Month: May 2020

Gwobr Cwrs Eithriadol

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Gwobr ECA

Mae Dr Lara Kipp, o Adran Astudiaethau Theatr, Ffilm a Theledu, wedi ennill Gwobr Cwrs Eithriadol am fodiwl TP22320: Principles of Scenography. Cymeradwyodd y panel y modiwl hwn oherwydd cynllun arloesol ei ddull asesu a’r gefnogaeth, y deunyddiau dysgu clir a drefnwyd yn rhesymegol, defnyddio cyhoeddiadau mewn modd gwreiddiol, a chynnig amryw ffyrdd i fyfyrwyr gael bod yn rhan o’r gweithgareddau dysgu.

Yn ogystal, cafodd y modiwl canlynol statws Canmoliaeth Uchel:

  • Dr Rhianedd Jewell o Adran y Gymraeg ac Astudiaethau Celtaidd am fodiwl CY25620 / CY35620: Y Gymraeg yn y Gweithle

Mae’r amrywiaeth eang o ddulliau dysgu a welir yng ngheisiadau eleni yn adlewyrchiad o’r gwaith arloesol sy’n digwydd ym mhob rhan o’r sefydliad.

Nod y Wobr Cwrs Eithriadol, a sefydlwyd saith mlynedd yn ôl, yw rhoi cydnabyddiaeth i’r arferion dysgu gorau. Mae’n rhoi cyfle i aelodau staff rannu eu gwaith gyda’u cydweithwyr, gwella eu modiwlau presennol ar Blackboard, a chael adborth er mwyn gwella.

Caiff modiwlau eu hasesu ar draws 4 maes: cynllun y cwrs, rhyngweithio a chydweithio, asesu, a chymorth i ddysgwyr. Mae natur y wobr, sy’n seiliedig ar hunanasesiad, yn rhoi cyfle i’r aelodau staff ystyried eu cyrsiau a gwella agweddau ar eu modiwlau cyn i banel asesu bob cais yn erbyn y cyfarwyddyd.

Hoffai’r panel a’r Uned Datblygu Dysgu ac Addysgu ddiolch i’r holl  ymgeiswyr am yr amser a’r ymdrech a roddwyd i’r ceisiadau ac i’r modiwlau eleni.

Rydym yn edrych ymlaen at gael mwy o geisiadau ar gyfer y flwyddyn nesaf a llongyfarchiadau mawr i enillwyr gwobr eleni.

Exemplary Course Award

WordPress User [jbw] Blackboard, Exemplary Course Award, Virtual Learning Environment(VLE) Leave a comment

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Dr Lara Kipp, from the Department of Theatre Film and Television Studies, has been awarded the Exemplary Course Award for the module TP22320: Principles of Scenography. The panel commended this module for its innovative assessment design and support, clear and logically ordered learning materials, novel use of announcements, and offering multiple ways for students to engage with learning activities.

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

  • Dr Rhianedd Jewell from the Department of Welsh and Celtic Studies for the module CY25620 / CY35620: Y Gymraeg yn y Gweithle

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.

 

Tips for Discussion Board Engagement

WordPress User [jbw] Blackboard, Virtual Learning Environment(VLE) 3 Comments

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One of the interactive tools available in Blackboard is the Discussion Board. Whilst moving to online teaching, we’ve seen staff start to use discussion boards to communicate with their students and for students to communicate with their peers.

In this blogpost, we’ll be giving you some tips on how best to design learning activities using discussion boards and some strategies for implementing them into learning and teaching. As we move to online teaching, it’s important to remember that this is new to students as well as staff. A well-designed online learning activity will help to alleviate stresses for students and queries for staff.

One of the most common queries we get from staff is about student engagement with various e-learning tools. Engagement depends on how the learning activity is designed and how it feeds into the rest of the module and learning process.

The first question to ask yourself when starting to use discussion boards is what is its purpose? What is it that you want your students to do or be able to do after engaging with the activity? After you’ve established that the discussion board is the correct tool for the activity (remember to put the learning need first), you can begin to design it.

A recent blogpost by Slobodan Tomic, Ellen Roberts, Jane Lund from York University identifies some tips for best embedding Discussion Forums in your teaching. They propose a series of 5 questions that will help you to clarify the specificities of your discussion board for your learning activity:

1.       What is the activity? A discussion (with or without reference to a resource) 

A debate

A reflection on personal experience

A co-created presentation

Resource sharing
2. What is the purpose of the discussion or activity? To enable students to: 

·       Digest and critique a reading

·       Construct an argument

·       Test/challenge a theory

·       Work in pairs/teams

·       Develop skills (e.g. search for and share resources)

 
3.       What do students need to do and by when? How long will the activity run for? 

Should they post once, or more than once?

Should they respond to at least one other post?

Do they need to communicate off-platform to complete the task?

Should they nominate a rapporteur?

What are the deadlines for each stage of the task?
4.       What will the tutor’s role be, and how often will they be ‘present’ (see below)? Will tutors facilitate the discussion? 

Or will they lurk but not comment until a particular point?

Will tutors be checking in every day? Every few days? At the end of the task if it is a student-led task?
5.       What do students do if they have any problems? How should communicate this? 

In the forum?

By email?

 

There are many more useful tips in this blogpost so do look at it.

Once you’ve got the correct purpose for the discussion board, you can start to think about how best to embed into your teaching.

The following tips should help encourage engagement:

  1. Preparation:
    1. Have you prepared the students for the activity?
    2. Have you explained exactly what you expect of the students?
    3. Have you provided students with guidance on how to engage with the tool?
    4. Have you explained to students how best to communicate with you?
  2. Explanation:
    1. Have you explained to your students the benefit of engaging with the activity?
    2. Do your students know why they have to undertake the activity?
    3. Have you explained to students why you have set up the activity in a certain way?
  3. Response:
    1. Have you responded to discussion board posts regularly (if designed in the learning activity)?
    2. Have you responded to posts in other learning activities?
    3. If running virtual seminars, have you drawn on the content in the posts?
  4. Examples:
    1. Have you provided sample discussion forum posts to your students?
    2. If you’re expecting students to post on other discussion forum posts, have you given examples of what types of posts they should be doing?

You may also Gilly Salmon’s Five Stage Model useful. This model isn’t new but is designed to help scaffold students into online discussion.

Hopefully, these tips will help you design your learning activity using discussion boards. Once you have designed the activity, you’ll find all the help on setting them up in our FAQs: https://faqs.aber.ac.uk/index.php?search=discussion.

We’re always on the lookout to hear from people successfully using e-learning tools in their teaching. If you’ve been using the Discussion Board feature successfully, then we’d like to hear from you. Drop us an email. As always, if you have any questions about using these tools, please email elearning@aber.ac.uk.

References

Tomic, S., Roberts, E., Lund, J. 2020. Designing learning and teaching online: the role of discussion forums. [Online]. Available at: https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/news-and-views/designing-learning-and-teaching-online-role-discussion-forums. Last accessed: 30.04.2020.

Salmon, G. n.d. Five Stage Model. [Online]. Available at: https://www.gillysalmon.com/five-stage-model.html. Last accessed: 30.04.2020.

 

 

 

Awgrymiadau ynglŷn â defnyddio’r Bwrdd Trafod

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Un o’r offerynnau rhyngweithiol sydd ar gael yn y Blackboard yw’r Bwrdd Trafod. Wrth drosglwyddo i ddysgu ar-lein, rydym ni wedi gweld staff yn dechrau defnyddio byrddau trafod i gyfathrebu â’u myfyrwyr a myfyrwyr yn eu defnyddio i gyfathrebu â’u cyd-fyfyrwyr.

Yn y blogbost hwn, byddwn yn rhoi rhai awgrymiadau ar y ffordd orau o ddefnyddio’r byrddau trafod i gynllunio gweithgareddau dysgu a rhai strategaethau er mwyn eu rhoi ar waith wrth ddysgu. Wrth i ni drosglwyddo i ddysgu ar-lein, mae’n bwysig cofio bod hyn yn newydd i’r myfyrwyr yn ogystal â’r staff. Bydd gweithgaredd dysgu ar-lein sydd wedi ei gynllunio’n effeithiol i helpu i sicrhau llai o straen i fyfyrwyr a llai o ymholiadau i staff.

Mae un o’r ymholiadau mwyaf cyffredin a gawn gan staff yn ymwneud â’r ffordd y mae’r myfyrwyr yn defnyddio’r amrywiol offerynnau e-ddysgu. Mae’r defnydd yn dibynnu ar y ffordd y cynllunnir y gweithgaredd dysgu a’r ffordd y mae’n bwydo i weddill y modiwl a’r broses ddysgu.

Y cwestiwn cyntaf y dylech ei ystyried wrth ddechrau defnyddio byrddau trafod yw beth yw ei ddiben? Beth hoffech chi i’ch myfyrwyr ei wneud neu allu ei wneud ar ôl gwneud y gweithgaredd? Ar ôl i chi sefydlu mai’r bwrdd trafod yw’r offeryn mwyaf addas ar gyfer y gweithgaredd (cofiwch roi blaenoriaeth i’r anghenion dysgu), cewch ddechrau ei gynllunio.

Mae blogbost diweddar gan Slobodan Tomic, Ellen Roberts, Jane Lund o Brifysgol Efrog yn nodi rhai awgrymiadau ar y ffordd orau o gynnwys Fforymau Trafod yn eich gwaith dysgu.  Maent yn cynnig cyfres o 5 cwestiwn a fydd yn gymorth i chi egluro pwrpas penodol eich bwrdd trafod ar gyfer eich gweithgaredd dysgu:

1.       Beth yw’r gweithgaredd?Trafodaeth (gellir cyfeirio at adnodd penodol neu beidio)   Dadl Myfyrio ar brofiad personol Cyflwyniad a grëir ar y cyd Rhannu adnoddau
2.       Beth yw diben y drafodaeth neu’r gweithgaredd?Rhoi myfyrwyr mewn sefyllfa i:   ·       Trin a beirniadu darlleniad ·       Ffurfio dadl ·       Profi/herio damcaniaeth ·       Gweithio mewn parau/timau ·       Datblygu sgiliau (e.e. chwilio am adnoddau a’u rhannu)  
3.       Beth sydd angen i fyfyrwyr ei wneud ac erbyn pa bryd?Am ba hyd y bydd y gweithgaredd yn cael ei gynnal?   A ddylai myfyrwyr bostio unwaith, neu fwy nag unwaith? A ddylai myfyrwyr ymateb i un post arall o leiaf? A oes angen iddynt gyfathrebu y tu allan i’r platfform er mwyn cwblhau’r dasg? A ddylai myfyrwyr enwebu cofnodwr? Erbyn pa bryd mae angen cwblhau pob rhan o’r dasg?
4.       Beth fydd swyddogaeth y tiwtor, a pha mor aml y bydd y tiwtor yn ‘bresennol’ (gweler isod)?A fydd tiwtoriaid yn hwyluso’r drafodaeth?   Ynteu a fyddant yn cadw llygad ond yn peidio â gwneud sylwadau hyd at bwynt penodol? A fydd y tiwtoriaid yn taro golwg bob dydd? Pob ychydig o ddyddiau? Ar ddiwedd y dasg os yw’n dasg a arweinir gan y myfyrwyr?
5.       Beth ddylai’r myfyrwyr ei wneud os byddant yn cael unrhyw broblemau?Sut y dylid cyfleu hyn?   Yn y fforwm? Trwy e-bost?

Mae llawer o awgrymiadau defnyddiol eraill yn y blogbost hwn felly mae’n werth ei ddarllen.

Ar ôl sefydlu pwrpas priodol y bwrdd trafod, cewch ddechrau meddwl am y ffordd orau o’i gynnwys yn eich gwaith dysgu.

Dylai’r awgrymiadau canlynol helpu i annog cysylltiad:

  1. Paratoi:
    1. Ydych chi wedi paratoi’r myfyrwyr ar gyfer y gweithgaredd?
    2. Ydych chi wedi egluro’n union yr hyn yr ydych yn ei ddisgwyl gan y myfyrwyr?
    3. Ydych chi wedi rhoi canllawiau i’r myfyrwyr ynglŷn ag ymwneud â’r byrddau trafod.
    4. Ydych chi wedi rhoi gwybod i’r myfyrwyr beth yw’r ffordd orau i gyfathrebu â chi?
  2. Eglurhad:
    1. Ydych chi wedi rhoi gwybod i’r myfyrwyr beth yw manteision cymryd rhan yn y gweithgaredd?
    2. Ydy eich myfyrwyr yn gwybod pam mae angen iddynt gymryd rhan yn y gweithgaredd?
    3. Ydych chi wedi egluro i’r myfyrwyr pam rydych wedi trefnu’r gweithgaredd mewn modd penodol?
  3. Ymateb:
    1. Ydych chi wedi ymateb i bostiadau ar y bwrdd trafod yn rheolaidd (os yw hynny wedi ei gynllunio yn rhan o’r gweithgaredd dysgu)?
    2. Ydych chi wedi ymateb i bostiadau mewn gweithgareddau dysgu eraill?
    3. Os ydych chi’n cynnal rhith-seminarau, ydych chi wedi cyfeirio at eu cynnwys yn y postiadau?
  4. Enghreifftiau:
    1. Ydych chi wedi rhoi enghreifftiau o bostiadau’r fforwm drafod i fyfyrwyr?
    2. Os ydych chi’n disgwyl i fyfyrwyr gyfrannu at bostiadau eraill ar y fforwm drafod, ydych chi wedi rhoi enghreifftiau o’r mathau o bostiadau y dylent fod yn eu cyfrannu?

Efallai y cewch Fodel Pum Cyfnod Gilly Salmon yn ddefnyddiol.  Nid yw’r model yn newydd ond fe’i cynlluniwyd i helpu i roi strwythur i drafodaeth myfyrwyr ar-lein.

Gobeithio y bydd yr awgrymiadau hyn yn gymorth i chi gynllunio eich gweithgaredd dysgu gyda byrddau trafod. Ar ôl i chi gynllunio’r gweithgaredd, fe gewch yr holl gymorth fydd ei angen er mwyn ei roi ar waith ar gael ar y dudalen cwestiynau cyffredin. https://faqs.aber.ac.uk/index.php?search=discussion.

Rydym ni’n awyddus bob amser i glywed gan bobl sy’n defnyddio offer e-ddysgu yn llwyddiannus yn eu gwaith dysgu. Os ydych chi wedi bod yn defnyddio’r Bwrdd Trafod yn llwyddiannus, rhowch wybod inni. Anfonwch e-bost. Os oes gennych chi unrhyw gwestiynau ynglŷn â defnyddio’r offer hwn, mae croeso i chi gysylltu â ni. eddysgu@aber.ac.uk.

Cyfeiriadau

Tomic, S., Roberts, E., Lund, J. 2020. Cynllunio dysgu ar-lein: swyddogaeth fforymau trafod. [Ar-lein]. Ar gael yn: https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/news-and-views/designing-learning-and-teaching-online-role-discussion-forums. Dyddiad cyrchu diwethaf: 30.04.2020.

Salmon, G. n.d. Five Stage Model. [Ar-lein]. Ar gael yn: https://www.gillysalmon.com/five-stage-model.html. Dyddiad cyrchu dierthaf: 30.04.2020.

Newidiadau i’r Gynhadledd Flynyddol Dysgu ac Addysgu

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Bwriedir cynnal y Gynhadledd Dysgu ac Addysgu am eleni rhwng dydd Llun, 7 a dydd Mercher, 9 Medi. Rydym yn dechrau cynllunio i ddarparu elfennau o’r gynhadledd ar-lein.

Cafodd y dyddiad cau i dderbyn cynigion ar gyfer y gynhadledd ei ymestyn tan ddydd Gwener 26 Mehefin 2020 ac ychwanegwyd edefyn arall at y thema am eleni, sef: Cyfoethogi’r Cwricwlwm: Ysgogi Dysgu a Bywiogi’r Addysgu!

  • Troi at Ddysgu Ar-lein
  • Creu Cymuned Ddysgu
  • Datblygu Lles yn y Cwricwlwm
  • Ymgorffori Dysgu Gweithredol
  • Gweithio gyda Myfyrwyr fel Partneriaid

Cyflwynwch eich cynigion ar-lein.

Rydym yn arbennig o awyddus i glywed gan gydweithwyr a hoffai rannu awgrymiadau a phrofiadau ymarferol ar ddysgu ac addysgu ar-lein.

Mae’r cyfnod i archebu lle yn y gynhadledd bellach ar agor.

Traddodir y ddarlith gyweirnod eleni gan yr Athro Ale Armellini o Brifysgol Northampton. Fe welwch ragor o wybodaeth am yr Athro Armellini yn y blog-bost hwn.  

Os oes gennych unrhyw gwestiwn, e-bostiwch eddysgu@aber.ac.uk. 

Changes to the Annual Learning and Teaching Conference

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This year’s Learning and Teaching Conference is scheduled to take place between Monday 7th and Wednesday 9th September. We are starting to plan to deliver elements of the conference online.

We have extended the deadline for proposals for the conference to Friday 26th June 2020 and added an extra strand, to this year’s conference theme: Enhancing the Curriculum: Inspire Learning and Invigorate Teaching!

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

Submit your proposals online.

We are particularly keen to hear from colleagues who would like to share practical tips and experiences of delivering learning and teaching online.

Booking to attend the event is now open.

This year’s keynote is Professor Ale Armellini from Northampton University. You can read further information on Professor Armellini on this blogpost.  

If you have any questions, please email elearning@aber.ac.uk.