CTIL Updates

We’re not entirely convinced the month of August happened this year as September has come up so quickly, but as we are now in Welcome Week we have collected list of things to double-check as you finalise any work before classes start.

• Check the appropriate staff are enrolled and that they have the correct role. Avoid having too many lecturers and make more use of the Teaching Assistant or support role depending on what they are doing.
  • We have guides on enrolling colleagues on modules, changing staff roles in modules, and explanations of what each role can and cannot do.
• Make sure that Resource list is visible to students on My Dundee or at https://resourcelists.dundee.ac.uk/
• Make sure the module is visible (and areas visible that you want the students to see).
  • We have guides on releasing modules and releasing content inside your module.
• Make sure the top sections of your module are ready.
  • Welcome to this module: Welcome message / a picture of the member of staff / or a video introduction.
  • Module guide updated as needed: has the modules outcomes copied across.
  • Module guide updated as needed (e.g. who to contact for module specific stuff, etc).
  • No default text still in place.

You can also review the current module baseline (see appendix 1).

For information and updates on the Hybrid project, you can check out the Hybrid blog and Hybrid guides.

Showcase

FocusOn: Accessibility

Richard Holme, Academic Lead for Master of Education (MEd) Programmes talks about designing and delivering teaching content that is both accessible and supports learning. He draws on research into seductive detail to consider presentation template design, delivery style, and how to avoid seductive detail. This session is suitable for those who deliver teaching online, in person, or staff briefings. This session builds on the Learning X Designing Content Resources.

Tool updates

Collaborate

This month, Collaborate has integrated our most requested feature: you can use groups you created in your module to create groups in breakout rooms!!!

Groups created in your Blackboard Learn course are now available in your course Collaborate sessions for breakouts. Instructors can use their existing course groups to create breakout groups in advance and save time. Build on existing student collaboration. With this integration, students can stay in their same group without extra work for the instructor. In the Collaborate session, the instructor can also enjoy some flexibility and adjust groups as needed without impacting the groups in Learn. For example, to balance groups among attendees.

You can read more about the Collaborate release news here.

Blackboard (My Dundee)

Blackboard version v3900.21.0  was released on 2 September 2021, with an additional update on 16 September. This was a small update and primarily resolved some issues around SCORM packages and language packs. You can read the full details on Blackboard’s release notes page.

YuJa

With the new Platform update, the two buttons for Trim Start and Trim End are now removed in favour of the main Trim button. They have also implemented a new toggle to switch between the Beginner and Advanced modes, which will simplify things. Click here to learn more about the Video Platform Video Editor.

Teams LTI

Throughout the pandemic, Blackboard has been working on creating an LTI to integrate Teams with Blackboard (My Dundee). An LTI, or Learning Tools Interoperability, is what is used to connect different tools together – one example of an LTI you have likely used is Turnitin.  

After testing and discussion of this integration, we will not be implementing this LTI for the 21/22 academic year.

The LTI connection that Blackboard has been working on is very new. In their own words, this is still very much in its infancy. One advantage we gain by not releasing this very new integration yet is that we will be able to track the documentation of it on Blackboard. It is expected that there will be currently unforeseen teething problems that will arise when it is used regularly in the classroom environment. 

Pedagogi-cool

Enhance your Module

Enhance your Module is a My Dundee module that will encourage you to think about how to get more out of the online learning environment in your My Dundee modules. Designed to be primarily self directed, it guides you through developing a new module to ensure your students will have all the key information they need to start learning.

It will also point you to examples of what’s working well across the University to help inspire you and highlight some approaches to blended learning that you might not be aware of.

Module Aims

The aim of the module is to give staff an authentic opportunity to participate in a fully online educational environment, run in a primarily asynchronous way. This will allow participants to recognise the experience as an educationally worthwhile, flexible, and enjoyable opportunity while becoming familiar with blended learning delivery, initially as a learner then as an educator.

Video introduction

Use this sign up sheet to access the module.

Tippy’s updates

LJ Logue has put together an excellent batch of resources for getting your modules ready. Check out the full guide on Organising Content on My Dundee, and see our favourite tip from this post below:

If you have copied content over from another module, it is best to tidy up the content and re-organise it in your course structure.

Fortnightly round-up

What we’re doing:

Keep an eye on this space for any upcoming workshops. In the meantime, don’t forget the weekly drop-ins! These are held every Tuesday and Thursday from 10:30 – 11:30 in the Organisation room in the eLearning Resources for Staff organisation in My Dundee.

What we’ve made:

Check out the YuJa playlist for the FocusOn sessions so you can catch up on any you’ve missed

We’ve been posting new videos in the My Dundee 101 (instructor) set on Vimeo.

CTIL Recommends:

“Tips for Designing Collaborative Learning Experiences and Group Work with Dr. Alexandra Mihai” – This podcast episode from Dr. Honeycutt features Alexandra Mihai, Assistant Professor of Innovation in Learning in Higher Education at Maastricht Uni. We also recommend checking out the rest of the podcasts from Dr. Honeycutt!

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