Staff: New features in LearnUCS Summer 2013 Upgrade

As many of you are aware we upgraded LearnUCS during July 2013. As part of this project we are rolling out a number of What are the new features in LearnUCS? How might they help your teaching? surgeries (30 minutes)

So if you'd like to know more about what is new and improved within LearnUCS, and how you might use this in your teaching and assessment, why not drop into one of the following short sessions (no booking required)

Title:

Re-thinking the way you use LearnUCS: New features from the summer 2013 upgrade

Dates, Times & Rooms:

Date: Wednesday 04 September 2013
Time: 10:00 - 10:30
Room: W415 Classroom

Date: Thursday 12 September 2013
Time: 14:00 - 14:30
Room: W418 Classroom

Date: Wednesday 18 September 2013
Time: 12:30 - 13:00
Room: W417 Classroom

Date: Monday 23 September 2013
Time: 10:00 - 10:30
Room: W418 Classroom

Date: Wednesday 02 October 2013
Time: 12:00 - 12:30
Room: W120 Teaching

Date: Tuesday 08 October 2013
Time: 14:00 - 14:30
Room: W602 Boardroom

Date: Wednesday 16 October 2013
Time: 10:30 - 11:00
Room: W217 Teaching

Date: Monday 21 October 2013
Time: 13:00 - 13:30
Room: W414 Teaching

If you have any questions about these sessions, or would like more information please email the Elevate Team (elevate@ucs.ac.uk)

Elevate Team: Staff development programme Sept to Dec, 2013

This is the first heads up of our staff development package to cover September to December 2013. The emphasis of the programme is to offer shorter sessions which act to stimulate your ideas about applying these technologies within your teaching and assessment strategies.

These sessions include;

Masterclasses (30 mins)

November 12th AM in W315

• Using the peer assessment tool in LearnUCS
• How might I use a tablet (iPad or equivalent) in my teaching, learning and assessment
• What is the LearnUCS Retention Centre, and why might it be useful for a lecturer?

November 13th PM in W315

• How can I extend my teaching and assessment using web conference tools?
• I've used clickers for multiple choice questions in class, so what else can I use them for?
• What does LearnUCS offer as a learning and teaching tool?

Tasters (15 mins)

October 8th, AM in W315

• Using Clickers in your teaching
• Changing the look of your LearnUCS module
• Using the LearnUCS wiki for Student Group Work
• What does Twitter offer for your teaching?
• Bring externals into your teaching using the GoTo Meeting Conference Software

These short sessions are supported through the 1-2-1 mechanisms with a more structured deployment of the hub and spoke model at UCS Ipswich. A timetable will be made available of when and where we'll be based for staff drop-ins.

• Waterfront (Floors 2 & 3): Wednesday 9.30 to 12.30
• James Hehir: Thursday 9.30 to 12.00
• Arts: Monday 9.30 to 12.00

Our generic workshop programme will start in January 2014. However, we will be providing a selection of online workshops through LearnUCS from October 2013, and we would encourage you to request bespoke workshops for your course team. Please email elevate@ucs.ac.uk to discuss your ideas.

The online workshops include;

• Using objective testing (LearnUCS Quiz) in your teaching and learning
• ePortfolios for the reflective learner
• Making time for discussion: how to flip your classroom

For background and reflections on the Elevate Team staff development programme (2012/13), see

• https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/12497737/reports/DevelopingstafftoeffectivelyuseLearningTechnologiesatUCSReflectionsfrom201213.pdf

Mahara Downtime Tuesday 13th August 7-9AM

Due to maintenance at ULCC where we host our installation of Mahara there will be a short downtime of 15 minutes on Tuesday morning shortly before 9AM.

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As part of ULCC's commitment to continuous service improvement we will be performing an upgrade to some of our core network equipment on Tuesday 13/8/13 during the usual at-risk period 07:00-09:00.

As well as providing general maintenance and essential security updates this upgrade will include new features which will allow ULCC to roll out Quality of Service (QoS) and IPv6 more widely across the infrastructure.

We will upgrade the main ULCC firewall first at 07:00, resulting in a brief (<5 minute) loss of service. This will be followed at approximately 07:30 by an upgrade of one of ULCC's core switches, resulting in another brief (<10 minute) loss of service.

While we anticipate the disruption will be contained to these two windows, service should be considered at-risk for the entire at-risk window.
 
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The service will be monitored during and after the at risk period.

If there are any problems please contact the elevate team.

e-learning technology landscape 2013/14

As you maybe aware the Elevate Team publish its e-Learning Technology Landscape as a means for staff and students to be more aware of the available tools and type of support and development we provide for these tools.

As part of an away day activity the Elevate Team have finalised the version for 2013/14. This includes the removal of some software, including Debut Video Capture due to it not being removed from UCS domain PCs, and our QR Code / Short URL service as we have found alternative to enable us to decommission our service. We have also removed Dropbox from our supported tools. This is due to developments in Google Drive and Mobile apps using Google Drive meaning Dropbox is not required for our e-feedback projects. 

We have also moved some services from Core to Recommended. This includes the Elevate Team YouTube Channel. From discussions with the Library we are recommending staff and students us the Library's eStream service. Our focus with respect to YouTube is to shift from providing a streaming service to how staff and students can use its as a technology for learning.

We have included a UCS (ILTS) pilots area which is intended to disseminate learning technologies where are currently exploring as part of staff pilot projects. At the moment, this includes Prezi, however, we'll add to over time.

The e-Learning Technology Landscape (2013/14) is available from:

• https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1YFjRGpvFvFhj45BXyp0CAQLefMZAz2AZTawrMm0795k/edit?usp=sharing

If you have any questions, please email the Elevate Team (elevate@ucs.ac.uk)