NILE Updates

NILE Upgrade

Between July 21st 3pm BST and July 22nd 3am BST, NILE was upgraded to the latest version.
More details at: http://blogs.northampton.ac.uk/learntech/2013/05/05/nile-summer-upgrade-2013/

Top 5 NILE tips for Summer 2013

If you do nothing else on NILE then please look at the top 5 actions to complete on NILE this summer. More details at:
http://blogs.northampton.ac.uk/learntech/2013/06/13/top-5-tips-things-to-do-on-nile-for-summer-2013/

NILE Archiving

LearnTech are actively managing the space allocated to us by Blackboard for the NILE system to avoid any unnecessary subscription charges. As we have material on the system which dates back several years, we have archived sites that are no longer being actively used. The sites chosen to archive have creation dates of 2007 (which includes information dating from as far back as 2003) and 2008. If you notice an old site missing from your NILE listing then please contact us before 6^th September. More details at:http://blogs.northampton.ac.uk/learntech/2013/05/24/old-nile-site-archiving-june-2013/
Planning for 2013/14 NILE sites

Rachel McCart is working with the team to assist academic staff with migrating and setting up NILE sites for the 2013/14 academic year. She is specifically, administrating site copies, merging modules and setting up Turnitin for 13/14 NILE modules – requests for work on modules within the current academic year are being dealt with by the rest of the team.
For more details: http://blogs.northampton.ac.uk/learntech/2013/03/13/201314-nile-site-templates/

NILE Uptime

Did you know that NILE over the past year was available 99.91% of the time (including nights, weekends and all holidays). Remember that you can directly access NILE and bypass the University website by going to http://nile.northampton.ac.uk More details at
http://blogs.northampton.ac.uk/learntech/2013/06/09/can-nile-ever-be-unavailable/

LearnTech Events

Staff development

Scheduled LearnTech events until December 2013 are now available to view and signup using the links below. More details at:

http://blogs.northampton.ac.uk/learntech/2013/08/19/learntech-training-sessions-october-to-december-2013/

If you need further development and cannot make one of the scheduled dates (or need the event more urgently) – just get in touch with your LearnTech representative.

SaGE (Submission and Grading Electronically)

10 Steps to SaGE

The most common method of marking online will be using Turnitin. The guidance for this has now been reduced to 10 steps which will form the basis for all staff “SaGE Essential” training sessions. This process is the finalised form which all staff should be aware of when dealing with marking online.

Staff wishing to explore alternative methods of marking online should contact the LearnTech team.

Turnitin iPad app

The new Turnitin iPad app has been made available to download from the App store.

The app allows many of the features that are available on larger devices such as originality report, Grademark, rubrics and audio feedback.

Of particular interest to those having to mark ‘on the move’ is the ability to download papers to mark offline and then resynchronise when reconnecting to the net.

Due to the very small nature of the marking screen, the iPad app should not be used as a primary marking device but may be used to provide some flexibility to those marking whilst travelling.

Review the promotional video to see more on the key features.

Staff should contact their School Learning Technologist for further support and guidance before using the Turnitin app!

Mobile Updates

There is a new release of Blackboard Mobile Learn which should be available to download / update by the end of August. This app will allow mobile access to NILE for both staff and students and is one of the key springboards from iNorthampton in addition to being a useful app in its own right.

iNorthampton is also currently undergoing a  revision which will add new functionality to the maps in addition to allowing for in-app updates rather than having to re-download each time. More news once this is ready to release.

Who are your LearnTech contacts ?

The full team list is at: http://www.northampton.ac.uk/info/200309/technology-enhanced-learning/1160/contact-us

The support address for the team for any Learning Technology related issues is LearnTech@northampton.ac.uk

NILE Updates

Top 5 NILE tips for Summer 2013

If you do nothing else then please look at the top 5 actions to complete on NILE this summer. More details at:
http://blogs.northampton.ac.uk/learntech/2013/06/13/top-5-tips-things-to-do-on-nile-for-summer-2013/

NILE Archiving

LearnTech are actively managing the space allocated to us by Blackboard for the NILE system to avoid any unnecessary subscription charges. As we have material on the system which dates back several years, we intend to archive sites that are no longer being actively used. The sites chosen to archive have creation dates of 2007 (which includes information dating from as far back as 2003) and 2008. This process will take place in the last week of June 2013.More details at:http://blogs.northampton.ac.uk/learntech/2013/05/24/old-nile-site-archiving-june-2013/

Welcome Sites

Welcome sites on NILE are now being created for subject areas to enable applicants to access course details and NILE prior to enrolment. For more details on this then please contact your Student Experience Committee representative for your School or Rob.Howe@northampton.ac.uk

NILE Upgrade

Between July 21st 3pm BST and July 22nd 3am BST, NILE will be upgraded to the latest version. For any issues with timings please contact Rob Howe
More details at: http://blogs.northampton.ac.uk/learntech/2013/05/05/nile-summer-upgrade-2013/

2013/14 NILE sites now available to use

The 2013/14 NILE sites are now available to use and area based on the template discussed at SSECs
More details at: http://blogs.northampton.ac.uk/learntech/2013/03/13/201314-nile-site-templates/

Planning for 2013/14 NILE sites
Rachel McCart is working with the team till July to assist academic staff with migrating and setting up NILE sites for the 2013/14 academic year. She is specifically, administrating site copies, merging modules and setting up Turnitin for 13/14 NILE modules – requests for work on modules within the current academic year are being dealt with by the rest of the team.
For more details: http://blogs.northampton.ac.uk/learntech/2013/03/13/201314-nile-site-templates/

NILE Uptime

Did you know that NILE over the past year was available 99.91% of the time (including nights, weekends and all holidays). Remember that you can directly access NILE and bypass the University website by going to http://nile.northampton.ac.uk More details at
http://blogs.northampton.ac.uk/learntech/2013/06/09/can-nile-ever-be-unavailable/

LearnTech Events

Social Sciences

On the 15th May, a range of staff from Social Sciences presented some excellent mini case studies on work they have either done or are planning which involved some use of technology. For full details see
http://blogs.northampton.ac.uk/learntech/2013/05/16/social-sciences-tech-expo-15th-may-2013/

Staff development

Many thanks to all the staff who attended the recent training events provided by the LearnTech team – you are welcome to provide feedback and suggestions for further development to Rob.Howe@northampton.ac.uk. If you need further develpment then do not wait for the next schedule – just get in touch with your LearnTech representative – http://www.northampton.ac.uk/info/200309/technology-enhanced-learning/1160/contact-us

Survey republished

We have relaunched the staff and student surveys via links on the NILE home page to the SaGE surveys for those individuals who did not have a chance to respond last time or have new items to comment on. The links are as follows:

 Student Survey

https://survey.northampton.ac.uk/esa-summer2013/

 Staff Survey

https://survey.northampton.ac.uk/sage-staff-sumer2013/

Turnitin

Who are your LearnTech contacts ?

The full team list is at: http://www.northampton.ac.uk/info/200309/technology-enhanced-learning/1160/contact-us

The support address for the team for any Learning Technology related issues is LearnTech@northampton.ac.uk

NILE Updates

NILE Upgrade
Between July 21st 3pm BST and July 22nd 3am BST , NILE will be upgraded to the latest version. For any issues with timings please contact Rob Howe
More details at: http://blogs.northampton.ac.uk/learntech/2013/05/05/nile-summer-upgrade-2013/

2013/14 NILE sites now available
The 2013/14 NILE sites are now available to use and area based on the template discussed at SSECs
More details at: http://blogs.northampton.ac.uk/learntech/2013/03/13/201314-nile-site-templates/

Organising your courses and modules in the sites box within NILE
To make ‘My Sites’ far more useable, click the cog icon at the top right – then tick the box next to ‘Group by Term’ to arrange sites by academic year.  You may also wish to untick any sites you do not need to see on the homepage; and/or click and drag in the first column to change the order the sites are listed in.
More details at: http://blogs.northampton.ac.uk/learntech/2013/05/07/organise-your-my-sites-box-on-your-nile-homepage/

Planning for 2013/14 NILE sites
Rachel McCart is working with the team till July to assist academic staff with migrating and setting up NILE sites for the 2013/14 academic year. She is specifically, administrating site copies, merging modules and setting up Turnitin for 13/14 NILE modules – requests for work on modules within the current academic year are being dealt with by the rest of the team.
For more details: http://blogs.northampton.ac.uk/learntech/2013/03/13/201314-nile-site-templates/

Assisting with status updates and Turnitin submissions
The LearnTech team have added a widget in the top right corner of the NILE screen to display the current time and date in the UK. This is to help overseas students to determine the correct deadlines to work to for online submission.
We have also added a box on the login page to notify users that the NILE and Turnitin services are (or are not) working normally. We will change the image to a red cross if there are any problems with either of the systems. At all other times a green tick will be displayed.

New Library Account Service
The new ‘My Library Account’ box embeds live library account information onto your NILE homepage.
More details: http://blogs.northampton.ac.uk/learntech/2013/04/17/new-%E2%80%98my-library-account%E2%80%99-service/

LearnTech Training

LearnTech Training sessions
A range of training to assist staff with SaGE, NILE and other learning technologies is now available.
More details at: http://blogs.northampton.ac.uk/learntech/2013/04/24/learntech-training-may-june-2013/

Video – Out with the old and in with the new

The University has now acquired the Kaltura Video Streaming platform which is used by institutions worldwide and will provide a solid base for future work involving video along with a tight integration into NILE. As part of the migration to this new tool, LearnTech are phasing out the old Video Library Server (VLS) which has been used in the past. All those who have uploaded content onto this service have been contacted and advised on the process to transfer files.
For an overview of Kaltura please look at http://corp.kaltura.com/  

SaGE (Submission and Grading Electronically)

Results of SaGE survey and further planning
SaGE survey and feedback are now available on the SaGE blog
More details at: http://blogs.northampton.ac.uk/sage/2013/05/05/sage-survey-findings-and-moving-forward/

Mobile Updates

Results of 2012/13 mobile survey
The results of the 2012/13 mobile survey are now available and are informing future developments of iNorthampton and mobile services more generally at Northampton.
More details at: http://blogs.northampton.ac.uk/learntech/2013/04/19/2013-mobile-survey-%E2%80%93-response-and-actions/

LearnTech Staffing and Communications update

Since the last newsletter, Rob Davis has left the team and been replaced by Simon Thompson. Simon will pick up responsibilities as key contact for Social Sciences.
Rachel McCart is working with the team till July to assist staff with migrating and setting up NILE sites for the 2013/14 academic year. She is specifically, administrating site copies, merging modules and setting up Turnitin for 13/14 NILE modules – requests for work on modules within the current academic year are being dealt with by the rest of the team.
The full team list is at: http://www.northampton.ac.uk/info/200309/technology-enhanced-learning/1160/contact-us

New Email
A new support email address has been created for the team for any Learning Technology related issues (LearnTech@northampton.ac.uk) . All emails sent to the old LTSupport email address are now being forwarded on to the new address.