LCC Teaching Hub

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Recent articles about teaching and learning at LCC

  • Anti-racism & digital learning

    Anti-racism & digital learning

    Within the digital learning profession there is interest in ‘race & tech’ generally, topics such as AI and racial bias for example, and in tackling structural racism in our own sector.

    Two years ago members of the UK HE digital learning community formed a community of practice around anti-racism which was formalised as a special interest group (SIG) of the Association for Learning Technology (ALT) earlier this year: the Anti-racism & Learning Technology SIG. To find out more about the work of the group start with the original introduction to the group on the ALT blog.

    The SIG will be running a variety of national events this year including one hosted at LCC in November. The ARLT SIG events are free and open to all.

    • ARLT SIG Meetup – the first SIG Meetup of the year; focused on Black History Month (in relation to Learning Technology). Thursday 20 October 2pm, online.
    • ARLT SIG Webinar – A UAL colleague from CCI will talk about their online course: Anti-Racist Approaches in Technology. Thursday 4 November 4pm, online.
    • Workshop: Anti-racism Content Creation Prompt tool – a practical, discursive half-day, working with an early version of the anti-racism content creation prompt tool developed by members of the SIG. Thursday 10 November, morning + lunch, in-person at LCC
    • ARLT SIG Reading Group – the focus will be allyship and the reading(s) will be shared several weeks in advance. Tuesday 6 December 2.00-3.30pm, online.

    The events will be listed for booking on the ALT Events page soon.

    Joining the SIG & ALT

    Anyone can join the ARLT SIG by signing-up to the group’s new mailing list. Or feel free to contact me for further info: m.lingard@lcc.arts.ac.uk

    As UAL is an organisational member of ALT, all LCC staff qualify for associate membership of ALT which provides access to the wider digital learning community, discussion lists, more events etc. If you’re interested in learning more about digital learning it’s a great way to get started.

  • Asynchronous Learning In Moodle

    Asynchronous Learning In Moodle

    Asynchronous learning activities don’t require students to be online at the same time. For example:

    • Writing a private reflection
    • Watching a video
    • Collaboratively editing a shared online document
    • Giving peer feedback
    • Participating in a forum discussion

    Asynchronous learning activities give students flexibility and provide extra time to process, practice, reflect or respond.

    Directed asynchronous activity which students are expected to engage with as part of the course counts towards scheduled learning and teaching hours. It is different to independent or self-directed learning.

    Asynchronous learning activities can involve many digital learning platforms (Padlet, myblog, Panopto Miro, etc.) but there are some distinct advantages to hosting activities in Moodle.

    Moodle can track which students have engaged with the activity; whether individuals have viewed or submitted to the activity. Moodle can quickly filter out the students who have yet to engage, and send them a reminder message. Some Moodle activities can generate rich feedback for the learner with minimal input from the teacher.

    There are many engaging Moodle activities. Don’t read too much into the names of these activities. They have multiple uses.

    • Journal: A individual, private reflection or response containing text and/or media. Journal entries are presented to teachers in a simple, scrollable list.
    • Glossary: A crowd-sourced collection of terms and definitions; or an index of concepts, scenarios, case-studies, role-models or other diverse contributions. Glossaries can be configure to enable ‘rating’ of entries by student peers.
    • Forum: Threaded discussions, queries, responses or iterations. Forums can be configured to promote depth versus breadth of expression.
    • Questionnaire: Public (but, if required, anonymous) responses to questions of various formats. Student can benchmark themselves against the aggregated views of their peers.

    How to use Moodle activities for asynchronous learning

    These videos illustrate how Moodle activities could be used to support asynchronous learning:

    • The “Using…” videos give an overview of the tool, and its suggested application
    • The “Setting-up…” videos demonstrate how the tool is configured.

    Journal

    The Journal activity allows students to express, relate or evaluate their learning using text &/or media.

    Questionnaire

    The Questionnaire activity can be used for a structured and directed activity that allows the students and you to assess their progress by answering questions.

    Glossary

    A crowd-sourced collection of terms and definitions; or an index of concepts, scenarios, case-studies, role-models or other diverse contributions. Glossaries are straightforward ways of getting your students to show their understanding of the meanings of different terms and relate applied knowledge and skills.

    Forums

    Forums aid in expanding the topic outside of the classroom as well as making your Moodle page more interactive. You can use Moodle forums to develop peer support and develop reflective practice. Update learners in industry news and sharing technical tips and research.

    Feedback Tool

    Feedback tool is an activity in Moodle which is a bit like Microsoft forms. It as more options for open text questions and allows you as the tutor to track responses. This tool can be used to develop reflective practice of skill or at the end of a lecture to help consolidate learning that has taken place.

    More videos will be added during 2021-22.

    Wiki Tool

    The Wiki activity in Moodle is a collection of web pages that anyone can edit .The most well-known and extensive examples of a Wiki are Wiki pages in Wikipedia. The key feature of a Wiki is that it is collaboratively created and edited because anybody with access can edit it. This tool can be used to co-create lecture notes, record research, develop outlines for a final project and create a resource page of useful links to consolidate learning.

  • Recording of Changemakers Talk

    Recording of Changemakers Talk

    A recording of June’s Changemakers Talk: Decolonising the Curriculum London x Kent is now available. The public panel discussion was hosted by London College of Communication on Thursday 23 June 2022.

    In this event, LCC Changemakers Cassia Clarke and Rachel Roland Martins and managers Lucy Panesar and Amita Nijhawan are in conversation with Dr Dave S.P. Thomas and Jasmyn Sargeant on their work to decolonise curricula at the University of Kent and the 2020 publication ‘Towards Decolonising the University: A Kaleidoscope for Empowered Action‘.

    Changemaker Talk: Decolonising the Curriculum London x Kent

    Find out more about University of Kent’s work: https://decoloniseukc.org/

  • Colour Change

    Colour Change

    17% of students have declared themselves as being Dyslexic at UAL which is on par with the national figure of 16%. However the number of people working in the creative industry who are neurodiverse is higher with some reports doubling the figure to 32%. Which is a 3rd of the work force.  Another group to be mindful of is the 8% of the male population who are colour blind.  

    In the non-digital era we would have overlays and do our best to use colour paper. Although still a useful tool for some we now can change the background colour of presentations and documents and adapt digital spaces.   

    Yet it is, not always straightforward knowing how to change the settings. Also each person is different and what works well for one might be the opposite for another. Enabling your learners to costomise their digital space will be an empowering experience for them.  

    Impact

    The harshness of contrasting colours or bright white can make it seem like the text is fuzzy of moving around. By changing the colour it calms this down. It can be as simple as moving from white to cream as used by the British Dyslexia Association and recommended in their style guide.

    In this post we will outline how to change the settings on the three main application platforms; Microsoft, Apple and Google. Looking that both there presentation apps and word processing apps.

    Microsoft

    This video will talk you through how to change the colour background in Word, PowerPoint and Immersive Reader.

    Apple

    This video will show you how to change the background colour in both keynote and pages.

    Google

    Although a google application is not a format that is used for hand in. Many students will work on google docs or slides and then convert to word or PowerPoint. Therefore it is handy to know how to change the colours to help assist those student who would benefit from the background colour change.

  • Helping Students with Digital Submissions

    Helping Students with Digital Submissions

    Have you received a ‘help‘ email from a student trying to submit their work online?

    Here’s how you can help:

    The Digital Space

    When to recommend the student contact The Digital Space

    • Is the student having difficulty uploading their work?
    • Does the student need help condensing their file?
    • Did the student upload the wrong document before the deadline?
    • Is the student having issues with Workflow?
    • Is the student submitting to SharePoint or Panopto?
    • Has the student not received their submission confirmation email?
    Contact The Digital Space

    MySupport

    When to recommend the student raises a ticket on MySupport

    • Did the student receive an error message?
    • Are they unable to access Moodle or other platforms?
    • Is the student having issues with their enrolment on Moodle sites?
    • Are they experiencing issues with their UAL account?
    Raise a ticket on MySupport

    Programme Admins

    When to forward the email to your PAM

    • Has the deadline for submission already passed?
    • Is the assessment missing?
    • Any other issues not listed above.
    Who is my Programme Admin? (64 kb) Download
  • Make Accessibility a Habit: PDF Files

    Make Accessibility a Habit: PDF Files

    The predominant file type on Moodle is PDF. In 2021, there we as many as 10,821 PDFs on LCC Moodle sites alone, which is roughly equivalent to 16 PDFs per site!

    Providing we have carried out the accessibility checks and followed good practice with Word documents and Presentation slides layout then your documents should gat a high accessibility score using Blackboard ALLY.

    However, most PDFs still have a few accessibility issues, especially if they were photocopied from a textbook as there tends to be no title to the PDF and will get a low ALLY score.

    We are going to focus on 4 common PDF accessibility fixes using Adobe Acrobat DC.

    • The document is missing a title and language set
    • The document is untagged
    • The document contains images without a description
    • The document is scanned but not OCRed

    Adobe Acrobat Reader or Pro

    But first let’s get our head round the different PDF applications.

    There are three main Adobe applications that are used to read, create and edit PDF documents. Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, Acrobat Standard DC and Acrobat Pro DC. Reader is installed in most devices as standard and allows you to view PDFs. Standard and Pro are normally part of a plan or come with a bundle of other adobe products. Pro is provided by UAL. Use ZENworks to download the Pro bundle or contact IT Service Desk for support.

    Icons may vary depending on device and updates. The icon with the red background is reader and the black background is Acrobat Pro.

    Creating a PDF can be done when saving your document but to edit the PDF after creation you need Acrobat Pro.

    The Document is Missing a Title and Language set

    You might think how can this happen when you have put a title in the document and a title in the file when you saved it. However, this information is missing from the metadata of the PDF file. Metadata is how assistive technologies like Screen-readers interrupt documents. If you have not used a title style in your document or slides then adobe will not recognize the PDF as having a title or even a language!

    Add a title

    To add a missing title, open your PDF up in Acrobat Pro. Go to file and select properties from the menu, you can then add to the title box and click ok.

    Select a language set

    The language set helps a screen reader read the document out loud.

    To set the document language, open it in Adobe Acrobat Pro, select File then select Properties. Open the Advanced tab and select the document language.

    If your document contains text in more than one language you can assign it separately by following these steps provided by the University of Washington.

    The Document is Untagged

    When a document is untagged it means that a screen reader will not be able to tell what the different elements are. For example; what type of heading or is the text a URL link. If you have not used the style functions in your original document or presentation you will need to tag the PDF.

    You need to make sure you can see the tagging and accessibility tools in Adobe Acrobat Pro in order to make this process easier.

    Auto tagging will let you generate tags for the document. The software will make a ‘best guest’ and you will need to check over the tags. To access auto tagging open up the accessibility tool. Follow the prompts and check the tags list on the other side of the screen.

    Screenshot of accessibility tool menu

    Once you can see the tag icon and the accessibility tool the next steps are easy to follow to check and change any tags.

    Adding alternative text

    Again, this should be done before you convert your document into a PDF but in case you missed it or you have thought of a better alternative text then here is how to simply add alternative text to your PDF.

    The Document is scanned by not OCRed

    PDF’s which are generated from being scanned for example a chapter of a book, needs to be done through scans for teaching which is part of Library Services . The document need to be scanned using OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology which will make the document accessible. Scanning the document on a printer will mean the document is read as an Image. You also need to make sure you are with in Copyright legislation.

    For support in making your documents more accessible then contact LCC Digital Learning LCCDigitalLearning@lcc.arts.ac.uk

  • Using Moodle Workshops for peer and self-assessment

    Using Moodle Workshops for peer and self-assessment

    This article introduces the Moodle Workshop, a powerful tool for formative assessment, peer-feedback, and self-evaluation.

    Many of us are either thinking it or have heard it mentioned before – formative feedback.

    For those who aren’t familiar, formative feedback is any form of feedback given prior to an assessment which helps students refine their work and achieve their learning outcomes.

    This doesn’t always have to be formal, and it doesn’t always have to come from a member of staff. In fact, formative assessments can be peer evaluations or self-guided, and one tool that makes this possible is the Moodle Workshop.

    What is a Moodle Workshop

    The Moodle Workshop is an advanced but powerful activity. It is essentially a type of assessment split into three stages:

    1. Submission: Students input or upload their work.
    2. Assessment: Students assess each other’s work using criteria provided by the tutor.
    3. Grading: The tutor gives students a combined assessment of their work and the quality of the feedback they provided others.

    You can set-up a workshop to be graded. For example, you can set it up so that students receive 80% from their peers and 20% for the quality of the reviews they gave others, or you can set it up for comments only. That said, we recommend avoiding grades, especially if the goal is for students to get feedback on a draft of their work before submission. The same is true if it’s a self-assessment or if you’re using a Workshop as a space for students to get peer feedback on project or dissertation ideas.

    When to use a Workshop

    Simply put, Workshops let students give and receive feedback. They are an excellent way of ensuring students understand the course learning outcomes and are progressing towards their final assessment. For tutors, the key benefit is that they enable you to monitor your students’ progress without adding to your workload.

    Here are some ways you might consider using a Workshop

    • Peer feedback on early drafts before a final, summative assessment.
    • Peer feedback on major project or research proposals.
    • Students answer questions on a reading or lecture then comment on each other’s ideas.
    • Students introduce themselves in an icebreaker activity and reply to 2-3 of their peers.
    • Students self-assess a draft of their work before submission to see if they are meeting the learning objectives.

    How to set-up a Workshop

    This video demonstrates how to prepare a Workshop, what settings to use, and how it works for both staff and students.

    Also consider browsing Thom Kaczmarek’s presentation on using Workshop among other helpful Moodle activitiy types.

    Tips for using a Workshop

    1. Provide clear assessment criteria with elements that students can easily identify in each other’s work.
    2. Ensure your activity instructions are clearly aligned with the assessment criteria.
    3. Demonstrate how to submit and provide feedback.
    4. Set clear rules and expectations around providing constructive feedback.
    5. Explain to your students that their feedback will also be assessed by you.
    6. Link the Workshop to a future assessment for example, as a draft submission.
    7. Include instructions on how to use a Workshop in the activity description.
    8. Remember to manually switch to the next stage when the previous stage is over.

    Also, ensure students know they can contact The Digital Space for technical help.

    If you’re thinking of trying a Workshop, consider contacting LCC Digital Learning Team for support.

  • New Slides on Mentimeter

    New Slides on Mentimeter

    The popular platform of mentimeter have just launched a range of new slide options. Mentimeter is great for making your lectures more interactive. As well as polls, quiz questions, true or false and my personal favourite word cloud; you can now do a wider range of other options.

    In this post we are going to focus on three new options

    • Traffic light
    • Spin The Wheel
    • Timeline

    Traffic Light

    This is a really simple tool and one which you don’t really have to edit. Use this slide to check understanding of a topic or an aspect you’ve just delivered. Green is if the student feels they understand, Amber if they are unsure and Red if they are lost.

    The class will the vote and you can get a sense of what needs to be covered again. You can then follow up with direct questions or direct learners to additional resources.

    Spin the Wheel

    With this slide, you can add topics, questions, or even students names or groups. Spinning topics is great for a quick recap. Names or groups if you need to select order people are sharing back any work done during a class.

    This is not interactive from the app but if you have a touch screen, then students can come up and spin the wheel.

    Timeline

    This one allows students to vote or react to a timeline, this is more testing knowledge such as steps in a process, history or different design movements.

    Students can give thumbs up or down as well as a question mark if they don’t know. You can then follow up with questions or other activities.

    Miro

    Finally Miro is now integrated into Mentimeter. You can embed a Miro board directly into your presentation. This works best when students have access to a desktop device or larger tablet.

    All you have to do is add the link to your miro board. Make sure when you share you adjust the “anyone with link” setting so people don’t need to sign in.

    At UAL Mentimeter is one of the Non-UAL platforms and should not be used for summative assessment.

    If you have not used Mentimeter before then have a look at the companies YouTube channel for inspiration. Or contact the LCC Digital Learning team LCCDigitalLearning@lcc.arts.ac.uk

  • PgCert/MA Academic Practice – applications open

    PgCert/MA Academic Practice – applications open

    Applications to the January 2023 PgCERT and MA in Academic Practice are new open.

    If you wish to apply you will require permission from your Line Manager and the college coordinator, at LCC this is Adrienne Tulley. You will need to confirm this by completing the staff authorisation form, which you can upload into the reference section of the online course application form.

    Further information, the authorisation form and links to the online application forms can be found on the Teaching and Learning Exchange Website.

    https://www.arts.ac.uk/about-ual/teaching-and-learning-exchange/professional-development

    Online information sessions

    We have some online information sessions coming up for anyone who is interested in applying.

    PgCert

    Wed 11 May 10:00 – 11.00

    Wed 15 June 12:30 – 13.30

    Link for both sessions: https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/e6f1c4150cf348738f653abb890bea26

    MA

    Wed 11 May, 12.00 – 13.00

    Link for session: https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/0863a489ebdd4985adaf334909b7f66f

    The UAL Teaching Qualification and Recognition Policy, and the Remission Policy can be found here on Canvas:

    https://canvas.arts.ac.uk/sites/explore/SitePage/41410/teaching-and-learning-policies

  • 3 creative ways to use Padlet

    3 creative ways to use Padlet

    Padlet is a highly visual, collaborative tool a lot like a virtual cork board. Users can upload images, audio, and video and create an environment rich with shared resources. It is very useful for both synchronous and asychronous activities which can facilitate online learning. These can strengthen the connections between students and their teacher and build a sense of community through the following features: exit ticket, voting and social space creation.

    Feedback with exit tickets

    An exit ticket is a final post from students about what they learnt and what they still feel unsure about- it expertly prioritises student voice and gives them ownership of their learning. To use this in padlet:

    -create a Padlet and select Grid

    -change your title and add a description

    -choose an appropriate wallpaper

    -post your exit ticket question- for example: “what is something you are confident about from the session today and one are you need more help with?”- students can then post responses either with their name or anonymously, which allows you to modify your next session to address misconceptions and revise key concepts.

    Voting feature with polls:

    Designing learning sessions where students can vote in a poll increases the interactive element of learning and boosts student participation. Padlet lets you vote on the posts added to a wall and grade the posts added to a wall. This is done through the ‘reaction’ settings in Padlet. Voting on Padlet posts can be done through a ‘thumb’ icon, a ‘like’ icon or a ‘star’ icon.

    The “thumb” icon will let your students vote up or vote down each post on a wall. The “like” icon just lets you show that you like a post. The star icon will let you give a star rating of one through five on a post.

    It is now possible to add grades to posts on a Padlet wall. You can give a score of one through one hundred on each post on a wall. It’s important to note that all students will see the scores. So you’ll want to use the grading function only after each student has contributed and you have made the wall private.

    Using Padlet as a social space:

    Padlet can be used as a social space where students interact with each other and build and strengthen their online communities through the ‘Sharing Wall’ session design. To implement a ‘Sharing wall’, at the start of a module a Padlet can be created where a single overarching “theme” tied to the module is introduced. Students can then share information about themselves through text, audio, video or a combination. An easy way to include an audio comment is through the Padlet app.

    Download the iOS or Android app. Copy the url of the Padlet you want to add an audio note to. Launch the app and tap on ‘Join a Padlet’ and paste the URL of your padlet. Tap ‘paste clipboard’ and ‘submit’.

    Alternatively, if the link to the Padlet has been sent to you via Twitter or elsewhere, tap on it and tap the Safari icon which will be top right or bottom right depending if you are using an iPad or iPhone. Tap OPEN IN APP and pink circle bottom right with the plus icon. When this opens up, select the three dots from which you will find the ‘voice’. Tap Voice.

    Tap the other options to add other types of content to a Padlet. You will need to give permission for your microphone to be accessed if you want.
    To record your voice- tap the pink circle with a white microphone in it. Record your voice for up to 15 minutes.

    Tap ‘Replay’ and ‘Save’ when you’ve finished. Add a title and tap ‘save’ and ‘post’. Then you can press the ‘play’ icon to listen to your recording.

    Want to find out more about Padlet?

    Here is a video about creating your first Padlet: https://ual.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=d0772d67-b739-43a3-b38d-ad8e00a43383

    You can also read more about Padlet at UAL Teaching Online here: https://www.arts.ac.uk/about-ual/teaching-and-learning-exchange/teaching-online/supporting-a-community

    You can also contact the LCC Digital Learning Team for further information by emailing us at lccdigitallearning@lcc.arts.ac.uk