Delete or file? Managing your inbox

Email 1

creative commons licensed (BY) flickr photo by Sean MacEntee

Email is the beauty and the beast of the modern workplace. It’s a quick and easy way to communicate, yet there is a dark side. Reading and responding to email can be time-consuming, and teaching staff can find their lesson-planning or research time compromised by the demands of responding to emails from staff and students.

Email epidemic?

In an article by The Guardian, reporter Emma Featherstone reports on a study conducted by Dr Tom Jackson at Loughborough University on email and productivity. The study found that, with email applications set to check for new email every five minutes, individuals could be potentially interrupted up to 96 times a day. Read more ›

Tagged with:
Posted in Technology Enhanced Learning

Mobile Technologies Week round up

Two weeks ago University of Sussex staff from the Library and Technology Enhanced Learning team came together to organise and deliver a week of workshops, seminars, drop-ins and challenges revolving around the use of mobile technologies. These sessions ran throughout the week and were held all over the University campus. Interested parties from the Hive research group, the Careers and Employability Centre and IT services also got involved to ensure the week had a variety of different workshops that were relevant for students, faculty, researchers and professional services staff. Read more ›

Tagged with: , ,
Posted in Technology Enhanced Learning

Nearpod: bring learning to life with interactive mobile presentations

nearpod1

Presentations shared via mobile devices

A big welcome to the TEL team, Kitty Horne; our new Learning Technology Assistant. This is Kitty’s inaugural post; a look at Nearpod and how it can be used in teaching and learning.

What is Nearpod?

Nearpod is a tool which allows you to create engaging, interactive presentations. It’s packed with great activities and tools.

You can create a presentation which is then viewed by students on their mobile device. Students can interact via their mobile device, whether they are in the classroom are not. This allows for creating exciting, interactive lessons, as well as potential distance learning opportunities. Nearpod is available for free at GooglePlay, AppStore and WindowsStore and at www.nearpod.com, making it highly accessible. Read more ›

Tagged with:
Posted in Technology Enhanced Learning

Box of Broadcasts: media on-demand for teaching and learning #sussexmtw

BOB2

BoB’s your uncle for video

TV and radio broadcasting can be used to deliver engaging content in a medium which can entertain, inform and educate. Combine this with online media streaming, on-demand service, educational licensing and you have Box of Broadcasts, a powerful educational resource enabling students and teachers to record, watch and share programmes in the classroom or from the comfort of home.

Broadcast media can be applied to teaching and learning within almost any discipline. It can be used to contextualise theories and ideas through current and historic events, communicate professional, media or public opinion and bias, easily explain complex ideas through visual presentation, provide examples and case studies to generate discussion and develop analytic skills and much more. Read more ›

Tagged with:
Posted in Technology Enhanced Learning

‘Technology, technology, technology…’ a student’s view #sussexmtw

Lenart Celar, Eva Brittin-Snell and Lucy Hensher are the University of Sussex Library’s SAGE Undergraduate Scholars. They are part of a three year project that will help the Library to learn more about students’ information and learning behaviours.

They write regular blog posts on topics  ranging from “5 books that got you through your first year” to “Print v Digital – which do you prefer for studying?”.

In this latest post to mark Mobile Technologies Week here at the University of Sussex Lucy Hensher (@hensherlucy) gives us an insight into the role technology, and in particular mobile technology, plays in her learning. Read more ›

Tagged with:
Posted in Technology Enhanced Learning

Take the University everywhere with the Sussex mobile app #sussexmtw

Sussex mob app

Sussex ‘in your pocket’ with the Sussex mobile app

If you’re a student or staff member at the University of Sussex then you might not already be aware of the University’s free mobile app available for download from the IT Services download page.

The Sussex Mobile app was launched in 2010 and now has over 11,000 active users.

The app allows you to have access to all the University of Sussex facilities that you would usually access through a web browser, these include your University email and timetable, Study Direct, Sussex Direct, Skills Hub, and your Library account. Read more ›

Tagged with:
Posted in Technology Enhanced Learning

Ebooks – what’s not to love? #sussexmtw

8676257650_026ff767de_z

University of Sussex Library provides access to over 100,000 Ebooks.

Ebooks have seen a huge increase in popularity, with the University of Sussex Library now providing access to approximately 100,000 titles for staff and students to explore. In the second of this week’s posts to mark Mobile Technologies Week Julian Robinson (Learning and Teaching Support Librarian at Sussex) makes the case for using Ebooks to support teaching and learning and provides guidance on how to access the Library’s extensive collection.

Ebooks offer some really useful features over print. For example, you can access them instantly, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, both on and off-campus. There’s extra functionality too, such as full text searching; great when you’re wanting to quickly read around your subject and identify a few paragraphs or chapters to read in more depth. Read more ›

Tagged with:
Posted in Technology Enhanced Learning

Try something new for Mobile Technologies Week – borrow a laptop with your Library card #sussexmtw

Chromebook

Available for six hour loan in the Library

The Library has teamed up with IT Services to bring you 20 Google Chromebooks, with an additional four due to arrive in the next few weeks.

You can borrow a Chromebook for up to six hours at a time in the Library – perfect for a good stint of study.

To borrow a Chromebook, you just need to visit the Library with your Library card. Next, locate the self-service Chromebook ‘home’ – just behind and left of the main Library service help desk –  and follow the instructions. Read more ›

Tagged with:
Posted in Technology Enhanced Learning

About our blog

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.

Subscribe to the Blog

Enter your email address to receive notifications of new posts by email.

Archive