Support materials to assist students with Blackboard Learn Ultra are now available on our webpages.
The Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit have produced a Student Guide specifically for Ultra which can be downloaded.
Students were notified of the change to Blackboard before the end of last academic year.
As part of the move to Ultra our FAQs are in the process of being updated.
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.
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 that Information Services has procured Blackboard Ally as part of our move to Blackboard Learn Ultra.
Blackboard Ally integrates into our Blackboard Learn Ultra environment and focuses on making digital content more accessible.
For colleagues creating content you will be able to amend the accessibility of your content. This means that your content will be more accessible to assistive technologies, such as screen readers.
Another benefit of Blackboard Ally is that content can be downloaded in multiple formats. This means that your lecture notes, PowerPoints, and other documents can be converted into many different formats, including:
There’s nothing that you need to do to enable Ally on your course. It will automatically be enabled on Monday 11 September on 2023-24 Courses onwards and Organisations.
For more information on using Blackboard Ally, take a look at our staff or student FAQ.
If you want to know further information about creating accessible learning materials, take a look at our resources.
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.
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.
Vevox, the University’s supported polling tool, has updated its PowerPoint Add-in.
From September 2023, colleagues making use of the Add-in should use the updated version.
Please see our FAQ for how to use the new PowerPoint Add-in.
In our recent blogpost, we wrote about the new AI question generator.
If Vevox is new to you then take a look at our support materials and our previous blogposts.
We’ve also got a training session taking place on Monday 18 September, 14:00-15:00. This session is run by colleagues from Vevox. Book your place online.
Vevox is a great way to make your teaching interactive and further student’s learning.
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.
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.
One of the benefits of moving to Blackboard Learn Ultra is the increased enhancements to the virtual learning environment.
In this blogpost, we will outline some of the new functionality available in this month’s update.
The location to manage the Groups feature has changed. You can now access this directly from the top menu of your course:
See groups guidance for additional information.
You can now add images to Learning Modules.
Learning Modules offer a way for you to organise your content. For further information, see Learning Modules guidance.
To ensure that your content is as accessible as possible, use the accessibility checker.
As you create your content, your accessibility score will be generated to alert you to any changes that you might want to make.
When it comes to grading tests, you can now grade by question or student in Ultra. See Blackboard’s test guidance and flex grading for further information.
For other updates this month, take a look at Blackboard’s Release notes.
If you’ve got any questions about using any of these features or Blackboard Learn Ultra, contact elearning@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.
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.
We have just created a new series of sessions open to all staff and students interested in talking about Generative AI in education.
Since January 2023, Generative AI (Gen AI) has shaken up the world of higher education. The landscape is still rapidly changing and posing challenges for all of us.
In response to this challenge, we set up a Gen AI Working Group, which published guidance for staff in March and updated the UAP Regulations. We run regular training sessions with guidance for staff. The Working Group is currently preparing student-facing guidance for start of next term.
We want to bring more voices into the discussion, so we have set up a new series of forums around Generative AI, open to all interested staff and students. We especially encourage students to come along. Staff can register through our CPD Booking System. Students can join by emailing the LTEU. The next two sessions are held online:
The aim of the Gen AI Discussion Forum is to exchange experiences about what is happening on the ground in our own areas, collect suggestions for the Working Group to consider, and answer any questions you may have.
Please note that this is not a training session but a facilitated group discussion where everyone can exchange ideas. During the meeting, we will ask you to share your experiences, questions, and suggestions.
We look forward to talking with you!
On 1 August Information Services roll their systems over to prepare for the next Academic Year (2023-24).
Blackboard Courses are now no different. On the 1 August, the term dates for 2023-24 become live.
This means that Courses 2023-24 are no longer listed as Private but are now available. It also means that they will not display in Upcoming Courses.
2023-24 Courses can now be accessed from the homepage. If you wish to only see your 2023-24 courses, use the toggle at the top or filter by courses.
You can favourite your course so that it appears at the top of the page by clicking on the star:
Students won’t come onto your course until they have completed their registration.
If you’ve got any questions about Ultra, please contact elearning@aber.ac.uk.