Getting started - Semester 1 2016

22 Feb 2016
eLearning Update, eLearning Systems and Support
22 February 2016

Make your course available to students

Remember to make your course available to students as soon as you think it’s ready. This is something the course coordinator has to do, following the instructions below. Most students start looking for their courses in Learn.UQ during O-Week (now).

Control Panel > Customisation > Properties > Set Availability and select the Yes radio button. Refer to the Course Availability guide or video for step-by-step instructions.

Not finished setting up your course? Just hide the menu links and create an announcement to welcome your students.

You can still request your Semester 1 Course

Order your Semester 1 course now! Complete the Course Request online form located on the Staff tab in Blackboard.

Visit the Course Request page for further information.

Course site design tips

Tip 1: Welcome message
Your first announcement should welcome and orientate students to your course. Refer to the Announcements and Kaltura guides for step-by-step instructions.

Tip 2: Menu design
In a number of surveys UQ students have requested a more consistent navigation scheme across courses. To achieve this please consider the following recommendations:

  • Use the default content areas of Learning Resources and Assessment.​

  • Use the UQ colour scheme or ensure your colour scheme meets accessibility guidelines. For more information refer to the  accessibility guidelines webpage. 

  • Keep the number of menu items to a minimum.

  • Use a divider line and subheading to break the menu content into sections.​​
    For more information refer to the Course menu webpage. 

Tip 3: Weekly folders/ learning modules
Organise your content from the students' point of view i.e. By week (or by topic). For more information refer to the Content area webpage. 

Tip 4: Assessment folders
Create a folder for each assessment with the same name as that used in the ECP. Include all resources needed for the assignment and an online submission link. ​Refer to the Turnitin and Blackboard assignments guides for step-by-step instructions. 

Tip 5: Label all resources
Label all resources with a description of its contents and purpose. For more information refer to the Content area webpage. 

Course Design guides

The Course Design guides give staff tips on how to effectively design a course to improve student learning.

Getting started with Learn.UQ 

The Getting started with Learn.UQ guide gives new staff information about ordering a course, adding content to their course, UQ eLearning tools and help available. It is also recommended that new staff attend the Learn.UQ Basics workshop.

Tip 5: Label all resources
Label all resources with a description of its contents and purpose. For more information refer to the Content area webpage. 

Lecture recordings

All centrally controlled teaching spaces with 20 seats or more are equipped with lecture recording (Echo360).  Lectures in equipped venues are automatically recorded, processed and linked to the associated Learn.UQ (Blackboard) course. Coordinators can view the list of equipped venues online.

Although student feedback and research indicate recordings help students with revision, a range of options are available to disable recordings if an instructor desires. Coordinators may view the lecture recording and theatre operation guides for further information.

View the Questions about: Lecture recordings paper for an overview of research regarding the use of lecture recording.

Setting up for a successful semester - ITaLI workshop

Setting up a few key items in your course site can help enhance the success of your course. This workshop will cover tips and tricks for how to best use your Electronic Course Profile (ECP) and Learn.UQ site to minimise hassle as well as examples of implementing a communication strategy and managing student expectations. Register for the 24 February workshop on the Staff Development site.

Checkbox survey tool workshop

Checkbox is an ITS supported survey tool that is available to all UQ staff. This course will cover how to create, deploy and manage surveys of internal and external participants using Checkbox. Participants will learn how to setup a variety of question types and include conditional / branching questions. Register for the 7 April workshop on the Staff Development site.

 

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