Netiquette – Communicating your expectations for online participation

Mary Jacob, Lecturer in Learning and Teaching, LTEU

The term ‘Netiquette’ means etiquette for interacting on the internet. In the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit, staff often ask us about appropriate guidelines for students when interacting online.

There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to netiquette. Because different teaching scenarios require different guidelines, you will need to decide on the most appropriate rules for your own students. We’ve written this document to help you make those decisions when teaching synchronously (e.g. via Teams) and asynchronously (e.g. discussion boards), using verbal and/or written interactions.

If you can make your expectations clear to your students, it will give them confidence and reduce potential issues. Here are our key tips:

Tip 1: Make your expectations clear from the start and reinforce as needed. What seems obvious to us may not be obvious to our students. Telling them what we expect helps students behave appropriately and learn better.
Tip 2: Don’t change the rules mid-stream. Changing the rules after the module has begun could be confusing. Anticipating potential issues in advance can help us to avoid them.
Tip 3: Be fair and inclusive. The assumptions we make may not address all of the challenges our students face. Considering their diverse backgrounds and needs helps us include everyone.
Tip 4: Model good online behaviour. We serve as a powerful role model when we put into practice the same things we want our students to do.

Vevox Polling Tool

23rd March 20215th November 2021 WordPress User [jbw] Polling Software, Vevox 1 Comment

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The Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit is pleased to announce that Vevox has been chosen as Aberystwyth University’s polling solution. Our Vevox licence will last for a minimum of 3 years.

You can get started today by logging into https://aberystwyth.vevox.com/ with your AU username and password.

We’ve produced the following support materials for you to make the most of this polling tool:

Kate Exley Workshop Summary

12th March 202128th April 2021 WordPress User [jbw] External Speakers, Microsoft Teams, Online Teaching, Virtual Learning Environment(VLE) 1 Comment

Last month the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit invited Dr Kate Exley to run a workshop for Aberystwyth University Staff called Moving your (PowerPoint) Lecture online.

What emerged from participants were lots of useful strategies for engaging students whilst teaching online. We’ve summarised some of the discussion below.

Learning Design:

Simple strategies were most effective, such as using word document and uploading into chat
Make use of Polling Software to engage students in their learning
Build in ice-breaker activities to establish initial engagement
In longer sessions, set a task and factor in a screen break
Include tasks for students to do in advance and use the live sessions to scaffold their knowledge
Include social tasks as well as formal tasks
One department are running day long workshops with the option to ‘dial’ in the staff member if they’ve got any questions
Stick to one or two large scale activities in a 40 minute session
Be aware that students might be entering the synchronous session not having engaged with all tasks beforehand
Use collaborative tools such as shared document, whiteboard or Padlet to collectively generate notes
Being more informal in recorded lectures
Offering weekly live q and a drop in sessions
Asking students to meet in groups outside of timetabled activities
Share real life examples / case studies in teaching and ask students to contribute with their own examples
Ask students to look things up / research in the synchronous session

Call for Proposals: Learning and Teaching Conference 2021

3rd March 202128th April 2021 WordPress User [jbw] Annual Learning and Teaching Conference 2021, Conference Leave a comment

We are now inviting proposals for the 9^th Annual Learning and Teaching Conference, Wednesday 30th June – Friday 2nd July 2021.

Submit and view the call for proposals here.

This year’s conference theme, Improvisation within Constraint: Reshaping a Learning Community in a Time of Change, 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:

Flexible approaches to assessment design
Embedding skills into the curriculum
Lessons learnt from a blended approach
Active Learning

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 30th April 2021.

If you have any questions, please contact the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit at lteu@aber.ac.uk.

E-learning Enhanced: Interactive Blackboard Tools Training Sessions

11th February 202128th April 2021 WordPress User [jbw] Blackboard, Blackboard Blogs, Blackboard Discussion Boards, Blackboard Journals, Blackboard Tests, Blackboard Wikis, Interactive Tools, Teaching Continuity, Training and Support Leave a comment

Distance Learner Banner The Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit is pleased to be running our E-learning Enhanced training sessions again this semester.

We’ve got a session scheduled for each of Blackboard’s Interactive Tools: Discussion Boards, Wikis, Tests & Quizzes, and Journals & Blogs. In addition to this, we’ve got a number of Welsh Medium workshops on ‘What can I do in Blackboard?’ as well as some more CPD opportunities.

Blackboard Tools are incredibly versatile and can be adapted for a wide variety of different learning activities: from formative and summative assessment to peer and online learning community building, from reflective activities to the creation of resources. As with all technology enhanced learning, the key is the design of the activity and how that is linked to learning outcomes. Putting the teaching need first and choosing the most appropriate tool will result in meaningful engagements with the task.

These sessions have been designed in such a way to foreground the learning design of the activity as well as the technical creation. Participants will be given the opportunity in these sessions to design a learning activity using the relevant tool and will be provided with technical videos and tips for best embedding their tools in their teaching.

See below for dates and times:

Date	Session
22.02.2021	Designing and Using Blackboard Discussion Boards
26.02.2021	Beth allaf ei wneud gyda Blackboard?
03.03.2021	Designing and Using Wikis for Online Collaborative Activities
11.03.2021	Creating Blackboard Tests and Quizzes
17.03.2021	Using Blackboard Journals and Blogs for Learning Activities
22.03.2021	Beth allaf ei wneud gyda Blackboard?

You can see our full list of CPD and book your place online: https://stafftraining.aber.ac.uk/sd/list_courses.php. All our sessions are designed to be run online via Teams. You will be sent a calendar invitation with a link to the session beforehand.

Tips for teaching with Breakout Rooms

18th January 202128th April 2021 WordPress User [jbw] Microsoft Teams, Online Teaching, Teaching Continuity 2 Comments

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In case you didn’t see our previous blogpost, breakout rooms are now available in Microsoft Teams. In preparation for semester 2 teaching and for increased online teaching, we’re going to give you some design tips on how best to make use of Breakout Rooms. They can be used to great effect to help support and further student learning, as well as offering the option to break down larger groups of students into more manageable discussion groups.

As with all our advice for online learning, think about what you want your students to do before, during, and after the activity.

Before starting Breakout Rooms:

Familiarise yourself with how breakout rooms work. Breakout rooms can only be set up once the meeting has started. To create breakout rooms, you must be the organiser of the meeting.
Design the task for students and communicate that with them beforehand. Ask yourself what it is that you want your students to be able to do after they have engaged with the activity? Do you want them to produce anything whilst in the breakout room? Do you want them to present anything when they come back into the main room?
Make sure that students understand what is being asked of them before they go into breakout groups. Also, give them a strategy for contacting you if they’ve got any questions. This might be using the chat feature in the main room. Or a student re-joining the main meeting again.
Let the students know how long they’ve got in the breakout room before they have to come back into the main room.

Content Organisation in Blackboard

11th January 202128th April 2021 WordPress User [jbw] Blackboard, Exemplary Course Award, Interactive Tools, Teaching Continuity, Training and Support, Virtual Learning Environment(VLE) 1 Comment

Distance Learner Banner As we are using more and more functionality in Blackboard modules, how they are organised has become increasingly important. We receive quite a number of queries from students struggling to locate various items or submission points in Blackboard.

To assist with navigation, we’ve pulled together our top tips on content organisation.

If you’ve got any questions about this or want to request a module MOT, please email elearning@aber.ac.uk.

Tips for Organising Blackboard Content

Before you start creating content on your Blackboard modules, think about how it can best be arranged so that students can easily access it and that learning resources and activities are in a logical place.

Kate Exley Workshop: Taking your (PowerPoint) Lectures Online

6th January 202128th April 2021 WordPress User [jbw] Events and Networks, External Speakers, Online Teaching, Training and Support Leave a comment

The Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit is pleased to announce a special online workshop run by Dr Kate Exley on Wednesday 17^th February.

The workshop will be useful for colleagues who are modifying and transferring their traditionally delivered lectures for on-line learning.

Please book your place online [link].

So that as many colleagues as possible can attend, we are running the workshop twice (11am-12pm and 1pm-2pm). Please select which session you want to attend when booking.

Places are limited so please book as soon as possible.

Session Overview:

Many colleagues have been involved in providing blended or on-line learning for many years but the Covid pandemic has meant that we have all needed to quickly provide much of our teaching and learning at a distance. This has involved moving our lectures, previously delivered in large lecture theatres and classrooms, to online platforms. The speed at which this huge change has happened has in itself caused significant challenges for staff and students alike. This blended workshop aims to provide some guidance, examples and a forum for colleagues to share their experiences and ideas for enhancing this provision.

This workshop is presented in two parts:

A set of 3 short videos will be made available on or before the 5th February 2021 and should be viewed independently before joining discussion forum – approximately 45 minutes independent study.
A discussion forum hosted via Teams on the 17th February, in which participants will have the opportunity to ask questions, share experiences and discuss the topic – lasting 1 hour.

Save the Date: Annual Learning and Teaching Conference

26th November 202028th April 2021 WordPress User [jbw] Annual Learning and Teaching Conference 2021, Conference, Events and Networks 1 Comment

Save the date banner - 30.06.2021-02.07.2021

The Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit are excited to announce the date for the 9th Annual Learning and Teaching Conference. The conference will be taking place between Wednesday 30^th June and Friday 2^nd July 2021.

Look out for Calls for Proposals and the announcement of the conference theme later this month. As usual, we will be updating our Learning and Teaching Conference Webpages and also our blog to keep you up-to-date with how things are progressing.

External Speaker: Mini Conference: Advice for Action – Promoting Good Feedback Practice

23rd November 202028th April 2021 WordPress User [jbw] Conference, Events and Networks, Feedback, Marking, Mini Conference 2020 Feedback, Rubrics 2 Comments

Distance Learner Banner On Wednesday 16^th December, the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit will host their next Mini Conference.

We are delighted to announce that Dr Naomi Winstone from University of Surrey will be giving a presentation:

From Transmission to Transformation: Maximising Student Engagement with Feedback

Even the highest-quality feedback on students’ work will not have an impact on their development unless students actively engage with and implement the advice. The literature, alongside anecdotal reports of educators, often paint a negative picture of students’ willingness to read and enact feedback. My recent programme of research has focused on students’ cognitive, motivational, and emotional landscapes and how they influence the ways in which students receive, process, and implement feedback on their work. In this talk, I will argue that maximising students’ engagement with feedback is fundamentally an issue of design, where opportunities for students to develop the skills required for effective use of feedback, and opportunities to apply feedback, can transform the role of students in assessment. In particular, I will share a toolkit of resources that we developed in partnership with students to support the development of feedback ‘recipience skills’. Through this approach, I demonstrate how the responsibility for ensuring that feedback has high impact can, and should, be shared between educators and students.