delivered by our academic partners, to reflect the different needs of all concerned. This has led to the creation of separate templates, making for a more tailored student (and staff) experience.
On the back of this, we are pleased to announce that your 1718 module sites have been created and are now ready to receive your content, so you can self-enrol now.
The template and NILE Standards have been updated for 2017-18 following recommendations approved at the University’s Student Experience Committee and Faculty SECs.
You will note that your module sites’ guidance has been streamlined to allow for any necessary dynamic updates throughout the academic year, incorporating links to existing support, thus avoiding duplication and avoiding potentially conflicting advice.
The template is designed to build on last year’s declutter/ updating of content: you should therefore all find yourselves standing in good stead for this year’s plan to copy over only what is required for the coming years teaching. For those of you unfamiliar with the process there is guidance on hand to assist you with this process as well as Learning Technology team members on standby should you require extra support and assistance. Please email LearnTech Support in the first instance or contact your designated LearnTech.
It’s never too early to start, so why not begin now? Consider getting head of the game; enjoy the summer break safe in the knowledge that some of your preparation for the coming academic year is already completed.
NILE is integrated into the learning and teaching process at The University of Northampton and we need to ensure that it is being used effectively by staff in order to provide a quality student experience.
Building on the guidance which was initially produced in January 2012, the framework has now been updated to cover the minimum standards which are expected on a NILE site. This was approved at University SEC on 10th May, 2017 and subsequently used as the basis for the new NILE templates which have been developed for the 2017/18 academic year.
The LearnTech Team is pleased to bring you the next three months programme of LearnTech lunchtimes, following on from the success of our inaugural offerings.Thanks to those of you who have already attended: we hope that you have managed to apply & implement some of what you have learnt for the benefit of your students. For those of you as yet unfamiliar with the concept, read on….
We will once again be introducing you to the various NILE tools, their potential applications and how these technologies can enhance your teaching and learning. Sessions are being offered at both Park and Avenue Campuses and we have a few new additions to whet your appetite, so book now and come along to receive updates, refresh your skills and find out how your peers are working using UN-supported LearnTech tools. Feel free to bring along your own lunch – tea and coffee will be provided.
We look forward to welcoming you over the coming weeks. Details, dates and booking links follow:
Kaltura/ MediaSpace (video)
As the University has now moved to a single video solution in Kaltura (MediaSpace), this is a chance for those who have already started to engage with this tool and those as yet to experience it. The session covers an introduction to MediaSpace; video capture using CaptureSpace; uploading video to MediaSpace; embedding video content in NILE; using quizzes in Kaltura.
Friday 17 March – 12:30-13:30 – Park Campus, Library, IT Training Room
Friday 30 March – 12:30-13:30 – Avenue Campus, Library, CTC
Tuesday 11 April – 12:30-13:30 – Park Campus, Library, Tpod
Monday 8 May – 12:30-13:30 – Park Campus, Library, Tpod
Please sign up here:
(Park Campus): http://bit.ly/2fWkTbG
(Avenue Campus): http://bit.ly/2gAKcQx
Collaborate (Virtual Classroom)
This session will introduce those new to using online virtual classrooms (Northampton is licensed for Collaborate: Ultra Experience) as well as for those who are curious to learn about new functionalities now available in the tool. Topics covered include: setting up the tool in your NILE sites; inviting attendees; sharing files/ applications/ the virtual whiteboard; running a virtual classroom session; moderating sessions; recording sessions; break-out rooms.
Tuesday 21 March – 12:30-13:30 – Park Campus, Library, Tpod
Thursday 23 March – 12:30-13:30 – Avenue Campus, Library, CTC
Friday 21 April – 12:30-13:30 – Park Campus, Library, Tpod
Monday 22 May – 12:30-13:30 – Park Campus, Library, IT Training Room
Please sign up here:
(Park Campus): http://bit.ly/2eG7mZR
(Avenue Campus): http://bit.ly/2hwElOv
MyPad / Edublogs (blogging tool)
MyPad (Edublogs) is the University’s personal and academic (WordPress) blogging tool and can be used in a number of ways to communicate and share learning resources. Topics covered include: creation of individual / class student blogs; use of menus/ media; blog administration within modules; creation of class websites.
Tuesday 4 April – 12:30-13:30 – Park Campus, Library, Tpod
Friday 28 April – 12:30-13:30 – Park Campus, Library, Tpod
Friday 30 May – 12:30-13:30 – Park Campus, Library, Tpod
Please sign up here: http://bit.ly/2f4BEUM
Assessments (Rubrics)
Have you heard about the use of rubrics in NILE and wondering what all the fuss is about? Want to find out how to grade your assessments electronically using rubrics? Curious to know how you can streamline your marking by using quantitative and/ or qualitative rubrics?
Come along to this LT lunchtime session to find out more about how to enhance and enrich feedback for your students using these tools in NILE.
Tuesday 28 March – 12:30-13:30 – Park Campus, Library, Tpod
Please sign up here: http://bit.ly/2n1m8xu
Assessments (Groups)
Groups are a powerful tool in NILE that can be used to facilitate and manage group assignments, and enable communication and collaboration for students.
If you are interested in seeing how to easily create groups, set an assignment (e.g. Group Presentation or online Debate), AND potentially reduce administration and marking time, whilst still maintaining quality of feedback, then please sign up ….
Thursday 4 May – 12:30-13:30 – Park Campus, Library, Tpod
Please sign up here: http://bit.ly/2n1sRI1
Assessments (Turnitin Feedback Studio)
Turnitin has a new interface that will be adopted institution wide later on this year – Feedback Studio. Would you like to get ahead of the crowd and get a sneak preview of the new look and feel; to see the features offered by the new interface; see a demo and find out where to seek help and further support?
Sign up to this new LT lunchtime session to find out more.
Monday 15 May – 12:30-13:30 – Park Campus, Library, Tpod
Please sign up here: http://bit.ly/2mjnTml
Spaces are limited, so do not delay, book today!
In addition the following training sessions are currently scheduled for Xerte – N.B. these are 2.5 hours in duration:
Xerte (online content creation tools)
Xerte is a University supported tool used to create interactive e-learning and online content.
In this training session you will be introduced to the software templates, page types, features and tools available to enable you to produce an interactive e-learning session or online content provision.
You will also learn about the importance of instructional design for your e-learning and online content projects, and benefit from some useful hints and tips, technical advice and items relevant to developing e-content generally.
Places are limited to six per session. Contact: anne.misselbrook@northampton.ac.uk for more details.
Park Campus, Library, LLS IT Training Room or Tpod
29 March 2017 – 10:00-12:30 (IT Training Room)
13 April 2017 – 10:00-12:30 (Tpod)
5 May 2017 – 10:00-12:30 (Tpod)
23 May 2017 – 14:00-16:30 (Tpod)
14 June 2017 – 10:00-12:30 (IT Training Room)
29 June 2017 – 13:30-16:00 (Tpod)
13 July 2017 – 10:00-12:30 (Tpod)
15 August 2017 – 14:00-16:30 (Tpod)
6 September 2017 – 10:00-12:30 (IT Training Room)
Please sign up here: http://bit.ly/2fYwKpY
Avenue Campus, Library, CTC
Wednesday 3 May – 14:00-16:30
Wednesday 24 May – 14:00-16:30
Please sign up here: http://bit.ly/2ng6wqq
Unable to attend on these dates? More will be offered on a rolling basis so watch this space. In the meantime, please visit our NILE Guides and FAQs. Still need help? Please contact your assigned LT direct.
We’ve written a few posts about learning styles in the past, and an important letter in yesterday’s Guardian added yet more support to the anti-learning styles side of the argument. Thirty academics signed a letter to the Guardian calling for teachers to end the use of learning styles and to make more use of evidence-based practices instead. Regarding the use of learning styles, the letter said that they were “ineffective, a waste of resources and potentially even damaging as … [they] can lead to a fixed approach that could impair pupils’ potential to apply or adapt themselves to different ways of learning.”1
You can read the entire letter here: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/mar/13/teachers-neuromyth-learning-styles-scientists-neuroscience-education
References
1. Sally Weale (2017) Teachers must ditch ‘neuromyth’ of learning styles, say scientists
Following the successful roll out of our first LearnTech Lunchtime sessions we are delighted to announce that we are now able to offer parallel sessions at Avenue Campus.
The first two will cover Kaltura / MediaSpace (video) and Collaborate (Virtual Classroom Tool). Details as follows, with more sessions to be announced in the New Year (so please watch this space!):
Kaltura/ MediaSpace (video) –
Wednesday 18 January 2017 – 12:30-13:30 – Avenue Campus, Library, IT Training Room 1
As the University has now moved to a single video solution in Kaltura (MediaSpace), this is a chance for those who have already started to engage with this tool and those as yet to experience it. The following areas may cover an introduction to MediaSpace; video capture using CaptureSpace; uploading video to MediaSpace; embedding video content in NILE; using quizzes in Kaltura.
Please sign up here: http://bit.ly/2gAKcQx
Collaborate (Virtual Classroom) –
Thursday 2 February– 12:30-13:30 – Avenue Campus, Library, IT Training Room 1
This session will introduce those new to using online virtual classrooms (Northampton is licensed for Collaborate: Ultra Experience) as well as for those who are curious to learn about new functionalities now available in the tool. Topics may cover some of the following: setting up the tool in your NILE sites; inviting attendees; sharing files/ applications/ the virtual whiteboard; running a virtual classroom session; moderating sessions; recording sessions; break-out rooms.
Please sign up here: http://bit.ly/2hwElOv
Spaces are limited, so do not delay, book today! Unable to attend on these dates? More will be offered on a rolling basis so watch this space. In the meantime, please visit our NILE Guides and FAQs.
Our Panopto license has now expired. As already described, all content is in the process of being migrated over to MediaSpace (Kaltura) and will be found at video.northampton.ac.uk.
Thanks to those of you who have already reached out to LearnTech and worked with the team to ensure that all of your video content remains accessible to your students via your NILE sites. No further action should be necessary on your part.
If you have not managed to meet with us, you should be able to replace the Panopto links in your NILE sites as follows:
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Go into the NILE module which has a Panopto link
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Click on the Tools button
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Select Kaltura Media from the menu
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Wait a few moments to see your videos displayed on screen
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Choose the video you want to link to in the module and click Select *
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The next screen lets you edit the Title of the video link
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Now click the Submit button
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Your MediaSpace video is now live on your NILE site
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Check the MediaSpace video plays by clicking Watch Media
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Finally, you can now delete the old Panopto link by selecting the drop-down arrow beside the Panopto video link
*If when you select Kaltura Media, the corresponding video does not display, please contact learntech@northampton.ac.uk and we will be happy to find the original file to add it to your account.
In going forward, should you require support in using MediaSpace, training can either provided by your assigned Learning Technologist or you can attend one of the Team’s new LearnTech Lunchtime sessions that will be advertised shortly.
The Quick Overview:
• Where students need to carry out online surveys, and where academic staff do not have a preference as to which tool the students use, we recommend eSurv: http://esurv.org
• A tutorial video explaining how to use eSurv is also available here: http://bit.ly/esurv-tutorial
One area where students sometimes come unstuck with their research projects is when they try to extract data from the free online survey tool they have used. While it is often easy to create a simple online survey for free, and easy for a limited number of respondents to take part in the survey, it is not always so easy for the researcher to access their data.
There are a large number of free online survey tools available for use, and choosing the most appropriate one is not always easy. In almost all cases, accessing the full-functionality of the survey tool is not free. For example, the free version of the survey tool may be limited by number and type of questions available (a maximum of ten questions, for example, and only basic questions). It may also be limited to a maximum number of responses (fifty responses per survey, for example). Another common restriction is to limit access to the survey data, and not to allow the researcher to download the data for analysis in a statistical package. While all these restrictions can be overcome by paying a monthly subscription to the survey tool provider, students often feel rather cheated when they find out that it will cost them, in some cases, £60 to download their data for analysis in SPSS. They often feel especially annoyed when they find out that if they chosen different tool they could have had free access to their data.
As part of a recent University of Northampton URB@N project, Paul Rice, Phil Oakman, Clive Howe and Rob Farmer decided to find out whether there was a genuinely free online survey tool out there somewhere. And they decided to make things more difficult by trying to find one that was also easy to use and that stored data in a way that was compliant with the UK Data Protection Act. The good news is that they found one!
If you would like to find out more then you can read all about it in their paper published in the journal MSOR Connections: https://journals.gre.ac.uk/index.php/msor/article/view/311
To all NILE users, we are aware that there is an issue with the timer function in Blackboard Tests in NILE where a limited number of students are experiencing premature submission prior to end of the test: Blackboard are aware and are working on a fix.
In the interim, where possible tutors are advised not to set the timer when setting up tests and where this is unavoidable, students are advised to use Google Chrome to minimise this occurrence.
If students are still experiencing this problem, please get in touch with your tutor in the first instance. Tutors can refer to learntech@northampton.ac.uk. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause, but please be reassured that we are working on a solution with Blackboard.
The Learning Technologists have been aligned to specific subject areas within the Faculties. Whilst the general contact for support issues and advice is Learntech@northampton.ac.uk (x2696), you can contact a Learning Technologist for specific training needs or project planning. For assistance with designing your programme or modules then contact the Learning Design team at LD@northampton.ac.uk.
Learning Technologists alignments:
| Education & Humanities | |
| Early Years | Belinda Green |
| Education, Children & Young People | Belinda Green |
| Initial Teacher Training | Belinda Green |
| Special Education Needs & Inclusion | Belinda Green |
| Teacher Continuation Professional Development | Belinda Green |
| English & Creative Writing | Al Holloway |
| English as a Second Language | Richard Byles |
| History | Tim Guyett |
| Health & Society | |
| Criminal Justice Studies | Tim Guyett |
| Sociology (including Criminology) | Tim Guyett |
| Psychology | Tim Guyett |
| Midwifery | Andy Stenhouse / Liane Robinson |
| Nursing | Andy Stenhouse / Liane Robinson |
| Occupational Therapy | Andy Stenhouse / Liane Robinson |
| Paramedic Science | Andy Stenhouse / Liane Robinson |
| Podiatry | Andy Stenhouse / Liane Robinson |
| Sport, Exercise & Life Science | Andy Stenhouse / Liane Robinson |
| Social Work | Andy Stenhouse /Liane Robinson |
| Arts, Science & Technology (FAST) | |
| Acting & Drama | Al Holloway |
| Computing | Al Holloway |
| 2D Design | Al Holloway |
| 3D Design | Al Holloway |
| Engineering | Al Holloway |
| Environmental Science | Al Holloway |
| Foundation Year Programme | Al Holloway |
| Fashion | Al Holloway |
| Fine Art | Al Holloway |
| Leather Technology | Al Holloway |
| Media & Journalism | Al Holloway |
| Photography | Al Holloway |
| Popular Music | Al Holloway |
| Business & Law | |
| Accounting & Finance | Richard Byles |
| Economics, International Development | Richard Byles |
| Leisure Management & Languages | Richard Byles |
| Business | Richard Byles |
| Human Resource Management & Organisational Behaviour | Richard Byles |
| International Relations and Politics | Tim Guyett |
| Law | Tim Guyett |
LearnTech are archiving some of the older NILE sites which are no longer being actively used. This keeps our server storage low, so the University remains under quota and avoids unnecessary subscription charges. This year, all of the sites from the academic year 2012/2013 have been selected for archiving. These sites have been disabled on the system and are no longer available for general use.
The full list of affected NILE sites can be found here: 12/13 NILE sites for archive. The file should open with Acrobat reader, which is installed on all PCs. You should should use ‘Ctrl-F’ and search for the sites that interest you by module code, or module name.
If you do wish for a 12/13 site to be re-enabled, please contact LearnTech via email (learntech@northampton.ac.uk) before 14th October with the module codes and titles of any sites you need to remain live and exclude from the archive process.
We would like to emphasize that we are archiving, not deleting, so sites and files can be recovered at a later date if necessary.
