Author: Claire Burnham

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Questions about online learning- you are not alone!

There’s loads to learn to get ready for teaching this term, Canvas, synchronous online teaching, guidance in the ERF all of these are new.  If you are puzzled about the best place to start you aren’t alone!

Questions about online learning? I'm thinking about....is there a better approach? How can I encourage students to engage in online sessions? How can I make the best use of Canvas? Drop -in to our Zoom room for friendly pointers http://bit.ly/talktoLTDS
http://bit.ly/talktoLTDS

LTDS’s Learning Enhancement and Technology Teams are here to help.  We are running regular drop-in sessions each week where we can chat through options with you, give pointers to resources we know that will help and suggest ideas for you to consider. 

We don’t know much about thermodynamics, cell biology or philosophy but between us we have loads of experience with online learning.  If we don’t know the answer we can phone a friend and get back to you.

No question is too basic!

We run hour long drop-in sessions on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.  You don’t need to make an appointment. Each drop-in has two members of our team to help answer your questions.

See http://bit.ly/talktoLTDS for our drop-in and webinar schedule and information about how to join.

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Be Course Ready on Canvas

Canvas logo

To help you to check that the Canvas course for your module is ready for your students, we have created a handy checklist which can be found on the Canvas section of the Digital Learning Website. You can also view our downloadable pdf version.

Remember, your Canvas course must be published for your students to be able to access it. This also applies to archive courses from 2017-18 to 2019-20. 

If you need help with Canvas you can access the following channels of support: 

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Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence Roadshows

The Advance HE Collaborative Awards for Teaching Excellence (CATE) celebrate collaborative work that has had a demonstrable impact on teaching and learning.

LTDS support applications to CATE, and work with the National Teaching Fellows/CATE winners in the University to promote their work and teaching excellence. Each institution can nominate one team to each round of the scheme.

LTDS will be promoting further details of the application process to become an institutional nominee soon. Advance HE are running webinars for those thinking of applying. Details below:

Prof Mark O’Hara, CATE-Net Co-ordinator, Advance HE, will be facilitating four webinars – three (repeated on different dates) focusing on helping those applying for CATE in the 2020/21 academic year, and one focussing on helping those thinking of applying further in the future. Details of these CATE webinars are as follows:

Applying for CATE in 2020/21

If you are planning to submit a claim for CATE in the 2020-21 cycle these briefings will introduce you to the nature of the Award and its associated professional and institutional benefits. It will help you to understand the process and timelines and will offer practical suggestions and advice from previous CATE winners.

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Planning your teaching? New Flexible Learning 2020 webinar dates available

Student working on laptop

New webinars available for colleagues planning their teaching and creating their content. Find out more and book using the links below: 

New sessions 

New dates available for 

Daily drop ins 

Need some specific advice on that one little thing you need to be able to do with your content/assessment/learning activity? Pop into a drop in sessions and we can help you decide what might be most effective way for you.

Join any session at the days and times noted on the Flexible Learning schedule. (Campus login required: nid@newcastle.ac.uk)

Full schedule and how to join (no need to book drop in) 

Flexible Learning 2020 resources and support

Visit the flexible learning webpages to find out more about the support available for the implementation of the Education Resilience Framework (ERF). You can also access a number of step by step guides to help support teaching delivery in 2020/21.

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Support for flexible learning from the Library and Writing Development Centre

Student working in the library

Our teams are here to support and collaborate with you as you rethink your students’ skills provision for the coming academic year.

In 2020/21, Library inductions for all undergraduates and taught postgraduates will be delivered non-synchronously online through the central University induction programme. Therefore, there is no need for you to book an induction session with us as part of a separate programme timetable. Our induction materials will introduce students to the services and resources we offer, and equip them with essential literature searching skills, including finding and accessing academic information via Library Search.

Beyond induction (for example, for students working on dissertations or projects), we‘re developing a range of adaptable online learning resources suitable for embedding into Canvas, and will work with you to develop content tailored for your subject area that can be embedded within your modules. These are very well-suited to non-synchronous delivery, with opportunities for further support via Q&A sessions, discussions etc.

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National recognition for Newcastle University’s teaching excellence

For the second year in a row, three Newcastle academics have been elected as National Teaching Fellows. 

Awarded by Advance HE, the fellowships recognise excellence in enhancing and transforming student outcomes and teaching. Newcastle University’s Dr Clare Guilding, Professor Simon Tate and Dr Iain Keenan are among this year’s 56 new National Teaching Fellows.  

In 2017, Dr Guilding took up the position of Dean of Academic Affairs in Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia (NUMed), leading the development and implementation of Newcastle’s new MBBS curriculum there. She also played a key role in developing the British Pharmacological Society’s (BPS) new undergraduate pharmacology curriculum, now used to develop pharmacology curricula nationally and internationally.  

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Prestigious teaching award for University team

Christian Lawson-Perfect, George Stagg and Chris Graham

The E-Learning Unit in the School of Mathematics, Statistics & Physics  received the national Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (CATE), which recognises collaborative work that has had a demonstrable impact on teaching and learning. 

The successful team is made up of Dr Chris Graham, Christian Lawson-Perfect and Dr George Stagg.  

Chris, Director of E-Learning, School of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics said: 

 “We are absolutely delighted to receive the Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence, recognising our E-Learning Unit’s contribution to our School, institution and wider community, in enhancing the teaching and learning of mathematics, with initiatives such as the Numbas e-assessment software.  

“The award celebrates our collaborative approach to establishing Numbas as a tool used here at Newcastle by over 3,000 students each year in Schools across all three faculties, and at our Malaysia and London campuses. And recognises our role worldwide, with several key international partnerships, a role in high profile national projects in primary and secondary education, and over 2,000 teachers worldwide using our assessment software.  

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Learning Analytics Pilot

Books and a computer screen

New Analytics in Canvas is an interactive tool that helps you and your students better track performance and activity within individual courses. It can be accessed in the menu of any Canvas course and allows you to: 

  • Identify which students have viewed pages and resources  
  • Identify which students have participated in the course 
  • Compare grades across assignments by cohort or individual students 
  • Contact students, or groups of students, based on their interactions 

As part of the University’s Task and Finish group on learning analytics we will be running a pilot looking to gather some Newcastle specific information and feedback on the use of the tool. Our aim is to identify the functionalities within New Analytics that Newcastle colleagues find to be most useful in improving student attainment and engagement so that we can make recommendations to the University about how best to implement this system, or others, University-wide. 

As part of a pilot, all we would ask for would be a summary of what you did and how you measured any benefit for your students in terms of attainment or engagement. We appreciate how busy everyone is at the moment so are keen to make sure that taking part requires minimal extra work (setting up the New Analytics within your module assessments or workflow is quite intuitive) and fits in with your already established plans for online delivery in 20/21. 

If you would be interested in taking part, please contact LTDS@newcastle.ac.uk   

If you would like to know more about New Analytics in Canvas, please visit What is New Analytics? 

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CONGRATULATIONS to our new National Teaching Fellows and to the Winners of the Collaborative Award in Teaching Excellence

For the second year in a row, three Newcastle academics have been elected as National Teaching Fellows, at the same time the University has won a Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence.

Awarded by Advance HE, the fellowships recognise excellence in enhancing and transforming student outcomes and teaching. Newcastle University’s Dr Clare Guilding, Professor Simon Tate and Dr Iain Keenan are among this year’s 56 new National Teaching Fellows.

There was further success for the E-Learning Unit in the School of Mathematics, Statistics & Physics Development Team received the Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (CATE). These awards recognise collaborative work that has had a demonstrable impact on teaching and learning, highlights the key role of teamwork in higher education.  

Find out more and hear from the winners.