Blackboard Ultra: Stakeholder Meeting 1

22nd September 202222nd September 2022 James Woolley [jbw] Blackboard, Technical Updates, Ultra Leave a comment

The Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit is starting to work on our next project: the move to Blackboard Ultra. Over the coming months we’ll be using our blog to communicate project progression as well as important information.

Over the next year or so, you’ll probably hear the following phrases:

Ultra Base Navigation: the name given to the new design and navigation within Blackboard, before you enter a module or organisation.
Ultra Course View: a more modern design and easy-to-use interface for modules with some new tools that are not available in the Original Course View.
Original Course View: the design and interface we are currently using for modules and which Blackboard is retiring.
LTI (Learning Tools Interoperability): the external tools integrated into Blackboard such as Turnitin and Panopto.

There are advantages to using Ultra:

More intuitive course design and content creation.
Increased compatibility with mobile and tablet devices.
Benefits from Blackboard’s continuous updates and support.
Updated aesthetic.

Whilst we recognise these benefits, the change may be disruptive for colleagues and students but we will be working hard to ensure the rollout is as smooth as possible.

For colleagues, we’ll be running training sessions next year so that you are as prepared for this change as possible.

In this first blogpost, we’ll provide a summary of our first stakeholder engagement meeting which took place on Friday 16 September. Your departmental directors of learning and teaching along with other stakeholders were invited to the meeting.

Our client support colleagues from Blackboard gave attendees a tour of the Ultra interface from an instructor’s perspective and a day in the life of a student.

We have made the meeting available for everyone via Panopto.

Following the stakeholder meeting we will be working on the following areas:

When can we enable Ultra Base Navigation?
What will the course creation and copying process look like for colleagues?
How does Blackboard Ultra manage Welsh and English content?

Keep a lookout for further updates. If you have got any questions, do let us know (lteu@aber.ac.uk).

Student Digital Insights Survey Results (2021-2022)

31st August 202231st August 2022 James Woolley [jbw] Blackboard, Digital Experience Insights, HyFlex, Online Teaching Leave a comment

By Joseph Wiggins

Aberystwyth University has once again run the Students Digital Insights Survey, a survey that asks learners the impact of online and technology implemented learning. This year over 600 students at Aberystwyth University took this survey.

The Key Metrics

81% of students felt supported to use own devices, 74% felt support for access to online platforms / services off site, 83% approved of the quality of the online learning environment, 44% found online learning materials engaging and motivating, 72% found online learning convenient, 80% identified online learning on course as quality, 22% fond that they were provided with reward / recognition for teir digital skills, 72% said they were supported to learn effectively online.

The JISC survey has changed in the last year with some of the key metric questions being changed, for the questions that have stayed very similar or the same we can compare to last year’s results.

Key Metric	2020-2021	2021-2022
Supported use of own devices	60%	81%
Access to online platforms off-site	67%	74%
Online learning environment	40%	83%
Quality of online learning on course	69%	80%

In a majority of these key metrics we saw a positive increase with Aberystwyth University having improved from the previous year. This trend of improvement is mirrored throughout the survey results. In the case of questions which changed in the key metrics a lot of them are incomparable because of the changes made. For example, last year asked about ‘Well-designed’ online learning materials. This was changed to ‘Engaging and motivating’ online learning materials. With online learning trends questions relating to motivation are typically exceptionally more negative, making questions that use these adjectives much more negative.

Welcome to new staff joining Aberystwyth University

25th August 202225th August 2022 James Woolley [jbw] Blackboard, E-submission, Events and Networks, Panopto, Training and Support Leave a comment

We’re the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit. Based in Information Services, we work with staff across the university to support and develop learning and teaching. We run a wide range of activities to do this.

All the information that you need is on the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit webpages. Our Supporting your Teaching webpages will help you with various teaching solutions.

We write a blog full of the latest updates, details on events and training sessions, and resources.

If you need to get in touch with us, you can do so using one of two email addresses:

lteu@aber.ac.uk (for pedagogical and design questions, or to arrange a consultation) or

elearning@aber.ac.uk (for technical queries regarding our e-learning tools listed below)

Parent-child modules 2022-23

27th July 202227th July 2022 James Woolley [jbw] Blackboard, Technical Updates Leave a comment

Now that the 2022-23 modules are available to staff, we can link them together at the module co-ordinator’s request. This process is known as parent-childing. Linking modules together is an effective way of dealing with separate modules with the same content so you don’t have to upload materials to two or more different modules.

This process makes one module the parent, whilst the other module(s) become a child. There’s no limit on how many modules you make a child but there can only be one parent.

If you’d like to parent-child your modules, and you’re the module co-coordinator, contact elearning@aber.ac.uk with the module codes for the parent and child modules.

Examples from Aberystwyth

Many members of staff are currently using parent-child modules across the institution. Some examples are:

Modules are taught the same content but there’s a module available for different years
Modules with the same content delivered in English and Welsh
Modules that bring together different degree schemes and have different module IDs, for example dissertation modules

Essentially, any module that shares the same content is ideal for parent-childing.

2022-2023 Modules now available to Staff

26th July 202226th July 2022 James Woolley [jbw] Blackboard, Technical Updates Leave a comment

Modules for the academic year 2022-2023 are now available for staff teaching on modules. This is in order to assist staff in preparing for the new academic year.

You may have noticed that a new tab has appeared on the top menu of your Blackboard screen:

If you’re enrolled as a staff member on the module in Astra then you should be able to view your modules for next academic year. If you’re not able to see a module that you are enrolled on then contact your Departmental Administrator. Students won’t be enrolled on the module until registration is complete.

If you have any queries regarding Course Copy, or need further assistance, please email elearning@aber.ac.uk.

Blackboard Course Creation 2022-23

7th June 20227th June 2022 James Woolley [jbw] Blackboard, Technical Updates Leave a comment

Towards the end of July we will start to create Blackboard modules for 2022-23.

Unlike previous years, there will be no existing courses created blank. This decision was made at the recent Academic Board.

Course content and files will be copied over from the version of the module in the previous academic year. Turnitin submission points, Panopto recordings, and interactive Blackboard activities are not included in the copy; these will need to be rebuilt. We’ve got lots of FAQs to assist staff with this.

If you are running a new module then these will be created using your pre-agreed Departmental Templates. Similarly, if you are running a module that hasn’t run in the past couple of years then these will also be created blank.

If you have any questions about this process, please contact us (elearning@aber.ac.uk). Once the modules have been created, we will let you know.

Exemplary Course Award 2021-22

7th April 20227th April 2022 James Woolley [jbw] Blackboard, Exemplary Course Award Leave a comment

Dr Laura Stephenson, from the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies, has been awarded the Exemplary Course Award for the module TFM0120: Gender and Media Production.

In addition to the winner, the following modules achieved Highly Commended:

Dr Andrew Filmer from the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies for the module TP33420: Performance and Architecture
Dr Maire Gorman from the Graduate School and Physics for the module PGM4310: Quantitative Data Collection and Analysis
Claire Ward from Lifelong Learning for the module XA01605: Natural History Illustration: Seed Heads

The diverse range of teaching and learning styles evidenced in this year’s applications reflects the innovative work that is taking place across the institution.

The aim of the Exemplary Course Award, now in its seventh year, aims to recognise the very best learning and teaching practices. It gives staff members the opportunity to share their work with colleagues, enhance their current modules in Blackboard, and receive feedback on to improve.

Modules are assessed across 4 areas: course design, interaction and collaboration, assessment, and learner support. The self-assessed nature of the award gives staff the opportunity to reflect on their course and enhance aspects of their module before a panel assesses each application against the rubric.

The panel and the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit would like to thank all of the applicants for the time and effort that they have put into their applications and modules this year.

We’re looking forward to receiving more applications next year and many congratulations to the recipients of this year’s award.

Welcome to new staff joining Aberystwyth University

5th January 20225th January 2022 James Woolley [jbw] Blackboard, E-submission, Interactive Tools, Training and Support Leave a comment

Welcome to new staff joining Aberystwyth University

We’re the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit. Based in Information Services. We work with staff across the university to support and develop learning and teaching. We run a wide range of activities to do this.

All the information that you need is on theLearning and Teaching Enhancement Unit webpages. We have recently worked intensively with academic colleagues to develop solutions in response to the Covid 19 pandemic. Our Supporting your Teachingwebpages will help you with various teaching solutions.

We write a blog full of the latest updates, details on events and training sessions, and resources.

If you need to get in touch with us, you can do so using one of two email addresses:

lteu@aber.ac.uk (for pedagogical and design questions, or to arrange a consultation) or

elearning@aber.ac.uk (for technical queries regarding our e-learning tools listed below)

What is a well-designed Blackboard module? Project

8th December 20218th December 2021 James Woolley [jbw] Blackboard, Students as Partners, Uncategorised Leave a comment

Written by Ania Udalowska

A well-designed Blackboard module may mean different things for different people. We asked our group of Student Learning Ambassadors to brainstorm what does it mean to them that a module is well-design. The findings of this discussion divided into categories can be found below.

Module Information

Teaching schedule – showing what is expected throughout the semester (which is carried out throughout the design of the module in folders). It is not necessary to have to release all content at the start of the module rather a roadmap showing students what they need to plan for. Download the teaching schedule example:

Teaching-schedule-example Download

Module handbook – one of the students explained that the handbook is almost like a contract between a student and a module coordinator. It should include all essential information (which may be, and in some cases, should be also included in different sections, e.g., all assessment-related information in Assessment & Feedback). Take a look at this blog post on comprehensive handbooks.

FAQs on the module – FAQs could be generated throughout the module based on queries received by the module coordinator and could be then used to help future students, e.g., what textbook is best / how do you set the assignment out/ suggestions of resources to help with a tricky concept etc. You could use the discussion board functionality to ask students for questions they want to know answers to.

Short introduction video – it would be nice to include a video that welcomes students into the module, explains how to navigate it and briefly outlines what will the teaching schedule look like. It does not have to be long nor formal!

Learning Materials

Folders – content should be divided into weeks (or topics). It should correspond with the teaching schedule. Consistency within folders is just as important, try to include the same type of learning materials in each folder (you can use small icons to indicate the type of activity) and keep them in a consistent order:

Live session preparation tasks – make it clear what needs to be done.
Teams links to live sessions.
Pre-recorded lectures (clear/ small chunks/ and no background noise)
Lecture slides and lecture handouts with space for notes (how to convert PowerPoint slides into handouts)
Activities to complete that give instant results/feedback to test knowledge. You could use Blackboard tests or Panopto quizzes.
Examples, relating theory to real-world as much as possible.
Reading – which items from the reading list refer to that week’s content.

Note: Where possible use review status and adaptive release – students progress at a different pace, some prefer for the content to be released all at once, others in stages. Having the review status and adaptive release can give students control over how much content they see at once and it also helps them to stay organised.

Workaround for Blackboard 404 error when accessing files using the Microsoft Edge browser.

6th December 20216th December 2021 Robert Francis [rsf09] Blackboard, Technical Updates 1 Comment

The Microsoft Edge browser attempts to open Microsoft Office files directly in the browser. When accessing files in Blackboard this is causing an error with the message; “404 – File or directory not found.”