Discussions in the Hub – short demonstration of a new tool by Blackboard

From summer 2013, a new discussion tool will be available in the Hub.

On Thursday 8^th November at 2pm, there will be a short demonstration by Blackboard of how the discussion tool may be refined and enhanced. We need your feedback on this. This is our chance to influence how this tool can be improved and ensure that it is fit for purpose for use with our students.

 

The session will last approximately 45 minutes and refreshments will be available.

 

If you would like to attend, please contact Susi Peacock (Speacock@qmu.ac.uk) for further details.

Updates to Turnitin guide for students

 

This guide has been updated to remind students:

a)    That the title of submissions to Turnitin must be 4 letters or more;

b)    About how to access their Originality Reports.

The guide is available at: http://www.qmu.ac.uk/ELS/Turnitin.htm

Tutors may wish to add a link to this guide in the Turnitin section of their Hub areas. Please note: the School Office is adding linking to Turnitin over the next few weeks.

Further information, please contact hub@qmu.ac.uk

Announcements for second semester modules - add dates!

If you add an announcement to a second semester module, it will be sent as an email to students now. However, the students will not be able to access the announcement in the Hub because the module is not yet available.

 Add a date (adaptive release) to the announcement and the email about the announcement will be sent on that date.

Please note: second semester modules are available in the Hub from 7^th January 2014.

Further information, contact hub@qmu.ac.uk

Student View

The student view tool has now been enabled again on all Hub modules. This tool is useful to give a more accurate display of exactly what a student what see, particularly when you are designing sign-up sheets, assessments and discussions. The tool can be accessed through Course Tools>Student View. To return to your instructor view click the link at the bottom of the menu called Teacher View.

The way the tool works is that it creates a demo student in the users for the course so you are seeing what any student would see. The limitation of the tool is that it will not work on modules that are not currently available to students. e.g. Semester 2 modules. Please do not use the tool with unavailable module areas. Semester 2 modules are available from 6th January and the tool will work on these areas after this date.

Why do I, as a tutor, keep receiving emails from the Hub?

 

All tutors  receive a daily email digest at 9 pm which collates notifications from any module that they have access to regarding:

·         Announcements sent;

·         Assignment Dropboxes that have been created or have had dates amended;

·         Student submissions to an assignment dropbox or assessment (eg online quiz).

You will also receive a separate email from the Hub:

·         When an announcement is sent from the Hub and a tutor has selected: SEND A COPY OF THE ANNOUNCEMENT IMMEDIATELY. This will ignore the daily digest option.

·         When the send email tool is used and you have been selected to receive an email.

To reduce emails:

·         Ask other tutors in your areas in the Hub to use the option: SEND A COPY OF THE ANNOUNCEMENT IMMEDIATELY only when essential.

·         Check that you have selected email notifications to be sent as a daily digest.

To ensure that your email notifications are sent as a daily digest, log into the Hub and on the My Hub Page click on:

·         the My Places icon in the very top-right.

·         Edit Notifications Settings

·         Edit General Settings

Edit General Settings allows you to choose whether to receive email notifications individually or as a daily digest.

You can also choose to remove particular types of notification from the digest (e.g. if a student submits an assignment) by editing the notification settings for that module or all modules. To do this, from the My Places above, click on either Edit Individual Course Settings or Bulk Notifications Settings and remove the email notifications selection for a module or modules.

 

For further details please see:

http://qmuhub.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/notifications-from-your-hubqmu-modules.html

If you would like further information, please book a 20-minute slot at the Hub drop-in sessions. Details at: https://sites.google.com/a/qmu.ac.uk/hub/workshops.