Louise Bird, Senior Lecturer in Graphic Communication, reviews the Wacom Inkling, a product that claims to transfer sketches from paper into digital formats. Follow the link below (PDF) to find out what she thought of this product.
Wacom Inkling review (PDF, 450 KB)
If you would like to help us by reviewing some technology for learning and teaching, please contact the team.
As previously described in the blog posting on linking NILE to the Student Record System, new NILE sites have been created for the 12/13 academic year and are ready to be used. You should now move content from your old sites to the newly coded areas. Please refer to the guidance or alternatively watch the DidiVid support video on our YouTube channel to assist you with the steps below:
- Find the “Manage Your NILE Sites” box on your NILE homepage following the above guidance [NOTE: From Spring 2014 the ‘Manage your NILE Sites’ box moved to the ‘Sites & Organisations’ tab]. If you are unable to see this box then please mail LTSupport@northampton.ac.uk
- Find the modules which you will be involved in during 12/13. Ensure you select the correct module which should have a course ID which describes the module, the session, and the year of activity (e.g. DRA1018-STD-1213). The name of the module will be prefixed with the year of activity (e.g. 12/13 Technologies for Performance)
- Add yourself to the module using this guidance or alternatively watch the DidiVid support video on our YouTube channel.
- Follow the guidance inside the module template to copy material from other sites as needed. The template should be used where possible to assist you to structure material and provide students with a consistent experience.
- Create additional material and links within the new module as needed
- Ensure that you remove the old / copied Turnitin links within the “Submit your work” areas and create new Turnitin areas.
- When you are satisfied that all content is in place then make the site live to students
- Students will be automatically added to the site as they are confirmed as enrolled (ENR status on the Student Record System – Provisional students are NOT automatically enrolled). If a student changes modules during the year then they will be added to the new site within 15 minutes of the change being made on QLS (Currently they will also remain on the old module until removed by the tutor).
Sites have also been created for courses/programmes in addition to the session specific modules, and you will see these when conducting the search in point 1 (above). If you wish to use course sites you have the choice of using either those which are broken down by the session (in the same way as the modules. e.g. CBDDRAMA-1FT-1213). Alternatively you may wish to only have one course site for the whole year regardless of the session variation (e.g. CBADRAMA-1213). Both types have been created and regardless of the option you choose, students will still be automatically added but will only see the site you are using once you have made it available to them. For the dual coded sites these will normally only contain the students who enrolled in that year. Hence CBADRAMA-1112 will only have the students who were enrolled in 2011 [Note: from Spring 2014 a new ‘Quick Actions’ widget on the ‘Sites and organisations’ tab allows you to release sites to students without having to go to the site itself].
You should be aware that due to differences in coding on the Student Record System it is possible the enrollment of students onto the dual coded course sites may not cover 100% of those actually taking the course. The way in which the script works is as follows :
If a student was enrolled onto a module which has a ‘1’ prefix in the session code in 2010 then they will be added to the 10/11 version of the dual coded course (eg CBAAACFIN-1011)
If a student was enrolled onto a module which has a ‘1’ prefix in the session code in 2011 then they will be added to the 11/12 version of the dual coded course. (eg CBAAACFIN-1112)
If a student was enrolled onto a module which has a ‘1’ prefix in the session code in 2012 then they will be added to the 12/13 version of the dual coded course (CBAAACFIN-1213)
If there is is a whole cluster of students who were previously on a module which did not have a ‘1’ prefix (e.g. DLMD) then please mail LTSupport@northampton.ac.uk and we can investigate for you.
This work complements some of the other changes happening over the summer and into the autumn. For an update on changes and updates then here’s the link
Frequently Asked Questions:
1) I seem to now have many variations of sites when I only had one last year – do I need all of these ?
NILE has now created one module site for each session which is stored on the Student Record system (QLS). Sessions have been used in many different ways on QLS – sometimes they signify different start dates and at other times they signify a module which runs in different locations or a different mode of delivery.
If you have sessions where the content AND assessment timescales are identical (perhaps where it is just the location which varies) then the Module Leader may opt to combine these on NILE by emailing LTSupport. They should remember that when combined – all communications will go to all of the students on the module unless otherwise specified.
If the session content is the same but the start dates / assessment timescales are different (e.g. Some students start in September and others start in February) then the sessions should be kept separate since the students will need different communications at different times and need separate assignment submission areas. You can copy material between modules if it is important to share updated material – email LTSupport if you need assistance on this.
2) The new template which are provided on the Course and Module areas are restrictive – Can I add to these or change the wording ?
The wording which now appears on the left side of the module templates was agreed by the Learning and Teaching Committee prior to the PSR and then re validated by the University Student Experience Committee (SEC) more recently. It is based on a clear module layout and wording which students have been requesting on feedback to NSS and ISS. The material which is proposed on the template forms the minimum standards for a NILE module and this will be quality checked later in 2012. Some staff may already be exceeding the content and layout which has been proposed and we would wish this continue……and ideally form the basis of exemplary sites to showcase to other staff. Any reduction in module content or significant change of wording from the basic template should be agreed by the SEC prior to student delivery. Many of the menu items such as “Submit your work” or “Reading List” must remain due to consistency throughout NILE.
If you need to clarify any of the above points then please mail LTSupport@northampton.ac.uk
During the May 2012 Learntech Conference, awards were giving to those tutors who had been rated by their students as providing a well designed NILE site.
The full list of the winners and the nominated modules is available to view.
Tim Joaquim (President of the Student Union) awarded the certificates and noted that it is important that staff spend the time to create NILE sites which enhance the student experience.
A selection of the comments which students made regarding the winning sites are shown below:
| The tutor has a very different approach when using the Nile site. He has a very unique way of presentening the site design and navigation and the content that he uses is just superb. Very helpful, and has really enhanced my learning while I have been in and outside university.He does not just use the Nile site for his lecture notes. But, he also puts new material on the Nile site, also online lectures and a array of activities for us to do. That will enhance our knowledge not only in lectures but for the upcoming assignments. |
| It clearly outlines the criteria to help one achieve success in the module. |
| You receive a great amount of help for each assessment and for seminar work. You also are told straight away about updates as soon as they can be put up on NILE. All the lecture notes and seminar work is put up straight away giving you plenty of time to do your work and giving enough time to do other module work. The criminal law tutors go out of their way to help students who are stuck providing help over email or face to face help…which helps those that are shy. You are also provided with quizzes which help you to revise and motivate you as the revision is put across in an interesting activity. |
| The tutor spent time putting articles and other information on to nile which has helped enormously with learning, and for future reference. her module was outstanding and this is reflected in the content on nile. |
| As an international student with no previous experience of site like NILE as a resource, the tutor the way she present the information on the site, is really helpful and efficient. Always there to help her students, my experience as an international student was enhanced by the collaboration of my tutor. |
| The good thing about Nile is that i can access your learning material, communicate with the lecturers easily and from anywhere. |
| Kept up to date quickly. Guidelines given to direct students in an informative way. Very helpul and allayed a lot of anxieties. Innovative and informative materials given to us as students. |
| It is definitely a place where I can find all I need to do the module. To me the NILE page is my virtual tutor. |
| Very well organised with lots of useful information and resources. Interactive multiple choice quizzes are also very useful in identifying areas of weakness for revision. |
| The powerpoints are always readily available before the lesson so you can read up and prepare yourself for what you will be learning. Also there is extra reading information for extra research. All the information on this Module proves that a lot of time and effort is put into this NILE site. |
| Everything is easy to find, convenient & organised. The site is functional holding all the essential module information; yet easy signposting to relevant further reading is an excellent way of allowing students to continue analysis into a topic without having to trawl through Westlaw.The NILE Site is also updated with topical relevant module related information. This sparks interest in the Module and also helps relate the topics to the ‘real world’.Ultimately we are all perturbed by crime;yet this website makes it so devine |
| Site is clear and has everything we need to access from each week. Easy to find group blogs and assessment hand in or feedback. |
For more detail on how NILE sites may be enhanced, please contact the Learntech Team
Mike Twigger presented on using PebblePad within modules at the Learntech Conference 30-5-12.
Lisa Hanson talked about how she has enhanced the student experience in NILE for International students using a range of interactive tools. The presentation was made at the Learntech Conference 30-5-12
Anne Segalini presented on enhancing the student experience using technology at at the Learntech Conference 30-5-12
Kim Stuart and Leonie Siddons presented on PebblePad for portfolios at the Learntech Conference 30-5-12.
Jacquie Ridge presented on her use of CAIeRO to reduce student failure rate at the Learntech Conference 30-5-12.
Jacquie has also produced a short case study on her work.
Anne Eason talked about her experiences of Submitting and Grading Electronically (SaGE) at the Learntech Conference 30-5-12
I like an event with a good buffet lunch, so the one at the Northants Better Learning Through Technology Development Day went down really well. It had a good mix of tastes, full of vitamins and didn’t leave me with a bloated, stuffed feeling.
The event was much the same: there was a good mix of teachers from across the county who were interested in sharing their use of technology in schools. We had some excellent practical demonstrations of how to use Web 2 tools in the classroom – that’s the vitamins bit of my overstretched analogy – and the schedule was light and refreshing, so my mind wasn’t left feeling bloated.
In the morning, Gareth Honeyford ran a fun, practical session on simple stop-mo animation and its use in the classroom. He also showed what some KS2 students had achieved and it was great to see a demonstration of what young people can achieve with technology, training and imagination.
After Gareth’s session, we broke for coffee and exotic fruit, and found time to tweet comments on the morning. Steven Bryant and Paul Bramble, the School’s excellent technical team, wired up the twitter feed to appear either side of the lecture room, so it was great to see all the positive comments. The tweets were also projected onto monitors in the building’s reception area, so staff from the School of Education were able to follow the stream even if they couldn’t make the event.
Following on from coffee, the highly creative, Peter Ford lead a short activity in which we shared in pairs our use of technology in practice. It was good to keep it practical and great to hear people’s experiences.
Helen Cauldwell followed Peter with some excellent resources on how to work creatively with text. She has a mountain of links, proving she is the Bookmark Queen. I know some of the resources she’s bookmarked, but there’s so many more I’ve never heard of – and I surf the web lots. I guess this proved one of the BLT core beliefs, that sharing between colleagues can have a massive impact on practice, saving hours of time spent trawling. One teacher listened to Helen’s intro to a specific web tool, used it on her school blog during the session, and then shared it in the afternoon’s TeachMeet-style sharing. I tweeted her effort and there you have the #northantsBLT vision working perfectly. These events are always crammed full of excellent resources but more importantly they allow teachers some time to test and try-out at least one thing before they have to jump back into the river and start paddling again.
After lunch, the whirlwind that is Tom Rees delivered a short talk about mobile technology and the current discussion of BYOD, or Bring Your Own Device. Should schools allow students to use their own mobile technology in a class setting? Tom offered a number of views, opinions and perspectives and has invited the #northantsBLT to contribute to a resource of experiences which we hope will have impact at a local level.
The final part of the afternoon gave everyone a 2 minute slot to share an aspect of their practice. Some interesting ideas came up and we’ll find share them on the BLT website. I had lots I wanted to share but my two minutes ran out far too quickly.
I’ve attended past BLT meetings held around the county, so I was keen for the University of Northampton to host one of their inspiring sessions, and I think we were 100% successful. The feedback has been excellent and we’re already talking about being a host again in the future. This was an amazing team effort from Steve Bryant, Paul Bramble, Gareth Honeyford and Helen Cauldwell, but a special thanks goes to Julie Martin, the School Manager for the School of Education, who generously offered to host the event in the School’s newly built Sulgrave building.
I am extremely proud of how the School of Education and the Learning Technology team worked together to put on this event, which people enjoyed and found inspiring. I think it was a great example of great learning through technology, and I am confident the colleagues who attended will go back to their schools with some new ideas and inspire their students..
If you would like to follow the northantBLT network then look out for #northantsBLT or head for bltnorthants.net and have a look around.
See you at the next event.
My hopes for a good lunch are high.
Al Holloway
TWEETS FROM THE DAY
draigcymru40 Tony Whitfield
Have had a truly inspirational day, sharing different ICT ideas with Colleagues #northantsBLT& then twilight training with @janeconsidine.
acevansit Andrew Evans
A fantastic day at the #NorthantsBLT. University of Northampton were superb hosts. Leaving feeling very inspired
spowell81 Stacy Powell
Wow what a fantastic day at #northantsblt I feel overwhelmed with ideas but excited at trying them out.
peterford Peter Ford
University of Northampton is a brilliant venue for the #NorthantsBLT Development Day. Thanks!
simoneshaw Simon Shaw
Many thanks to @peterford and all the teachers who came along to share at #NorthantsBLT
geoffrussell3 geoffrussell3
#northantsBLT Thks for a great BLT day. And to Gareth and the staff at UoN@universityofNorthampton
mosquitomax Amos McMorrow
Listening out to the “Thought-Apples” from the people at the #NorthantsBLT – keep sharing.
lisarich30 Lisa Richards
Inspiring day yesterday at #NorthantsBLT. Thanks to all there and Northants Uni. Its inspired me to tweet!
chrisdicken Chris Dicken
Good buzz at UoN BLT animation workshop #northantsblt
