eLearning Adviser Consultations

What is the eLearning Adviser Consultation service?

The eLearning Systems and Support team provide the eLearning Adviser Consultations service to help course teaching staff and administrative staff implement eLearning solutions for the most common teaching and learning problems, using centrally supported eLearning tools.

All eLearning Advisers have teaching qualifications and extensive teaching experience, making them UQ's pedagogical experts in centrally supported eLearning tools. Through one-on-one consultations, they work with staff to understand their teaching goals and provide advice on the most appropriate tools and configurations to achieve their desired learning outcomes.

How do I start using the eLearning Adviser Consultations?

Academic and professional staff can start using the eLearning Adviser Consultations by booking an appointment via the eLearning Adviser Consultations Microsoft Bookings Service to organise a personal consultation with an eLearning Adviser via Microsoft Teams. The service is available Monday to Friday from 8am to 4pm.

Book an eLearning Adviser consultation

Which eLearning solutions can I implement?

During the booking process, you will be asked to briefly describe the tasks and/or eLearning tools you would like our advice on. Course teaching staff can request assistance with implement one (or more) of centrally-supported eLearning tools.

• Getting started with Learn.UQ (Blackboard)
• Get your course ready for the upcoming semester
• Course Accessibility tools
  Identify, understand and address accessibility issues in your course
• Course content
  Add a range of different course content to your course
• Online tests and quizzes
  Improve student engagement and feedback, and help them acquire knowledge to apply in an active classroom.
• Assessment tools (Blackboard Assignments, Turnitin, Gradescope, Inspera)
  Support and advice on setting up, scheduling and marking assessment tasks.
• Active & collaborative learning tools (EchoPoll, PadletUQ, H5P, RiPPLE, Microsoft Teams)
  Foster collaborative and active learning in both online and face-to-face sessions
• Gradebook
  Improve the recording of your marking for both calculating Final Grades and releasing marks to students.
• Video assignments (Blackboard Assignments, Echo360)
  Video assignments are a great way to assess communication skills.
• Discussion boards for collaboration and reflection (Blackboard Discussions, Ed Discussion)
  Example activities include a reflective learning diary for practicum placements or a project progress log.
• Lecture recordings (Echo360)
  Manage course lecture recordings online
• Desktop Recording (Echo360, Zoom)
  Move some of your content online to free up class time for active learning activities. i.e. when implementing a Flipped Classroom approach.
• Group management (Blackboard Groups)
  Create and manage project groups in preparation for group assignments or collaboration.
• Group Peer Assessment (Buddycheck)
  Allow students to rate the contribution of individual group members in a project group
• Course Analytics (Course Insights)
  Understand the learning analytics tool to track student data across your course
• ePortfolio for WIL (Anthology ePortfolio)
• Tracking individual student attainment of (professional standards / competencies / learning objectives, learning outcomes) across courses in a program or discipline. Programs must apply and be accepted by the ePortfolio for WIL steering committee to be involved in the ePortfolio deployment.
• Learning Management Extension (UQ Extend)
  Create interactive online learning experiences using UQ's rendition of edX

What is not covered by this service?

This service focuses on helping course teaching staff implement tools for the first time and supporting them through a full cycle of adoption within a single semester. It is deliberately limited to eLearning solutions for the most common teaching challenges and to fully supported tools. Support for locally managed or faculty-based tools may be available from Faculty Educational Designers.

Due to current resourcing levels, appointment slots may not always be available. However, staff can request time-critical ad hoc appointments by emailing their availability to elearningadvisers@uq.edu.au. If you have an urgent or non-urgent technical issue, please log a job with help@elearning.uq.edu.au.

The eLearning team supports more than 3,400 courses across UQ and does not have the capacity or remit to configure courses or develop content for course coordinators. Support for course content development and configuration may be available from Faculty Educational Designers.

What support would I receive?

Course teaching staff will receive the following individual support from an eLearning Adviser:

• Initial consultation
  Discussion of your teaching and learning goals and identification of the most suitable tool for the planned activity.
• Tool configuration
  Guidance on the initial setup of the tool for your activity via Microsoft Teams.
• Follow up support
  You will be able to email the eLearning Adviser with follow-up questions after the initial setup. Additional consultations can also be booked for assistance with marking and moderation functionality.
• Launch support
  You can pre-arrange for the eLearning Adviser to be available on Teams at the activity start time to assist with any urgent launch issues.
• Follow up and handover
  Review and wrap-up of the implementation, including planning for future improvements.

Is this service available to all UQ teaching staff?

The service operates on a first-come, first-served basis and aims to support as many staff members as possible within the available resources. eLearning Adviser consultations are available to staff at St Lucia, PACE, Herston and Gatton. While eLearning Advisers are based at the St Lucia campus, consultations are typically conducted via Microsoft Teams to provide equitable access for staff across all UQ locations. In some circumstances, eLearning Advisers may be able to meet with staff in person at their office upon request.

How long do I receive support for?

The service is designed to support staff in the first implementation of a centrally-supported eLearning tool. Course teaching staff will need to make separate bookings for each implementation step. 

What about eLearning professional development workshops?

This service is designed to complement eLearning professional development workshops. Workshops are designed to give staff a general introduction to eLearning tools, this service will help staff configure and implement tools for a specific teaching and learning activity. You can also request a custom workshop for the other teaching staff/tutors in your course. i.e. Online marking workshops for tutors for courses implementing Turnitin are popular.

How is this service evaluated?

This service is evaluated based on the results of the eLearning Adviser Consultation feedback survey and the change in eLearning tool usage rates over time.