LearnUCS: Emergency Downtime

EMERGENCY DOWNTIME - MAY 20th - 2-4am

During our annual technical service review, our managed hosting technicians found a number of small tweaks that are required to continue the excellent system performance.

The interruption is expected to a maximum of 2 hours, this interruption will mean LearnUCS is unavailable for period of time between 2am and 4am.

Details:

Date: Wednesday 20th May 2015
Time: between 02:00 - 04:00
Downtime: 2 hours

It is advised that you do not access LearnUCS for this period.

LearnUCS in numbers: Oct 2014 to April 2015

As part of the LearnUCS review, we'd like answer the question, "to what degree is LearnUCS being accessed by staff and students?". The answer is captured in the Table below. However, it is important to give a some context for interpreting the data.

• The locus of control within LearnUCS is with Staff. Therefore, students need to access LearnUCS is strongly influenced by the implemented learning design. For UCS the prevalent design is a content and support model. With LearnUCS being used for e-administrative (document store, announcements and assignment submission).
• The introduce of the free mobile app will have an impact on usage data. Currently, the mobile app stats are not included within the system stats. Therefore, an increase in the use of the mobile app might lead to a decline in the system stats.
• Not every course at UCS uses LearnUCS.

Table 1: Comparison of usage data of LearnUCS

	Academic Year
	Oct 13 - April 14	Oct 14 - April 15	% Change
Total page views	11,190,157	9,514,520	- 17.6
Average page views per day	52,784	44,880
Average page views per month	1,598,594	1,359,217
Total Logins (non mobile app)	266,510	263,054	- 1.3
Average Logins per Month (non mobile app)	38,073	37,579
Average number of logins per FTE	48.4	47.8
Average number of logins per FTE per Month	6.9	6.8	- 1.5
Total number of active courses	1,637	1,779	+ 8.0
Total Mobile (app) Logins	n/a	27,485
Average monthly mobile (app) logins	n/a	3,926
Total Logins (all)	n/a	290,539
Average Month Logins (all)	n/a	41,506

Notes:

• FTE is 5500
• Period is 7 months

It is evident the usage has been relatively steady over the two periods, and would be assumed to be a high use / frequency service with over 78,000 logins per month (Oct 14-April 15).


With Thanks - Image - http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/Mozilla-firefox-usage-data.svg

Mahara Emergency Downtime - May 19th

EMERGENCY DOWNTIME - MAY 19th - 7-9am

In order to assist further diagnosis of the issues affecting ULCC (UCS' Mahara Hosting) during the recent DDoS attacks, ULCC shall be upgrading the firmware on the firewalls as an emergency change on Tuesday 19th May between 07:00 and 09:00.

Expected Risk:

During this time the firewalls will fail over between the active and standby devices as part of the upgrade process so short breaks in service will be experienced.  The upgrade process is expected to take up to an hour to complete, but the services should be deemed as being intermittent during the full 2 hour period to allow for testing of the new firmware.

It is advised that you do not access Mahara for this at risk period.

LearnUCS: Service Disruption - 15 May 2015

We have been informed by our service provider for the hosted cloud environment for LearnUCS that they are expecting a service interruption during a maintenance window at the data centre.

The interruption is expected to last less than 15 minutes, this interruption will mean LearnUCS is unavailable for short period of time between midnight and 4am.

Details:

Date: Friday 15th May 2015
Time: between 00:00 - 04:00
Downtime: < 15 minutes

Apologies for any inconvenience caused during this service interruption

LearnUCS Stats: April 2015

Application Insight

Total Page Views	1,255,934
Average Page Views Per Day	Non course - 29,070 Course - 14,237
Most Active Date	Non Course - 49,611- 28 April 2015 Course - 30,740 - 14 April 2015

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Application Metrics

Total Monthly Logins	35,470
Total Number of Courses	9780
Total Number of Active Courses	1765

We have had continued fall in the number of active module this month, this follows the trend of the end of semester 1, with staff and students no longer requiring access to those materials.

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LearnUCS Mobile Statistics for 6 April 2015 to 5th May 2015

The stats below are use the built-in Blackboard mobile analytics, which uses the mobile service for the mobile application for its data.

Since April we have been using Google Analytics on our Blackboard installation, this does not take into account those users using the mobile app. An interesting stats that Google shows us is that the second most used operating system of those accessing the web platform is iOS, a mobile operating system with 15.97% of all access.

These stats below are for the Mobile Learn application only.

Total unique logins for the period was 553 with 3,458 logins.
iOS is still the most popular operating system for those devices by far.

Analysis of Departmental Staff Meetings: LearnUCS Review

As part of the LearnUCS Review the Elevate Team attended a number of Departmental staff meetings. Staff arranged themselves into small groups (no larger than three people) and answered two broad questions;

1. How are you currently using the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) within your teaching, learning or assessment practice?

2. How would you like to use the VLE to enhance your teaching, learning or assessment practice?

The intention of the LearnUCS Review is to ensure the VLE (in the widest context) is fit for purpose to support UCS’s 2020 Vision.

LearnUCS is the VLE component of UCS learning technologies. The full suite is available from the e-Learning Tool Landscape

• https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1H2SrwOPPO8drY5Tf6GZu8lqaA4j_XOIWpRRc1qE0Awc/edit

The analysis clustered responses into common themes. The broad findings are;

1. Staff currently use the VLE within a content plus model. This implies core learning activities and support are face to face. Administrative information (announcements, calendar) readings, material, submission of assignments and some support is provided online (Institute of Education 2007:7)
2. Staff requirements for TEL in their teaching, learning and assessment models are covered by LearnUCS, and/or the wider e-Learning Tool Landscape at UCS.
3. The barriers to adoption do not indicate there are issues the actual VLE software. The barriers tend to be related to processes, wider UCS hardware and time. With respect to the role of the Elevate Team (and Learning Services) a set of actions are required around revisiting the staff development and support programme, to ensure we maximise the availability of face to face support for individuals and course teams
4. The required enhancements include known issues for Blackboard, in particular enhancements around the electronic management of assessments, the Learn Mobile app and discussion board tools, these are on Blackboard’s road map

How are you currently using the VLE?

The analysis adopts the the Mason (1998) framework. It is evident the majority of staff (eight out of eleven groups) used the VLE within a content plus model. This is where they focus on e-administration to support their learning and teaching models. Within this sample there was little evidence of an integrated model. However, one group used it within an integrated (e-learning) model. Therefore, we need to accommodate these requirements.

Content plus support model	Module content, web links, e-submission, tutor support and announcements	Health (4) Science (4)	Sign up sheets
Wrap around model	Where there is a mixture of pre-prepared content and online learning activities. The learning activities involve online discussion and collaborative activities.	Health (1) Science (1)	Create podcasts to support assignments for distance learners Formative assessment using BBd Tools
Integrated model	Where most of the learning takes place via collaborative online activities and content is largely determined by the learners, either individually or as a group. Learning is very much student centred and highly collaborative.	Health (1)	VLE week with discussion boards

How would you like to use the VLE to enhance your teaching, learning and assessment

	Is this currently possible?		Comments
	LearnUCS	Wider e-Learning Tools
Interactive pathways (interactive quizzes)	Yes	Yes	There are a number of quiz systems available at UCS which allow interactive learning pathways and can be used in online and face to face learning environments.
Use of multimedia in T&L (podcasts)	Yes	Yes	Assuming this covers the creation and delivery on multimedia (video and audio) learning objects, and the integration of these within learning activities.
Repository for all UCS dissertations	No	No	The UCS dissertation repository can be linked to, from LearnUCS. However, this is not single sign-on.
Virtual Group Work	Yes	Yes	There are a large number of platforms to support online group work. LearnUCS includes a group working area. Within our license it does not include a web conference facility. However, group tools including Google Drive / Google Hangouts, and Visimeet cover this requirement.
Recording student presentations	No	Yes	The Elevate Team provide an AV service to support the capture, editing and distribution of student presentations.
Run webinars	No	Yes	This is not currently available within the current LearnUCS license. However, UCS does use Google Hangouts or Visimeet
Create talk over powerpoints	No	Yes	This feature is not included within the VLE. However, the Elevate Team support the use of Screencastify with YouTube
Grade centre integration with SITS	No	No	This feature is not available within current license. There is a development between Blackboard & Tribal (SITS) to provide this integration.
Online calendar / personal tutorials	Yes	No	Booking personal tutorials is managed in LearnUCS through the Wiki tool. Overall, a technology enhanced calendar / personal tutorial management tool is outside the scope of the e-learning team.

Barriers to adoption

1. Time to develop materials, with support from Learning Services
2. Some files don’t open properly with the online marking (ODT files)
3. Desktop software (windows) creates problems
4. Support routes - inline with availability (3pm onwards)
5. Don’t know, what I don’t know …
6. Ability to submit large (multimedia) files

The barriers to adoption do not indicate there are issues the actual VLE software. The barriers tend to be related to processes, wider UCS hardware and time. With respect to the role of the Elevate Team (and Learning Services) a set of actions are required around revisiting the staff development and support programme, to ensure we maximise the availability of face to face support for individuals and course teams

Required enhancements

1. Better management / display of discussion tools (all on one page, not in threads)
2. Submission to allow multiple attempts, but delete only the latest
3. Need to enhance mobile (iPad) app (2)
4. More effective management of the grade centre - can we reduce the number of clicks
5. More roles, external examiner
6. Submission process: Email confirmation to student of submitted work, more granular portals (one person)

The required enhancements include known issues for Blackboard, in particular enhancements around the electronic management of assessments, the Learn Mobile app and discussion board tools, these are on Blackboard’s road map

Analysis of staff interviews: LearnUCS

As part of the LearnUCS Review a number of semi-structured interviews were undertaken with academic staff. The two broad questions asked, were;

1. How are you currently using the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) within your teaching, learning or assessment practice?

2. How would you like to use the VLE to enhance your teaching, learning or assessment practice?

The intention of the review is to ensure the VLE (in the widest context) is fit for purpose to support UCS’s 2020 Vision.

LearnUCS is the VLE component of UCS learning technologies. The full suite is available from the e-Learning Tool Landscape

• https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1H2SrwOPPO8drY5Tf6GZu8lqaA4j_XOIWpRRc1qE0Awc/edit

The analysis has been to cluster discussion into common themes. Each of these includes a response and set of actions to be completed by the Elevate Team.

The broad findings are;

1. The majority of the “can’t do it” issues are actually possible, and in many cases have been for a while. This implies the need to revisit our service communication plan to improve its effectiveness.(what, with whom and when). It is proposed if this can be improved the potential barriers to adoption will be reduced.
2. There is a need to provide easier access to support people (Elevate Team) for staff. Many of the issues will be addressed through just-in time support, and not an over reliance on online materials.

General Use

Question	Is this possible?	Response	Action for the Elevate Team
Overall responses are slow (updating, uploading, moving from one file to another)	n/a	The software is hosted by Blackboard and the speed is very good, Therefore, people who encounter this are likely to be suffering a local IT issue.	Continue to monitor service performance.
Staff would like a “Drag&Drop” function	No	This is currently in development by Blackboard.	Watching brief
Need a “my preferences” in the VLE, so that it can be set up to each user. This way Staff can have what they want to view and how. This would save Staff repeatedly having to click the same options.	Yes	There are a number of customisations an individual can make to the look and feel, and communication routes	Update guide and include in course support.
Navigation is a problem. There are too many menu options that do not make sense to most (terminology is really for VLE experts), and are never used by most. A more basic template was suggested that could then be built up by staff.	Yes	Assuming this relates to the module menu which is rolled out across all modules. This is kept to a minimum, but can be changed by staff on a module by module basis.	Update guide and include in course support on managing menus. Should look to involve a wider group of people in the design of the module menu.
IT is a big problem when using the VLE. The equipment is not suitable (Too old/ Screens too small), and the software is not updated regularly enough. Several times Staff have not been able to grade as students have done their work on more up-to-date versions of for example Mahara.	Yes	W.r.t the desktop hardware, this is a known issue being addressed by IT Services. In terms of software being used by students to author assignments, file formats are an issue. The move to inline grading should start to reduce this problem as the system converts file types.
Embedding Links is still hard. 8 out of the 10 Staff spoken to just place a link to the external site they want to direct the students too.	Yes	This will depend on the type of link. The starting point is Blackboard has a web link tool within content area. Deep linking is possible, but reliant on the software being linked to, ie., Summon, for it to work. Alternatively, embedding YouTube links is straightforward using the content mash up tool.	Update guide and include in course support on adding links.
Staff would like a built in automatic Spell check, as at the moment it is a manual check and if staff forget to click things go out to students un-reviewed.	Yes	The text entry box in LearnUCS has a spell checker. In addition, increasingly modern browsers are including a built-in spell checker	Update guide and include in Course Support
The incorporated text editor needs to be “less picky”. When staff copy text into the VLE, it always reformats it (if copied from word for example). You have to go into the HTML code to reformat back. VLE doesn’t seem to recognises simple Doc formats.	Yes	The latest version on the text editor should reduce the issues with cut and paste from word and web docs. It is designed to remove the remove hidden code. Therefore, you will be required to manually tweak the editing.
Functionality to facilitate external experts (UK/ other countries) - external login so that expert can for example do a live broadcasts, feed in a podcast, live webinar/chat.	Yes	This functionality is not provided within the LearnUCS license. There are a number of alternative solutions at UCS, including Visimeet and Google Hangouts	Update guide and include in Course support. Write a discussion paper on on this topic, to include examples of use, the technologies to achieve this, and the support mechanisms.

Course Area

	Is this possible?	Response	Action for the Elevate Team
It was noted that Staff would prefer a template in place for how modules should look like, this way giving all modules a similar feel and make it easier for students to use. Individual Staff could then just add in the few extra bits they need to the module layout if needed.	Yes	LearnUCS courses have a number of templates. This includes the generic menu item. The current approach is to keep generic templates as simple as possible. If a lecturer or course teams wish to develop generic structures for their modules, they can copy these into courses.	Update guide and include in course support on copying structures between courses.
Quiz function/survey tools are not very flexible and take too much time to do very basic things. It is hard to link quiz 1 to quiz 2 and embedding links into this function is problematic. Most Staff use external sources (survey Monkey/Articulate Quiz Master)	Yes	Not completely sure of the issue around the quiz. The connection between completing and releasing quizzes is often managed through adaptive release. W.r.t LearnUCS survey tool offers limited functionality in terms of non-enrolled people being able to access the survey. Therefore, alternative tools tend to be used.	Update guide and include in course support on using the quiz tool and adaptive release.
Copying files from one course to another needs improving to be more streamlined.  There seems to be a lot of unnecessary steps/links. Staff need to be able to have multiple selections to move things over rather than one at a time; or even be able to move a whole course over.	Yes	Will need to revisit our user education around the most appropriate and effective route, as Module Copy, and Folder Copy are within the software.	Update guide and include in course support on copying structures between and within courses.
The Podcast tool is gone – or at least impossible to find now. Very useful and needs to be brought back.	Yes	This was removed due to license costs, and low usage. There are alternative solutions available. Staff need to contact the Elevate Team to discuss their requirements.
Would like a google Drive/Dropbox type interface where staff can file share and “group” edit. At the moment most are using Google Drive.	No	The integration of Google into LearnUCS is feasible via a building block. A number of integrations have been developed by other institutions. However, our policy has been to reduce dependency (and risk) on 3rd party developments. The co-authoring of documents can be managed through the LearnUCS Wiki and Group Tools.	Update guide and include in course support on co-authoring documents in LearnUCS
Give course leaders the ability to add a new member of staff. At the moment only the course administrators can do this but there are times they are not available (or there isn’t one).Also could it be allowed for the whole team that is delivering and cross mapping across many modules, have access to each/every module.	Yes	This process is currently managed by the Course Administrators and it would be advisable to continue this practice. It would be advised to discuss needs with Course Administrator and ask them about cover arrangements.
Integration of dissertations/portfolios area. This would allow students to build up their portfolios thoughout the year. However they would then need access to it after they leave which may be problematic.		A link can be included to the UCS dissertation file store (repository). With respect to the portfolio discussion Mahara is currently the UCS portfolio tool. It offers possibilities for external access and export.	Discuss with Learning Services and IT Services about potential to include links to dissertation store.
Staff would like an easier way to track student’s usage. What is available is hard to find and then for staff it’s even more difficult to get what they want out of it. For example staff would like to diagnose how students are using VLE, how students use material, how often and what length of time, the scores of students in the formative assessment as a whole and grouped and the date of last access. One Dashboard that could be set up for each course.	Yes	Most of this is currently possible through the Performance Dashboard and Retention Centre. However, if seeking sophisticated integration, planning is required in terms of the design and timing of the learning task.	Write a discussion paper on on this topic, to include examples of use, the technologies to achieve this, and the support mechanisms.
Easier access to “Student View” of VLE.  It is not always apparent how modules present themselves to students. The “Student view” at moment is only module level and staff would like it to be course level.	Yes	There is a fully functioning student preview, including the submission of work.	Update guide and include in course support on the Student Preview function.
Integrate what students are doing on VLE to their LinkedIn profile. So as they are mapping their skills/tasks as they progress, it can be structured similar to LinkedIn. This would make it easily transferable, or could then be exported to LinkedIn later?	No	Currently, LearnUCS does not integrate with LinkedIn. LearnUCS is a staff/lecturer controlled learning space. therefore, with respect to student evidencing skills they should use an alternative. Mahara (or alternative externally hosted solutions), or the Blog function within LinkedIn maybe a more appropriate tool
Staff would like more user friendly Bibliographical software	n/a		Make Learning Services aware of request.
Staff would like something like iBooks, that is a digital space of eBooks, that isn’t just reading list (just links) – UEA has a software.	Yes	Elevate Team have explored a number of ebook authoring tools.
A software like Cengage is. Apparently it is a pre-prepared software that works alongside their textbooks, with prepared videos made for the textbooks and prepared formative assessment already made, which are then automatically graded.			Make Learning Services aware of this tool

Communication

	Is this currently possible?	Response	Action for the Elevate Team
Announcement tool is reliant on students checking, rather than getting notification that something has been uploaded. A push type service is needed (There is an app – but we can’t expect students to pay for something to do with their course).	Yes	There are a number of different approaches. The announcements can be ‘pushed’ using the email option. The mobile app is now free and cross platform. This offers many opportunities.	Create a student top tips for LearnUCS which includes a guide on effective strategies around notifications.
A system that allows Students to have a preference how they would like to receive updates/communication – text, email (which email), Facebook, twitter etc.	Yes	Some of this functionality is available. Students can set notification preferences to email or app notification.	Include within new Student top tips guide.
Announcements should not only be on MyUCS as RSS feed but also VLE	No	This is a wider discussion around integrating the intranet with the VLE. What are the objectives, and why would it help?
All staff would like a real-time integrated communication tool – like Skype. The “virtual classroom is too clunky” and hard to use.	No	These features are available through Blackboard Collaborate. However, this would require an additional software licence.	Check feature specifications for Blackboard Collaborate
There needs to be an easier way of sharing information with students. Most staff will happily use FB. The Blog function is outside students comfort zone.	Yes	There are a large number of tools available within LearnUCS and different routes for students to be able to access them. We advise staff to initiate a discussion around expectations and communication strategies to ensure the tools are effectively used.	Update staff guides and top tips.
The discussion forum software is not easy to use. It reformats anything uploaded and staff cannot see threads easily. Also collating threads are hard.	Yes	There are a number of issues associated with copy and paste from Microsoft applications to any web-based tool will cause problems. The threads issue is related to the software design.	Watching brief on the development of discussion boards w.r.t the usability. Ensure guide and online support reflects latest version.
Staff have suggested integrating something like Twitter so students can feedback about and within particular lectures, but it’s all self-contained within VLE.	Yes	Twitter widgets can be embedded into LearnUCS. Alternatively, if students are using the mobile app, they can upload comments and feedback into a blog or discussion board. An advantage of this over Twitter is it will keep it private to the group.

Grading

	Is this currently possible?	Response	Action for Elevate Team
The window for grading is too small and has strange borders. A “Readers View” was suggested, so that it cuts out everything else from the page and you can just see the assignment. No extra clutter.	No	The inline grading interface has a number of issues which have been acknowledged by Blackboard. This one has no timescale set for resolution.	Watching brief, and prioritise up grade when available.
Files do not always open, so staff have to print/download and mark anyway.	No	The inline grading interface has a number of issues which have been acknowledged by Blackboard. This one has no timescale set for resolution.	Watching brief, and prioritise up grade when available.
Making comments on work is not easy as it is not displayed well.	No	The inline grading interface has a number of issues which have been acknowledged by Blackboard. This one has no timescale set for resolution.	Watching brief, and prioritise up grade when available.
If you need to print off work with comments, it does not print off in a user friendly way. It needs to be more like Word and the track changes/comment column at the edge.	Yes	There is a user guide which outlines how to complete this using UCS supported software.	Include within new Student top tips guide.
When staff have to make available sample scripts, they have to make them all available rather than just selecting the ones they want.	No	The current approach (as informed by EE Committee) is to allow EE’s access to all materials
VLE doesn’t default to giving you a list of all students.   Defaults to 10 and then have to select show all. It needs to be other way around.	No	Known issue by Blackboard. This one has no timescale set for resolution.	Watching brief
The VLE is also problematic when trying to grade outside of UCS	Yes	As VLE is externally hosted, there should be no reason from VLE aspect to explain different performance. Therefore, likely to be a local IT issue.	Raise awareness within the course support area.
Staff would like the ability to feedback to students first and then give the grade (more of a step by step process)	No	Blackboard are aware of this enhancement. No timescales.	Watching brief.
Would like assessment are to show most recent attempt first.	No		Will raise this with Blackboard account manager
Staff would like to be able to “Batch Print” assessments, rather than have to do one at a time.	No		Will raise this with Blackboard account manager

Training

	Is this currently possible?	Response	Action be Elevate Team
Live Chat option with Elevate if troubleshooting.	Yes	The Elevate Team have explored the use of Google hangouts to offer live chat. The technology is robust, however, it requires a change in process. Staff may also encounter additional issues as they are in open plan, shared offices.	Include this within our existing support routes.
There is still a big resistance to online marking and most have said that it is because Staff are unsure how to properly use the VLE as well as the equipment not being up to scratch.	Yes	This divides into two areas. The support on using the tool is managed by the Elevate Team and the Course Admin. The IT Issues is known and managed by IT Services	Ensure the guides and online help is clear and effective.
Staff are all at different ability levels. It was suggested that for every new Staff there should be a basic training package with one of elevate so that everyone is of the same understanding to start with.	Yes	We have released the LearnUCS Top Tips	Integrate digital capabilities and where to find help within the the welcome meeting.
It was also mentioned that for part-time staff it is hard to keep up-to-date with how information/VLE has changed. There is no notification process in place to Staff of updates or changes.	Yes	All staff can access LearnUCS specific updates and news available via LearnUCS courses and via the Elevate Team Blog They can also ask members of the Elevate Team.	Make people aware of how they can find information about the service.
Staff unsure how to: Use Peer assessment Go about blending their course to be more online. Use the “At Risk” section	Yes		Revisit the staff development programme and increase the engagement with the course teams.

Outside of the VLE

	Is this currently possible?	Response
Almost impossible to record podcasts at UCS. There are not the facilities or quiet areas available, only the Skype room, which is not ideal.	Yes	This has been mentioned to various parties at UCS. The Elevate Team can help support staff on the creation podcasts / multimedia learning objects.

Image - with thanks (free to use and share): http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Nefarious_-_Interview.jpg