Not to worry. Vevox run regular online webinars, so if you’ve not used our new polling software before and want a great beginner’s guide, sign up to their online webinar Zero to Hero (in 15 minutes!). Running on Tuesday afternoons through to the end of November.
We’ve also got our guides and FAQs available on our Vevox webpages.
Don’t forget to come along to our mini conference on Thursday 16th December.
The Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit is pleased to announce that it’s next Mini Conference will be taking place on Thursday 16th December, online via Teams.
We’ll be taking a look at polling software – a tool that can be used to engage students in their learning and drive-up understanding of complex topics. This year, the University procured Vevox, an online polling tool, that is fully integrated in Teams and can make your face to face activities interactive.
We’re looking for colleagues that make use of polling software in their learning and teaching to present at the Mini Conference. Potential topics might include:
Submit your proposal online before Friday 19th November.
Booking for the one-day event is already open – book online.
We’ll be joined by some external presenters at the event so keep an eye on our blog as we announce our programme.
If you’ve got any questions, let us know: lteu@aber.ac.uk.
As part of our institutional subscription to Vevox, we’re able to attend webinars run by Vevox. On Thursday 30th September at 2pm Vevox will be running a webinar entitled Co-creating expectations with Vevox. The webinar will be run by Tom Langston who is a Digital Learning and Teaching specialist at the University of Portsmouth.
The webinar will give ideas on ways in which polling (both digital and “analog”) can be used to engage students, practical guidance on the structure of discussions, and using the Q and A function for students to share their learning and ask questions.
Register for this webinar online.
Sign up for the training session: E-learning Essentials: Introduction to Vevox.
If you need any further information about Vevox, check out our Polling Tool webpages.
Vevox will have an update on 13th September which will introduce a couple of new question types involving images.
You can upload an image as the question type and ask your students to mark on the image the solution. This will be great for diagrams, maps, or graphs:
Another image type question, but this time give your students the opportunity to select the correct answer from a number of distractors:
A reminder that we’ve got Vevox running training sessions on:
These sessions will cover:
Book your place online.
For a list of all updates coming on 13th September, check out Vevox’s blogpost.
All of our guidance for Vevox is available on our polling webpages.
One of the benefits to having a subscription to a dedicated Polling Tool is receiving regular updates. Vevox is the University’s dedicated Polling Tool. You can use it to add interactivity to your teaching sessions as well as your meetings.
Our resources for Vevox are available on our webpages.
Enhancements that have come this month are summarised below:
Vevox fully integrates with Teams meaning that you can run the sessions in your online teaching meetings and participants can respond via the Teams app without having to enter a 9 digit code. Find out more on our How do I use Vevox with Microsoft Teams FAQ.
We’re always on the lookout for case studies so if you’re using Vevox polling in your teaching session drop us an email on lteu@aber.ac.uk and let us know how you’re using it.
View all of these updates on Vevox’s June blogpost.
Although our Unit’s provision focuses on supporting core tools such as Blackboard, Turnitin, Panopto and MS Teams, a list of software available to AU staff is much longer.
We have recently procured the university polling software – Vevox which can be an excellent addition to the tools you are already using. During the Annual Learning and Teaching Conference (book on the conference) our Vevox account manager Joe Probert will explain how Vevox can be used for learning activities. On Wednesday, we will also have an opportunity to join a webinar on how to use Vevox in your hybrid classroom. If you like to see how Vevox has been used by other institutions, you can also take a look at these case studies.
Another tool that we have previously written about is Padlet which is free and widely used across the sector. Take a look at our previous blog post which includes some ideas on how it could be applied in teaching. There is also a recording of the presentation on Padlet by Danielle Kirk delivered during the 7th Annual Learning and Teaching Conference.
Based on findings of the Digital Insights Survey we have also published a list of digital tools and apps useful for learning. You may choose to recommend these to your students by sharing this post with them or pointing them to specific tools helping them with what they need.
If you decide to use any of the third-party software for learning and teaching, there are a few considerations you need to make to keep yourself and your students safe online.
See: Using Third-Party Software for Learning and Teaching
If you have any questions about using software in your teaching then contact us on lteu@aber.ac.uk.
We’re really looking forward to seeing many of you at our forthcoming annual learning and teaching conference – the second time that we’ll be running it online.
We’ve had a slight to change to proceedings. On the 30th June, 2pm-2.45pm, we’ll be linking to Vevox’s webinar on how to use Vevox polling software in a hybrid classroom:
In this interactive webinar, we will be discussing how Vevox can be used in hybrid classes to support active learning wherever the location of your students. Joining us on the panel are Carol Chatten, Learning Technology Development Officer at Edge Hill University, Dr. Robert O’Toole NTF Director of Student Experience and Progression, Faculty of Art at The University of Warwick and Carl Sykes SFHEA, CMALT Senior Learning Technologist at The University of South Wales.
We’ll be looking to share customer success stories and examples to show how Vevox can support a blended learning environment and how you can maximise student engagement, interaction and feedback in a hybrid setting. We’ll being looking at the theme of versatility and how important this is to being able to provide a truly inclusive learning experience.
You can book online to attend the conference: https://aber.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/aultc2021
Our full programme is available online.
You can read more about Vevox, our recently procured polling software: https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/is/it-services/elearning/polling-tool/
In the past month, the university has rolled out Vevox and begun training staff in its use. Vevox combines polls, surveys and Q&As in one interactive software and has integrations with Microsoft Teams and PowerPoint. We are glad to see that staff are already adopting this new software in their teaching and want to encourage students to do the same.
Aberystwyth University’s subscription to Vevox comes with Single Sign-On, meaning students can securely log in with their Aber Uni ID and password. Just as there are multiple ways that staff may use Vevox, so students might find it a useful tool.
For example, students could use Vevox polls and the Q&A function when presenting in seminars or workshops, especially in assessments that feature audience engagement as a criterion. Equally, Vevox offers great opportunities for student research, both in terms of analysing and interrogating survey design (e.g. by using Vevox’s existing sample surveys), and for creating and running their own surveys. Further, Vevox might be used in group work, offering students the opportunity to gather ideas and encourage diverse input from more quiet group members. This is especially useful at the moment, where student groups may include members from different households.
These are just a few examples of how students might use Vevox in their learning and we encourage staff to alert students to the fact that they, too, can access this software for free. Our Vevox guides are here (English and Cymraeg) and How-To videos are here (English and Cymraeg). The Learning and Teaching Unit is at hand alongside the Vevox Team to support any technical queries that may arise, providing student with support that is not available when using free alternatives.
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:
There may be occasions where it is not practically possible for you to simultaneously deliver non-lecture activities (e.g. seminars, workshops, etc.) to students in-person and students joining via MS Teams.
In this blog post, we will explore some different options for delivering alternative activities for those students that cannot join in-person sessions. Before you begin to design an alternative activity, consider the following points: