Distance and E-Learning Unit

Accessing Alt-J (E-Learning Journal)

sbrenton — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 14:44:18 +0000

As part of our membership of the Association for Learning Technology (ALT), we have access to the Journal ALT-J, about research in learning technology. We’ll get hard copies at the E-Learning Unit which you can browse in the E-Learning Studio, but you can also access it online. You can access the journal from www.informaworld.com. Click ‘Sign [...]

Terms and Conditions with Selective Release

Gill Ritchie — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 10:18:00 +0000

In the past, people have asked how to set things up on Blackboard so that students have to accept some terms and conditions before they can access a particular piece of content. This can be done with a combination of an Assessment (i.e. a quiz) and the Selective Release functionality. This article describes what this solution looks like and goes through the steps required to achieve it. The steps should take no longer than about 15 minutes to carry out and in doing so you will learn about both the Grade Book and the Selective Release functions in Blackboard.

We’ve joined ALT…

sbrenton — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 10:54:49 +0000

We’ve joined the Association for Learning Technology as an organisational member, so everyone at QM gets some benefits. ALT is the primary professional and scholarly association for learning technology in the UK (see their website here). They also run the biggest annual conference about all matters e-learning, ALT-C, which is running this September in Nottingham. [...]

What’s going to happen tonight?

Gill Ritchie — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 16:55:35 +0000

As I’m about to leave for the day, I can’t help but wonder what’s going to happen this evening. What am I talking about? Well obviously the much talked about announcement sometime today (5pm on the west coast of the USA?) of the eagerly awaited Apple tablet computer of course…what else? I’m not really [...]

Training session: Introduction to QM’s VLE

Gill Ritchie — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 21:37:27 +0000

If you are just starting out with the central College virtual learning system (VLE), Blackboard, or you are wondering about what it might have to offer, you might be interested to know about our “Introduction to QM’s Virtual Learning Environment” session which is taking place this Wednesday afternoon. The session is aimed at staff who [...]

Visualisers and Q-Review

emcdonnell — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 10:00:21 +0000

Many of you will have noticed Visualisers appearing in more and more lecture theatres around campus. They’re, in my opinion at least, a fantastic technolgy. They are extremely simple to use and have the potential to open up a whole new array of materials to a lecturer. They’re also very much under-utilized. (As a brief [...]

How to use microphones for Q-Review

emcdonnell — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 12:59:19 +0000

Probably the biggest hurdle we've encountered so far in the Q-Review lecture capture project is the disappointment of a really good lecture being delivered that gets played back in absolute slience. This short post outlines the steps that a presenter must go through to ensure that the audio for their lecture is recorded.

Some events, a conference, JISC funding news

sbrenton — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 15:21:08 +0000

A number of things from the world of e-learning to draw to your attention: ALT-C, the annual major e-learning conference in the UK, will be held this year in Nottingham. The theme is “Into something rich and strange” – making sense of the sea-change”. Google and Yahoo will be among those presenting. If you are [...]

VLE Description of Service

emcdonnell — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 17:16:17 +0000

As part of a step-change in E-Learning Provision at QMUL we are expanding our range of services, hiring new team members and formalising what we already do. This document is part of the latter. The VLE has become a core college service at QMUL and it is important that we are able to describe that service, [...]

Progress on Q-Review, QMUL’s Echo360 Project

emcdonnell — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 09:00:25 +0000

QMUL’s lecture capture pilot project, called Q-Review, is approaching the halfway point in its pilot year. While we’ve had our share of hiccups and setbacks, the project is progressing well. We’ve learned a lot about best practice for the system and are looking forward to disseminating this when the project enters its production phase. So… what [...]