Focus Workshops

These workshops follow on from the fundamentals workshops and it recommended that staff complete a fundamentals workshop before enrolling in the focus workshops. Participants in these workshops will gain greater awareness of best practices in utilising the tools in the university learning management system for enhancing the student experience across the virtual and physical learning spaces.

Focus workshop schedule

Focus on Assignments

This workshop will introduce staff to the Assignments tool.

Delivery

• Creating, editing, and managing assignments
• Options for presenting assignments in Content areas
• Accessing student assignment submissions
• Downloading student assignment submissions to review offline
• Accessing, viewing and submitting an assignment as a student
• Creating Smart Views
• Adding the My Grades tool to the course menu

Best Practice

• Adding Rubrics to assignments
• Strategies for efficient online grading
• Strategies for efficient offline grading
• Providing formative and summative feedback

Focus on Communications

This workshop will focus on utilising the communication tools in the University LMS to enhance the student experience.

Communication tools available in the LMS:

• Blogs run either as a course blog (all users) or as personal blogs
• Discussion boards - as a course forum, or used by groups and moderated by students
• Email or Messaging within the UoS site context
• Journals (personal and group journals)
• Wikis shared between groups or all course users

Delivery

Working in your own workshop playground site to gain familiarity with:

• Creating Announcements
• Creating and managing Discussion forums
• Creating and managing Blogs and Wikis
• Accessing and downloading student activity in the Communication areas

Best Practice

Online communication in an tertiary educational context will discuss:

• Communication in the online environment
• Netiquette
• Privacy

Focus on the Grade Centre

This workshop will introduce staff to the Grade Centre.

Delivery

• Working online and offline with student data in the Grade Centre
• Accessing student submissions for assignments and quizzes
• Downloading student assignment submissions
• Customising the Grade Centre by adding new columns
• Creating Smart Views
• Adding the My Grades tool to the course menu

Best Practice

• Mapping student progress
• Managing content delivery based on student progress
• Strategies for efficient online and offline grading
• Providing formative and summative feedback

Focus on Groups

This workshop explores effective strategies in the use of available functionality in the university learning management system (LMS) for encouraging group work in integrated physical and virtual learning environments.

Delivery

• Plan and develop collaborative group activities that enhance the student experience in an integrated learning environment
• Navigate the university learning management system (LMS) environment in order to develop group work activities
• Choose the most appropriate online tools and activities to achieve the learning outcomes for a particular Unit of Study
• Confidently create and manage Groups and Group Discussions, Blogs and Wikis within the University LMS

Best Practice

• Matching the appropriate collaborative tools to the task
• Developing collaborative activities for group work
• Providing grading and feedback on collaborative activities

Focus on Tests and Surveys

These workshops will introduce staff to Tests and Surveys.

Delivery

• Creating different question types
• Creating Pools of questions
• Building and deploying Tests
• Accessing student submissions for Tests
• Working with student marks in the Grade Centre
• Building and deploying Surveys
• Creating a Smart View
• Adding the My Grades tool to the course menu

Best Practice

• Utilising quality stimulus material in questions
• Aligning question types to conceptual understanding
• Providing quality feedback
• Utilising appropriate multimedia in questions, answers and feedback