Drag the map with your mouse. View in full screen by clicking on the icon

Mindmapping:

Mindmapping is really a graphical method of planning or taking notes. They can be really useful for brainstorming and planning content. They can also be used as a presentation tool at conferences – see Andy Black: ‘Mobile Learning & Online Communication’

MindMeister:

As you can see above, a fully functioning MindMeister map can be embedded into a page and viewed in full-screen. Other good features…

The ability to:

• preview external links with a thumbnail image when you rollover the icon
• add notes which can be viewed when you roll over the icon
• attach a file, such as a pdf, accessed via the icon (see e-Portfolio/ PebblePad)
• upload your own images or use the rather nice ones provided (shown above)
• link elements with a customizable arrow (see e-Portfolio > Webfolio)
• collaborate in real-time with a chat function (enabled when you click on a collaborator’s name)
• assign specific tasks to collaborators, listing priorities and due dates
• revert to a previous version if a mistake is made
• make live updates to your map when it has been published and embedded
• Create, edit and display on mobile devices – iPhone, iPad and Android – free to download from the App Store

MindMeister Editing Screen

This map has been created using a Basic (free) account which allows you to have 3 maps. Other paid options are available – this free version is very impressive!

Can you recommend any other mindmapping software? What do you use them for?

Xerte has been created by staff at the University of Nottingham and as it is an open resource, it is available to download and use free of charge.  The Xerte website has some excellent examples of the type of resource which can be created and you can download the online toolkit from there also.

Creating accessible resources.

The presentation at the e-assessment event was delivered by Lisa Featherstone of JISC TechDis.  Lisa has many years experience of working with students with learning difficulties.  Lisa demonstrated a Xerte object she had created with various learning difficulties in mind.  By selecting the link, you will be able to view the template.

Xerte templates allow users to control the colours and font sizes by using the options shown at the bottom of the resource and can be resized by using the tools in the browser. Templates can be navigated by both mouse and by using keyboard commands.  There is also a text-to-speech interface available.

Xerte objects can be created to suit all aspects of learning difficulties such as attention and memory recall, auditory, visual and motor.  The University of Nottingham has created an excellent template to show examples of this in action.

Using Xerte to create revision tools

Lisa Featherstone also demonstrated a learning object which showed an example of a revision tool. Xerte online toolkits lend themselves well to the creation of a self-contained revision/self-assessment package where key points could be displayed and a series of questions could be asked around the key points.  The points could also be summarised at the end of the template, allowing users to recap.  This resource can be used over and over by both academics/creators and students.  Xerte learning objects are accessible anywhere where users have access to a computer and an internet connection.

Using Xerte online toolkits to create assessments

The online toolkit can create a very effective assessment package which looks professional and is easy to use from a student perspective.  For formative assessment, it can be used in the same way as for the revision tool.  A content creator could add key points and demonstrate these by adding props such as video or audio content, images which can have features such as drag and drop added and creating a series of questions from multiple choice to text match.  For summative assessment, the same format would be ideal, but the only drawback is that Xerte online toolkits have no functionality for recording student activity or marks.  However, this issue can be worked around by linking the Xerte template to a QuestionMark Perception assesment from within the Xerte template.  Perception is currently the online assessment tool which is used at Plymouth University and is capable of recording student activity.  This has been done successfully by the Human Resources (HR) department at Plymouth University. They wanted to use Xerte to create  a high quality suite of resources for staff to access online around various HR policies and procedures.  The idea is for staff to access the resources and work through the Xerte templates, then answer questions at the end.  Because it is essential to achieve a certain score, the assessment at the end is linked to Perception and the mark is recorded and can be accessed by HR staff.

Which disciplines are suitable for using Xerte?

The answer to this one is, all disciplines.  The flexibility of Xerte templates allows resource creators to add and embed a variety of different features which can be tailored to suit the particular discipline.  For example, Arts could create a Xerte template containing images of famous paintings with accompanying information.  Hotspots could be added to the images allowing users to zoom in on a particular aspect of a painting. The University of Nottingham Medical School has been using Xerte to create a series of templates to assist students in principles of anatomy.

If you would like any more information about using Xerte, please contact the Learning Technologies team.

Pebble+

Pebble+ has been completely redesigned as a website with the menus at the top of the screen. The ‘Create New’ menu has been condensed and includes the ‘Upload File’ option. There are a range of generic inbuilt templates for recording (action) plans, experiences and reflections. Templates, including forms and profiles, can now be created by all users and customised for different scenarios – you could create your own course ‘workbooks’. They can also now contain confidential fields, a requirement for many Health-related courses. You can also select from a range of banners to change the appearance of your template, or create your own. The end result looks less cluttered (and therefore more professional) than what is currently available. Templates can be ‘favourited’ and added to the ‘Create New’ menu.

Other changes include the ability to submit ‘Assets’ directly to the VLE, although I’m not sure whether this would work with SharePoint. Also, the ‘CV Builder’ tool may not be available immediately, but users can create extensible CVs through dragging chosen assets onto a Folio page (available in addition to the Webfolio) – this could be good for showcasing achievements using a range of media to illustrate, for example, the process involved to achieve The Plymouth Award.

PebblePad+ is still Flash-based, although the back-end is ready to convert this to HTML5 when this has been standardised. Those accessing PebblePad via an iPhone or iPad will be directed to the mobile (HTML) version, which currently does 95% of what the Flash version can do.

ATLAS

ATLAS is the new institutional workspace where students submit their assets for feedback, peer review and validation – it supports blind and double blind marking, moderation, external review and grading. It is HTML-based so can be accessed via any device.

A typical Workspace (the new name for Gateway) contains 4 pages: – About, Submissions, Resources and Conversations. The old Gateway structure has been flattened and multiple assignments can now be submitted to one Workspace. Owners and tutors will be able to see all submissions to all Workspaces they are associated with through a new ‘Dashboard-like’ screen. Assignments can be ‘paused’, so that feedback can be given to a formative submission while the learner is able to carry on with the piece of work. Assignments can then be ‘played’ again to continue for submission to a summative assessment – this way a learner’s progress can be tracked throughout their course. Templates can be customised for feedback and feedback collections of common statements can be collated and reused. You can also now annotate directly onto submitted work. Institutional resources such as referencing guides can be hyperlinked. Conversations can be saved as assets, with all participants being anonymised.

In response to meeting the new demands for auditing, there is much more recording available in ATLAS, including the performance of teaching staff.

In addition you can now create custom help sheets by selecting pre-defined areas within PebblePad Help in order to support introductory tutorials and/or specific tasks.

Notifications in the future will be better as students will be able to select how they want to be notified – SMS, Facebook, Twitter and/ or email.

All elements of PebblePad3 are designed to link to other systems – staff and student data, VLE, Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, Flickr and YouTube, enabling users to create and publish directly from PebblePad+.

Janice Gibbs and myself will have access to PebblePad3 in 2 weeks time so will be able to report in more detail then. In the meantime you can get more information, including videos of the new workspaces and features, from the PebblePad website.

The 2012 Horizon Report has identified the following:

Near-term horizon:

• Mobile Apps
• Tablet computing

Mid-term horizon:

• Learning analytics
• Game-based learning

Far-term horizon:

• Gesture-based computing
• The Internet of things

For the full report and more information on both the methods used in the research and more detail about the technologies identified in each of the horizons, go to: http://www.nmc.org/publications/horizon-report-2012-higher-ed-edition NB: If you are not a member of the New media consortium, you will need to sign up to gain access.

Near-term horizon:

Mobile Apps – These are becoming more and more widely used in the HE forum and Plymouth University has embraced this trend and developed the Mobile with Plymouth University.  This is an app which allows students to gain information about university facilities and services, such as checking the availability of open access pcs. http://technologyenhancedlearning.net/mobile/

Tablet Computing – The Learning Technologies team has some iPads available for loan to staff and these have been proving popular.  One of the most innovative uses of them has been part of a Teaching Fellowship.  Illustrative Arts students use the iPads to create a drawing using an app called “brushes” which records as you are drawing.  The students can then play this back.  The pedagogic benefit is that it allows students to see how they construct their drawings which makes it easier to reflect on their drawing and illustrative techniques.  For more information on this check out the iPads, illustration and reflection website. http://technologyenhancedlearning.net/ipadsforillustration/

Mid-term Horizon:

Game-based learning – the Horizon Report highlights game-based learning as an emerging technology which will see widespread adoption in the next two to three years.  A phD student created a game simulation for use in the immersive vision theatre, but it was not intended for use in teaching.  However, it has shown that this area has potential within the HE arena and it will be exciting to see future developments in game-based learning.

Learning Analytics – this aims to build on the type of information which Google Analytics currently uses which will augment the power of data-mining tools in the teaching and learning sector.  These analytic tools will be capable of providing information on student engagement, performance and progress and this information could then in turn, be used to drive future curricula, teaching and assessment.

Far-Term Horizon:

The Horizon Report feels that the following will be widely adopted across the HE sector within the next four to five years:

Gesture-based computing – involves controlling a computer with body movements or voice commands.  this has already had a popular reception in gaming and leisure use with tools such as the XBox Kinect and Nintendo Wii.  One of the potential benefits of using gesture based computing in education could be that of using a large touch-screen surface such as a desk or wall which would allow multiple users to interact and collaborate simultaneously.  The interface may also encourage student engagement.

The internet of things – this is defined in Wikipedia as “uniquely identifiable objects (things) and their virtual representations in an Internet-like structure”. Basically it is that information and systems have the potential to link and communicate with each other.   A video explains the internet of things (IOT) very well.

Potential for education could be that information stored on smartphones or tablets could be shared with other devices and incorporate other technologies such as gesture-based technology and augmented reality.

These journals are a key output of a HEFCE-funded project, to support and develop research informed teaching at the University of Plymouth. These e-journals seeks to make the research process more accessible and explicit, by highlighting examples of good practice from across the University. It also aims to support both staff and student involvement, by acting as a teaching tool for staff and as a vehicle to promote and share student research activities. It is hoped that the journal will encourage students to become more reflective and critical of their own research skills as they consider the work of their peers.

The journal is set up so that readers do not have to register to access the full content.

The new Library icon will appear the next time Mobile with Plymouth University is started.

This new functionality  of Mobile with Plymouth University allows users to view their library record and have access to:

1. Items they have on loan
2. Items they have requested
3. Any outstanding library fines

As well as accessing their library record, users can also search the library catalogue.

Details on how to download  Mobile with Plymouth University can be seen in this earlier blog post.

The University has just released a set of mobile friendly information called Mobile With Plymouth University.

Mobile With Plymouth University, allows students, both current and prospective, to access comprehensive information about Plymouth University. Mobile with Plymouth University is available from the

• iTunes (Apps are available for the iPhone and iPad)
• Android Market
• any mobile device with a web browser by going to mobile.plymouth.ac.uk

Current features include:

• Access to student focused information to support your learning and your time at Plymouth University
• Open day information
• Search maps for buildings and locations, on and off campus
• Find out which Student Computing Rooms have free PCs and see which is the closest using GPS
• Search the contact directory
• Call or email contacts and add them directly to your address book
• Find Friends – use the Friend Locator to see where friends are and contact them to meet up.
• Receive University alerts and announcements.
• Live weather information
• Videos from the University
• Mobile access to your e-portfolio
• Receive the latest news and events from the University and Students’ Union.

Soon to be accessible by Mobile with Plymouth University

• Search the Library catalogue
• View your Library loans

New features, such as mobile access to timetables, are being planned for the future, and the Blackberry app will be available in the new year

The first is a reminder of how to set Turnitin assignments so that they are checked for originality against the Web and journals but not submitted to the Turnitin database. This is particularly useful for formative work with students, but it is also useful to be able to set this option when student work may contain sensitive or confidential information. Setting submission to Turnitin repository to off.

The second guide covers managing the views you have of content matches in the originality reports. Whilst it is often the case that you only need to see the initial list of matching sources, sometimes, for example if there appears to be only one match, you may wish to ignore that match to view underlying sources. This is easy to do and can be done for single or multiple sources. Choosing to ignore matching sources.

We are sorry for any inconvenience; if you have a session planned that is due to involve the e-portfolio system on Wednesday afternoon that can not be postponed please let us know urgently by emailing TEL@plymouth.ac.uk