Positioning. Ensure you are in the centre of frame of your camera and that you’re not positioned too close or too far away.
Beware of background noise. It can be wise to pay attention to what sort of background noises appear in your video, often these are noises we hear every day and so we don’t pay attention to them, but for students watching our video these sounds can be distracting. It can be wise to try and find either a quiet area or to use an external microphone which can help to isolate sound.
Ensure you’re well lit. Make sure that you’ve got as much light on you as possible when recording, if you’re too dimly lit it’ll be hard for students to see you. Also make sure that strong light is coming from either the side or in front of you, if strong light comes from behind you it can again make it hard for students to see you.
Be mindful of what’s in the background. Ensure you’ve given some thought to what’s in the background of your video, you don’t want anything too distracting to appear, nor do you want anything appearing that you don’t wish for your students to see. It’s also wise to not have too cluttered a background or too blank and clinical a background as these can be either distracting or intimidating, it’s best to try and strike a balance where the background isn’t overly distracting but it still shows you as human and approachable.
There are more useful resources for staff at the University of Sussex in the Teaching Online Learning Anywhere Canvas site and you can contact tel@sussex.ac.uk to discuss ways to use video and other learning technologies in your teaching.
In what now seems a distant memory, our last on campus seminar was the first of the DARE to Transform seminars. Sessions to support colleagues who are on the Scholarship track at the University.
In this session Professor Pam Parker joined from City, University of London to give an introduction to scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL).
In this podcast Dan sat down with with Pam after her seminar along with our very own David Walker (Head of TEL) to speak more on the topic of SoTL.
Since March we have all been working at home. Having only recently got used to being all together in an open-plan office in the library we were suddenly spread across Sussex. So how are the Technology Enhanced Learning team working together while apart?
Focusing on the team
We believe it’s really important to work at maintaining and building our sense of community while we can’t see each other face-to-face. So we are using Zoom to hold a brief check-in every morning. Not too early, to allow for those with children to look after, we get together to check how we are all doing. Sometimes we talk about work briefly, but we have other team meetings for that. The daily check-in is mainly to say ‘how are you doing?’
The TEL daily check-in on Thursday 14th May 2020.
At the end of the week we have a fun get-together and to give us a focus we have a weekly quiz. This is homemade and involves identifying team members from various photos that have been submitted. Topics so far have included baby photos, the view from a window, an unusual object, a book and a work of art. We never do very well with scores – I rarely get more than 2 right, which considering 1 of them is mine is pretty bad, but we always have a good laugh!
Team working in Teams
When it comes to the work, we are using Microsoft Teams. We were fortunate that we had been using Teams for some time before the move to remote working, so it is a comfortable online space for us.
Teams allows us to have separate ‘channels’ for different projects we are working on as well as a ‘Random’ channel for those water-cooler chats. With tools for chatting to individuals and small groups within the bigger team as well as sharing documents, making calls and holding video meetings, it has been invaluable.
Another tool we have been using for a while is Trello. This allows us to create cards for specific tasks, assign them to individuals and keep track of progress. Here is the Trello board we use to manage the TEL blog, with a card for each post that moves across the board from ‘draft awaited’ to ‘published, tweeted and posted on LinkedIn’ via reviewing, editing and posting in WordPress stages. Each card shows who is assigned to it and due dates. There are also drafts and images attached to the cards.
What have we been working on?
Since March we have been very busy supporting staff in the move to teaching and assessing online. The most visible outputs are the Teaching Online, Learning Anywhere site in Canvas which contains a wide range of guides and videos on teaching and assessment online at Sussex (staff can self-enrol to see the resources) and the Maximise Your Learning Online site which has been created for students in collaboration with colleagues in the Library and Careers and Employability Centre.
We have also been running lots of webinars on topics such as Keeping students engaged online, Panopto basics, Teaching online with Zoom, Canvas tips, tricks and shortcuts, Canvas Quizzes and Engaging students with video. There are more sessions to come and recordings of past sessions on the Teaching Online, Learning Anywhere site.
And of course we are still here for staff queries and advice. We are asking staff to use our team email address tel@sussex.ac.uk so that we can make sure that even if individuals are unavailable there is always someone to respond.
With the sudden move to working from home we all had to quickly adapt to working in new spaces, both online and physical. We thought we would share how someone in Technology Enhanced Learning has set up their home working space.
As I only have access to a laptop at home, when the move to working from home was first announced, the first thing I did was race out to buy a wireless mouse and keyboard. Working on a laptop is notoriously bad for your neck and upper back, so with a wireless keyboard I am able to place my screen at eye height (albeit precariously balanced on an old Amazon delivery box!) and have my keyboard lower down at a comfortable height.
I don’t have a dedicated office space so have had to set up camp at our dining table, meaning that I have to pack away everything at the end of each day. However, I do think this helps manage work/life balance when work and life are now temporarily in the same location. Our table is a bar table so it is quite high. I thought that this would be inconvenient and uncomfortable however I have realised that the table is actually the perfect height for a standing desk meaning I can quickly switch between standing and sitting throughout the day.
The only thing I’m longing for now is a comfortable office chair!
Wherever the TEL team are sitting or standing, we are still here to support University of Sussex staff with the move to online teaching,learning and assessment. There are lots of resources available in the Teaching Online Learning Anywhere site in Canvas and you can email us at tel@sussex.ac.uk
Do you have a role on Canvas modules that you are not teaching on a day-to-day basis? If so, you may be receiving more notifications than you want.
It is now possible to mute the notifications you receive from a module. And soon there will be more options for muting just some types of notifications on a module-by-module basis. This is how you do it:
1. Go to the home page of the module that you want to mute.
2. From the panel on the right, select View Course Notifications.
3. Use the toggle button to disable notifications.
4. When you return to the home page, the panel will now show the notification icon (bell) crossed through to show that notifications are muted.
Students may have a range of different accessibility needs, so it’s important to be aware of these varying needs and some of the key considerations to ensure that all students have access. This can include the teaching materials you produce, how you organise and run seminars / lectures and how you assess your students. Other posts in this series have looked at:
With all user needs the most important point to remember is to talk to your students, they’ll be able to tell you what works for them in terms of improving their access and helping them to learn.
General tips
Post as much of your learning materials as you can online so students can review and access information at their own pace and record your lectures.
Record teaching activities such as lectures and seminars where appropriate.
Provide alternatives for any tasks or assessments you set.
Maximize your use of digital resources. These are easier to adapt for accessibility purposes than print resources and far easier to use. Students may have restricted access to print media and digital resources are far easier to share and distribute to students online.
Use alternative formats for learning resources and content. Embrace multiple forms of media.
Be aware of conceptual barriers to understanding such as describing colour to a student with a visual disability.
Visual
Visual needs will mean a user may have trouble perceiving visual content. Examples include low vision such as having blurry or clouded vision or only being able to see part of their field of vision. It can also include other forms of partial or full blindness.
Students may also have a form of colourblindness, this can cause difficulty in differentiating certain colours or in some cases cause a total inability to see colours.
Considerations
Add alternative text for images. This is essential if the student relies on a screen reader to access content.
Contrast ratios. Have a high contrast ratio between the background and foreground of any content such as the colour of text on a coloured background.
Don’t rely on colour for meaning or differentiation. Use other indicators such as shapes or patterns.
Text size. Ensure your text size is large enough to be legible and to stand out against the background
Use structured headers. This makes it far easier for a screen reader to navigate pages.
Justification of text. Justify text so it’s left aligned and easier to read.
Physical
Physical needs mean a user may have limited physical control and coordination, impaired movement and limitations of sensation. They may need to access digital content using specialized hardware and software. Examples of physical needs are conditions such as Muscular Dystrophy and Rheumatism.
Considerations
All content must be accessible without the need of a mouse. This means you should be able to navigate through content using only a keyboard.
Use structured headers. This makes it far easier for a screen reader to navigate pages.
Avoid tasks or learning with strict time limits as this can put students at a disadvantage. In some assessments it may be possible to give students extra time such as in the case of reasonable adjustments.
Cognitive
Cognitive needs can encompass a wide range of areas including ADHD, Dyslexia and memory impairments to name just a few examples. These can all affect how users take in, comprehend and process information.
Considerations
Clearly structure your content with a consistent approach so that students can easily see exactly where to find learning materials.
Use multiple forms of media to communicate information.
Captioning of video and audio content. Panopto can be used to automatically add captions, see our blog post for more information
Clear and simple sentence structures and descriptions. Avoid using complex language while retaining comprehension.
Simple colour use with strong contrast ratios.
Avoid using distracting content such as anything that flickers, blinks or flashes.
Auditory
Auditory needs can range from partial hearing loss which may cause some degrees of hearing loss or may make it hard for students to understand speech against background noise to substantial hearing loss .
Considerations
Transcripts or alternative modes need to be supplied for any resources that are communicated through audio.
Captioning for video / audio content. Panopto allows you to apply automatic captions.
Participation in class. Offer some form of backchannel students can use to ask questions and interact. For online teaching this may entail using the chat feature in Zoom for live classes and utilising asynchronous text based tools such as the discussions within Canvas.
Speech
Students may be unable to produce speech to varying degrees. This can include conditions such as muteness, stuttering or dysarthria.
Considerations
Means of assessment. If an assessment requires some form of vocal component such as an oral presentation then offer an alternative.
Participation in class. Offer some form of backchannel students can use to ask questions and interact that doesn’t require speech. This may entail using the chat feature in Zoom for live classes and utilising asynchronous text based tools such as the discussions within Canvas.
In February we told you about some great updates and new features coming to Canvas. As one of these, the enhanced Rich Content Editor (RCE) will soon replace the existing RCE which is used in creating nearly all content in Canvas it seemed a good idea to re-publish this post. Both of the features mentioned below are available for staff to try now and the Rich Content Editor will replace the existing RCE on 20th June 2020.
Rich Content Editor enhancements
The Rich Content Editor (RCE) is the screen that appears when editing most types of content in Canvas. The updated RCE includes a condensed, more intuitive toolbar and the ability to resize the editing field. When you are editing, the RCE will expand to the full width of the screen, but if your screen is not wide enough to show all the icons you will find the others under the 3 vertical dots menu at the end of the toolbar.
The new RCE moves the Accessibility Checker and HTML edit option to underneath the editing window and adds a word count, keyboard shortcuts and the ability to resize the editing window.
Linking to other content
The options to insert links to files, images or other parts of the module which used to be in separate tabs on the right of the screen when editing are now integrated into the RCE toolbar. Options are grouped together under recognisable icons such as these which indicate links, images, media and documents.
When you choose to link to content that is already in the module site, a sidebar will appear allowing you to choose what you want to link to. The list will show which items are published, so it is easier to find the right thing.
Embedding images
Images can be added via the image menu where you can choose images already in the module or your own Canvas files. If you want to add a new image you can drag and drop a file from your computer, browse your computer, choose an image from Unsplash or add an image with a URL. Unsplash has replaced Flickr as the platform for finding images within Canvas and gives you over 1 million free-to-use images to choose from.
When your image has appeared, you can click on it to see an Options button. This will allow you to edit the alternative text (a text description for students with visual impairments using screen readers and others unable to view images directly), choose whether to embed the image or link to it and choose from some standard sizes or set a custom size. You can also adjust the size by dragging the blue squares in the corners of the image.
Direct share
It is now possible to share content between modules and with colleagues, without using Commons. On Pages, Assignments, Discussions and Quizzes, you will see additional options to ‘send to’ or ‘copy to’ when opening the 3 vertical dots menu.
‘Send to’ allows you to add the emails of Sussex colleagues with whom you wish to share the item. Any shared item you have received will appear under Shared Content in your account, from where you can preview it and/or import it into one or more of your modules. ‘Copy to’ allows you to copy an item from one of your modules to another.
Some possible uses for his functionality would be sharing a mid-term student feedback survey with colleagues or copying a Page with your contact details and office hours to all your modules.
How can I start using these features?
Direct Share is already enabled on all Sussex modules, and you can enable the RCE Enhancements on your module via Settings and Feature Options. This is a per-module setting so if it is enabled, all editors on the site will see the new RCE.
Early in the Coronavirus lockdown 2020, what seems an age ago now, parents found a new digital toy to amuse their children. Google had released a new feature in their search results where the search terms ‘panda’ or ‘tiger’ would bring the option to display a real creature in your own living room. This augmented reality (AR) was a bit of fun and kept my 4 year old’s attention for two precious minutes, but this same technology has some real world teaching applications. In this post I will explore a couple of tools which can bring objects and experiences to people who might otherwise not be able to access them due to location, cost or risk.
3D models
3D models can really help students to appreciate the shape and detail of an object, and with AR, their scale.
Over recent years, many institutions, including Cleveland Museum of Art and the Smithsonian, have started to share 3D scans of their collections online and for free via a service called SketchFab. SketchFab now has a massive library of 3D objects which can be embedded in a webpage for students to rotate and view from different angles.
A 3D model of the Smithsonian’s Apollo 11 command Module on Sketchfab.
Selecting the embed option under the 3D model on the Sketchfab website will allow you to copy embed code which can then be pasted into a Canvas page. See the Canvas guides for information on how to embed in Canvas.
Please note, SketchFab does not currently support keyboard navigation for rotating viewing models, so some of your students may not be able to access this content and you will need to provide an alternative, such as a text description.
Augmented Reality (AR)
In March 2020 SketchFab announced that all objects were available in USDZ format. This format, created in a collaboration between Apple and Pixar, allows you to view the objects in AR, overlayed on your own location through a mobile device.
Viewing a 3D model of an amphora in AR
For those with iPhones or iPads a link to a USDZ file opens an AR image which you can place in your environment. Try this by finding a model on the Sketchfab website, underneath the model select the download option and choose USDZ format.
You could place an image in a Canvas page and link it to a USDZ file so that those with a mobile device could click and view the AR version of the object. For those without an apple mobile device, clicking the link will simply download the file.
Sketchfab is not the only solution for embedding 3D models into web pages. Alternatives include Mozilla’s Aframe.io and Google Poly.
Virtual reality (VR) tours
If you can’t get somewhere in person, Google Street View is a well known tool that may jump to mind as a way of exploring an area. Using Google Tour Creator you can take pictures from Google Street View along with your own 360 footage and create a tour, adding points of interest, overlaying images and narration.
In 2019 the Art History department at the University of Sussex visited Rome and as part of that trip they captured 360 images of several sites. Now that travel to Rome is limited, that content can be used to replace at least some of the experience of being there.
Again with virtual tour software, accessibility can be an issue so do speak with your students to ensure they can view any resources you create and be ready to provide alternatives where they can’t.
These were just a couple of examples of how you can provide virtual experiences of remote objects and places. If you are currently using or interested in VR technologies for teaching at the University of Sussex we’d love to hear about it. Contact tel@sussex.ac.uk to get in touch or to find out more.
We are the Educational Enhancement team at the University of Sussex. We publish posts each fortnight about the use of technology to support teaching and learning. Read more about us.
