{"id":7739,"date":"2021-02-17T12:25:00","date_gmt":"2021-02-17T12:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/?p=7739"},"modified":"2022-11-10T09:24:38","modified_gmt":"2022-11-10T09:24:38","slug":"how-long-does-it-take-to-build-an-ultra-course","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/2021\/02\/17\/how-long-does-it-take-to-build-an-ultra-course\/","title":{"rendered":"How long does it take to build an Ultra course?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Introduction<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Following up on our recent post, ‘What do UON staff think about Blackboard Ultra?<\/a>‘, staff who have designed, built and taught students on Ultra courses shared their thoughts with us about the work involved in creating Ultra courses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to better understand this issue, we asked UON staff piloting Ultra courses the following question:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“If you were discussing Ultra with a colleague, what would you advise them on the following two matters:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. How much time would you suggest they put aside for training and getting up-to-speed with Ultra?<\/li>
  2. How much time would you suggest they put aside to put their first Ultra course together, assuming that they had already got the static content items (PPTs, PDFs, videos, etc.) they needed already prepared?”<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    This question was put to all members of staff piloting Ultra courses, and eight responses were received (FAST=4; FBL=1; FHES=3). Of the eight members of staff who responded: one was teaching a 20 credit level 4 module; one was teaching a 20 credit level 4 module and a 10 credit level 5 module; one was teaching a 20 credit level 5 module; two were teaching 20 credit level 6 modules; one was teaching a 40 credit level 6 module; and two were teaching 30 credit level 7 modules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Findings<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    The responses to the first question varied, with suggestions ranging from 2 to 3 hours, to 4 to 5 hours, and up to 2 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    As can be seen from the chart below, the responses to the second question varied very widely; however, both the median and mean averages are very close at 3.25 and 3.29 days respectively. Interestingly, there was no correlation between the credit value of the module and amount of time taken to put together one\u2019s first Ultra course. Respondents 1, 5, 7 and 8 (who chose the most and the least amounts of time) were all teaching 20 credit undergraduate modules.<\/p>\n\n\n

    \n
    \"Suggested<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

    Please note that the qualitative responses from staff are in many cases considerably more nuanced than the simple quantitative figures presented here in the findings, and in some cases a judgement has been made as to the best single figure to represent a respondent\u2019s views<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Recommendations<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Given the available evidence, it is suggested that staff may need to spend the following amount of time training, planning, and putting together their Ultra courses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n