Month: June 2015

VLEs vs. social networking for learning

This week I attended the Westminster Higher Education Forum on technology in higher education.  There were a number of interesting presentations and discussions with contributions from across the sector.  One particular aspect of interest concerned the use of Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) by staff and students.  First was a consideration of whether VLEs are really used for…Continue Reading VLEs vs. social networking for learning

Improvements to Moodle Choice

This post is part of a series of blog posts introducing what’s new in Moodle 2.8. This post provides an overview of the improvements to the Choice activity. The Choice activity allows students to select one option from a choice of multiple responses. This can be useful as a quick poll to stimulate thinking about…Continue Reading Improvements to Moodle Choice

Forum Improvements in Moodle 2.8

This post is part of a series of blog posts introducing what’s new in Moodle 2.8. This post provides an overview of the improvements to Moodle Forums. Forums are used in modules to encourage communication, collaboration and debate among students. You can now set up a single scale rating such as ‘Like’ to enable students…Continue Reading Forum Improvements in Moodle 2.8

Improvements to personalising module content in Moodle 2.8

Moodle restrict access settings

This post is part of a series of blog posts introducing what’s new in Moodle 2.8. This post provides an overview of improvements to Restrict access which can help you to personalise module content in Moodle. Restrict access also known as conditional release enables you to restrict the availability of any activity, resource or even…Continue Reading Improvements to personalising module content in Moodle 2.8

Two meanings of “critically analyse”

As an academic skills tutor, I’m often faced with a student clutching a set of assessment criteria containing the phrase “critically analyse”, or a synonym of that instruction.  In my experience, many students understand the broad concept of critical analysis (e.g. being sceptical, not taking information on face value, evaluating evidence, etc), but have difficulty…Continue Reading Two meanings of “critically analyse”

Designing effective modules in Moodle 2.8

Improvements to editing interface

This post is part of a series of blog posts introducing what’s new in Moodle 2.8. This post provides an overview of the improvements that will help staff to design effective Moodle modules in Moodle 2.8. Improvements to editing interface Our Moodle Developers have put in place improvements to the editing interface for staff designing…Continue Reading Designing effective modules in Moodle 2.8

Assessment Improvements in Moodle 2.8

Grader Report Improvements

This post is part of a series of blog posts introducing what’s new in Moodle 2.8. This post provides an overview of assessment improvements in Moodle 2.8. Grader Report/Gradebook The Grader Report is easier to use across devices with its horizontal and vertical scroll. There is “single view” of any row or column which enables…Continue Reading Assessment Improvements in Moodle 2.8

Reactions to Flipped Learning

City students working together

After attending Dom Pates and Mo Pamplin’s workshop on ‘Extending teaching through multimedia’, where we discussed the potential for flipped learning, I came across this article: http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-with-technology-articles/professor-and-students-share-reactions-to-the-flipped-classroom/ It includes an interview with a University Professor about the way he has ‘flipped’ the classroom and his students’ reactions to this. It presents some of the potential…Continue Reading Reactions to Flipped Learning

Moodle Update 2015 – What’s new?

Moodle icon

Information Services (IS) will be updating Moodle on Tuesday 30th June 2015 as part of the annual summer update. Moodle will be unavailable for 2 hours during the regular Tuesday ‘at risk’ period from 7am-9am as the update is performed, with a precautionary at-risk period for 48 hours. This will bring our Moodle up to…Continue Reading Moodle Update 2015 – What’s new?

Development of a new City Course Format

Moodle module with City course format applied

To help save staff time and effort when setting up their modules for the new academic year, as well as improving the consistency of the learner experience, a new City Course Format has been developed. Seeking student feedback Learning Enhancement and Development (LEaD) and Education Research & Enterprise Services (ERES), facilitated by the expertise of…Continue Reading Development of a new City Course Format