LearnUCS and Java 7 Issues - Update

We have heard back from Blackboard, they are currently working on a patch to solve the Java 7 issues.

We will update once the patch has been installed.

LearnUCS (Blackboard) Mobile Learn Access Issues - Update

This issue has now been resolved after a problem was found on the central Blackboard servers.

The Elevate Team have tested accessing LearnUCS via the mobile app.

How do you design social learning into your e-learning activities?

The Elevate Team ran a workshop for the PGCHEP Module 2 course on how a lecturer or course team might design social learning into their e-learning activities.

In terms of impact, during the workshop we finished the curriculum design with one lecturer which focused on peer assessment and they implemented it a day later !!

The following discusses the use of the peer assessment tool, and more broadly the workshop.

Their design was relatively straightforward, it was a formative assessment, which fed into their summative work. Motivation included, if they didn’t complete this activity marks would be deducted from their final summative portfolio.

The student needed to create two CAD design activities based on some clear objectives and marking scheme. The output would be two PDF files. They need to share these with their colleagues for peer assessment and feedback against the marking criteria (quantitative and qualitative). This process would help the student reflect on their own submission. The submission and evaluation needed to complete within 7 hours (one working day). The lecturer wanted to ensure they have all done the activity, but not release the feedback. This would be undertaken on a 1-2-1 basis, and would include other comments from the lecturer and a “lay person”.

These aims were met using the LearnUCS peer assessment tool.

The following screenshot (student names and numbers removed) show the views for the lecturer. It lists the evaluator (student name and number), list of submissions evaluated (student names), the marks for individual evaluations, and the average mark the evaluator gave across all their evaluations.

Another feature is the ability to review the results by individual. This allows the lecture to see the overall result for an individual, and drill down into a specific peer assessment by an evaluator. This is illustrated in the following two screenshot

If you’d like to discuss if the Peer Assessment tool is appropriate for you and how to use it, please contact the Elevate Team (elevate@ucs.ac.uk)

In terms of the workshop. The broad aims of the workshop were to enable the individual to answer within their context and understanding the following questions;

• What do we mean by social constructivism?
• Is social constructivism a relevant approach to your learning, teaching and assessment models?
• What are the key characteristics which would need to be designed into your e-learning activities?
• How might these translate into meaningful learning activities?
• How might you implement them within your e-learning activities?

The workshop was flipped, so the pre-session activity was to read the following two short articles on social constructivism. After which, they need to explain what is social constructivism, and describe two or three situations on their courses where social constructivist learning occurs (You should spend no more than one hour on the activity)

• Powell, K. & Kalina, C. (2009) ‘Cognitive and Social Constructivism: Developing Tools for an Effective Classroom’, Education 130 (2) pp. 241-250
• University College Dublin Teaching and Learning. (2014) Education Theory: Constructivism and Social Constructivism. Available at: http://www.ucdoer.ie/index.php/Education_Theory/Constructivism_and_Social_Constructivism (Accessed: 8th January 2014).

This meant in the session we can test this understanding, and then apply this through hands-on activities. Including the following three scenarios (using a timeline and learning design sequence framework);

• Social learning using Clickers in the classroom (formative feedback)
• Group project work using LearnUCS (wiki and journal)
• Enhanced learning networks using Twitter (informal learning)

The workshop slides are available from:

LearnUCS and Java 7 Issues

We have become aware of an issue in LearnUCS that is causing issues with certain tool functionality.

The tools are:

• Multiple Files Upload
• Virtual Classroom

The issue concerns the use of Java, which is a software plugin that allows additional features to run in the browser.

Sun Microsystem has recently released an upgrade to Java, this update, "Java 7" now has additional security features as previous Java implementations have had security issues.  Java 7 now requires the websites that use it to have additional code to confirm that it is safe to run.

We believe that Blackboard are due to release a patch for the LearnUCS system to enable Java 7 to confirm the security checks soon.

The tools mentioned above still work if you have not upgraded your Java software from version 6.

We will update here once we here back from Blackboard.

LearnUCS (Blackboard) Mobile Learn Access Issues

The Elevate Team have become aware of an issue that is stopping the Mobile Learn app from working.

This issue is a problem with the Blackboard central service and out of our control.  The issue is affecting a number of institutions world-wide.

We will update here once we know more.

UCS Annual Learning & Teaching Day: 13th June, 2014

The UCS Annual Learning and Teaching Day has been announced, and submissions have been opened for papers and posters. The date is 13th June, 2014, and the theme is Enhancing Teaching and Pedagogical Practice.

Please contact the Elevate Team if you'd like to discuss bounce ideas around on presenting your technology enhanced learning initiatives. The closing date for submission is 17th April, 2014.

For more information, see http://ucslandtday2014.blogspot.co.uk/

Exploring the potential use of Google Hangouts for teaching, learning and assessment.

Until recently the Elevate Team supported GoTo Meeting and GoTo Webinar for audio and video conferencing at UCS to aid in distance personal tutorial support, UCS’s Monthly open webinars (OWLET) and supporting academics who wanted to share the lecture space with external individuals or institutions.

However due to recent budget pressures and weighing up the cost against current usage, the Elevate Team have had to shift their support for web conferencing from GoTo Meeting to Google Hangouts.

The selection of Google Hangouts was not solely driven by costs. Other factors include the wide range of available features, intuitive interface and widespread adoption of Google software within the institution.

So what is Google Hangouts?

Google Hangouts is an audio and video conferencing tool available to anyone who has a Google account. If you have a Gmail, Youtube or Blogger account you will already have access to use hangouts.

Google Hangouts is split into a number of elements, including,

• Google Hangouts - Video Call
• Google Hangouts - On Air

Google Hangouts - Video Call

A Google Hangout is a private area where up to 10 people can come together, the people can all talk and see each other, while sharing desktops, collaborate on Google Drive documents and/or watching YouTube videos.

The creation of the Hangout (web conference) is easy to set-up and can be used on the majority of modern mobile devices meaning you could participate in a Google Hangout using an iPad, iPhone or any other compatible mobile device.

The use of Google Hangouts - Video Call is perfect for group work.

Google Hangouts - On Air

Google Hangouts On Air allows all of the features within Google’s Video Call, however, it is broadcast live to the public meaning anyone can search for and find the video of the hangout. Although, members of the public can’t participate in the hangout. They have a view only experience.

Only invited users can join a hangout. One feature on the On Air version is the the fact the whole video is archived directly to YouTube once the hangout has finished. Therefore, it can be accessed for future reference.

An obvious use of Hangouts on Air is the delivery of lectures and seminars.

You can read more about this in a separate post.

(http://ucselevate.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/google-hangouts-hangouts-on-air.html)

How is Google Hangouts being used elsewhere?

Google Hangouts is being used in a variety of ways in the UK HE sector. For instance;

Distance Lectures

Professor David Gill, Head of the Division of Humanities and Professor of Archaeological Heritage at UCS has used the standard Google Hangouts tool to lecture to a cohort of students at University of Swansea. David was keen to use this system as he’d used it previously. He was able to present his presentation by sharing his laptop screen sitting in his office.

Capturing Seminars

Dr Sara Perry, a Lecturer in Cultural Heritage Management at the University of York decided to use Google Hangouts On Air to break out of the walls of the classroom and broadcast their seminars publicly to the world. Sara was keen to do this to help promote the work of the archeology department but also to make available lectures and seminars for students who couldn’t make it. One important facet that Sara was keen to push was making sure the process was using a minimal tech intervention so reducing barriers for non tech savvy academics.

This basically entailed using a single laptop which had built in webcam and microphone, thus not having any extra ‘set-up’ procedures or extra kit to think about, the laptop was simply placed close to the podium where it could capture an upper torso view of the presenter and what they were saying. Most laptops, phones and tablet form factors all have the webcam and microphone built in.

Even though the video does have an institution branded intro slide, Sara states that she was keen to make sure this minimal tech intervention meant no post-editing. Essentially empowering non technically minded academics with no need for support teams. to use a very simple process to capture and archive (YouTube) these seminars and/or lectures.

You can find out more about Dr Sara Perry’s use of Google Hangouts by clicking the link here → https://sites.google.com/a/york.ac.uk/using-hangouts-to-share-a-seminar/

Support

The Elevate Team at UCS are using Google Hangouts within their current staff and student support model.

Firstly, as an on air (live) virtual office for members of UCS to ask questions. Secondly, as a means of quickly generating playlists of video guides.

What are the considerations if someone wanted to use Google Hangouts in their teaching and learning?

The power of using the Google Hangouts On Air in this manner is that they can be reviewed at any point as the videos are archived straight into YouTube, not only that but any questions that were asked and ultimately answered can be used as a video knowledge base post production with very little administration.

There are two key requirements;

1. To host or join a Google Hangout you need to have a Google account.
2. A small plugin is required use Google Hangouts.

Although the two main points can be off-putting, they are very easily overcome. For members of UCS, simply email the Elevate Team (elevate@ucs.ac.uk) to discuss your requirements.

Conclusion and Recommendations

You can infer from the above that Google Hangouts has been proved to be used effectively in both the educational and support spaces. With no subscription or purchasing costs and the ability to use already available hardware (Phones, Laptops etc), using Google Hangouts as a primary communication tool, not just for cross-institution, but globally would be an incredibly efficient and cost effective move.

We would recommend contacting the Elevate team if you wish to further explore the options in using Google Hangouts in teaching, learning and assessment. The Elevate team will be able to support it’s effective use and training using the system.