Staff Development Workshop Booking

Dates for the staff development workshops have now been confirmed and booking is available form the CAP workshop booking form on the intranet: http://apps/capforms/workshopbooking.asp.

Please note that it is mandatory that academic staff attend both Workshop 1 and Workshop 2 if they are planning to run modules in the Hub@QMU. Workshop 3 is optional and covers the Assessment and Assignment functions (see previous post for more details). All workshops are 3.5 hours.

Development for academic, academic-related and support staff at QMU for the new VLE

The following provides an overview of the three face-to-face workshops that the CAP will provide to familiarise the QMU community with our new VLE. These face-to-face workshops will be supported with a wide variety of short video tutorials and also with some limited documentation.

To use the new VLE, everyone will have  to attend Workshop 1 and Workshop 2. Failure to attend these workshops will mean that the CAP will not provide support to this individual.

Workshop 1: introduction to Blackboard (mandatory for use of Blackboard)

This workshop is compulsory for anyone using or supporting Blackboard and will cover:

·         Introduction to the interface

·         Uploading content: folders and files

·         File manager

·         Navigating/menus/information panel

·         Overview of tools

·         Specific tools    

o   Announcements

o   Email

o   Tasks

·         Creating web links

·         Mash-ups (YouTube, Slideshare and Flickr)

·         Library services

·         Module evaluation and Turnitin

·         Handling of online submission of assignments

·         Where to find further help

Time: 3.5 hours

Workshop two: learning modules, communication, group tools, adaptive release and student tracking (mandatory for use of Blackboard)

This will cover:

·         Learning modules

·         Online discussions

·         Group Tools including blogs

·         Early warning system

·         Student Tracking

·         Adaptive release

Time: 3.5 hours

Workshop three: assessments and surveys (optional)

This will cover

·         Quizzes

·         Surveys

·         The Grade Centre

·         Assignment Dropbox

·         Peer and self-assessment

Time: 3.5 hours

Migrating modules from WebCT to Blackboard

It is possible technically to migrate most modules from WebCT to Blackboard. However, most universities have not migrated the majority of their WebCT modules to Blackboard for the following reasons:

·         The cost of housing redundant data: most WebCT modules hold a considerable amount of old and unused versions of files, videos, images. These have been added by academics who no longer teach a module or who have not ‘housekeeped’ their modules. There are, in addition, often many multiple copies of the same file. For QMU this would mean that we would be transferring substantial quantities of redundant data from an old system to a new system.

·         Time for academics to adapt a migrated system: when migrating from one system to another, inevitably not all materials, style, organisation will migrate cleanly. To fix and clean the migrated version, will take academics longer than starting again.

·         Out of date materials: some modules have out of date materials and/or links to websites that are no longer working. Starting a new area in Blackboard provides academics the opportunity to check all materials. In Blackboard there is a building block which will allow academics to check the validity of weblinks for a module. (This only checks that the link is correctly formed. Links to a website which no longer exists will not be picked up.)

·         Poor structure, design in current WebCT areas: many WebCT modules have grown organically over the years. This has led to poor structure which is difficult to navigate for many students (and academics).

·         Enhanced use of the new VLE: by starting to develop a new module in Blackboard, this will help academics to become more familiar with the system and learn about the new functionality of the VLE such as the group tools and Early Warning System.

The CAP is proposing to only migrate:

·         Assessments, online quizzes and surveys and only when specifically requested

·         Glossary

Introduction: Joe Currie

Hi, I'm Joe Currie and one of the administrators for QMU's Hub.

My role is predominately technical with a responsibility to ensure that the service is available and stable for our users when we launch The Hub across QMU. We hope that moving from WebCT will mean a much better user experience for staff and students including less down time when we have to perform upgrades to the software.
The Hub will also provide a much more modern way of navigating the VLE as it makes use of modern technology unlike WebCT which was verging on 7 years old!!
It is an exciting time for me to be part of this project and I hope you will enjoy experiencing the new VLE when it is launched.

I will be mainly in the background with my colleagues working on the more public side of things, but please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Some key elements I have been working on include:

• integration with the student records system which will ensure all students will be brought across onto the correct module areas
• "building blocks" - these are plugins into the underlying software which extends the capabilities. A couple of the most significant ones are the Turnitin building block (similar to WebCT) and a new integration with PebblePad
• customising the look and feel of The Hub

I should say that I might get a bit carried away and mention some things I am working on, but they might not be available when the Hub is launched as they may not be relevant or stable enough to implement. But i will try to avoid that as much as possible.
Joe