As Ramadan starts, we wanted to highlight a guide for educators that has been led by Oxford Brookes’ Professor Louise Taylor (along with several other collaborators).
During this time, those observing Ramadan, will abstain from food and drink during daylight hours.
The full guide can be accessed and downloaded from this webpage.
The guide outlines the potential impact of Ramadan on students’ learning and offers some adaptions that may want to be considered. Oxford Brookes have produced a 7-minute video of students sharing their experience of Ramadan. The guide draws on surveys from HE professionals to provide an evidence-based approach and offers 6 ways in which we could adopt more inclusive learning:
Acknowledge Ramadan
Avoid assumptions and ask
Adjust assessment timings
Offer asynchronous learning
Raise awareness and celebrate
Be inclusive and make sustainable change
The guide concludes that its key message places importance on initiating discussions with Muslim students.
As a community, we hope to build on this work for next year, using this guidance as a starting point.
We are passionate about inclusive education practices and would love to showcase them at the forthcoming Annual Learning and Teaching Conference. If you adopt inclusive practices in your teaching, then do consider submitting a proposal for the conference.
In the January update, Blackboard has improved the AI Design Assistant by adding more languages and enhancing the Auto-generation features. Additionally, there are new features for Creating Documents and Release Conditions.
AI Design Assistant Outputs
Blackboard have improved the auto-generation features within the AI Design Assistant to have faster and more complex outputs. When auto-generating Learning Modules for example, all you need is a few sentences to describe the Modules, and the AI Design Assistant creates longer descriptions and deeper focus on the topic:
Image 1: Auto-generated Learning modules with latest improvements (see right) for comparison.
As well as learning modules, they include improvements for auto-generating: Assignments, Discussions, Journals, Test questions and AI Conversation avatars. See our webpages for further information on the AI Design Assistant and training sessions are also available to book here.
More languages in AI Design Assistant
The AI Design Assistant now includes expanded language outputs. AI workflows now work in Greek, Catalan, Croatian, Irish, and Slovenian. For a complete list of languages available for AI outputs, see Blackboard’s AI Design Assistant for Instructors page. See below for how to change the language:
Image 2. Changing the output language is available as an advanced option in the AI Design Assistant.
Direct grade entry from the Grid view
Instructors can now enter assignment grades directly in the Grid view (selected by choosing the Marks tab in the Gradebook) with improved accuracy and consistency.
Image 3: Screenshot of the Marks tab in the Gradebook.
Previously, grades entered in these views were stored at the override level, which caused confusion as underlying attempts remained ungraded and continued to display the Needs Grading and New Submission flags. This latest update ensures that grades entered this way are properly mapped to the underlying attempt or submission when applicable.
NOTE: This feature is only applicable in the Marks view, grades continue to be shown as override if you are in the Markable Items view. Also, grades entered via file upload continue to be stored as override grades.
Content blocks for designing Documents
Blackboard have improved the content designer when creating documents which makes it much easier to use. When instructors create or edit a document, the content block no longer closes when you collapse the menu in the editor. Also, the editor no longer closes when editing table setting
This latest update has updated the default file option when instructors upload files to documents. The default file option is now View and Download file. Also, it is now possible to use the Undo and Redo functions for file uploads. This is very useful if you’ve uploaded an incorrect file to your document, you can just click the ‘undo’ feature.
Image 4: New ‘Undo’ and ‘Redo’ functions highlighted below.
Submission attempts for Release Conditions
You can now use item submission status for a release condition. For example, an instructor who wants students to access a document only after submitting a quiz would use a release condition. Students can access content items without needing to wait for a grade to be posted.
Image 5: The new Attempt submitted option is in the dropdown menu for a gradable item in the Release Conditions panel.
The IS User Survey gives you an opportunity to tell us what you think about our services and how we can improve them. It is also a chance to win one of two £50 vouchers for 10 minutes of your time!
Creating questions is time consuming. Instructors now have the option to generate questions in a question bank. Generating question banks from course materials provides inspiration and saves time.
To generate a question bank, select the Auto-generate option from the + on the Question Banks page.
Image 1. Auto-generate a question bank
From the menu, instructors can select content items. These content items provide context for the questions. Instructors can further refine the questions they ask by entering a description of the learning objectives or topic.
Image 2. The context picker for creating new questions
Instructors can select the type of question to generate, such as multiple choice or fill in the blank. The complexity of the questions can also be adjusted. Instructors choose which questions to include in the question bank.
To encourage participation in discussions, Blackboard have expanded notifications to include email. Emails are sent when users opt for Email me right away notifications.
Key Enhancements:
User Notification Settings: New notification options allow users to manage their emails for discussions they follow. To help with consistency, these settings align with the user’s settings for their activity stream.
Activity on my responses
Activity on responses I have replied to
Responses from instructors
Responses for followed discussions
Replies for followed discussions
How to access your Email notification settings:
In Blackboard go into your Profile
Under Global Notification Settings click on Email notifications
Email notifications highlighted under Global Notification settings
Adjust your settings as you prefer
Image 2. An example of an email for discussion activity
The Blackboard Learn Ultra August update included enhancements to the creating and editing functionality of Blackboard Learn Ultra Documents.
For those unfamiliar with Documents, they are an easy way to create content in Ultra, ensuring compatibility with mobile devices and Blackboard Ally. As this update to Documents is a significant change to content organisation, we are producing this separate blogpost. You can read about other enhancements in the August update blogpost.
The latest update gives instructors more power and control over how content appears. It functions as a webpage, with a variety of block types that can be used to create and organise content. These blocks can be moved around to give instructors more options over the layout of their content.
In summary:
Images can be brought in-line with text
Bilingual content can be arranged more easily
Headings can be used to aid with navigation
Files can be uploaded and converted into an Ultra Document, retaining the original formatting
An example of a Document created using the new content editor can be seen below:
For all instructors, the biggest change is that the content creator appears at the top of the page. You can still use the + icon to create content which will then give you the menu that you see below:
The convert a file option is new functionality that allows you to upload a file. This will convert it into an Ultra Document retaining the formatting of the original file.
Selecting Content will take you to the usual content editor.
Are you interested in being nominated for a Fellowship of the Learned Society of Wales (LSW) or interested in proposing a colleague?
LSW Fellows have a connection with Wales, and are elected in recognition of their excellence and outstanding contribution to the world of learning. The Fellowship spans the sciences, humanities, arts and public services and nominations are welcomed from nominees of all cultures, background and ethnicity.
The nomination process is open to academics and professional individuals who meet the nomination criteria. The nomination is made by a proposer and supported by a seconder, both of whom must be Fellows of the LSW. Details of the nomination and the election process are on the LSW website.
The nomination window is now open for this year. The closing date for applications is the 31 October 2024. Please visit the various LSW web pages and prepare the nomination paperwork by the submission deadline.
If you feel that help is needed to link a nominee with LSW Fellows or require further information about the support the university can give you please contact Annette Edwards, aee@aber.ac.uk
As leader of our PGCTHE programme, I keep an eye out for resources to help staff teach effectively. These include webinars, podcasts, online toolkits, publications and more. Topics include active learning, online/blended teaching, accessibility/inclusion, and effective learning design based on cognitive science. Below I’ve listed items that came to my attention in the past week. In the interest of clarity, our policy is to show the titles and descriptions in the language of delivery.
University of Limerick (9/5/2024), Student View: Evan Mansfield (27-minute audio recording), AI on Campus Perspectives from Students podcast series “The discussion prominently features Evan’s experiences with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), highlighting the early support systems and the role of AI tools in fostering his academic and personal growth.”
Teaching Innovation and Learning Enhancement (TILE), University of Glasgow (5/2024), TILE Network Recordings (video playlist from webinars)
Other
Monthly series European Network for Academic Integrity, ENAI monthly webinarsfree open webinars on various topics related to academic integrity.
Subscribe to SEDA’s mailing list for email discussions about educational development and emerging teaching practices. This is one of the sources I use when identifying useful material for the Roundup.
Follow University of Birmingham’s Higher Education Futures institute HEFi on Twitter for daily posts with links to pedagogical literature and more. This is one of the sources I use when identifying useful material for the Roundup.
Join the #LTHEchat on Twitter Wednesday nights for one hour of lively discussion about learning and teaching in HE. I often find out about good resources for the Roundup from the chat.
Please see the Staff Training booking page for training offered by the LTEU and other Aberystwyth University staff. I hope you find this weekly resource roundup useful. If you have questions or suggestions, please contact our team at lteu@aber.ac.uk. You may also wish to follow my Twitter feed, Mary Jacob L&T.
The Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit is pleased to announce this year’s Annual Learning and Teaching Conference speaker.
Professor Lisa Taylor from the University of East Anglia will be joining us to present on employability in the curriculum. Lisa is Professor of Employability and Learning Innovation and Associate Dean for Employability for the Faculty of Medicine and Health.
Lisa is an Occupational Therapist by background with ten years of clinical experience within the NHS whilst also completing her MSc and PhD.
For the last twelve years Lisa has worked in higher education as a lecturer within the Occupational Therapy academic team at the University of East Anglia. Lisa has held employability leadership roles alongside her lecturing role for eleven of those years, initially as employability director for the School of Health Sciences and then as Associate Dean for Employability for the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.
Lisa is passionate about employability and learning innovations, maximising the impact for students/learners, academic colleagues, and external partners. A prestigious Advance HE National Teaching Fellowship (NTF) was awarded to Lisa based on her sustained ability to facilitate and influence quality student learning.
Lisa has helped developed the wider employability agenda through supporting and engaging with colleagues locally, nationally, and internationally, impacting on student learning outcomes and experience, through teaching, strategic initiatives and learning innovations. The award of an NTF positions Lisa as a sector leader in employability and learning innovations. Lisa publishes and presents widely, helping to steer the national conversation about employability.
The Learned Society of Wales (LSW) annually awards medals to researchers who excel in their field. The medal categories celebrate excellence in several areas of achievements, with further information on each medal at –
If you would like to nominate a colleague or an Early Career Researcher (ECR) please see the guidelines and nomination forms on the LSW web page.
To be eligible for any of the medals, nominees must be resident in Wales, born in Wales, or otherwise particularly connected with Wales.
The deadline for 2024 medal nominations is 5.00pm on 30 June 2024. Each medal has a dedicated committee to assess the nominations and decide who should receive the award.
Winners will be announced in October 2024 and will receive a specially struck medal and a cash prize of £500.
Please read the guidelines before you complete the medal nomination form. If you have any questions, please contact the LSW Fellowship Officer, Fiona Gaskell – fgaskell@lsw.wales.ac.uk. For further information about the LSW Medals, including past winners, visit www.learnedsociety.wales/medals or you can have an informal conversation with Annette Edwards, LTEU aee@aber.ac.uk
