Thanks to everyone who was able to make this month’s App Cafe. I know it’s not always easy to find the time, but we’re very pleased eight people were able to come along and share their experiences, interests and views on mobile learning. In this session we took SIRI as the starting point for our session and began with a hands-on look at how accurate SIRI is. We talked about Dragon Dictate as an alternative PC-based voice-to-speech solution and the discussion then moved on to research ethics, accessibility and other issues which rose naturally amongst the group.
The App Cafe happens at 1pm on the first Monday of each month and anyone is welcome to come along and share. We have experience of iPad technology but these sessions are conversational rather than training-focused so if you use an Android or other mobile device, please come along and share.
We publicise the theme of each session a couple of days before as we like to be spontaneous. If you can’t make a Monday or you have an interest in a specific application or a learning and teaching question in relation to mobile technology, then get in touch and we’ll try and support you.
Between Saturday 16th August 4:30pm BST and Sunday 17th August 4:30am BST , NILE will be upgraded to the latest version.
Northampton is currently on Blackboard 9.1 service pack 13 and will be upgraded to the April 2014 release. This version jumps two releases above our current point. (SP14 and April 2014 releases). You can see the new features which will be added as part of the SP14 upgrade and the April 2014 upgrade. All users of NILE should ensure that browsers are updated to keep within the supported levels.
Whilst during the academic year security fixes are applied, annually we need to ensure that NILE is at the most stable version with the latest features to benefit staff and students. Our hosting contract provides us with at least 99.9% availability for NILE 365 days a year providing we ensure that we maintain our version.
The new version contains new functionality which will be of use to staff and students and ensure that NILE is maintained as an advanced virtual learning environment to maximise the student experience.
Please contact Rob.Howe@nothampton.ac.uk if there are any comments or questions around the upgrade process.
Bit.ly is great for creating and editing links used in multiple locations – particularly useful if you don’t remember where you used them. Within a VLE you might use the same link many times or copy it to a new module site – it’s easy to loose track – ‘corporate’ managers often restrict editing rights within institutional web sites.
But do you want to manage your bit.ly links more efficiently? Check if they are still valid URLs? Keep a backup copy of your links in a spreadsheet?
This Google spreadsheet draws on the bitly API to pull out the links, then runs a script to check the status of the full URL on a ‘Link summary’ page. I’ve colour coded the main response codes to indicate real (red) problems and potential (orange – login may be needed).
Early days, but this spreadsheet can be used for any bitly library – you just need to generate an access key at https://bitly.com/a/oauth_apps from your own login and add it to cell B1 in the ‘data’ sheet. It currently processes up to 1000 links, but you can easily change this. I would recommend making a copy of the values in a new sheet too, just in case there is ever a bit.ly disaster.
Here’s a link to a public version – please save as a copy before adding your access key or the world will know how to access your bit.ly links!
As ever, I am standing on the shoulders of giants, so great credit must go to the component writers:
JSON import: Trevor Lohrbeer (http://blog.fastfedora.com/projects/import-json)
URL checker: Cheok Luk (http://www.tinkeredge.com/blog/2012/04/check-on-page-for-broken-links-with-google-docs/)
When a member of staff suspects academic misconduct the University policy is that the student’s grade is exempted (or suspended) pending the outcome of the investigation. During this time the student should not be able to access their provisional grade. Prior to Submitting and Grading Electronically (SaGE) students whose grades were suspended due to suspected misconduct were allocated a ZZ Grade.
The Exempt Grade tool in NILE is the electronic equivalent of the ZZ Grade, and if you are considering using it for the first time we have already produced a useful guide, accessible via the NILE Help tab.
However, since writing the original guidance, a member of the teaching staff has helped identify a bug which is not detailed in the guide, but this bug is significant only if staff use the Exempt Grade tool where a rubric has been used to grade a student paper.
If the Exempt Grade feature has been applied to a paper marked with a rubric then once the Post Date passes, although the grade appears to be hidden from the student, they can still access the associated rubric via the Feedback and Grades link in their NILE module. This means a student can potentially access their provisional numeric grade from the rubric, and convert the numeric to a letter grade.
This bug has been reported to Blackboard, but it won’t be fixed for the 14-15 academic year so we have developed a technical workaround we can offer staff who need to exempt a student’s grade which has been marked using a rubric.
If you would like help relating to the Exempt Grade tool, or any other part of the Grade Centre, then please get in touch with learntech@northampton.ac.uk and we will be happy to offer support and training.
“Northampton 2018: Planning, Designing and Delivering Student Success”
The University of Northampton’s Institute of Learning and Teaching in Higher Education is to host a one-day Learning and Teaching conference, entitled Northampton 2018: Planning, Designing and Delivering Student Success. The event will provide an opportunity to celebrate research from within the institution. More details…..
Liam Fassam, Lecturer in Operations Management in NBS, has recently been using the Socrative student response system as part of a deliberate effort to increase learner engagement with the subject and provide formative feedback . Liam made a conscious decision to use the beta.socrative.com platform rather than the Socrative app to ensure an easy and quick in-class response. From an initial trial of this software, he has since begun using it on a weekly basis, having found the process so simple and straightforward that the time it takes him to pre-load up to 20 questions for use at the start of a session is down to around 10 minutes.
Initially looking for technology that could be used in the classroom in a way that he believed would be aligned to the demands of modern students, Liam has benefited more widely from this approach as he can obtain weekly analytics that enables him to evaluate student progress and build up a clearer picture over time. Conducting the quiz in groups provides a level of safety for students who may feel unsure as to their understanding or who are uncomfortable with the idea of identifying themselves on an individual basis. This also overcomes any potential accessibility issues within the classes. The group aspect has also given rise to some healthy in-class competition which he likens to a ‘football league’ feeling where groups are vying to be top of the league.
In addition to the MCQ approach, Liam also uses Socrative on an ad-hoc basis to get a feel for student opinion on a related topic. Where a show of hands around a controversial topic might not produce as accurate a response as he might have hoped for, the anonymity of the Socrative approach serves to overcome fears of potential exclusion or isolation on the basis of ‘non-PC’ answers.
So, what’s the catch? Well, at the moment Liam has experienced no technological glitches or difficulties, but that may be because he has only used it on-campus in Northampton where students have access to digital technology and a strong wifi connection. He would like to introduce its use off-campus, engaging his online learners around the world, but is aware that they may well experience bandwidth issues. Another plan is to look at ways of embedding it into NILE.
His advice for those who are interested in trying this out? Just do it! And if you do, be consistent because once you start, your students won’t want you to stop! In short, beta.socrative.com is a really good tool for subject-matter validation and Liam was genuinely surprised at the level of learner engagement and acceptance.
So if you are looking for a quick polling tool that makes use of devices already owned and brought to class by your learners, then why not give this a try?
The LearnTech team have arranged for a Clever Touch Fusion Table to be available between the 9th-15th April in the Park Library Tpod.
Please indicate when you would like to see this table by emailing LearnTech
The latest roundup of LearnTech news is now available
Library and Learning Services (LLS) have produced a document detailing LLS on-campus, off-campus UK and off-campus overseas service provision. This document provides information on the alternative but equivalent services to students who are not on site.
It is expected that the contents will be of use in any planning, development or curriculum review meeting to enhance student experience.
As part of building on previous NILE quality discussions, the schematic below represents the current proposal for quality standards. Rather than gold, silver and bronze, there are two main levels – foundation at the most basic level and then collaboration / participation above this.
All campus-based programmes should be at the foundation level, based on the standard NILE templates.
Each programme designed for blended learning must reach the ‘participation’ threshold. Each programme designed for pure online learning must reach the ‘collaboration’ standards.
Please note that further guidance is currently being developed to support each of the standard levels. This information is being presented to provide extra context to the current LearnTech training sessions.
