conference – FMS TEL

Adding Audio to pdf Documents

During the recent Teaching and Learning Conference, prompted by Michelle Miller’s poster on Adobe Acrobat, we were asked if it was possible to add audio to a pdf document. Here’s how to do it:

Add Audio in Adobe Acrobat Reader

Click on Comments
Click on the attachments icon
Select Record Audio

Click the cursor where you want the audio to appear. A Sounder Recorder prompt will appear.

You now have two options:
- record directly into acrobat
- browse for an existing file

Record audio comments directly into Acrobat

Click the Record button and speak into your microphone. Click the Stop button when you have finished.
Click OK to add the recorded audio
Select your preferred icon and colour, then click OK

Embed an existing audio file

Click the Browse button
Navigate to your existing audio file
Click Open
Click OK to add the audio file
Select your preferred icon and colour, then click OK

Note: this only supports uncompressed WAV and AIFF files.

MOOC Adventures: From Conception to Reality – Dr Iain Keenan – NULTConf

Iain Keenan presented this lightning talk at the Newcastle University Learning and Teaching Conference 2023. He presented the MOOC we have been working on for some time, and shared insights about MOOC development. The talk is available for Newcastle staff to watch via ReCap.

As well as sharing the course content, structure and research behind the approaches involved, Iain also highlighted how helpful it has been to work alongside FMS TEL to bring the course to life.

To find out more about the course, take a look at the trailer below.

The course trailer

NULTConf – Video from FMS TEL

The Learning and Teaching Conference in March gave Gemma and I the chance to present a video about our current ERDP research project.

Our research focuses on engagement with online learning materials within the Faculty of Medical Sciences and NUMed. The full video can be viewed on the conference playlist.

FMS TEL Stand – L&T Conference 2023

It was nice to see some familiar faces and meet new colleagues at last week’s Learning and Teaching Conference. Members of the FMS TEL team took turns answering queries during sessions breaks. We also had the opportunity to attend the talks ourselves, and pick up some helpful tips and tricks!

At the desk we were pleased to see a number of visitors take copies of our booklet, showcasing some of the best posts from the FMS TEL blog.

If you were unable to attend the conference and you really wanted a booklet, we’ve got you covered!

FMS TEL Conference 2022 – behind the scenes

This post is a review of the conference experience by FMS TEL members John Keogan and Andy Stokes.

This years conference was going to be a bit different to any conference we had ran in the past, the decision was made for the 2022 conference to be hybrid! We would run in-person presentations, online only sessions, and some sessions would be a hybrid of both. We were excited to take advantage of the video-conferencing technologies on offer within the University.

Using lessons learnt from last years online version, we set out tasks to complete and deadlines to meet.

The Tasks

We divided the main tasks between us and ran through the list of jobs involved in preparing for the conference. We quickly realised that there was lot more involved than we initially thought!

The main tasks included:

timetabling
booking rooms
communications (including mail merges)
creating online conference materials

One aspect of the preparation was getting word out about the conference. We approached schools within the faculty and asked them to put up posters in areas with heavy footfall, as well as staffrooms. We put up posters in cafes, corridors and even lifts – please let us know if you saw them! We also requested that the campus messaging screens carried information about the conference in FMS areas.

Tips

Room Bookings

Consider your criteria before booking, for example:
- ‘Is the room big enough?’
- ‘Do the speakers work?’
- ‘Can we connect a laptop to the projectors?’
The room bookings website is not always accurate when you nominate the relative criteria; i.e. ‘Hybrid’, ‘videoconference’ etc.
Give yourself enough time to visit the rooms in person (It’s also worthwhile booking the rooms for when you plan to test them, as they can be snapped up pretty quickly in term time).
Reserved your rooms well in advance!

Technology

Contact the Audio Visual team for a demonstration of the hybrid technology. They showed us how to set up and use the cameras and mics, and also how to troubleshoot common problems.
Consider your booking platform and its limitations, we used workshops.ncl which required us to use an iCal maker so delegates could add the events to their diaries.
Familiarise yourself with video editing software. As a team we edited the recordings using a mix of ReCap, Premiere Pro and Adobe Rush.
Schedule a block of time to review captions. We have some excellent posts on how to edit your captions.

Conclusion

Overall, the conference was a great success and we all enjoyed our time being part of the 2022 FMS TEL Conference team.

Being new to running a conference we developed skills and knowledge during the journey. The encouragement and support from our team helped ensure that we fulfilled our tasks and that looming deadlines were met.

We learned things that we will do different, or better, next year and we hope the tips shared in this post will be a good starting point for anyone wanting to run their own conference.

FMS TEL Conference 2022 – What’s in it for me?

See an overview of some highlights of the conference for you, depending on your role and your interests.

Not many of you would have time to attend all 16 sessions running this year, from 7th-11th November – here are some sessions you may like to join, depending on your interests.

Clinical colleagues and colleagues who don’t teach often

Spend Monday catching up on developments and reminding yourself of university systems by attending the Welcome and Keynote, and boost engagement with accessibility and Canvas overviews. Dip into Lightning Talks on Tuesday and Friday for bite-size guides to our current technology and teaching practice.

Learning and Teaching Professional Services

Pick up tips and tricks to speed up the management of students’ learning using technology by coming to accessibility, captioning and Canvas sessions on Monday. Join the audience for our panel discussion around placements on Wednesday, then learn some timesaving tips with an overview of Microsoft forms.

Interested in digital assessment?

Try the Special Edition Journal Club to hear about authentic digital assessments, and join the session about how technology can support adaptive feedback on Friday.

Interested in trying new technologies?

How about trying some 3D Scanning on Monday and learning how Augmented Reality is being used in various areas of the university. Later in the week, see how the recently-implemented H5P plugin for Canvas has been used to create digital escape rooms for students.

Want to take your content up a notch?

Why not drop in to our session on using technology to support lab teaching to get some inspiration, or get practical tips on making informative and beautiful infographics in PowerPoint, and spruce up your Canvas pages with some HTML.

FMS TEL Conference 2022 – Call for Submissions Reminder

The FMS Technology Enhanced Learning Conference 2022 will run in the week beginning 7th November. We would like to invite all members of staff – Professional Services, Clinical, Teaching and Research – in FMS and NUMed to showcase their work in teaching and learning, whether this is in the classroom, online, or managing things behind the scenes.

Conference themes include:

Video and Beyond – Virtual and Augmented Reality, Animations, 3D Scanning and Printing
Work Smarter – Improving our workflows, shortcuts, efficiency in processes.
Continuous Professional Development – Developing and implementing CPD
Digital Assessment

Submissions close at the beginning of October. Please check out the Conference Page for full details.

In addition to the FMS TEL Team, confirmed speakers and events include…

Prof Ruth Valentine, Dean of Education, FMS
Dr David Kennedy, Dean of Digital Education
Dr Paul Hubbard, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, NUMed
Mr Leonard Shapiro, University of Cape Town
Dr Iain Keenan, School of Medical Education
Special Edition FMS TEL Journal Club
Lightning Talks

FMS TEL Conference 2022 – Save the Date

We are delighted to announce that the FMS TEL Conference will run again this year in the week beginning 7th November 2022!

The conference team are in the process of putting together an exciting programme with something for everyone, whatever your role in FMS or NUMed. Colleagues in FMS and NUMed will receive further information by email in due course, and all colleagues are welcome to attend.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Video Award Success for FMS TEL Team

The team shares success at the Learning and Teaching Conference – find out more about how DIY and bespoke animations can help boost learning in your course.

Several members of the FMS TEL team attended the NU Teaching & Learning Conference on Thursday 31^st March giving strong representation of the team.

It was a great day with some very insightful presentations on a broad range of topics and a very interesting keynote from Professor Paul Ashwin. It was also the first time in years that the conference has been able to be run ‘in person’ and with around 300 attendees it felt like a slight return to normality.

Members of the FMS TEL team had both ‘posters’ and ‘video presentations’ entered into the competitions. Attendees were sent a link to view them and were able to vote for their favourites both in the week leading up to the conference and also on the day itself.

Eleanor Gordon (left) and Ashley Reynolds (right)

Ashley Reynolds and Eleanor Gordon from the FMS TEL team were delighted to be announced winners of the ‘Best Video Award’ for their video presentation titled ‘Creating and using animations to explain concepts’ which highlighted how animations could be used to enhance teaching, and techniques that will both improve memory retention and also increase learner engagement. The video presentation entry can be seen below.

Video submission

If you would like to know more about animations and the services that the team can offer, please get in touch.

We would like to say ‘Thank you very much’ to the LTDS team for organising a great conference. Can’t wait for next year!

NULT Conference 2022

Looking forward to seeing you all at the Learning and Teaching Conference!

FMS TEL are well-represented at the University Learning and Teaching Conference 2022. We look forward to seeing you at the conference, and hearing what you think of our sessions, videos and posters! All of our posts about this conference can be seen under the tag NULTConf2022.

To book your place at the conference, or find out more, please visit the Learning and Teaching Conference homepage.