Using Podcasts for Teaching

4th November 202028th April 2021 WordPress User [aeu] Academy Forum, Panopto, Podcasts Leave a comment

The second Academy Forum session this year focused on creating podcasts in Panopto. The discussion emphasised podcasts’ unique potential for facilitating a sense of connection. Usually based on informal monologues, interviews and discussions podcasts provide their users with opportunities to listen in to unconstructed reflections and conversations. As explained by Street (2014) audio storytelling creates a ‘partnership between imagination and memory’ triggering a unique and personal reaction to it (as cited in McHugh, 2014, p.143). Podcasts can provide us with company; unlike with videos or written texts, we can listen to them during other daily activities.

These unique properties of podcasts hold great potential for its use in education. University of Cambridge created a collection of short podcasts from various subject areas. Podcasts are also used by individual educators, Ian Wilson, a Senior Lecturer in Education at York St John University Ian Wilson created a series of podcasts aimed at supporting learners on placements. His podcast focused on providing students with instructions on what the students should be doing the following week, answering any of their questions and providing some motivational advice. Although podcasting may not necessarily be the best solution for delivering the key learning material, as discussed during the Academy Forum session, it can complement your current teaching practice by fostering reflection, increasing learner’s engagement and foster a sense of community.

An Updated Content Editor for Blackboard

3rd November 202028th April 2021 WordPress User [rsf09] Blackboard, Technical Updates, Virtual Learning Environment(VLE) 1 Comment

On November 5th, 2020 Blackboard is rolling out an update to the Content Editor (aka WYSIWYG editor). This is the primary input method in Blackboard.

This is what it looks like:

The new Blackboard Content Editor

Weekly Resource Roundup – 2/11/2020

2nd November 202028th April 2021 WordPress User [mhj] Weekly Resource Roundup Leave a comment

As lecturer in learning and teaching responsible for the PGCTHE, I keep an eye out for new resources to help our staff teach effectively online. This includes externally-provided webinars, toolkits, publications and other resources. Because active learning is high on our university agenda, I’m particularly keen to share guidance for moving active learning online. 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.

3/11/2020 SEDA. “Transitions Into, Through and Out of Higher Education: Supporting Students”
5/11/2020 University of London. “Experiences in Digital Learning Webinar Series: Adventures in synchronous online teaching”
ACUE, “Inclusive Online Teaching”
Beattie, T. (27/10/2020) “Digital Learning In Our New Normal – A Reflection“, TILE Network
Davis, J. (19/6/2020) “An experiment in the socially-distanced classroom” Counting from Zero
Ferlazzo, L. (22/9/2020) “Strategies for Promoting Student Collaboration in a Distance Learning Environment“, Education Week Teacher
Harvard, B. (22/10/2020) “Studying 101“, The Effortful Teacher, applying cognitive psychology to the classroom
International Journal for Students as Partners (19/10/2020) (4)2
Kaminske, A. N. (30/10/2020) “VLOG: How To Take Notes In Class – A Video for Students” The Learning Scientists Blog
Lederman, D. (27/5/2020) “Can Active Learning Co-Exist With Physically Distanced Classrooms?“, Inside Higher Ed
Stachowiak, B. (25/10/2020) “Structuring Synchronous Classes for Engagement“, Teaching in Higher Ed

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.

Flags and the Insight Panel in Turnitin Feedback Studio

30th October 202028th April 2021 WordPress User [rsf09] E-submission, Feedback, Marking, Turnitin Leave a comment

Staff who have graded assignment submissions via Turnitin will be familiar with the Similarity Report the Feedback Studio. The Feedback Studio interface highlights matches with online sources.

Turnitin have updated the interface of the Feedback Studio to now highlight for review textual inconsistencies in submission. These highlights are termed Flags.

Flags pick up potential integrity issues such as:
•Replaced text characters which could be inserted to circumvent a similarity match.
•Hidden text such as quotation marks that could impact the percentage of quoted material and enable the passing off of such content as original.

Vocal Warm Ups and Techniques for Recording at Home

29th October 202028th April 2021 WordPress User [lak22] Panopto 1 Comment

Speaking into the void of your computer for pre-recorded materials is hard. Without an audience to interact with, it is difficult to know whether the delivery of materials is clear and engaging. On top of that, we use our voices very differently depending on the circumstance we speak in – recording in your office, or at home, your use of voice when recording will differ from your normal in-person delivery. Here are a few tips aimed at helping you make your pre-recorded vignettes as engaging as your live sessions:

1. Overenunciate – this will help automatic captions and emphasise individual words, making it easier to understand and follow what you are saying
2. Vary speed of delivery – take your time with the things that need it, but beware of setting into too regular a rhythm. Changes in speed will refocus your listeners’ attention onto what you are saying.
3. Use different parts of your vocal range – we’re not suggesting you act out different characters, but consciously avoid monotone: you know what you are talking about, but your students may encounter it for the first time. Monotone makes it seem boring and unimportant, when it really isn’t.

The above are ways of imitating the variances that happen in face-to-face conversations, and live events where you feed off your audience’s reactions and engagement. No one asks that you retrain as a YouTuber, but some vocal techniques used in videos like that can become useful tools for making pre-recorded materials more engaging. It takes a lot of energy and focus to speak into nothing but your own computer. The above are simple but effective linguistic and vocal tricks that help you speak engagingly to an imaginary audience.

Here’s a video to help you.

Conducting blended teaching sessions – synchronously face-to-face and via Teams

26th October 202028th April 2021 WordPress User [aeu] HyFlex, Online Teaching, Teaching Continuity, Teaching Rooms, Technical Updates Leave a comment

Teaching staff are encouraged to provide access to teaching sessions for students unable to attend them in person. The guidelines below provide a step-by-step checklist of all things that need to be completed to conduct an effective session for both students sitting in the classroom and those joining via MS Teams.

Before the session:

Create a Teams meeting for the session using the Blackboard Teams Meeting tool
Inform students about the possibility of joining the session via Teams and provide them with guidelines on how to do it.

Note: Make it clear that this has been provided for students who are not able to attend the session in person and that all students who are well and not self-isolating are expected to attend the sessions in-person and that attendance during face-to–face session will be closely monitored.

Revise the teaching room guide and watch videos demonstrating using the new teaching room set-up:

Teaching Rooms Guide

Teaching Rooms demonstrations

Weekly Resource Roundup – 26/10/2020

26th October 202028th April 2021 WordPress User [mhj] Events and Networks, Resources and Webinars, Training and Support, Weekly Resource Roundup Leave a comment

28/10/2020 Future Teacher, “Inclusive Practice”
4/11/2020 Jisc, “Learning and teaching reimagined, a new dawn for higher education?”
19/11/2020 Aberystwyth University LTEU, “Academy forum: Why and how to help students to reflect on their learning?”
16/12/2020 Aberystwyth University LTEU, “Advice for Action: Promoting Good Feedback Practice”
Burgos, D. (2020). Radical solutions and open science: An open approach to boost higher education. Singapore: Springer Open.
Carvalho, P. F., & Goldstone, R. L. (30/9/2020). “The most efficient sequence of study depends on the type of test“. Applied Cognitive Psychology.
Hibberson, S. (6/10/2020). “Teaching online: the challenges and the potential“, Jisc blog
Learning Scientists (30/9/2020). “Three Views On Remote Learning and Teaching“, #LrnSciChat
Learning Scientists (22/10/2020). “Digest #148: Engaging Students in Online Learning“
Nicol, D. (18/10/2020) “The power of internal feedback: exploiting natural comparison processes“, Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education
University of Edinburgh, “Mini-series: Social justice and anti-discrimination“, Teaching Matters Blog

Weekly Resource Roundup – 19/10/2020

19th October 202028th April 2021 WordPress User [mhj] Online Teaching, Training and Support, Virtual Learning Environment(VLE), Weekly Resource Roundup Leave a comment

20/10/2020 AbilityNet, “How to do accessible social media”
20/10/2020 Jisc, “Online teaching: overcoming the challenges”
21/10/2020 Centre for Distance Education (CDE) “Autumn 2020 Supporting Student Success event”
21/10/2020 Learning & Teaching in HE Tweetchat, “#LTHEchat187: The Value of Fiction in Learning and Teaching”
22/10/2020 ACUE, “Examining and Mitigating Implicit Bias”
27/10/2020 Faculty Focus, “Engaging College Students Using Active Learning Techniques”
28/10/2020 Chronicle of Higher Education, “Campus Wellbeing Post-Pandemic”
28/10/2020 Future Teacher, “Inclusive practice”
5/11/2020 Centre for Distance Education (CDE) “Adventures in synchronous online teaching”
6/11/2020 National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education “Developing feedback literacy in both staff and students and redesigning assessment to build on this new-found understanding”
16/12/2020 LTEU Aberystwyth University Mini-conference, “Advice for Action: Promoting Good Feedback Practice” proposal and booking
Clark, D. (12/10/2020) “Practice – mostly forgotten yet where most learning takes place…“, Donald Clark Plan B
Crook, A. & Crook, T. W. (26/8/2020) “6 tips for Teaching Online and In Person Simultaneously“, Inside Higher Ed
EdTech VoiceNotes podcast series
Dyer, S & Harris, L. (16/10/2020) “Let’s take the remote out of online learning“, WonkHE blog
Hiscox, T. J. (11/10/2020) “E-learning in the face of a pandemic through the eyes of the students” Post-Pandemic University
Penn, P. (16/10/2020) “How to plan your essays: key advice from psychology”
Thomas, (16/10/2020) “Learning theories timeline: key ideas from educational psychology“, myBRAINisOPEN
RAISE Researching, “Advancing & Inspiring Student Engagement Partnership Special Interest Group Resources”
Retrieval Practice, (11/5/2018) “Boost note-taking. Try Retrieve-Taking!” Weekly Teaching Tips
Sundar, K. (17/9/2020) “The Student Engagement Trap, and How to Avoid It” Edutopia
Swansea University, “Resources for Teaching”

Academy Mini-Conference (call for proposals) – ‘Advice for Action: Promoting Good Feedback Practice’

16th October 202028th April 2021 WordPress User [sil12] Conference, E-submission, Feedback, Marking, Mini Conference 2020 Feedback, Rubrics, Tests, Turnitin Leave a comment

On Wednesday 16th December, the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit will be hosting the first of this year’s Academy Mini-Conferences online. The theme will be ‘Advice for Action: Promoting Good Feedback Practice’, where we will explore how to make feedback more useful and engaging for students.

The three main strands for this Mini-Conference are:

Marking group assessments
Peer assessment and feedback
Improving student learning through feedback

We are looking for proposals from staff, postgraduate teaching assistants and students to give presentations, demonstrations, workshops and discussions on their current feedback and assessment practices. Even if your proposal does not particularly fit the strands above, other relevant proposals are very welcome.

If you would like to submit a proposal to this year’s Mini-Conference, please fill in this online form before Wednesday 18th November.

You can register to attend the Mini-Conference by clicking on this link. If you have any queries, please email lteu@aber.ac.uk.

Tips for monitoring chat for online and in person sessions

14th October 202028th April 2021 WordPress User [jbw] HyFlex, Microsoft Teams, Online Teaching, Other Tools 5 Comments

Distance Learner Banner In this blogpost, we’ll be looking at some tips for monitoring a Teams chat when you’ve also got attendees joining in person and online.

The planning of the synchronous activity and what you want your students to be able to do after they have engaged with the activity shapes the purpose of the chat. Ask yourself: what role do you want the chat to have in your teaching session?

For example, do you want the chat to be used for students joining online to communicate their ideas with you? Do you want it to be used for them to chat with each other? Do you want the chat contributions to be communicated with those joining in person?

In addition to that, you want to think about how you are asking your online students to engage in the session. Do you want them, for example, to use the raise the hand function to attract your attention? Or, do you want them to only use the chat.