Project Update: 1 May – 14 May

Have You Booked Your Place?

Later this week we will begin granting staff access to the new Learning Space! To use the new Learning Space you must first attend one of our introductory sessions running throughout May/June. All courses now have their own time slot booked with the ET team so please speak to your course coordinator if you are unsure when yours is due to take place.

Action Required

Don’t forget, from September 3rd access to the current Learning Space will be disabled and you must move all of your module content to the new site before then! Our Learning Space sessions are designed to make this transition as smooth as possible and it is therefore vital that you attend.

Drop-in Sessions

As outlined in our last post, we will also be running support sessions throughout June for anyone who requires extra support. At the end of each session we will be providing everyone with Learning Space cheat sheets to help get you started.

Improving User Experience

We have worked hard recently on improving the user experience for staff and students within the new Learning Space. This has involved ensuring its design is in-line with University branding as well as carrying out user testing.

The new Learning Space removes some of the technical limitations of the old system as well as offering a range of new features. For example we are exploring the new ability to help students navigate the site through the use of user tours – a method of efficiently drawing students attention to key information on first sign in.

If you have any questions regarding this project then please contact ETSupport@falmouth.ac.uk

 

Project Update: 17 Apr – 30 Apr

Over the last few weeks we’ve been making final alterations in order to have the new environment ready for staff to use in mid May. This has included adding all 18/19 modules and undertaking a series of tests to establish if all features are working correctly.

Training

Off the back of the video and information sessions we’ve received several requests for group training which we’ve scheduled in. Over the next few weeks we’ll be making contact with awards we’ve yet to hear from to get sessions booked in. The new environment will be available mid May for building modules ready for the 18/19 academic year. To book a session for training and access please email etsupport@falmouth.ac.uk

We’ll also be holding the following drop in sessions from 9:00-17:00, please note a representative of the library will be present for the 7th June at Falmouth and 11th June at Penryn for any assistance required for Talis resource lists.

Falmouth

  • Thu 07 June* – Seminar F
  • Tue 12 June – Seminar F
  • Thu 21 June – Seminar F

Penryn

  • Tue 05 June – Exchange Green
  • Wed 06 June – Exchange Green
  • Mon 11 June* – Exchange Blue
  • Mon 18 June – Exchange Blue
  • Tue 19 June – Exchange Blue

*Library present for help with Talis resource lists

Launch of new environment and MA Courses

We’ll be launching the new environment on the 3rd September – we realise some MA Courses will be making use of online handin at the end of August/beginning of September and we’ll be making contact with these teams to ensure the transition between environments will be as smooth as possible for staff and students.

Project Update: 3 Apr – 16 Apr

Configuration work and system testing is coming to a close and user acceptance testing is about to start. As you can see by the timeline below, from mid May the system will be ready for staff to start building their module, course and resource areas.

Project timeline

Staff action required May-August

As mentioned in recent presentations (watch the video), staff need to recreate content in the new instance of Learning Space for 18/19 and we will be providing support in two ways: course-centred workshops (recommended), and drop-in sessions.

Course-centred workshops

We recommend this way of receiving support, and a number of subject and technical groups have made bookings for after the undergraduate marking deadline in May. The sessions last approximately 2 hours and participants will gain hands-on experience by starting to work on their own 18/19 areas.

If your own group of colleagues has not arranged a workshop, do contact your school admin or head of subject to discuss possible dates, then we can be contacted at etsupport@falmouth.ac.uk or on ext. 259187.

Drop-in sessions

If you’d like to work on your 18/19 area while someone is on hand to help, you can bring your laptop to a drop-in session. These run from 9am to 5pm as follows:

Falmouth

  • Thu 07 June – Seminar F
  • Tue 12 June – Seminar F
  • Thu 21 June – Seminar F

Penryn

  • Tue 05 June – Exchange Green
  • Wed 06 June – Exchange Green
  • Mon 11 June – Exchange Blue
  • Mon 18 June – Exchange Blue
  • Tue 19 June – Exchange Blue

Project update: 23 Mar – 2 Apr

Over the last couple of weeks we’ve been continued to focus on setting up the environment for user testing. Despite some delays we still foresee it being up and running in the next few weeks.

Information Sessions

Thank you to everyone who took the time to attend the information sessions that took place a couple of weeks ago.

For those that couldn’t make it we have recorded a 15 minute video to give you an overview of what we discussed in those sessions.

Please take the time to watch the video to give you an idea of where our Learning Space update project fits in with the other strategic projects at Falmouth currently and over the next few years, and what’s involved in the project along with its timescales.

Click the video above to watch it or click here to watch the video in Sharepoint.

Support Sessions

As mentioned in the video, you will need to recreate your content in the new instance of Learning Space for 18/19, and we will be providing support in how to do this as follows:

ACTION:  There are two options for support in setting up your new module areas in the new instance of Learning Space:

  1. We recommend organising a course-focused workshop session for you and your course team with a member of the EdTech team. Please contact ETSupport@falmouthac.uk to arrange.
  2. There is also the option to attend a drop-in session (dates below) for adhoc support. The sessions will run from 9am – 5pm and you are welcome to drop in at any time during the day.
Falmouth Penryn
  • Thurs 7 June – Seminar F
  • Tues 12 June – Seminar F
  • Thurs 21 June – Seminar F
  • Tues 5 June – Exchange Green
  • Weds 6 June – Exchange Green
  • Mon 11 June – Exchange Blue
  • Mon 18 June – Exchange Blue
  • Tues 19 June – Exchange Blue

If you have any questions regarding this project then please contact ETSupport@falmouth.ac.uk

Project Update: 6-20 March

For the last couple of weeks we’ve been focusing on getting the final system configurations in place so we’re at a point to start user testing with staff and students. Some unforeseen delays have occurred which have put us back a little, but we’re still hoping to have our environment fully configured and running within the next few weeks.

Information Sessions – Final Reminder

As a reminder this week we are running information sessions at both campuses, academic staff have already been invited to these sessions but we’d also welcome attendance from any professional services staff who’d like to find out a bit more about the upgrade project. We will releasing a video version of the session for those unable to attend, this will be emailed out to staff next week.

  • 19 March, 3:00-4:30, PL Lecture 3 (Penryn)
  • 22 March, 10:30-12:00, Lecture theatre 1 (Falmouth)

Environment Configuration

To give you an idea of the level of development going into to creating an environment that works as a replica in terms of functionality we’ve included the table below. In total over 2,100 individual changes have been justified and implemented on the new version of Learning Space, these are documented in our Change Log so there’s a complete record of every alteration.

Module Template 

Finally inconsistency of information across modules is something we hear routinely from students, to help address this every module will have a suggested template to follow. This template has been developed based on best practice and in partnership with students and serves as a guide when creating a module within Learning Space.

 

Learning Space Upgrade Project Update: 20 Feb-3 March

It’s been another couple of busy weeks with the ET department as we prepare the new environment for testing in the coming months.

To give you an idea of the bigger picture, and what the upgrade means to you we’ll be hosting information sessions at both campuses. This will be a chance to find out your role in the project and to ask any questions you may have relating to the upgrade. We’d ask that one representative from each course attend one of the following:

19 March, 3:00-4:30, PL Lecture 3 (Penryn)

22 March, 10:30-12:00, Lecture theatre 1 (Falmouth)

Here are a few things we’ve been working on this fortnight:

  • Students assigned to modules

Integration work has been continuing between student records and the new environment. While this won’t affect how students access their modules within Learning Space behind the scenes the approach is now a lot more streamlined.

  • Login

To simplify the login process we are utilising Office 365 as the method for signing in. This minimises the amount of clicks needed to access Learning Space, meaning staff and students can get to the content they need even quicker.