by Adel | Oct 22, 2018 | Learning Space Upgrade
Today sees the end of the project! 🍾
We have successfully upgraded Learning Space to the latest version, moved from an internally hosted system to a cloud hosted platform, re-designed the theme to ensure branding is appropriate, completed 363 user stories over the past 11 months, and made 2,238 changes within the system to ensure that it is running smoothly and in line with our requirements; amongst other things:
We’ve run 81 training sessions with you since the launch of the live system in May 2018 between the 4 of us, plus hundreds of email support inquiries and hours of phone calls.
Collaboration with various teams across the institution has seen the project delivered successfully on time to provide a reliable and up to date service to you and your students, over the last 11 months some of the teams we’ve worked with have included:
- FXPlus IT – supported the project and successfully integrated University systems with Learning Space
- Communications – advice on branding guidelines
- Student Programmes and Achievement – supporting refer/defer work and decisions about setting up online hand-ins
- Information Governance – Compliance and GDPR guidance
- Library – Talis integration and testing
- Quality Assurance and Enhancement/SITs – central module details and student enrolments
We are now moving the project into ‘Business as Usual’ which means that we will start to work on user stories that were not in scope for the main project, and on improvements to the system. Please get in touch if you have any ideas or requirements.
by David Pollard | Oct 15, 2018 | Learning Space Upgrade
With the first term underway and Learning Space in daily use by most students and teaching staff, the upgrade project is nearing its end. We have been responding to user queries and feedback, some of which have led us to tweak the system settings. We have also been supporting students, particularly in the use of the university’s e-portfolio tool. Other behind-the-scenes work has included expansion of our guidance notes (see below) and work on improving business analytics. Over the next fortnight, the upgrade project will formally end, and maintenance and further development of the system will become “business as usual”.
Guidance for Staff
Here is a reminder that there are comprehensive yet accessible notes for staff and students. Among the 38 topics you will find:
Staff workshops coming soon!
Following this Summer’s successful training sessions, we are planning a series of short staff workshops covering e-feedback, online peer review, tips and tricks and accessibility. We’ll be in touch with all courses at a later date to explain more.
by Scott Redrup | Oct 1, 2018 | Learning Space Upgrade
With the academic year now underway, students are logging into Learning Space, checking their modules, accessing sign-ups and downloading lecture notes and handouts. By now your modules should be compliant against our audit criteria but if you’re having difficulties please get in touch using our contact information below.
As logins have increased, as have the number of questions that the team have been receiving. Please find some of their questions below:
Q) I can log in but I can’t see my modules.
A) Students will be able to log in once they have completed enrolment. If they can’t see any of their modules then you will need to contact student records to ensure that they have been assigned to their modules. Once this has been completed it will take a few hours to update in Learning Space.
Q) I can’t access MyTimetable, MyFalmouth, or my email.
A) These aren’t systems that the Educational Team directly supports but a great place to direct students to is the portal. Here they can find all of the information they will need for the duration of their time here at Falmouth.
Q) How can I access another school’s resource page?
A) We recently contacted school admins to remind course coordinators to link to the resource pages of other schools that students frequently use. For example, for a student in Fine Art to access the Institute of Photography’s resource page, the Fine Art course coordinator will need to add a link to it from the Fine Art course page. All of the links can be found in our technical resource guide.
Please be sure to point your students to our Learning Space guides or access them by clicking the question mark in the top right of the page.
We have also been receiving lots of requests from staff needing to be added to modules in Learning Space. Don’t forget, as a member of staff you can add another staff member to any page you have access to or you can ask your course coordinator or school admin.
If you need any support with Learning Space, the Educational Technology team is on hand to answer any questions and hold 1 to 1 sessions, please simply email etsupport@falmouth.ac.uk for more information.
by Adel | Sep 17, 2018 | Learning Space Upgrade
The last couple of weeks have seen the launch of the new Learning Space and everyone’s use of it. The switch over went really smoothly and apart from a few teething problems that were solved quickly feedback so far suggests that the new Learning Space is more intuitive to use and fresh.
The new user guidance is now available at http://etsupport.freshdesk.com/support/solutions and accessible through the help button on the top bar of Learning Space, next to your profile link. These guides have been updated to align with the new look and feel of the system, and there are instructional videos available if you prefer them.
All staff, including School Admins are now able to add and remove other staff to and from modules. Please ensure that current staff on modules, and/or School Admins are the first port of call for getting added onto modules that you need.
We are doing our final audit for this year this week. We will be in touch in the same way as before for any modules requiring additional work.
by Amy Sampson | Sep 3, 2018 | Learning Space Upgrade
Go Live
Today marks the launch of the new environment, this morning when you visit the usual Learning Space address you’ll see that we’ve now made live the new system. This is in preparation for students starting back with us in a few weeks and we hope you’ll find the system easier to use and more resilient.
Training
Last week we’ve held additional drop-in training sessions and this week those sessions will continue. Please pop into see one of the team to discuss any help or assistance you may need with the new system in preparation for the start of term.
- Tue 4th, 9:00 – 17:00 – Penryn – Exchange Blue
- Wed 5th, 9:00 – 17:00 – Falmouth – Seminar F (Treetops)
- Thurs 6th, 9:00 – 17:00 – Penryn – Exchange Blue
As always we’re available for any additional questions you may have by emailing etsupport@falmouth.ac.uk
Video guidance
Over the last few weeks we’ve also been enhancing all our support materials, each has been reviewed and updated to reflect the new environment, video versions can be found at the bottom of more complicated articles to demonstrate what’s being described.
by David Pollard | Aug 20, 2018 | Learning Space Upgrade
Updating your module areas – Audit #2
The new Learning Space will go live on 3rd September, and on that date students will have access to the 18/19 module areas. With this in mind, this week we carried out a second audit of content in module areas. We found there has been a lot of work over the past month, with some subject areas well on course to be ready for 3rd September. In other areas work has not yet started – staff who require advice or training should contact etsupport@falmouth.ac.uk.
Module leads and Heads of School have been contacted with the results of the audit. If you are a module lead who has not been contacted, or you were contacted about modules for which you are no longer the lead, please contact both etupport@falmouth.ac.uk (so we can send you the correct results) and also qae@falmouth.ac.uk (so the record in SITS can be updated).
Support guides
What staff need to do by September is documented here:
You can find comprehensive (but brief!) documentation on other aspects of Learning Space here:
Support sessions
Through the last week of August and the first week of September we will be available at drop-in days. Do come along, either for a brief one-to-one session or to sit and work on Learning Space while someone is on hand with help if or when you need it. The dates are:
August
- Tue 28th, 9:00 – 17:00 – Penryn – TH Seminar W
- Wed 29th, 9:00 – 17:00 – Penryn – TH Seminar W
- Thurs 30th, 9:00 – 17:00 – Falmouth – Seminar F (Treetops)
September
- Tue 4th, 9:00 – 17:00 – Penryn – Exchange Blue
- Wed 5th, 9:00 – 17:00 – Falmouth – Seminar F (Treetops)
- Thurs 6th, 9:00 – 17:00 – Penryn – Exchange Blue
If you cannot make any of these days we are happy to arrange sessions for groups or one-to-one. Again, please contact etsupport@falmouth.ac.uk.
Positive feedback on the makeover!
We have received a lot of positive comments since a new theme was deployed on Learning Space. Our user experience designer is still making minor amendments and we welcome further feedback!
by Scott Redrup | Aug 6, 2018 | Learning Space Upgrade
The Home Stretch
Whilst we have all been distracted by football coming home, heat waves and barbecues, August has crept up on us and we are just less than a month away before the new Learning Space will go live. Don’t forget, the ET team will be running a second audit in the middle of the month so you still have a week or so to make any changes before they’re reviewed.
Support For Updating Your Modules
Whilst we appreciate that many of our colleagues are on leave at this time of year, rest assured members of the ET team will be around throughout August to answer questions, visit your team and provide prompt feedback on modules for you – all you need to do is ask! The best way to contact the team is etsupport@falmouth.ac.uk. For anyone returning later in the month or early September, we will also be running the support sessions below:
August
- Tue 28th, 9:00 – 17:00 – Penryn – TH Seminar W
- Wed 29th, 9:00 – 17:00 – Penryn – TH Seminar W
- Thurs 30th, 9:00 – 17:00 – Falmouth – Seminar F (Treetops)
September
- Tue 4th, 9:00 – 17:00 – Penryn – Exchange Blue
- Wed 5th, 9:00 – 17:00 – Falmouth – Seminar F (Treetops)
- Thurs 6th, 9:00 – 17:00 – Penryn – Exchange Blue
Support Guides
The Learning Space upgrade has provided us with a great opportunity to review and redevelop the support documentation that staff can use to get to grips with different elements of Learning Space. Learning Space comes with everything needed to help support students with their studies while at Falmouth and we would highly recommend exploring some of the activities below to help enhance teaching.
| Activity |
What is it? |
Guide |
| Workshop |
A peer assessment tool built into Learning Space that allows students to upload work and have other students review it. |
View |
| Database |
A collection of data about a specific topic that both students and staff can contribute to. For example records of information about famous artists, links to favourite animated films and more. |
View |
| Wiki |
Similar to Wikipedia, a blank collection of pages that both students and staff can contribute to. The tool could be used to create a collection of tutorials or as a development blog. |
View |
Theme deployment
In our last post we gave you a sneak peak of what the new Learning Space will look like. The eagle-eyed amongst us may have noticed the ‘collapse all’ button which confirms that sections in the new Learning Space can be collapsed and expanded. This will provide a simpler navigation for users accessing the Learning Space on their mobile phone and is helpful for modules and resource pages which contain a lot of information!
by Adel | Jul 23, 2018 | Learning Space Upgrade
We’ve been busy bees over the last couple of weeks, writing guidance for the new Learning Space and ensuring it matches with existing processes and procedures as well as the new tools within the system. We’re still doing a bit of training, and engagement has been really good. If you haven’t had training please get in touch.
Audit point 1 (w/c 16th July)
We have been auditing the content within modules. So far, around 30% of modules are ‘In progress’, or ‘meet audit requirements’ based on this set of criteria. We have got in touch with module leaders (recorded on the student record system) to notify them of the audit criteria that are yet to be completed. If you have received a message about a module that you are not a leader on, please could you pass it onto the relevant member of staff, and let us know. The record will need to be updated on the student record system, and the student records team should be notified through qae@falmouth.ac.uk.
More Drop in sessions
Additional drop in sessions have been requested by a few staff before the start of the new study block. As we’re expecting the bulk of the materials and activities to be created in the new Learning Space before then we’re hoping the sessions will be mostly for finishing off. But, whatever stage you’re at please feel free to drop into the rooms below on the following days:
August
- Tue 28th, 9:00 – 17:00 – Penryn – TH Seminar W
- Wed 29th, 9:00 – 17:00 – Penryn – TH Seminar W
- Thurs 30th, 9:00 – 17:00 – Falmouth – Seminar F (Treetops)
September
- Tue 4th, 9:00 – 17:00 – Penryn – Exchange Blue
- Wed 5th, 9:00 – 17:00 – Falmouth – Seminar F (Treetops)
- Thurs 6th, 9:00 – 17:00 – Penryn – Exchange Blue
Theme deployment
We’re still working on the design for the look and feel of the new system. We’re getting closer to the final testing phase now and plan to have it ready for around mid-August for the live system to go live on 3rd September. Here’s a sneak peak!
by Amy Sampson | Jul 5, 2018 | Learning Space Upgrade
As students leave for the Summer break we’re increasingly busy in the team as we prepare for the launch of the new Learning Space on September 3rd.
Course Sessions
We’ve been continuing with our course specific sessions over the last few weeks so staff feel orientated in the new environment, and understand the expectations of modules come launch. There’s still time to book in a session if you feel you’d like more support, please email etsupport@falmouth.ac.uk to make an appointment.
Release Cycle
After launching in September we’ll be planning in a regular release cycle to ensure tools and activities are updated and new functionality included. We’ve been working with next years academic calendar and the availability of our new service provider to ensure dates are chosen that are suitable for all. We’ve also been looking into the best ways of communicating these updates and will have more information in the coming months.
Theme Deployment
After finalising designs and building a local version, a working theme is now available on our development environment. We’ll be testing the new theme internally in the next few weeks before rolling out to the live environment.
Help Guidance
Progress is also being made in updating our support documentation ready for the start of term. We’ll be updating all of our guidance to reflect the new environment, starting with common activities and resources.
by Amy Sampson | Jun 25, 2018 | Learning Space Upgrade
It’s been another busy few weeks as we prepare for the September launch of Learning Space. Many of you may have seen us at one of our drop-ins or attended course specific sessions. Attendance to the events has been really good and provided an opportunity for discussion about the upgrade and any concerns that have arisen.
Theming
We’re continuing to work on getting a more Falmouth looking theme in place in the new environment. This has included working with Brand Comms to ensure colours and fonts are in line with the Falmouth style guide. This is one of the more extensive areas of work as part of the upgrade project and we’ll be releasing this once ready to the new environment.
Audit Point 1 – 16th July
To ensure that all modules contain relevant materials and links in preparation for the new academic year, we’ll be auditing all modules from the 16th July. Each module will be assessed against a list of set criteria to ensure it’s as informative and useful as possible for students. We’ll make contact with any module leaders with incomplete modules or those leaders who have yet to start building after this audit point.
Additional Drop-ins
We’ve had requests from a number of staff requiring some extra sessions come the end of the Summer to finish off any work they have to complete their module areas. As we’re expecting the bulk of the module will be created before this time we’re anticipating the focus of these sessions to be finalising any modules. Sessions have been booked for the following dates/times:
