New Features in WebLearn 11-ox7

Posted on October 5, 2017 by Adam Marshall

A new version of WebLearn (version 11-ox7) was released on Tuesday 3 October 2017. The main ‘headline’ is that authentication has now switched to Shibboleth in anticipation of the removal of the WebAUTH service. Other improvements have been made to Reading Lists, the Peer Assessment process and Anonymous Submission sites.

Here is a list of the main improvements:

  • Change the authentication method from WebAuth to Shibboleth
  • The HTML WYSIWYG editor now has an “Insert HTML5 Media” toolbar button

  • One can now embed HTML pages containing Font Awesome icons within Lessons pages
  • On a public site in the Lessons tool, the resources folder listing is now correctly shown for non-logged in users
  • In Lessons, formatting improvements have been made to the calendar event pop-up and Forums and Announcement widgets change colour when the page’s colour scheme is modified
  • Reading Lists: links to journal articles now open in a new tab
  • NHS users can now post messages to the Email Archive
  • Additional ‘Joinable Sites’ options have been enabled – you can now specify whether Joinable Sites can be joined by any logged in user or just by users with an Oxford SSO account.

Anonymous Essay Submission & Assignments Tool

  • On Anonymous Submissions (AS) sites, one cannot now allow Students to see their TII reports – the option is greyed out
  • A “reveal assignment on this date” option has been added, this means an assignment can be set up but students will not see it in the list until the “visibility date” is reached
  • If peer assessment already selected then the configuration options are shown by default
  • The default End date of the Peer Assessment period is 7 days after Accept Until date

Dynamic Lookup of Users

As part of the VLE review requirements gathering exercise, it was suggested that there should be an ‘auto-complete’ feature when adding users to a site. we have now implemented this new feature and we would like a small number of volunteers to test-drive this new facility. Please get in touch if you would like to help out.

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Lecture Capture (Replay) Forum – Wed 27 Sep PM

Posted on September 19, 2017 by Adam Marshall

From the Replay Team

We will be holding the annual Replay lecture capture user forum at IT Services, Banbury Road on Wednesday 27th September from 14:00-17:30. There will be a buffet lunch beforehand from 13:00-14:00.

The forum is designed to bring Oxford staff up-to-date with the latest developments of the Replay lecture capture service and is an ideal opportunity to meet other Replay users across the university.

Replay lecture capture service: http://help.it.ox.ac.uk/replay

Both academic and IT/AV/administrative staff are welcome to attend. The event is free, but please book if you plan to attend so that we can correctly assess numbers for lunch: https://oxford.imparando.com/accessplan/clientinput/course/coursebooker.aspx?coursedateid=42554

There will be plenty of opportunity for discussion, along with a series of brief talks, including:

  • How to get started using Replay
  • What’s new with the Replay service and the Panopto software
  • Case-studies from departments
  • Guest speakers from other UK institutions
  • The VLE review and new Panopto integration options, including embedding
  • and more…

There will also be a series of training sessions throughout the next term: Dates to be confirmed and booking links will be posted at http://help.it.ox.ac.uk/replay/trainingsessions

As always, send any enquiries to the team at replay@it.ox.ac.uk

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Innovative use of WebLearn – Oxford Online Programme in Sleep Medicine

Posted on July 7, 2017 by Jill Fresen

In 2014 Oxford University approved a brand new postgraduate programme in Sleep Medicine. The two-year online programme leads to a postgraduate diploma (PGDip) or a Master of Science degree (MSc).

The programme is hosted by the Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute (SCNi), at the University of Oxford which “brings together world leading expertise in basic and human sleep and circadian research and in the evaluation and management of sleep disorders” (Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, 2016).

Learning technologists in Medical Sciences and IT Services were involved in building a customised portal and customised online course components in WebLearn. In tandem with the course development team, the learning technologists have tried hard to design a programme that attempts to imitate the face-to-face, personalised Oxford learning experience.

This approach is achieved through small student groups, moderated online discussions, live webinars and collaboration with subject specialists to reflect the most recent research findings. It was particularly important to employ aspects of personalisation, e.g. showing students only material that is relevant to them, at the appropriate time (depending on current module, week etc.).

In the structure of the online modules, the WebLearn ‘Lessons tool’ was used to offer the pedagogical advantage of tailoring a learning pathway for the students, with integrated content, relevant activities and assessment opportunities.

The customised interface and personalisation features were realised by taking advantage of WebLearn’s ‘behind-the-scenes’ RESTful web services API and rendered using a popular open source JavaScript framework called Angular 2. A very modest amount of development work was undertaken by the WebLearn team to make this approach possible.

 

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System Improvements: WebLearn v11-ox6

Posted on June 20, 2017 by Adam Marshall

WebLearn was upgraded on 20th June 2017 to version 11-ox6. We apologise for any inconvenience caused by the disruption.

Here is a list of some of the improvements:

  • Single file upload limit is now 250MB (Resources, Assignments etc.)
  • A link to one’s personal Calendar has been added in the top right Top Right “personal” drop down

  • Anonymous Submission sites
    • Site Info tool cannot now be removed in error
    • It is now not possible to change the Admin Site – all ‘submission’ sites are forced to be managed by Exams and Assessment
  • Favourite sites are now clickable

  • One can how hide / or un-hide one’s self in a site via Home > Preferences > Sites
  • Replay (Recorded Lectures)
    • All instances now have the same ‘play button’ icon
    • Individual recordings can now be inserted into Lessons (using IMS LTI Content Item Message)
  • Citations List improvements
  • Site Members will display the photos which have been set in a user’s Profile by default (as there are currently no available ‘official photos’)
  • Interactive videos (and other content types) from h5p.org can now be used within Lessons (and Resources): “H5P makes it easy to create, share and reuse HTML5 content and applications. H5P empowers everyone to create rich and interactive web experiences more efficiently“. H5p includes
    • Interactive YouTube videos (annotate, ask questions etc.)
    • Image juxtaposition
    • Drag and drop / Drag the words
    • Hotspots
    • Many many more content types

  • Resources:
    • The superfluous recycle bin link has been removed
    • Folders can be expanded on a mobile phone
    • Emoticon images inserted pre-WebLearn 11 will now appear correctly
  • Forums and Topics are correctly copied during ‘Duplicate site’ and ‘Import from site’
  • Researcher Training Tool
    • Search Results page is now fully responsive
    • Improved rendering in Internet Explorer 11
  • Lessons tool: ‘Add section break above’ no longer results two blocks appearing below

 

 

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Copyright support site in WebLearn – updated June 2017

Posted on June 5, 2017 by Jill Fresen

The Copyright support site in WebLearn has been updated with a new ‘look’ and links to the latest information about copyright requirements, with specific reference to the use of learning materials in a virtual learning environment. The site is publicly available.

The support site in WebLearn is being developed in conjunction with the Bodleian Libraries; it provides links to copyright guidance currently being updated and expanded by Bodleian librarians and staff in the University’s Gardens, Libraries and Museums (GLAM) division, in line with the provisions of the University’s CLA (Copyright Licensing Agency) licence.

The message is:

  • Provision of resources (images, text, articles etc.) for students in WebLearn falls largely under the terms of the CLA licence. For queries contact your college or departmental contact person.
  • Be aware that even if a journal article is your own work, you may have signed away the copyright to a publisher.
  • Always check the terms and conditions of the item, or failing that, request permission from the rights holder.
  • Consider releasing your own material under a Creative Commons licence to make the usage conditions clear to others.

More information:

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Local WebLearn coordinators

Posted on June 2, 2017 by Jill Fresen

Are you a local WebLearn coordinator (or administrator) and are you aware of your responsibilities regarding your unit’s WebLearn presence? Register to attend the lunch time session offered free of charge by IT Services (Mon 12 June 2017, 12:30 – 13:30): WebLearn: Overview for local WebLearn coordinators.

At Oxford University, management of a unit’s WebLearn presence is devolved to one or more ‘local WebLearn coordinators’ in the unit who act as a contact between the unit and the central WebLearn service team.

  • The local WebLearn coordinator(s) should be the first point of contact for the unit’s WebLearn users and also act as local administrator(s).
  • They can allocate rights to other members of the unit to create and manage WebLearn sites.
  • We recommend that units develop a clear policy regarding who can do what within their WebLearn areas, and also assign responsibilities for keeping content and site membership up to date.
  • Local WebLearn coordinators need to monitor important announcements made by the central  WebLearn service team and relay them to their users as appropriate.

More information:

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Advanced options for embedding Replay lectures in WebLearn

Posted on June 2, 2017 by Jill Fresen

Lecture Capture (Replay)

See our earlier post about how to add the Replay tool to a WebLearn site (which provides access to the Panopto web site (where the recordings are hosted) via the ‘Recorded Lectures’ link on the left hand menu).

The same post also describes how to link to an entire Replay folder from within the Lessons tool.

We have recently been alerted to that fact that advanced options are available (called ‘Custom Parameters’), which enable the following possibilities:

  • linking to multiple Replay folders from a single WebLearn site
  • embedding one individual recording within a Lessons page.

In both cases, one must supply the desired URL of the folder (or recording) in the ‘Custom Parameters’ box (see later). (A better method for doing this will become available – hopefully during summer 2017. This will be based on the open standard referred to as IMS LTI Content Item Message. Work needs to be done by the Panopto suppliers in order to achieve this alternative method.)

If you haven’t done so already, add the Replay tool to your site (via ‘Site Info’ > ‘Manage Tools’ – the Replay tool is at the bottom of the list).

Linking to more than one Replay folder on a single WebLearn site

In the ‘Site Info‘ tool select ‘External Tools’; then select the ‘Tool Links’ tab and click on ‘Create Tool Link’ and select the Replay tool from the drop down menu.

Add a name for the ‘Button Text‘ link and in the ‘Custom Parameters’ box type / paste

redirect_url=https://ox.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id...

but replace everything to the right of the equals sign with the URL of the folder you wish to link to. Refer to the How to find the Replay URL section of this document for details on finding URLs – you can repeat this process for each folder that you wish to link to.


Be sure to check the ‘Add Site Link’ box to enable this named tool to appear in the left-hand menu. Remember to click ‘Save’!

Repeat the process in order to add links on the left-hand tools menu to other Replay folders:

Linking directly to a single video

There has long been the need to be able to link to one particular Replay video in much the same way as one can present a link to a YouTube video.

You can display a link to the video in the WebLearn site in one of two ways:

  • In the left-hand side tools menu; or
  • In a Lessons page – this is useful from the teaching and learning point of view, when you want to link to one particular video in your Lessons page, that is relevant to the current topic.

In either the Lessons tool (edit the previously-added ‘External tool’) or in ‘Site Info’ > ‘External Tools’,  insert the following ‘redirect URL’ in the ‘Custom Parameters’ box:

redirect_url=[ --- insert the Replay URL here --- ]

Refer to the following section of this post for details on finding URLs – you can repeat this process for each recording that you wish to link to.

How to find the Replay URL

By default (in the absence of any Custom Parameters) a link to Panopto will take the user to the parent folder corresponding to the current WebLearn site; this folder will probably contain multiple videos.

If you wish to direct users to a different folder in Panopto, or to an individual video, then you can use Custom Parameters to set the direct link.

To find out which URL to supply as a Custom Parameter you need to access Replay through WebLearn.

To find the URL which links to an individual video you should locate the video then click on it to start it playing.

Next, copy the URL from the browser’s address bar.

To link to a folder, browse to the folder in Replay and then copy the URL from the browser.

Video URL example

https://ox.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?
id=35908dbd-f115-42b5-8712-698fe2263adf

Folder URL example

https://ox.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Sessions/List.aspx?
embedded=1#folderID=%22b6913bf1-c52d-4e47-992d-8239e3022ca8%22

More information

 

 

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Making recorded lectures available in WebLearn

Posted on June 2, 2017 by Matthew Buckett

Lecture Capture (Replay)

The Lecture Capture service (called Replay) has been available across the University for a number of months now. The service is free of charge to departments at the point of use, this means that the software which is used to capture lectures (Panopto) can be installed on any number of computers in any number of rooms, or on any personal laptops.

Replay is an IMS LTI (Learning Tools Interoperability) tool that handles user authentication via WebLearn, before linking to Panopto.

A July 2016 blog post about Replay provides more information about the service.

Adding the Replay tool to a WebLearn site

Recorded lectures are made available to students by adding the Replay tool to a WebLearn site (‘Site Info’ > ‘Manage Tools’ then select the ‘Replay’ tool at the bottom of the list of tools). All site participants will be able to view the lectures in the Replay folder.

Once the tool has been added, it can be used to upload existing videos or record new ones for use in teaching. For example, a lecturer can record video snippets on their own laptop to reinforce certain topics, dispel misconceptions, or present background/supplementary information before delivering the live lecture; or, of course, record the live lecture for students to refer to later for revision and reinforcement.

The Replay tool can be accessed by students either in the left hand tools menu (with a default title of ‘Recorded Lectures’) – this will happen automatically after having added the tool as described above; and/or as a hyperlink on a ‘Lessons’ page (see next section).

The following options are available for linking to Replay recordings:

  • one entire folder containing multiple recordings (covered in this blog post)
  • multiple folders of recordings from a single WebLearn site
  • one individual recording within a Replay/Panopto folder.

The second and third possibilities are ‘advanced options’, described in a separate blog post.

Linking to a Replay folder from within a Lessons page

The Lessons tool is a relatively new addition to WebLearn. We recommend that all student-facing content be developed within the Lessons tool (rather than as an HTML page in Resources). Lessons is far better for developing structured ‘learning pathways’ for students and it offers better authoring capabilities compared to an HTML page (in Resources).

To add a link to the Replay tool from within a Lessons page, go to the Lessons tool and click on the ‘Add Content‘ link, then click ‘Add External Tool’. (NB: the Replay tool must have already been added to the site as described above.)

Then click on ‘Replay’:

Name the link using the ‘Button Text’ box (e.g. ‘Video folder’), and choose a custom icon if you wish to replace the default icon. For this example, we will leave the ‘Custom Parameters’ box blank  (this option allows you to provide the URL and link to a particular recording within Panopto – see our separate ‘advanced options’ blog post). Click ‘Save’ at the bottom of the screen.

You will see the Replay tool linked from your Lessons page. This link will open the Panopto folder associated with this WebLearn site, and all the recordings it may contain.

The best user experience is when Panopto is opened in a new window; to change this, click on the edit button (‘pencil’ icon) alongside the item and elect to have it open in a new window: 

More information

 

 

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WebLearn and Turnitin courses: places still available

Posted on May 23, 2017 by Fawei Geng

It  is the second half of Trinity term.  If you still have not managed to attend WebLearn and/or Turniitin courses,  book a place now to avoid disappointment.

Places are limited and bookings are required.  All courses are free of charge.  Click on the links provided for further information and to book a place.

WebLearn 3-hour courses:

Byte-sized lunch time sessions:

These focus on particular tools with plenty of time for questions and discussion

Plagiarism awareness courses (Turnitin):

User Group meeting:

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Online submission of summative assessments in WebLearn

Posted on May 19, 2017 by Jill Fresen

This post was written by Nicola Cooper-Harvey and appeared in the AAD news alert on 15 May 2017

Any colleagues wishing to move to online submission of summative assessments must take note of the following:

  • the relevant Examination Regulations must have been amended prior to the new academic year;
  • the assessments must adhere to the framework for online submissions agreed by Examinations Panel; and
  • they must use the centrally-provided WebLearn system.

A new facility has been created within WebLearn to enable anonymous submissions (identified by student candidate number, not by name). A special WebLearn site (called an ‘anonymous submissions’ (AS) site) needs to be allocated to manage summative online submissions and, if desired, marking.

Please email taughtdegrees@admin.ox.ac.uk if you plan to move to online submissions for the 2017/18 academic year, and/or if you wish to attend a briefing session on the use of WebLearn to do this.

 

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