T&L Bulletin – Issue 24: 10 Aug ‘09
Faculty of Humanities
Teaching and Learning Bulletin
Issue 24: 10 August 2009
Welcome to the Faculty of Humanities Teaching and Learning Bulletin.
The Bulletin will normally be distributed every month and will be archived on the Faculty’s HumNet
site. It is intended that the next Bulletin will be sent during the week beginning 7 September 2009.
All colleagues are welcome to contribute relevant material, please send any items for inclusion in
the next issue by 5pm on 28 August 2009. We would particularly welcome details of events or
activities taking place in Schools that relate to teaching & learning. We would also welcome your
feedback on the Bulletin and any suggestions for improvement.
The Bulletin page can also be found at: (http://www.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/humnet/tandl)
Please note any actions that may be required will be highlighted in italics; these will normally be
reminders of looming deadlines, the full details of which will have been circulated by other means.
Please forward names of any other colleagues in your School working in the area of teaching &
learning who would like to receive this Bulletin, or notification if you wish to be removed from the
mailing list, as well as items for inclusion, suggestions / feedback to:
lisa.mcaleese-2@manchester.ac.uk.
This Bulletin covers the following topics:
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9.
Personalised Learning & Blended Learning
Guidelines on Mechanisms for Providing Feedback to Students
Teaching & Learning Review
Academic Advisory Service
Presentations from the University’s Teaching & Learning Conference
eLearning Update
New Member of Staff Joins Teaching & Learning Team
Programme Approval
Contact Lists
1.
Personalised Learning and Blended Learning
A new section entitled ‘Personalised Learning & Blended Learning’ has been added to the
Faculty’s Teaching & Learning website, see:
http://www.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/tandl/resources/personalisedlearning/index.html
The pages provide information and links to Faculty and University documents and resources
relating to the personalised learning agenda.
2.
Guidelines on Mechanisms for Providing Feedback to Students
A paper has been produced from a summary of the responses from Schools in Humanities when
asked to identify some of the mechanisms that are in place for providing feedback to students,
particularly for those units that scored highly on the Unit Evaluation Questionnaire’s question about
the feedback on their work being helpful. These guidelines should be considered alongside the
Faculty Feedback Policy. See:
http://www.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/tandl/policyandprocedure/guidelinesandpolicydocuments/i
ndex.html
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T&L Bulletin – Issue 24: 10 Aug ‘09
3.
Teaching & Learning Review
Documents which have been developed by the Faculty and University in response to the
President’s Teaching & Learning Review can be found at:
http://www.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/tandl/policyandprocedure/review/index.html
You will need to log in using your usual University of Manchester user name and password to gain
access.
4.
Academic Advisory Service
The Academic Advisory Service has launched an updated version of their website which can be
viewed at http://www.campus.manchester.ac.uk/academicadvisoryservice/. The Service has
included a new section on ‘Finding Solutions’, which offers students an introduction on where to
seek help and advice on a range of academic-related matters. Staff may also find this tool useful
when advising and referring students.
5.
Presentations from the University’s Teaching & Learning Conference
The presentations and handouts from the University’s Teaching and Learning Conference, held on
11th May 2009, are available on the Conference webpage http://www.campus.manchester.ac.uk/tlso/teachinglearningconference/conferencehandoutsandpre
sentations/#d.en.155251
Also included is a video of the introduction, keynote speech and the presentation of the Teaching
Excellence Awards.
Additional notes from the sessions attended by staff from the Teaching & Learning Office can be
found at: https://forums.manchester.ac.uk/clearspace/docs/DOC-1258
You will need to log in using your usual University of Manchester user name and password to gain
access.
6.
eLearning Update
Blackboard 2009-10 courses
For information about transferring existing courses across to the next academic year, as well as
developing new ones in Blackboard, please see:
http://www.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/tandl/elearning/blackboard/courses_200910.html
Video Library Service
Every member of staff now has access to the University's
Video Library Service [VLS]. Log in with your central
username and password at: http://stream.manchester.ac.uk
You can upload your own videos or contact the Faculty
eLearning team to discuss producing new material.
Want to create your own videos? Use programmes from TV?
See the "Recording from TV and Radio" and "Want to use
audio or video in your courses?" sections below.
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T&L Bulletin – Issue 24: 10 Aug ‘09
Recording from TV and Radio
Did you know you can use TV and radio broadcasts in your Blackboard course? The University's
ERA Plus license allows you to record television and radio programmes and deliver them online
to your students within the UK.
Videos can be streamed from the Video Library
Service and embedded directly into your course.
Audio recordings can be stored on the Humanities
Media Server where your students can listen to
individual recordings or download podcasts to their
portable MP3 players.
For more information, please contact the Faculty
eLearning team.
Want to use audio or video in your courses?
Did you know you can borrow portable recording equipment from the eLearning team – free of
charge?
So if you want to record podcasts, audio feedback, sound-bites, student presentations,
native language examples - the list is endless! – why not take advantage of our easy-touse high-quality audio recorders (Edirols)?
If you want your students to look as well as listen, use our small hand-held video
cameras (Sony Cybershots and Sony Camcorder) to record your own video and
then upload it to the University’s Video Library Service.
Using Wimba Voice Tools again next year?
Have you used Wimba Voice Tools in your 2008-09 Blackboard course and want to use them
again in 2009-10?
If so, please note you will need to
create new instances of the tools
when you copy content forward to your
2009-10 course.
Please contact the Faculty eLearning team
if you would like any advice or support with
this.
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T&L Bulletin – Issue 24: 10 Aug ‘09
Online plagiarism detection and student feedback: we have the tools for you!
As part of the University’s commitment to continually improving the student experience, there are
now two new systems that make plagiarism detection easier and provide tools to enhance marking
and feedback; these are two of the most popular requests that came out of a recent focus group
held with first year students who experience online learning in their programmes.
These new systems (Turnitin and GradeMark) allow students to submit their own work via
Blackboard, where staff can then mark the work and provide constructive feedback to the student.
Automation of many aspects of assignment submission means that the whole process can be more
efficient than undertaking it in hard copy and offers advantages for school administrators,
academics and students:
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No need to handle large amounts of paper submissions
Automatic plagiarism detection on all submissions
Easy sharing of marking
Quick and easy application of detailed, standard feedback
Prompt, automatic return of work with feedback
The Faculty is undertaking a supported roll out of Turnitin across the Faculty to identify good
practice and ensure that we have robust procedures and guidelines for use. Providing you get in
touch with us, we will be able to support you using Turnitin within Blackboard, so, if you are already
using Turnitin or you would like to use it for 2009/10, please contact Humanities eLearning
(elearning@manchester.ac.uk)
Blackboard Training, Drop-ins and How to Guides
Details of Blackboard training courses including dates can be found at:
http://www.itservices.manchester.ac.uk/trainingcourses/corporateapplications/bb/
Guides on how to use the various tools in Blackboard together with some supporting information
on eLearning pedagogy are at:
http://www.campus.manchester.ac.uk/elearning/traindevelop/howto/
Additionally, the Faculty eLearning team offer a variety of workshop and support sessions ranging
from drop-ins through to more specialist help with audio and video.
The drop-in sessions run every Tuesday and Thursday from 12pm – 1pm (no need to book) in
Ellen Wilkinson C1.44.
Information on training and drop-ins can be found at:
http://www.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/tandl/elearning/events/index.html
http://ict.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/training/view/index.html
When will my course on Blackboard be hidden from students?
Will the students doing Resits still be able to access my course on Blackboard?
How long will I still have access to my 2008/09 course on Blackboard?
When will my 2009/10 Blackboard courses be available?
Answers to these questions and full information on what will happen to this and next years
Blackboard courses are on our website at:
http://www.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/tandl/elearning/blackboard/courses_200910.html
Any queries please email us at elearning@manchester.ac.uk or call 65544
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T&L Bulletin – Issue 24: 10 Aug ‘09
Call us if you need HeLP
We are pleased to announce a new service for providing support for academic and administrative
staff.
From the 3rd of August in addition to emailing eLearning@manchester.ac.uk, the eLearning team
will be providing support via the telephone. Calls will be routed to your eLearning team via the
Service Desk on 65544.
We hope that this will provide a more responsive service to academic and administrative staff
using eLearning applications e.g. Blackboard.
This service is targeted for…
1. queries from Academic Staff and Administrative staff only – not for student queries
2. when teaching and learning is scheduled within the next 48hours and either cannot take
place or will be negatively affected. For example: a key functionality of the system is not
working as expected, or student enrolments are not showing in Blackboard etc…
3. when you have set aside time (i.e. within the next 48 hours) to develop eLearning provision
which is not able to move forward without further advice or support. For example: you need
specific advice on how to copy content from Development to Live sections, use selective
release, or set up an online assessment…
This service is not meant to replace training or scheduled meetings or consultations with eLearning
technologists. It is important that staff utilise the existing training and development options rather
than rely solely on this service. Where appropriate the eLearning team may recommend a specific
training session rather than give ad hoc advice.
If you have an eLearning query which meets the above criteria, please call the Service Desk on
54999.
For non-urgent eLearning queries e.g. something planned for the future please continue to email
eLearning@manchester.ac.uk
Blackboard Downtime
Please note that Sunday 3am-5am is a scheduled slot for Blackboard routine maintenance. This
time slot will be used for regular maintenance, upgrades and restarts to the system. We apologise
if this causes any inconvenience and will publicise all downtime through the Blackboard
announcements.
ALT- C (Association for Learning Technology Conference) 2009
To sign up for this year’s conference, In Dreams Begins Responsibility, please visit the ALT-C
website: http://www.alt.ac.uk/altc2009/
7.
New Member of Staff Joins Teaching & Learning Team
On 3 August 2009 Angela Dignan joined the Teaching & Learning Team as a Quality Assurance
and Enhancement Administrator. Angela has responsibility for the Schools of Law and Education
and can be contacted on angela.dignan@manchester.ac.uk tel: 50252
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T&L Bulletin – Issue 24: 10 Aug ‘09
8.
Programme Approval
The following are new taught programmes or changes to existing taught programmes which have
recently been approved by the Faculty and have been ratified by the Vice-President for Teaching
and Learning, Professor Colin Stirling for entry in September 2009 (except where indicated):
 School of Education
BSc (Hons) in Profound & Complex Learning Disability
Primary PGCE – addition of a modern language specialism
MA Education – creation of three pathways in addition to the standard route (Teach First
Leadership, International, Urban)
MEd Educational leadership & School Improvement – change of title to MA Educational Leadership
& School Improvement
MA Educational Leadership & Improvement – addition of a part-time route

School of Environment & Development
MA / MSc in International Development – addition of a Politics and Governance pathway

Manchester Business School
BSc (Hons) Management/Management (Specialism); BSc (Hons) in International Management;
BSc (Hons) in International Management with American Business Studies; BSc (Hons) in
Information Technology Management for Business with/without Industrial Experience; BA (Hons) in
Management & Information Systems; BA (Hons) in Accounting, Management & Information
Systems: - Introduction of the course unit:- Business & Management Skills which replaces the
Fundamentals of Management course unit.
MSc in Enterprise

School of Social Sciences
MA in Economics
9.
Contact Lists
In order that we can provide support and assistance where possible and ensure that our contact
details are current please keep us updated on any changes of staff working in your School in the
area of PGT, UG and QAE.
We hope that you have found the content of this Bulletin informative. The next Bulletin will be
distributed during the week beginning 7 September 2009. Please send any items for inclusion by
5pm on 28 August 2009 to: lisa.mcaleese-2@manchester.ac.uk
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