Want a way to automatically schedule meetings with colleagues and students without going back and forth?
Bookings has been enabled on Office365 accounts. You might want to use this to schedule personal tutor meetings, dissertation supervision sessions, or appointments with professional services staff.
Bookings allows you to schedule meetings and appointments and automatically integrates with your Office365 calendar based on yours and your attendees’ availability.
You can specify your available booking slots, when your meetings are scheduled, whether they’re taking place online, and publish a webpage with a link to share with others or put in your email signature.
Take a look at our FAQfor further information on how to set this up.
Contact Information Services (is@aber.ac.uk) if you have got any questions about using Bookings.
The Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit is pleased to announce their next external speaker. On 10 May from 14:00-15:30, James Wood from Bangor University will be hosting an online session on Improving feedback literacy through sustainable feedback engagement practices.
James Wood is Lecturer in Education, Assessment and Taught Postgraduate Lead at Bangor University. Prior to this position, James has worked with Kings College London, University College London, Birkbeck University, Greenwich University and Seoul National University.
Session Abstract
Despite the importance of feedback in supporting learning in higher education, there is still much to learn about nurturing sustainable skills for seeking, engaging with, and using feedback. In practice, many students fail to access feedback, and even if courses offer formative assessment in principle, it is only sometimes engaged with or used effectively. It is often argued that students require ‘feedback literacy’ before engagement with feedback is possible. However, in this workshop, we will explore how feedback literacy and receptivity to feedback can emerge as students experience well-designed dialogic feedback practices that offer the opportunity to consider how learning from feedback occurs, the benefits, what constitutes quality and how to evaluate it and how to develop and execute plans to close the gap between current and target performance. I will also discuss how social and non-human factors entangle with learners’ agency to engage in ways that can serve or limit their participation. I will finish with an overview of how technologies can be used to enhance learners’ ability to use feedback effectively and develop relationships and communities that can offer powerful collaborative learning opportunities, as well as emotional support and encouragement.
The workshop will take place online using Microsoft Teams. Book your place online.
If you have any questions, please contact the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit (lteu@aber.ac.uk).
It’s been a little while since we updated you on what we’ve been up to with Blackboard Ultra since we launched Ultra Base Navigationat the beginning of January.
We’ve been working with our colleagues at Blackboard to help finalise our course template. Unlike previous years, we’ll be having one course template for all modules and all modules in 2023 will be created blank to assist with the move to Ultra.
We’ve updated our Required Minimum Presence for Blackboard which is going to the Academic Enhancement Committee for approval and feedback. We’ve also been exploring how Welsh and English templates will work together in Ultra. Once we’ve got the template and RMP agreed, we’ll start the process of creating your Ultra Practice Courses so that you can see what Ultra will look like and begin to start thinking about your teaching ready for September 2023.
Our outreach work will continue at the start of next month as we will host focus groups with Departmental Directors of Learning and Teaching and Associate Deans for Learning and Teaching to start discussing what types of training you will require and how best to help you with the Ultra course rollout.
From a technical perspective, we’ve been looking into ways in which Panopto folders will provision with Ultra courses as well as Talis Aspire reading lists.
As part of our work with Blackboard, they have provided us a with a course readiness report which helps us to identify how prepared we currently are for Ultra courses. We’ve started exploring Wiki and Blog equivalences for those of you who currently use these tools in teaching, as well as Blackboard Test question equivalences for those questions that aren’t available in Ultra.
We will be updating our webpages with additional support and guidance materials as we go. If you have got any questions about our move to Ultra Courses then you are welcome to contact us (elearning@aber.ac.uk).
In addition to their training, Vevox also run a series of educator webinars online.
Their first guest will be Daniel Fitzpatrick from Aston University and he will be presenting: “Using Vevox in whole class and small group teaching” on the 8th March from 2pm-2:45pm.
Followed by, Laura Jenkins from Loughborough University, speaking on how to “use Vevox for formative and mid-module feedback” on the 22nd of March from 2pm-2:45pm
And closing out the series will be Alex Pitchford presenting from Aberystwyth University discussing “Increasing Engagement & Active Learning using Vevox in Maths and Sciences “on the 26th of April from 2pm-2:45pm
If you are using Vevox in your own teaching and would like to provide us with a case study then email the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit (lteu@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.
8/2/2023 UDL UK and Ireland Network, UDL Instructional Design Workshop ‘Learn how to create instructional experiences using the UDL principles as part of a structured, facilitated process called CUTLAS’
7-8/3/2023 Jisc, DigiFest (hybrid online and in person) “Innovation takes collaboration; it takes connection; it takes networks. It takes questions: why do you do that? what if I tried this? why not?”
22/2/2023NewT Talk series for new or aspiring academics, “Stephanie Aldred will talk about internationalization in HE and William Machaca will share his career story which has many international dimensions”
29/3/2023 UDL UK and Ireland Network, UDL Instructional Design Workshop, “Learn how to create instructional experiences using the UDL principles as part of a structured, facilitated process called CUTLAS”
24-28/4/2023 QAA, Assessment Festival “We will dare to be controversial, ask those difficult questions and take a forward-facing look at how assessment may evolve. The festival will bring different voices from the sector to share and celebrate assessment practices that enhance student experience.”
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.
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.
8/2/2023 UDL UK and Ireland Network, UDL Instructional Design Workshop ‘Learn how to create instructional experiences using the UDL principles as part of a structured, facilitated process called CUTLAS’
9/2/2023 Academic Development Centre, University of Warwick, Making feedback work
7-8/3/2023 Jisc, DigiFest (hybrid online and in person) “Innovation takes collaboration; it takes connection; it takes networks. It takes questions: why do you do that? what if I tried this? why not?”
29/3/2023 UDL UK and Ireland Network, UDL Instructional Design Workshop, “Learn how to create instructional experiences using the UDL principles as part of a structured, facilitated process called CUTLAS”
24-28/4/2023 QAA, Assessment Festival “We will dare to be controversial, ask those difficult questions and take a forward-facing look at how assessment may evolve. The festival will bring different voices from the sector to share and celebrate assessment practices that enhance student experience.”
Mihai, A. (23/1/2023), Let’s get off the fear carousel! “The way I see it,academia’s response to ChatGPT is more about academic culture than about the tool itself,” The Educationalist
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.
Congratulations to Dr Gareth Hoskins, Institute of Geography & Earth Sciences and Professor Reyer Zwiggelaar, Computer Science/Head of the Graduate School on successfully achieving, in December 2022, the UKCGE Recognised Research Supervisor award. This award is a national framework which is aligned with the University Supervisor role and supports supervisor development in the sector.
We have an internal support facility for those of you who may be interested in applying, for this award, so please contact Annette Edwards, LTEU, sfastaff@aber.ac.uk or Reyer Zwiggelaar rrz@aber.ac.uk for further information.
The next deadlines for UKCGE applications are 24 March and 23 June.
Also, please hold the 20 April for the 2nd Supervisory Training Day programme for this academic year, programme to be distributed in due course, which will be useful for sections of your application.
Resources are now available from the Aberystwyth University Mini Conference for Learning and Teaching that took place on 20th December 2022. For those who were unable to attend or who would like a refresher, the resources for all sessions can be found here.
The conference focused on Sustainability in Higher Education, with the key-note session delivered by Dr Georgina Gough (UWE Bristol) exploring how to embed sustainability goals within the curriculum.
Other topics included Marian Gray’s session ‘Student Mobility and Cross-Cultural Skills – Global & Sustainable?’, and Dr. Louise Marshall’s ‘Discipline hopping: Interdisciplinary approaches to a sustainable curriculum’.
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.
8/2/2023 UDL UK and Ireland Network, UDL Instructional Design Workshop ‘Learn how to create instructional experiences using the UDL principles as part of a structured, facilitated process called CUTLAS’
9/2/2023 Academic Development Centre, University of Warwick, Making feedback work
7-8/3/2023 Jisc, DigiFest (hybrid online and in person) “Innovation takes collaboration; it takes connection; it takes networks. It takes questions: why do you do that? what if I tried this? why not?”
29/3/2023 UDL UK and Ireland Network, UDL Instructional Design Workshop, “Learn how to create instructional experiences using the UDL principles as part of a structured, facilitated process called CUTLAS”
UCL Arena Centre (4/1/2023), Designing assessment for academic integrity “Evidence-based recommendations for designing teaching, student support and assessment in the era of digital assessment and artificial intelligence with the aim of developing good academic practice.”, Teaching Toolkits UCL Arena Centre
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.
Call for papers due 29/1/2023, University of Lincoln Digital Education Team, DigiEd: Horizons
Call for participation due 31/1/2023, Association for Learning Design & Education for Sustainable Development, Learning Design and ESD Bootcamp 2023
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 the next mini conference. On Tuesday 28 March LTEU will be hosting our next mini conference in person.
This mini conference will be focused on Virtual Reality, building on one of the sessions from last year’s Learning and Teaching Conference.
Colleagues from across the University will be showcasing their use of Virtual Reality in their teaching and research activities – offering advice from design to integration.
If you’re interested in contributing to the event, then please fill out this online form. Please submit your proposal before 17 February 2023.
