Practice Organisations available for all teaching staff

Practice ModulesWe have created Practice Organisations for all staff with teaching roles. These organisations are spaces where you can try out the many different features of Blackboard and preload materials without working on a live Blackboard module.

To access the Practice Organisation, log into Blackboard, and scroll down to My Organisations. You will see your practice module with the code PRAC_username.

If you build something in your practice organisation then you are able to copy content over into a live module. We’ve got the following FAQs for copying:

In addition to this, there are many more FAQs and Guides to support your use of Blackboard, in addition to further information on our website.

As these are practice courses, they don’t contain enrolments and there are certain items that can’t be copied, such as:

  • Turnitin submission points
  • Items that have adaptive release enabled
  • Any assessed items linked to the grade centre
  • Blackboard groups

You are welcome to use your practice course at any time. Practice organisations are not subject to Blank Course Copy and the content will rollover every year.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Call for Proposals: Learning and Teaching Conference 2020

We are now inviting proposals for the 8th Annual Learning and Teaching Conference, Monday 7th – Wednesday 9th September 2020.

Submit and view the call for proposals here.

This year’s conference theme, Enhancing the Curriculum: Inspire Learning and Invigorate Teaching aims to reflect the commitment that AU staff have to enhance the student learning experience. The four main strands of this year’s conference are:

  • Creating a Learning Community
  • Developing Wellbeing in the Curriculum
  • Embedding Active Learning
  • Working with Students as Partners

Staff, postgraduate teaching assistants, and students are welcome to propose sessions on any topic relating to learning and teaching, especially those that focus on the incorporation and use of technology. Even if your suggestion doesn’t fit a particular strand, other topics are welcome.

We seek to encourage presenters to consider using alternative formats that reflect and suit the content of their sessions. As such, we are not specifying a standardised presentation format.

Please complete this form no later than 26th June 2020.

If you have any questions, please contact the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit at elearning@aber.ac.uk  or phone us on extension 2472.

 

Kate Exley Workshop

The Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit is pleased to announce that Dr Kate Exley will be running two workshops on Tuesday 24th March 2020. 

Dr Exley is Senior Staff Development Officer at the University of Leeds and a Consultant in Higher Education. She has particular expertise in Higher Education Teaching and Learning, Assessment and Accreditation, Supervising Research Students and Career Review, and Course Design and Curriculum Change.   

These workshops have been specifically designed to support the implementation of the forthcoming Active Learning projects that form part of the Learning and Teaching Strategy 2019-2022. The workshops will focus on Active Learning for small and large group teaching. The workshops are open to all members of the University community but we strongly recommend that staff members or their nominee involved in the implementation of the Active Learning projects attend.   

To ensure that as many people as possible can attend, the workshop will run twice – once 9.30am-12pm and again 12.30-3pm. Places are limited and booking is recommended.  

To book your place, fill in your details on this online form and specify which workshop you would prefer to attend.  

If you have any queries regarding these workshops please email lteu@aber.ac.uk.