Teaching and Learning Week and New ePortfolio Feature

29 Oct 2018
eLearning Update
Monday 29 October

Teaching and Learning Week - ePortfolio Models of Use

During Teaching and Learning Week, a presentation will focus on the four models of use of ePortfolio at UQ with case studies and discussions on each; Developmental, Collaborative, Reflective and Showcase.

Case studies will be presented by key users of the system and discuss their use, benefits, thoughts and challenges.

Attend to learn about:

  • Key uses of ePortfolio
  • Real life use cases presented by those involved
  • Benefits and Challenges of use
  • Lessons learnt from use across the models
  • Integrative model approach to also be discussed

Register to attend this session by visiting the Teaching and Learning Week website.

Grade Centre ELSS Support

Course Coordinators, would you like:

  • support with transferring marks to SI-net?
  • assistance uploading MCQ spreadsheets to Grade Centre?
  • any other Learn.UQ grade processing activities?

The eLearning Solutions Service offers one-on-one consultations on integrating eLearning technologies into your courses. Staff can nominate to use this service to help implement centrally supported eLearning tools and will be provided support for the duration of the semester. To make an appointment, please follow the steps on the eLearning Solutions Service webpage and ensure you supply the information requested to assist with the process.

All advisers have either a BEd or GradDipEd.

Updates to the ePortfolio Resubmission Request Feature

Assessors can now choose to allow students the ability to dismiss a resubmission request. In order to do this, all criteria on an assessment needs to be completed and the "Request Resubmission" and "Make resubmission" optional checkboxes need to be ticked. This will allow students to make a decision as to whether they accept the mark provided or make the recommended changes and complete the resubmission. Additionally, if a resubmission request is withdrawn by an Assessor, the assessment will now be immediately marked as “complete”.

If you would like a personal tutorial on ePortfolio, please visit the eLearning Solutions Service appointments page to book a session with an eLearning Adviser. For more information on the eLearning Solutions Service, visit the eLearning Solutions Service webpage.

Using the Correct Turnitin Rubric

When creating your Turnitin rubric and you would like the marks to return to Grade Centre, ensure that Standard or Custom is selected instead of Qualitative. The difference is that Standard or Custom rubrics allow you to automatically calculate a total and the result can be sent back to Grade Centre, while the Qualitative rubric only allows you to provide feedback. For more information, please refer to the Turnitin Rubric guide.

Assignment File Upload Tool Pilot - Volunteers Needed

Volunteers are needed during the Summer Semester to pilot new Grade Centre functionality. Currently, while staff can download all Blackboard and Turnitin assignments from Grade Centre all at once (bulk download) for marking on specialised applications, the marked files can only be uploaded one by one. The new tool will allow the bulk upload of marked assignment files to Blackboard and Turnitin assignment columns in Grade Centre, making it viable for staff to mark a larger range of assignment types online.

All pilot volunteers will be provided with technical and implementation support from an eLearning Adviser. If you are interested in volunteering for the Assignment File Upload Tool pilot, please email elearningtraining@uq.edu.au.

Active Learning Tool Pilot - Volunteers Needed

Volunteers are needed during Summer Semester to pilot new functionality in our lecture recording system, Echo360 ALP. The new features allow you to upload PowerPoint slides to the system and add interactive in-class questions. During your lecture, students can respond to the questions using a laptop or smart device and you can display the collated results on the screen. This tool can be used to engage students, check their understanding of the lecture content, identify student misconceptions and facilitate discussions. ALP is expected to be available to all staff in Semester 1, 2019.

All pilot volunteers will be provided with technical and implementation support from an eLearning Adviser and advice on incorporating active learning activities into their lectures from a Learning Designer. If you are interested in volunteering for the Active Learning Tool pilot, please email elearningtraining@uq.edu.au.

Blackboard Christmas Outage

Blackboard maintenance will occur on 27, 28 and 29 December during the mid-semester break for Summer Semester 2018 and will not be available on these dates. The maintenance is required to refresh the system’s infrastructure in order to maintain the reliability of the service.

Do you use old Lecture Recordings?

Now that we are on a new lecture recording system, the legacy lecture recording system (Echo360 on-premise) will be decommissioned on 16 December 2018. If you are still using Echo360 on-premise recordings, (i.e. lecture recordings prior to December 2017) you will need to transfer them before this date. For step-by-step instructions, refer to the guide Downloading Old Recordings to your current Lecture Recordings.

If you require a copy of a dual screen recording, you will need to log a job with help@learn.uq.edu.au before 3 December 2018. For additional information, please refer to the Decommission of Old Lecture Recording System project page. 

Do you use old Adobe Connect recordings?

The Adobe Connect virtual classroom system will be decommissioned on 16 December 2018. If you are still using old Adobe Connect recordings you will need to transfer them to Kaltura before this date. For step-by-step instructions on how to download Adobe Connect videos, refer to the Download Adobe Connect Recordings guide. For additional information, refer to the Adobe Connect Decommission project page. 

eLearning Tips

Top 7 tips for the end of Semester

Tip 1: Direct upload of MCQ's

Directly upload MCQ test results to the Grade Centre. For step-by-step instructions refer to the guide on MCQ direct upload to Grade Centre.

Tip 2: MCQ marking request

If you are planning to use direct upload, and you weigh marks differently in your test, complete the "special instructions" section (#5) within the Multiple Choice Marking Request form.

Tip 3: Control the release of marks

During marking or moderation, you may not be ready for students to see their results. To control the release of results from Turnitin, Blackboard Assignments and Tests you need to carefully set both the individual tool settings and the Grade Centre column settings (Hide from Students on/off). For step-by-step instructions refer to the guides on TurnitinBlackboard assignments and Tests.

Tip 4: Advise students on how to access their marks

There are detailed guides available for students on how to view their marks. Please refer students to the View originality report and marks - TurnitinView and download your results - Blackboard assignments and Review your ePortfolio results guides for step-by-step instructions.

Tip 5: Turnitin

If you are using Turnitin (not the iPad app) remember it times-out after one hour of inactivity. If you are marking in Turnitin remember to return to the Assignment Inbox regularly to save your progress. If your connection times-out, you will need to re-open Turnitin via your Learn.UQ course.

Tip 6: SI-net merge tool

Coordinators are reminded that there is a SI-net merge tool which allows you to download Grade Centre marks to a spreadsheet in the correct format for upload to SI-net. For step-by-step instructions refer to the guide on Upload grades to SI-net.

Tip 7: Processing Grades resources

The Grade Centre includes a number of features to help you efficiently finalise your course grades. These features include Total columnsWeighted Total columnsGrade SchemasView Grade History (view results of withdrawn students) and the SI-net merge tool. For additional information, refer to the Grade Centre tool page.

Grade Centre

Watch the video case study where Christopher Sexton explains the benefits of using Grade Centre, particularly for group assignments (YouTube, 1m 36s).

christopher sexton

More video case studies

Grades Security

Record Exam results in Grade Centre

You can improve the management and security of your exam results by eliminating or limiting the use of spreadsheets. Using Grade Centre offers the additional benefit of built-in security with the logging and monitoring of data. The enhanced security has been an important part of investigations and resolving mistakes. Tips for efficiently recording your Exam results in Grade Centre include:

  • Create Manual entry columns to record the results of each exam section.
  • Ensure results are not made available to students by changing the Grade Centre column settings - Hide from Students on/off.
  • To improve the ease of results entry by hiding all non-required columns by changing the Grade Centre column settings >  Hide from Instructors. Columns can be redisplayed selecting to show the columns.
  • Total exam results can be calculated using a Total or Weighted column to add exam section results.
  • Non-standard calculations can be performed using the spreadsheet download and upload capability.

Reminder: The SI-net merge tool can be used to download Grade Centre marks to a spreadsheet in the correct format for upload to SI-net. 

 For additional information, refer to the Grade Centre tool page. 

Check the history of mark changes

The Grade Centre logs a record of all changes made to marks during the semester. At the end of the semester, you can use the View Grades History tool to produce a report that shows all changes and comments, to confirm the validity and check for errors. For step-by-step instructions refer to guides on Grades securityEdit a mark and record a reason and View Grade History report.

Projects

eAssessment Project

Throughout the consultation process for the eAssessment Project, common concerns were raised and are addressed below.

  • The eAssessment Project is about more than just exams; it seeks to take a holistic approach to assessment across the University.
  • The identified eAssessment solution will not replace any products in the current learning ecosystem; rather it seeks to fit within the current ecosystem and integrate with the learning management system.
  • ITS’ Multiple Choice Question Marking Service will continue business as usual until the end of 2019.

For more information, please refer to the eAssessment project page.

EesySoft Trial - Blackboard messaging tool

The eLearning team is currently trialling EesySoft, a software that allows the inclusion of custom-tailored messages in the form of hints and pop-ups in Blackboard. The trial started in Week 10 (5 October 2018) and will conclude in Week 13 (28 October 2018). The aim of the trial is to test if messaging can be used to support staff and students in improving their use of Blackboard by targeting known issues. For more information, please refer to the EesySoft Trial project page.

Workshops

eLearning Workshops

The eLearning team are offering a range of practical workshops on eLearning tools from October to December 2018. For a description of each workshop, dates and to register, visit the Staff Development / Teaching and Learning Technologies site. Upcoming workshops include:

ITaLI Workshops

Register now for Teaching and Learning Week

A calendar of events for the annual Teaching and Learning Week (Monday 29 October – Friday 2 November) is now available on the Teaching and Learning Week website.

The week will focus on blended learning, enterprise and innovation, and Students as Partners alongside innovative teaching practices. Learn from a range of staff and student presenters as they showcase their current and planned projects, demonstrate their teaching tools and strategies, and celebrate their successes.

To register for events, please visit the Teaching and Learning Week webpage.

Request Support

To receive a quick response on your eLearning technical problem, log a job with the UQ Staff eLearning Helpdesk using help@learn.uq.edu.au. Alternatively, you may use the Request Support button available inside Learn.UQ.

To enable a timely response please be sure to include as much information as possible with your request.

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