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Faculty
of Science Learning,
Teaching and Assessment Information and Resources |
22/11/13
1)
Staff Development Sessions
Apologies,
but the proposed schedule for the forthcoming staff development sessions listed
in my email of 8th November was incorrect:
· e-Marking basics
· e-Marking rubrics
· Allocation of differentiated marks for members in
group work
These
sessions will now run on either Mon 9th or Wed 11th Dec.
I would be grateful if you could (again) complete a simple web form
before Friday 29th Nov to assist with scheduling: http://www.survey.ljmu.ac.uk/2013bssd
2) HDMI/VGA converter (thanks to Bryan Roberts)
If you
have a speaker visiting LJMU and they are bringing their own laptop then be
wary that many modern devices have no VGA connectivity. The Faculty has a HDMI to
VGA converter that would allow for a modern laptop to be connected to our
projectors. This can be loaned out by emailing AVA-Byrom.
3)
Blackboard support
If you
need help using Blackboard features such as Turnitin, Discussion Boards etc.
then please email the Faculty IT Officers in Rm 243 using scsit
(lowercase).
If you
think Blackboard is not working properly or you need to make a change that is
not possible using the user-accessible tools then email helpdesk.
4)
Online Text Editor (thanks to Chris Gilles, EHC)
A growing
number of colleagues use iPads and/or student’s own mobile devices to help
facilitate active learning/research sessions. There are a number of
mobile-ready web services that can be used to support student centred teaching.
For
example, the Online Text Editor looks like a streamlined word processor
and acts like one too, but with the added bonus that it’s collaborative and
mobile compatible. Click here to see
it in action. Here’s why you might want to use it:
•
Ease of use – it works like a word processor, but with automatic saves and new
pages (AKA pads) added by clicking ‘create new pad’.
•
Collaborative – you can give students and colleagues editable access to your
pages by simply sharing the URL (web address) with them.
•
Real-time – it works synchronously, meaning students can see everyone’s changes
live.
•
Immediacy - it's easy to get started with, requiring no login details
whatsoever - a unique web page is created every time you access www.Onlinetexteditor.net.
Think of
the Online Text Editor as a digital flip chart or magic whiteboard roll; useful
for supporting group discussions for example, but with the typical digital
benefits of portability, ease of duplication and modification. Indeed, the lack
of log in details or a need for setting up, means that it can be drawn upon as
a handy contingent teaching tool without the characteristic hassle and/or
anxiety of running into login problems. At the same time however, you can
easily prepare group task pages in advance and feel confident that no students
will access them before they’re supposed to.
The Online
Text Editor’s simplicity is its biggest strength and its limitations therefore
are fairly obvious. For example, it has no capacity for images or any other media.
The lack of access management could also be problematic for
sensitive/important/long-term projects. Finally, to remove the need for a login
it remembers pages you have accessed previously through your device/browser,
thus you need to copy the URL or the text if you wish to access past content on
a different device. If these limits haven’t put you off, why not trial it
yourself by clicking on this demo page here.
Maintained by Philip Denton. Last Update: 13/10/2015.