Blended learning

Sharing links for Virtual Classroom sessions

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As with many TEL tools, there’s often lots of different ways to achieve the same task. Part of what we do is to try and determine the best option, or best options for different types of scenarios. The following guide covers some options for sharing links to Virtual Classroom sessions so that your sessions are… Read more » about Sharing links for Virtual Classroom sessions

Epigeum Learning Blended Course, developed by BU academics, now open access

                                              Colleagues, Led by Dr Geli Roushan, Dr Elvira Bolat and I contributed to creating this Epigeum online course – with the covid-19 situation, Epigeum are offering it open access. You can access… Read more » about Epigeum Learning Blended Course, developed by BU academics, now open access

Using Brightspace Calendars

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With the rapid move to on-line teaching, most timetables will be outdated, however, there is another tool you can use to help to communicate events to your students. Each Brightspace unit has its own schedule or calendar which can be used to communicate with your students about when events will take place. As well as… Read more » about Using Brightspace Calendars

Sharing video files with your students

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Sharing video is now more relevant than ever and with increased interactions happening online you might find yourself with a bunch of video files that you need to share with your students. There’s a number of ways in which this can be done, but to ensure the best possible experience for students (and staff!) we… Read more » about Sharing video files with your students

Talking HE Policy: why it matters – report on a session by Jane Forster and Debbie Holley

Thanks to Prof Liz Falconer for inviting us to ‘talk policy’ and sharing her expertise to enable us to deliver a creative virtual classroom session. Exemplary policy advice – delivered with panache online! Jane Forster, policy adviser to the Office of the Vice Chancellor, working Department of Nursing Sciences’ Debbie Holley, delivered an engaging, interactive… Read more » about Talking HE Policy: why it matters – report on a session by Jane Forster and Debbie Holley

An update on online meeting tools

I’m sure we are all a lot more familiar with online meeting tools than we were a month ago, I know I am. Nonetheless, updates for these tools and the way we use them are developing on a regular basis. Here’s a quick snapshot on the updates from this week. Virtual Classroom in Brightspace (lectures,… Read more » about An update on online meeting tools

Video Note recording time now increased to 30 minutes

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Video Note recordings have now been extended from 5 minutes to 30 minutes to give you a bit more flexibility when getting your message across. Video Notes are generally short webcam recordings which are a quick and personal way to engage with students. Videos can be more authentic, are quick to record and can contain… Read more » about Video Note recording time now increased to 30 minutes

Brightspace Virtual Classroom update

In response to the increased demand for the Virtual Classroom we have just moved to an enhanced licence which now offers the following improvements with immediate effect: Participant limit increased from 50 to 150 Session times increased from 60 minutes to 240 minutes Teaching teams/Presenters can now join sessions 10 minutes before the scheduled start… Read more » about Brightspace Virtual Classroom update

Enhance your PowerPoint using the Presentation Tools

Did you know that you can annotate and highlight the slides during your presentation to emphasize a point or piece of content? Used appropriately, this can greatly enhance the presentation and increase student engagement. One of PowerPoint’s many secrets, these tools are hidden in plain sight on the presentation screen. Put the slides into presentation… Read more » about Enhance your PowerPoint using the Presentation Tools

Delivering lectures online using Panopto

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Panopto can be used to live stream lectures to large audiences using its live webcast functionality with no limit on the number of students attending. Students access the live stream from a link created on the Brightspace unit in advance. The live session is automatically recorded and can be added to the content area of… Read more » about Delivering lectures online using Panopto