Facing the Future of Teaching in Higher Education

The Learning Technology Team recently had the pleasure of supporting Teachfest (University Park), and the theme for this year was ‘Facing the Future of Teaching in Higher Education’. The Teachfest events have an informal atmosphere and provide opportunities for educators to share their practices, discuss and reflect on teaching and learning experiences, and exchange ideas in …

Moodle 4.1: Moodle board and the opportunities for teaching and learning

Moodle board introduces new opportunities for interaction, providing students with a versatile tool for sharing ideas and group work. Columns are set up on a virtual board to create a structured framework for students to add their contributions, in the form of post-it notes. The board provides a platform for synchronous and asynchronous activities, featuring …

Downloading Feedback From Your Assignments

At this time of year students will be looking to download and view their feedback from assignment submissions. We recommend that you save a copy of all your feedback for future reference, in order to plan for future assignments, or revise for exams. You might also want to provide evidence for future job applications and …

Implementing UDL 3: Multiple means of Action & Expression

If you’ve read any of our previous blog posts on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) or encountered it somewhere else, then you’ll know there are three main principles of the UDL Framework, developed by CAST. Each UDL principle is designed to help academics and others involved in teaching to improve how we present information, engage …

Implementing UDL 2: Multiple means of Representation

If you’ve read any of our previous blog posts on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) or encountered it somewhere else, then you’ll know there are three main principles of the UDL Framework, developed by CAST. Each UDL principle is designed to help academics and others involved in teaching to improve how we present information, engage …

Implementing UDL 1: Multiple means of Engagement

If you’ve read any of our previous blog posts on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) or encountered it somewhere else, then you’ll know there are three main principles of the UDL Framework, developed by CAST. Each UDL principle is designed to help academics and others involved in teaching to improve how we present information, engage …

Some advice on preparing for exams

It’s that time again, when students are preparing for exams and for submission of coursework. We’ve published some good advice in the past on assessment prepartion which might be relevant again this year, and we’ve added some more resources that might be useful: Preparing for and revising for examinations, presentations and coursework. Revision and examinations …

Turnitin: what does the % similarity score really mean?

At the University of Nottingham, as elsewhere, student assignment papers are submitted to the Turnitin service. This produces a Similarity score and report but it doesn’t indicate plagiarism or a lack of academic integrity. What Turnitin does is check a student’s work against a database of previous submissions, web pages and journals. If there are …

Turnitin (& Moodle) assignment submission: checklist for students

We are often contacted by students worried about why their submissions to assignment dropboxes are not succeeding. Here are some of the most important things to check. Your document: please check Your filename must be no longer than 40 characters (you may get an error message if your filename is too long: it will be …

Digital badges, safety online and other posts for students

Our blog has been running since 2010, and moved into this blog platform in 2020. We’ve had two Advent Calendars and a Summer of Moodle, and published posts hopefully of use to both students and staff. Some of the posts which may still be of interest to students (and of course some staff) include: How …