• Overview
  ...a rough guide to e-learning, for staff
• News and Updates

• Using the Course Materials Repository
• Using Online Coursework Submission
• Using the Plagiarism Detection Service
• Using Moodle
• Using WebCT
• Using Perception
• Using a Personal Response System

• SENDA
• Supporting Online Learning
• IPR and Copyright Guidance
• E-Learning Network (Mailing List)
• Training
• Learning and Teaching

ELeN Newsletter: October 2008

Welcome to the third edition of the ELeN Newsletter!

LTT News

Moodle Upgrade

The new Moodle upgrade to version 1.9 went well without too many casualties! You will now be able to access a number of new features, plus there is also added security and a brand spanking new look and feel, which now matches the rest of the University website. For more detailed information on what was upgraded and any differences to look out for, visit the microsite on our ELeN website: http://www.essex.ac.uk/elen/staff/moodle/upgrade.shtm.

Perception Switchover

We have been very busy over the summer! We have also moved everyone to use the new version of Perception, version 4.3. For many of you there won't be any differences as most authors have been using the new version for a while - you can tell the difference as the new version of Perception only has one piece of software, the Authoring Manager.

Perception 3.4 is being retired at the beginning of the academic year 08/09 and will no longer be available to use after 6th October 2008. If you are still using version 3.4 (which has two pieces of software to author assessments) contact us as soon as possible and we will look at transferring you.

Staff Change Around...

After losing Amanda in July, we are now losing another member of the team - Les Bell, who assisted with some of the LTT work, retired yesterday. It will be a great shame to see him go, and we all wish him the best of luck. In light of this, if you have any e-learning queries you would have normally sent to Les, make sure you send them to ltt (non-Essex users should add @essex.ac.uk), general web enquiries should go to walt (non-Essex users should add @essex.ac.uk).

However, there is a silver lining to every cloud - we now welcome a new face, Alex O'Neill, to the team! She started at the beginning of August and is replacing Amanda as a full-time Learning Technologist. She is no stranger to the WaLT office as she worked in the Web Development Team for 6 months before switching over to the LT Team. She will be around to help with your queries from now on, although she's still learning so be patient with her!

Jobs of the Month

Get Trained Up!

We have been creating training sessions for more of the e-Learning tools over the summer - we now have training available for Questionmark Perception and PRS (Basic and Advanced courses). Plus, we also still have our Moodle course available for those who need a refresher, or are new to the system.

If you are interested in any of our training courses email ltt (non-Essex users should add @essex.ac.uk) or see the page on the ELeN website to find out when the next sessions are being run: http://www.essex.ac.uk/elen/staff/training.shtm. We are currently trying to gauge interest in the different training sessions, so let us know if you can't find a training session and want one!

If there is a large group of you in a department that would like training on a particular system, contact us and we may be able to organise a tailored session for you.

CMR Listing

As the Course Materials Repository has now just rolled over to the new academic year, you should check that all your content is still in the correct place and any links to teaching resources from other websites are correct. If there is anything out of place, let us know (email ltt; non-Essex users should add @essex.ac.uk).

Handy Hints: Using e-Learning Tools Effectively

Over the past few years the use of e-Learning in the University has grown very rapidly, with a large selection of tools to use and ideas to include in your teaching. It may seem like there is far too much to ever find a use for or get time to learn, but our key tip is to start slowly! Always begin by doing a trial run, or starting off with a small version of what you want to eventually achieve, then you are more likely to succeed. Also, be prepared that it may take you a while to begin with, but that you will probably get a lot better the more you practise.

You should make sure you design your teaching resources around your students, rather than around the tools you have to hand. It is easy to see a tool and think it's great and you want to use it in your module, but in fact if it doesn't really fit in anywhere you end up with it taking longer than desired to prepare and probably confusing your students rather than helping them learn more.

That being said, using the correct tools to help with your teaching can really improve student engagement and understanding, and could even save you time. And there's no reason you only have to stick to one tool! We have a number to choose from now, fully supported and with training sessions on how to use them. There are a number of working examples within the University of lecturers using more than one e-Learning tool in conjunction with one another to assist students in their understanding of subject matter and so they can have almost instant feedback on their work.

If you want to discuss some new ideas to include into your teaching this year you can speak to either the Learning Technology Team for all your technical needs (email ltt; non-Essex users should add @essex.ac.uk) or the Learning and Teaching Unit for how to improve your pedagogical ideas (email ltu; non-Essex users should add @essex.ac.uk).

Elsewhere on the Web

Some useful sites for you:

• http://www.essex.ac.uk/ltu/Smart_Guide_on_e-Learning.pdf
  Just in case you didn’t get a hardcopy you can read through the "Smart Guide to e-Learning" recently developed by the Learning and Teaching Unit in conjunction with LTT. This is a great place to start if you are unsure what e-learning opportunities are available at the University and can give you a good overview of all the tools we offer.
  
  
• http://www.essex.ac.uk/ltu/funding/talif.shtm
  With the new term starting, the next round of TALIF bids is upon us! The Teaching and Learning Innovation Fund is used to help departments around the University get a kick start in implementing new teaching ideas in their courses. If you are interested in applying for TALIF funding, or would like to find out more about what the TALIF funding can be used for, have a read of the above website, or contact LTU (email ltu; non-Essex users should add @essex.ac.uk).
  
  
• And here's one for fun:
  Hans Rosling - Keynote speaker for ALT-C 2008
  Between 9th - 11th September this year the Learning Technology Team went off on a conference for Learning Technologists in Leeds. We were blown away by one speaker, Hans Rosling, who in fact did a talk on global health, but used a fantastic example of learning technology to demonstrate statistics in his subject.
  
  Although they did not record the speech he did at ALT-C, here is a very similar one where you can see the system he used. You should watch it to the very end - you do not want to miss it!
  http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/hans_rosling_shows_the_best_stats_you_ve_ever_seen.html