Vevox have made some updates to their features which were featured in their December product update. Find out more about the new features available, including the introduction of:
Live ‘Before and After’poll comparisons
Demographic Segmentation
Rich text options for question formatting
Pie chart and number cloud displays available in the PowerPoint add-in
‘Before and After’ Poll Comparison
It is now possible to run the same poll question twice and use a toggle option in present view after repeating the question in order to see a before and after comparison. This can be done live in your polls for you and your audience to see.
This feature is only available in the present view of the Vevox Dashboard, and not in PowerPoint.
Potential use cases: See shifts in understanding in lectures or training sessions.
The ‘compare with previous poll’ toggle option icon in Vevox present view.
Demographic Segmentation
It is now possible to identify trends with demographic segmentation functionality in questions. You can use the multichoice question type, to ask a demographic question such as ‘What stage of study are you in?’ at the start of your session. When you run any subsequent multichoice questions, you can choose to display the results by those demographics by using a toggle option.
This feature is only available in the present view of the Vevox Dashboard, and not in PowerPoint.
Potential use cases: See how answers or opinions differ among groups of students or participants.
The ‘show a demographic split’ toggle option icon in Vevox present view.
Rich Text Options for Question Formatting
Within the question creation area, there are now some rich text editing options available to help you when writing your questions. The new formatting available includes bold, italics, underline, bullet points, and new lines.
The rich text editor options in the Vevox question creation area.
Pie Chart and Number Cloud Display in PowerPoint
The option to use pie charts to display results and use number clouds as a question type were made available in the Dashboard present view back in September. They are now available in the Office 365 Vevox PowerPoint add-in.
Additional information
For more information about Vevox, please see the dedicated Vevox webpage on the University’s Learning and Teaching website and also on Vevox’s own Blog.
With the launch of the Newcastle University Learning Analytics (NULA) system we will be posting regular blog updates to inform our users of the latest developments within the system.
Finding students
We have updated how the lists of students are displayed; you can now find your personal tutees when selecting students you are “directly” linked to. To find any other students you can use the “by modules” or “by courses” options. A full guide on how to find students is available on the learning and teaching website here.
Tagging
The ability to tag a stuent using the star icon next to the students name is now available.
You can then filter a list of students to only show tagged/untagged/all students as shown below.
Student overview
When you view a student’s profile the first item you will be presented with is the student overview, which shows a quick snapshot of the students most recent engagement and lists some basic information such as the students contact details and personal tutor.
On November 6th we came together as a community to celebrate the achievement of 198 colleagues across our university who gained Advance, HE Fellowship recognition (D1-D4) during the 2023/24 academic year. This milestone reflects a significant increase from 161 colleagues in 2022/23 and demonstrates the growing engagement and commitment of our staff to advancing teaching excellence.
At the heart of this achievement is a collective dedication to providing an outstanding educational experience for our students. Reflecting on and refining practice to align with relevant pedagogies underscores the values we uphold as an institution. As Sarah Graham, HaSS Dean of Education, remarked:
“It’s really positive to see this growth in recognition. As a community, it’s important that we keep spreading the word and raising the profile to support more colleagues in achieving recognition.”
The flexibility and inclusivity of the Professional Standards Framework (PSF) enables colleagues across diverse roles – academics, technicians, professional services and central services staff to achieve recognition. Notably, we celebrated the success of education managers, technicians, and colleagues from the Library, Careers, and LTDS. Their contributions enrich the fabric of our learning and teaching culture, further aligning us with the wider sector’s standards.
The event also highlighted the pivotal role of mentorship. Dr. Paul Hubbard, Chair of the Board of Studies, expressed gratitude to PSF mentors, including newly recognised colleagues stepping forward to support others. This spirit of mentorship strengthens our community, as mentors not only guide peers but also exemplify continuous professional development.
Special congratulations went to Ben Steel, this year’s recipient of the Dr. Phil Ansell Award for Mentoring, which honours exceptional support for colleagues pursuing Fellowship recognition.
Being recognised under one of the four categories of Fellowship is not the final destination and can be a springboard for ongoing contributions to our learning and teaching community. Opportunities include;
Participating in the 2024/25 University Learning and Teaching Conference on April 3rd, 2025.
Joining networks like Newcastle Educators or discipline-specific groups.
Sharing innovations by submitting case studies to the Case Studies of Effective Practice database.
If you would like any information about how to apply for a Advance HE Fellowship recognition, or anything discussed in this blog please do get in touch with the Academic Practice Team apt.lts@newcastle.ac.uk.
Proud moment for D1 Associate Fellow – Kolapo Odeniyi.
NU Med Education Day and Celebrating Success Event – 15th October 2024
During October 2024, Pro Vice Chancellor of Education, Professor Ruth Valentine, visited NU Med hosting an Education Day and a ‘Celebrating Success’ event for colleagues who have recently completed successful PSF applications. During the education day, Professor Valentine focused on the new University Education Strategy (Education for Life 2030+), and looked at how branch campuses can contribute to achieving its key objectives – Education for Life and other important education priorities moving forward.
The joint Education Day also provided an opportunity to strengthen connections between NUMed and NUIS colleagues, both for academic and PS teams.
Pic A NU Med colleagues attending the Education Day
The NU Med Garden Cafe hosted the celebration as the institution honored the achievements of staff members who excelled in their professional growth and development under the UK Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF). The event also recognised the invaluable contributions of mentors and those who completed the Advance HE External Examiner course. The event kicked off with an address by Professor Ruth Valentine, setting the tone for the celebrations. The event emphasised the importance of mentorship and professional development in fostering a thriving academic environment.
Recognition was given across several categories:
D3 Senior Fellows: A testament to their leadership and contribution to teaching and learning excellence.
D2 Fellows and D1 Associate Fellows: Acknowledged for their commitment to upholding and advancing professional teaching standards.
Advance HE External Examiner Course Graduates: Celebrating individuals who enhanced their expertise in quality assurance practices in higher education.
The event concluded with a lunch and networking session, providing a wonderful opportunity for the NUMed community to connect, reflect, and share best practices.
To introduce NULA to students Jasmine Banks, Education Officer at the Students’ Union, found out more about the system in conversation with Dr Lindsey Ferrie, Academic Lead.
They discuss: How NULA will benefit you What you can expect What you need to do
Watch our Introducing NULA video featuring Jasmine and Lindsey and read Jasmine’s article on the Student Noticeboard to find out how students are being updated.
Why this is important for colleagues
Students are being reassured that NULA is there to help support their learning, not to monitor or judge them. Keeping this in mind can help you talk to students about their data in a way that feels open, positive, and focused on their success.
What’s next?
Students have been encouraged to watch Jasmine Banks’ conversation with Dr. Lindsey Ferrie to learn more about NULA, and we recommend you do the same. This will give you a deeper insight into the messages they’re receiving, enabling you to mirror this approach in your tutoring practice.
Over the last couple of months, Inspera have been making some updates to their Grade workspace. Graders may have noticed some name changes in the appearance or naming in the Grade area. Ahead of our Semester 1 assessment period, the Digital Exams Team wanted to share some information about the changes you will see.
To complete marking within Inspera, graders will use the different workspaces in the Grader workflow:
If a student accidentally deletes text in an essay question, there is an option to restore it using Snapshots. This Snapshot functionality is available for students during their live Inspera exams.
Snapshot is accessed via the test editor/option panel available to students on any essay question:
The icon to retrieve Snapshots which are available is a backwards arrow around a clock face: .
Once selected, students can retrieve previous versions of their work. A new snapshot is taken every 15 minutes and is saved in the browser memory. Snapshot use is available after 15 minutes of beginning work on an essay question. Navigating away from the question, and then returning to it would not disrupt the Snapshot. Snapshots are activated per question, so using this option could not revert any other question answers to an earlier instance.
Important note: As browser-based memory is used for this feature, exiting the Inspera exam or refreshing the browser will disable Snapshots. (Note: refresh is only available in non-locked down exams).
How does it work for students?
When students click the Snapshot button, a message like the one below will appear. The student will be advised to select a snapshot and then click continue. This will enable them to retrieve prior instances of their work. Students can click the icon and select a different snapshot if their first selection is not what they were searching for.
Next steps
For academic year 2024-25, Instructions will be available to exam invigilators, these can be shared with students if needed in their exam.
Instructions are also available for students to familiarise themselves with ahead of their exams via the ‘Instructions in Inspera’ tab on the Student Inspera ASK website
Vevox have made a few additions and improvements to their features in recent product updates. Find out more about the new features available, including the introduction of number clouds, pie charts and the chance for participants to add labels to their Q&A questions. There are also some suggested use cases on the new features which are optional for use.
Rating Scale Question Type
This question type allows you to ask participants to rate multiple items on a scale of 1 up to 10 and create labels for the highest and lowest values.
Since you can ask participants to rate multiple items under one question, this reduces the need to create multiple questions.
Suggested use case: rating scale questions could be used for evaluation type questions or surveys.
Add images to options in multiple choice questions (MCQs)
It is now possible to add an image alongside every answer choice – this means you can use images as answers, or even add them for decorative purposes to help engage with participants.
Poll creation and updates within Microsoft PowerPoint and Teams integrations
The ability to create polls directly within both the PowerPoint Add-in (as well as Microsoft Teams) is now possible. This is for all question types, including the newly introduced rating scale question type and images as answer choices.
Participant-driven Q&A labels
As a session host, you can create and choose labels to share with your participants.
Participants can now add these labels to their questions/comments before adding them to the Q&A board.
Suggested use case: If you are delivering a session which includes different topics, you may want the ability for your participants to label questions per topic, so you can answer questions relating to each topic at a time.
Optional downvotes in Q&A
Within the Q&A function, the ability to like or ‘upvote’ responses is useful to see agreement within your audience on what questions to answer or what views attendees are agreeing with,
It is now possible to ‘switch on’ the option to ‘downvote’ responses.
Suggested use case: This could be used for agreeing or voting on which ‘topics’ should be explored, etc. Perhaps as an opportunity to ‘narrow down’ things.
Pie Charts
Pie charts are now available as well as bar charts for displaying results on multiple-choice polls.
They are only available for poll questions that have 10 answer options or less.
Suggested use case: Based on what you are asking, you can decide if the data would be best presented as a bar chart or a pie chart.
Number Clouds
As well as word clouds, it is now possible to host number clouds.
Interactive text wall for open text questions
The text wall is a new upgrade to how the ‘Open Text’ poll type responses are displayed.
Responses are organised into text blocks to make it even easier to view participant responses.
The blocks are also interactive, so you can quickly click on a response to spotlight it, like you can with the Q&A function.
Live/dynamic wordclouds in PowerPoint
Live word clouds are now available in the PowerPoint add-in.
This matches the functionality to see the wordcloud update as responses come in like you see when using the Dashboard view.
Additional information
For more information about Vevox, please see the dedicated Vevox webpage on the University’s Learning and Teaching website and also on Vevox’s own Blog.
Over the summer there have been a series of updates to the Inbox within Canvas.
In this blog post, we will highlight some of the key changes to the Inbox and how you can utilise these changes in your courses.
Video Overview
Add Auto Response
All users can now create an Auto Response message in the Canvas Inbox. This works similar to an email Out of Office message however this only within the internal messaging system in Canvas.
An example of this can be found below:
To do this:
In the top left corner of the Inbox, select the cog icon
From the dropdown menu select “Response On”
Add the Start and End Date
Add a Subject
Add a Message
Select “Save”
Add Signature to Messages
All users can now create a personalised signature on their Inbox messages in Canvas. This works similar to a signature in Emails and is assigned to internal messages in Canvas.
An example of this can be seen here:
As you can see above, my contact details have automatically been added to my message.
To do this in your own inbox:
In the top left corner of the Inbox screen, select the cog icon
Select the “Signature On” button
Add your personalised signature in the box provided
Over the summer there have been a series of updates to the Announcements feature within Canvas.
In this blog post, we will highlight some of the key changes to Announcements and how you can utilise these changes in your courses.
Video Overview
Mark All As Read Button
In Announcements, a Mark all as read button is available.
This update allows users to quickly and efficiently mark all announcements as read. Previously, each message would need to be manually marked then a bulk action applied. With this update, all messages can be marked as read with a single button click.
Notification for Changed Content
In Announcements, instructors can notify students when an announcement has been updated.
This feature prevents missed information, allowing users to respond promptly and appropriately to the new information.
Previously there was no way to alert recipients that there had been a change to an announcement other than posting the message again or sending another message informing students of the change.
Availability Dates
In Announcements, the delayed posting field is changed, in addition to the Available from field, instructors can add Until dates.
The update enables instructors to specify a date when the announcement will no longer be visible to students.
Announcements Timestamp
In Announcements, the Created date is hidden from students, and the Last edited date is only shown if the announcement was edited after being published. Additionally, the Posted date now reflects when the announcement became available.
This update helps prevent any confusion between the Posted and Last edited dates for students.
In the above screenshot, we can see in the teacher view, we can see the creation and the posted date (point 1).
In the student view below, we can see that we only have the posted date (point 2).
