Interviews with presenters and exhibitors from the 6th annual innovation showcase event, Merged Futures 6 in the UON Learning Hub on Friday 14th June 2024 by Learning Technologist Richard Byles.
As part of a longitudinal study into student perspectives of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), Learning Technologists Richard Byles and Kelly Lea, along with Head of Learning Technology Rob Howe, have published the results of their second student survey, launched in February 2024.
This 2024 report reveals a significant shift in the role of GenAI in students’ academic lives and their changing motivations to engage with these technologies. Notably, the survey highlights a marked increase in student use of GenAI since the 2023 survey with distinct differences in usage and views between UK and international students.
Key findings indicate a growing awareness among students about both the benefits and limitations of GenAI. Many students appreciate its ability to assist with summarising content, generating ideas, and editing text. However, they are increasingly questioning where data is gathered from and its reliability. Students remain ethically aware and want to ensure academic integrity when using these tools.
The full report can be viewed below.
Report Link (PDF): Exploring Student Perspectives of Generative Artificial Intelligence Tools at the university of Northampton: A survey-Based Study
R Byles, K Lea, R Howe
The Learning Technology Team would like to say a very big thank you and many congratulations to all the members of academic staff who are due to receive a NILE Ultra Course Award at the University’s Learning and Teaching Conference on Thursday 19th June.
The 2024 winners are:
- Kiran Kaur for BUS2900: Research, Trends and Professional Directions
- Abdul Hye Miah for CJS2007: Crime and Criminal Investigation
- Cleo Cameron for CJS3012: Cyber Crime
- David Meechan & Samantha Weekes for EDU2033: Education and Technology
- Erica Morris & Winnie Pui for EDUM128: Research and Enterprise for Enhanced Academic Practice
- Tanya Richardson & Candiece Spencer for EYS1118: Personal, Academic, and Professional Development 1
- Peter Goy, Candiece Spencer & Robin Sturman-Coombs for EYS2117: Safeguarding and Child Protection
- Carey Allen for PSY1011: Positive Psychology
- Alexia Achtypi & Brenna Farrow for SENM026: Understanding the Autism Spectrum
- Gus Lusack for SLS2041: Cellular Pathology & SLS1039: Biomedical Laboratory Practice
The Ultra Course Awards recognise staff who have created excellent Ultra courses for their students, and each course submitted for an award is reviewed by a panel of experts to ensure that it meets the award criteria, which are that the course:
- Follows the NILE Design Standards for Ultra Courses (https://libguides.northampton.ac.uk/learntech/staff/nile-design/nile-design-standards);
- Is clearly laid out and well-organised at the top level via the use of content containers (learning modules or folders), and that content items within top-level content containers are clearly named and easily identifiable for students, using sub-folders where necessary to organise content within the top-level content containers;
- Contains a range of content and activities for students to take part in.
In addition to reviewing the nominated courses, this year the panel also looked at students’ NILE engagement statistics to see whether courses that met the award criteria were used by students more than other courses. Comparing students’ engagement in NILE courses that received an Ultra Course Award in 2023 or 2024 against the average of all NILE courses, we found that students’ interactions with content in award-winning courses were typically just over twice the average, and that students were spending around 80% more time in the award-winning courses than the average. Clearly, there are likely to be many reasons for students spending more time and being more active in award winning courses than average, but it is, we hope, heartening for Ultra Course Award winners to know that the time spent designing and maintaining their NILE courses may have had a positive effect in this regard.
Nominations for the 2025 Ultra Courses Awards will be open from 1st October to 31st December 2024, and the winners will be announced at the 2025 UON Learning and Teaching Conference.
Information about the 2023 Ultra Course Awards can be found at: NILE Ultra Course Award Winners 2023
In this short film, Dr Mu Mu, Programme Leader for the AI and Data Science course, and students discuss a new project that aims to improve student access to information through the development of a new AI chatbot.
Dr Mu Mu explains that students often have common questions about their schedules, deadlines, and accommodation. To address these needs, second-year students are tasked with creating an AI chatbot. Three BSc Artificial Intelligence & Data Science students share insights into the development process.
Dr Mu Mu emphasises the broader learning outcomes: “It’s not only about the technical challenges, but also thinking about ethics, legal issues, and how to make the chatbot more personalised.”
The practical experience gained from this project has led the students gaining successful placements and internships in prestigious UK organisations. This project exemplifies how our programme not only equips students with technical expertise but also prepares them to navigate and address real-world challenges.
The new features in Blackboard’s June upgrade will be available on Friday 7th June. This month’s upgrade includes the following new/improved features to Ultra courses:
Post announcements immediately
Following feedback from staff, June’s upgrade will make posting announcements in Ultra courses easier and more intuitive. Currently, an announcement has to be saved and closed before it can be posted from the announcements panel. However, this sometimes causes confusion, as the save button does not actually post the announcement. June’s upgrade will add the ‘Post’ button directly into the panel in which the announcement is created, allowing staff to compose and post the announcement in the same panel. The option to compose the announcement, save it, and post it later will still be available though.
Print Ultra tests and assessments – staff only
The June upgrade will introduce a print button which will allow a PDF copy of an Ultra test or assignment to be generated, or for a printable copy of a test or assignment to be sent to a printer. The print button is available to staff only, and there are no plans to make the print button available to students.
Please note that there are certain limitations with the initial release of the print functionality, specifically that when a question pool is used as a question type, these are not included in the print.
More information
As ever, please get in touch with your learning technologist if you would like any more information about the new features available in this month’s upgrade: Who is my learning technologist?
The following report provides an overview of the findings of the Generative AI Staff Survey which was available to all staff at UON from the 12th of Feb to 12th of April 2024.
The purpose of the survey is to explore staff understanding and use of Generative Artificial Intelligence tools, and their impact on staff roles at UON.
Author: R Howe. Researchers: K Lea, R Byles.
The new features in Blackboard’s May upgrade will be available on Friday 2nd May. This month’s upgrade includes the following new/improved features to Ultra courses:
Improved gradebook navigation
There are currently three different views of the Ultra gradebook which are available under two gradebook sub-tabs, one of which has a grid/list selector. These views are:
- Markable items (list view)
- Markable items (grid view)
- Students
As this can make navigating the gradebook rather confusing, May’s upgrade will provide each gradebook view with its own sub-tab as follows:
- Markable items (list view) will become Markable items
- Markable items (grid view) will become Marks
- Students will remain as it is
Supporting multiple performance criteria in release conditions
Staff can currently set performance-based release conditions for items in Ultra courses against only a single performance criteria (i.e, a gradable item for which students have a grade in the Ultra gradebook). For example, if there are three tests in a course and staff want to make an item available only to students who have scored above a certain score in each test, this is not possible. As a workaround, staff can use cascading release criteria, e.g., releasing the second test when the first is passed, the third when the second is passed, and the content item when the third test is passed. However, using cascading release criteria is not always what is desired, and they can be complicated to set up.
Following the May release, staff will be able to set release conditions against multiple performance criteria, allowing staff to selectively release content in Ultra courses to students who have fulfilled multiple conditions. Where staff want to continue using a series of cascading release conditions they can continue to do so, but will no longer have to use them as a workaround. When setting up performance-based release conditions, staff can set content to be released to students who have scored n points/% or higher, or can specify custom ranges.
Release conditions can be especially useful for staff who want to automatically release content to students based upon their assessment scores. For example, releasing one set of content designed to support students who have failed an assessment, another set to students who have passed the assessment, and more challenging content to students who have performed exceptionally well.
More information about using release conditions in Ultra courses is available from: Blackboard Help – Content Release Conditions
More information
As ever, please get in touch with your learning technologist if you would like any more information about the new features available in this month’s upgrade: Who is my learning technologist?
Catch up with the latest news, case studies, and other interesting stories from the Learning Technology Team.
Download the Learning Technology Team Newsletter – Semester 2, 2023/24 (PDF, 560 KB)
With an overload of information and such dichotomous opinions about Artificial Intelligence (AI), it is difficult to know where to begin; especially if you are yet to experience using AI at all. One starting point is to find out where you are with your own knowledge and the Jisc discovery tool can assist with this.
The discovery tool, which was introduced to UON in 2020, is a developmental tool that students and staff can use to self-assess their digital capabilities, identify their strengths, and highlight opportunities to develop skills. The tool has been recently updated to include a question set for both staff and students on their capability and proficiency with AI and generative AI tools.
The question sets for students and staff have been developed with assistance from Jisc and aligns with the latest AI advice and AI guiding principles developed by Jisc and the Russell Group on the responsible and equitable use of AI to enhance learning and teaching.
How the discovery tool helps students and teachers
The new question sets provide users with a basis to self-assess their skills and knowledge of what AI is and how it could, or should, be used in the context of their studies or role.
Once users complete the question set, they can then access a personalised report with a confidence rating which will vary from ‘developing’ through ‘capable’ to ‘proficient’ depending on their experience. The report also provides recommendations and courses on how to advance knowledge around AI.
Users can repeat any of the discovery tool’s question sets at any point and therefore keep a dynamic view of their confidence levels.
Where can I access the tool?
Click here to log straight into the discovery tool and the AI question set, or copy and paste the link below into your address bar.
How can I Support Students?
To assist students in enhancing their digital skills and their knowledge and understanding of AI, we have put together a student guide which can be found here. It may also be helpful to add a link to this guide, or to the discovery tool itself, within NILE courses.
What if I would like to know more?
For more information about how to use the discovery tool, see: https://digitalcapability.jisc.ac.uk/resources-and-community/discovery-tool-guidance/staff/
For further information about the AI design assistant in NILE or Padlet’s new AI features, please get in touch with your Learning Technologist.
Helpful links
The new features in Blackboard’s April upgrade will be available on Friday 5th April. This month’s upgrade includes the following new/improved features to Ultra courses:
- Anonymous discussions
- AI Design Assistant: Select course items/context picker enhancements
- Duplicate test/form question option, plus changes to default test question value
- Likert form questions includes options for 4 and 6, as well as 3, 5, and 7
Anonymous discussions
Following feedback from staff, April’s upgrade will allow staff to set up Ultra discussions to allow students to post and reply to posts anonymously. After the upgrade, the option to allow anonymous responses and replied will be available in the ‘Discussion Settings’ panel.
Please note that selecting ‘Allow anonymous responses and replies’ does not mean that all replies and reponses will be anonymous; rather it means that students and staff can choose to post anonymously if they want to. To post anonymously, the ‘Post anonymously’ checkbox will need to be selected. Once posted, the anonymity of a post cannot be changed – i.e., an anonymous post cannot be de-anonymised by the person who posted it, and a non-anonymous post cannot be changed to anonymous.
AI Design Assistant: Select course items/context picker enhancements
Following last month’s upgrade which introduced the context picker (the ‘Select course items’ tool) for auto-generated test questions, April’s upgrade introduces the option to select course items when auto-generating learning modules, assignments, and discussion and journal prompts.
The purpose of the ‘Select course items’ tool is to allow staff to specify exactly which resources should be used when auto-generating content. If ‘Select course items’ is used, the auto-generated content will be based only upon the items selected. Where no course items are selected, auto-generated content will be based upon the course title.
You can find out more about the AI Design Assistant and how to use it it at: Learning Technology Team: AI Design Assistant
Duplicate test/form question option, plus change to default test question value
The April upgrade introduces the ability for staff to duplicate test and form questions. Additionally, following the upgrade the default point value for newly created test questions will be changed from 10 points to 1 point.
Likert form questions includes options for 4 and 6, as well as 3, 5, and 7
The February 2024 upgrade introduced the ‘Forms’ tool to Ultra courses. One of the question types available in forms is a Likert question; however, the original release only included options for staff to select Likert scales with 3, 5, or 7 points. April’s upgrade will add options to choose scales with 4 or 6 points.
More information
As ever, please get in touch with your learning technologist if you would like any more information about the new features available in this month’s upgrade: Who is my learning technologist?
