Unlocking the potential of the Moodle Board activity

The introduction of the Moodle Board activity in the 4.1 upgrade brings new possibilities for student interaction. Columns are set up on the board, creating an organised framework where students can contribute using virtual post-it notes. The Board activity serves as a platform for both synchronous and asynchronous activities with a user-friendly interface that is …

We Are Learning Technology

The Learning Technologies Section supports students and staff with their use of learning technologies, as well as maintaining, developing and upgrading core University teaching and learning systems. We are a team of professionals, working at the crossroads of education, technology and creative media. Our role is to work with you as you create teaching resources, either on …

Faculty of Science Takeover: Student Partnerships

Throughout the 2023-4 Academic Year we are running a new feature on the LT blog, a Faculty Takeover month! Each alternate month through the year we will feature posts from a different faculty at the University, with posts every Friday highlighting interesting work related to technology in teaching and learning and showcasing unique projects from …

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 …

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 …

Designing for Engagement in a Learning Community – course starts Wed 19 April

Time and again, we hear that students are not engaging with their learning. Being engaged benefits students in so many ways. It can make learning more enjoyable as well as boosting achievement. So what can we do to promote more engagement in our classes? The course “Designing for Engagement in a Learning Community” looks at …

Timed Moodle Forum posts: Advent Calendar #4

Did you know that there’s a feature in Moodle forums that allows you to set a time that a post will be released? This is really handy for limited-time semi-synchronous discussions, or for scheduling Announcements at a particular time and/or date later on, so that you don’t have to log into Moodle at that particular …

Anonymous forums in Moodle

We are occasionally asked about how staff can set up anonymous forums in Moodle. At the time of writing there is no official anonymous forum in Moodle. Moodle is designed to be, like the lecture theatre or seminar room, a safe learning space where students feel comfortable speaking in a community of learners. There are …

Advent  Calendar #12: Getting students to annotate PowerPoint slides during a MS Teams meeting

It’s Day 12 and this tip has been written in response to a recent question via the Digital Learning Drop-in. A colleague asked if it was possible for participants during a Teams meeting to annotate PowerPoint slides. Apparently this is possible in Zoom, so we set out to find a way to do it with …

A Summer of Moodle #10: Encouraging students to collaborate using Wikis and Databases

You may want your students to work together as a whole class or in groups of whatever size is appropriate. If so, Moodle has several activities to make this happen.  By using collaboration tools such as the Wiki and Database you can set up group work exercises in the same way as you might in a …