Learning Space Upgrade project update – 5-19 Feb

by Adel | Feb 21, 2018 | Learning Space Upgrade

We have been busy over the last couple of weeks fine tuning permissions and settings on the new environment. We aim to ensure that when you login (and how you login) is as intuitive as it can be, and you see relevant information and links on the home page. 

Here are a few of the things we’ve been working on: 

• Automatic module leader enrolment onto modules 

As part of the integration work between SITs and Learning Space, module leaders will be added to their modules automatically. This means that as a module leader you will see all relevant modules when you first login, and you will have the ability to add colleagues to those modules. 

• Permissions 

To ensure that you are able to perform all the tasks that you are required to, and that you are not able to perform any tasks that will result in anything untoward, we have been setting up user roles. We have reduced the number of roles that exist compared to old Learning Space to tidy up procedures. This means that all staff will have the role of ‘Staff’ within course, resources and module areas regardless of job title, and all students will have the ‘Student’ role on their taught modules.  

• Timescales for user testing 

We are working towards having the development environment to a point where we can start to implement user acceptance testing from March. This means that we will prepare the environment with some example content and liaise with a group of users to carry out a range of tasks to test real scenarios. 

• Falmouth App 

We have set up the integration with the Falmouth App and authentication between the two is now up and running. Courses in Learning Space will be visible from within the app also. 

The story so far…

by Adel | Feb 5, 2018 | Learning Space Upgrade

Welcome to the first of a series of posts to tell you about the Learning Space upgrade project. In these monthly newsletters we plan to keep you up to date on the project, how we’re doing, and any information that is relevant to you.  

We’ve been working hard on the new platform since November 2017. We have taken the decision to move away from an internally hosted system (through FXPlus) and into a cloud hosted solution provided by the University of London hosting service, Bloom. By moving to the cloud we will be able to provide you and your students with a more secure, faster environment, with an improved and more resilient infrastructure.  

We are holding information sessions at both campuses: 

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

In these sessions we will give an overview of the new platform, timescales for testing and access for staff, and the support that will be available to you when it comes to adding your learning materials and activities. Keep an eye on your inboxes for calendar invitations to these sessions.  

So far, the new Learning Space is taking shape. We’ve spent a lot of time on it to get it to the point where we can release it to you, and we’ve still got a way to go. So far, we have spent quite a bit time on customising the terminology used across the system to be more relevant to Falmouth. We’re working with FX+ IT to set up authentication methods and integrate the student record system with Learning Space. This means that students and module leaders will automatically be added to their modules.  

We will be working more with FX+ IT in the future to make improvements to these integrations so more data can be automatically transferred between the two systems. 

We are currently working on getting plugins set up within new Learning Space. Activities like Turnitin and Talis Resource Lists are not part of the core product so are added and configured by us. 

All this means that we will be ready for User Acceptance Testing within the next month or two.