Panopto

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Important Changes to Chrome

Blackboard, Collaborate, Panopto, PebblePad, Turnitin, Uncategorised /

Photo: ‘Cookie’ © By poko42

New Chrome changes and your use of online systems, including Blackboard VLE.

We recommend using Chrome or Mozilla Firefox browsers, when using the Blackboard VLE. However, you may be aware that Google Chrome have started testing a new feature, with the intention of protecting users from third-party cookie tracking. This will result in all third-party cookies being disabled, as a default setting. Initially a selection of Chrome users will be notified, but the intention is that all users will experience this change by the end of 2024.

Why you still need your Third-Party Cookies for the Blackboard VLE.

Third-party cookies are often used as an essential element for the functionality of different websites. Within Blackboard there are several integrated tools which require third-party cookies to be enabled. If you experience any issues with the Blackboard VLE, such as pages not loading correctly, even after a refresh – you may need to alter your third-party cookie settings.

How to change your settings:

  • Users who have been selected by Google Chrome, will have a notification, when they open their Chrome browser. If you are viewing the initial notification, it is possible at this stage, to click on the cog, to select and confirm your account third-party cookie choices.
  • Chrome users will be able to tell whether any cookies are active on a webpage, by looking for the ‘eye icon’ within the address bar, in the top right of the Chrome browser. If third-party cookies have been blocked, there will be a line through the eye. A click on the eye icon, will permit users to select and choose whether they wish to have third-party cookies enabled.
  • Alternatively, you can alter your Chrome account settings, as a whole, by selecting the three dots, in the top right-hand corner of the browser. A menu will appear, where you can select ‘Settings’ → ‘Privacy and Security’ from the left-hand side-bar menu, → then ‘Cookies and other site data’ to view all the possible cookie settings for your account.

To find out more, you make wish to read Google Chrome’s recent blog post:

https://blog.google/products/chrome/privacy-sandbox-tracking-protection/

Important Changes to Chrome Read More »

What to do with your recordings in Blackboard

Leave a Comment / Blackboard, Collaborate, Panopto /

As you are probably aware by now, video files should not be simply uploaded to Blackboard. The files are far too large and will rapidly use up your module\’s data quota. Instead, videos should be uploaded to Panopto.

However, some staff have enquired about managing their Collaborate recordings, which raises a number of questions – how to link to them, whether to upload to Panopto – so we thought it would be a good idea to explore this.

Data Storage

Let’s start by looking at the way the systems manage storage.

Blackboard

Every Blackboard module has a default data quota of 1000MB. Where there is a genuine need, this can be extended, but the data quota of the entire University needs to be carefully managed, as exceeding this has a significant financial implication. Removing videos is an easy way to bring this down. Remember that any resource you delete from a module must also be deleted in the files area in order to impact on the data quota.

Collaborate

Collaborate videos are stored outside of the module on which they were recorded, so do not impact on the data quota. However, there is an overall data quota for Collaborate that also needs careful management. As a result, we are required to archive older videos, having recently deleted all videos recorded prior to January 2021.

Panopto

There is currently no data quota for Panopto storage as we are charged by the number of views. However, this is likely to change in the future as Panopto moves to a charging by storage model.

Should you move Collaborate recordings to Panopto?

Given that Collaborate recordings eventually need to be archived, some staff have asked whether it would be better to move all Collaborate recordings to Panopto as a matter of course. This is probably not necessary but there may be instances when it would be a good idea:

  • Will the recording be required for a long time? If students will need to access the video for longer than a year, then it might be a good idea to download the files and upload to Panopto.
  • Will the recording need to be deployed on future modules? Some resources may be of use to students on future modules, in which case a move to Panopto may be a good idea so that resources can be shared between modules.
  • Does the video need captioning? One drawback of Collaborate is that it does not provide closed captions, which may be required for accessibility. If you have students on your course who need closed captions, then uploading videos to Panopto may be a good idea, as Panopto does have excellent captioning options.

Bear in mind that uploading videos wholesale to Panopto is a significant undertaking for you as the course tutor, so you should weigh up these issues before you decide what will work best for you and your students.

Also consider that, although there is currently no data quota on Panopto, this is likely to be introduced in the future, so we as an institution will also need to manage Panopto usage. Therefore it’s probably a good idea to only upload resources to Panopto where you think it is really necessary.

If you have any queries feel free to get in touch at tel@worc.ac.uk

What to do with your recordings in Blackboard Read More »

TEL Workshops – Spring 2022

Leave a Comment / Blackboard, Camtasia, Panopto, Training /

Spring is just around the corner, and it\’s the ideal time to dust off the old grey matter and refresh your TEL skills!

This semester, we at the TEL team are offering our usual range of workshops as detailed below, which you can sign up to via the staff development booking system.

Also look out for our new short course on blended learning which will empower teaching staff to plan and implement high quality blended learning using the range of software and tools available from the University.

Date Workshop Time
15/02/2022 Blackboard made simple 10:15 – 11:30
22/02/2022 Collaborate Virtual Classroom 10:15 – 11:30
28/02/2022 Vevox Polling Software 10:15 – 11:30
02/03/2022 Tests and Surveys 10:15 – 11:45
08/03/2022 Camtasia 10:15 – 11:45
09/03/2022 Assessing Presentations Online 10:15 – 11:30
11/03/2022 Accessibility and Ally 10:15 – 11:30
15/03/2022 Introduction to Panopto 10:15 – 11:30
TBC Implementing Blended Learning TBC

All workshops will be delivered via Collaborate, and a link will be emailed to attendees before the session.

TEL Workshops – Spring 2022 Read More »

Scheduled Maintenance 8th January

Leave a Comment / Panopto, Turnitin /

Please be aware that two of our suppliers have scheduled downtime for updates early in the new year.

  • Panopto will be down on 8/1/22 from 10pm for 4 hours
  • Turnitin will be down on 8/1/22 from 0.00 to 8.00

Both systems will be unavailable during this time. If this will impact on your students, for example for assignment submission, we recommend that you send an announcement to make them aware.

Scheduled Maintenance 8th January Read More »

Removal of older collaborate videos

Leave a Comment / Blackboard, Collaborate, Panopto /

To all Collaborate users

Collaborate has been used extensively again this semester with 2377 recordings being made since 1st September to date totalling over 544 hours of recording.  Because Collaborate is a live interactive tool, many recordings don’t ever get played back, but the most played back recording this semester was in the School of Sport and Exercise Science with a huge 286 playbacks.

\"Collaborate

We now need to review our storage of Collaborate recordings as we are once again approaching the limit included in our licence. We are therefore proposing to remove any recordings made before 1st January 2021. At the height of the pandemic in Semester 1 last Year a huge 10,245 recordings were made and, as most of these are now over a year old, it is necessary to remove these from the system to make room for new recordings.

If you have any recordings you would like to keep please download them from your Collaborate area by 18th December and upload them to Panopto where they will have the added benefit of being automatically captioned. Please see our step-by-step guidance on how to do this. Any recordings made prior to 1st January 2021 will be removed from the system on 3rd January 2021. If you have questions or concerns about this, please contact tel@worc.ac.uk.

We also have some suggestions for best practice to help make the best use of Collaborate:

  • Only record sessions which will need to be accessed again.
  • When recording a long session, stop the recording during breaks or activities offline or in breakout groups.
  • If running a session with little or no interactivity consider using the Panopto webcast feature.
  • Delete any old recordings which are no longer required (statistics show that the vast majority of recordings are only accessed within 30 days of the original event)

 

Removal of older collaborate videos Read More »

Finding and Sharing your Panopto Resources

Leave a Comment / Panopto, Video /

Panopto is the University’s desktop and lecture recording tool and video hosting platform. Panopto is integrated into Blackboard and permissions to view videos are associated with the Blackboard course.

\"Panopto

  • On each Blackboard course there is an associated ‘Panopto course folder’. Any videos in this folder can be viewed by anyone on the course.
  • In addition to this you have your own personal ‘My folder’; any videos in this folder are only viewable to you. If you want to move videos from your My folder into your Course folder, please see this guide to moving Panopto videos.

How can I see where my videos are located?

Go to any Blackboard course where Panopto has been provisioned.

Click on the ‘Panopto Video’ link on the left-hand menu of your Blackboard module.

Here you will see all videos in the corresponding Panopto course folder.

To access your My folder, click the drop-down arrow next to the name of your course.

\"Location

You will then see your ‘My Folder’:

\"Folder

Note that if you click on ‘Everything’ you will see all the videos you have access to.

You can use the search box to search within a folder.

While this is the default, you can manually change the share settings on any video or any folder. To do this, please see the Panopto Sharing guide.

If you have any queries, please contact us at tel@worc.ac.uk and we will be happy to help.

Finding and Sharing your Panopto Resources Read More »

Blackboard Rollover 2021-22

Leave a Comment / Blackboard, Panopto /

Blackboard modules for the 21/22 academic year are now available and ready for you to start working on.
As in previous years you will need to re-register for access to the new modules from the staff web pages – instructions can be found here:
https://lttu.uk/support/Blackboard/Manual/accessing-new-courses.html
We have amended the standard template very slightly to include a link to the Panopto Video tool by default. If you don’t want to use this it can be removed or hidden from students but this is now widely used so we have included in the template for this year.
All modules have the basic template with pre-populated menu items which relate to the University baseline standards . This ensures a level of consistency which is one of the top priorities that students have requested – see our Students’ top tips for Blackboard.

You may want to consider migrating content from last year\’s modules. If you do this, it is very important that you do not roll over the assessment tab or any of the assessments within, as this will cause problems within your grade centre. If you roll over any tests or quizzes please note that these will not be automatically deployed, so you will need to insert them into the appropriate area within your module.

Whilst consistency is an important factor, we recognise that all modules are individual and you may want to look at some of the other tools and functionality available in Blackboard – we have a full online Blackboard guide but if you need any further support from the TEL team, either individually or as a course or module team please contact TEL@worc.ac.uk to arrange a session with an Academic Learning Technologist.

Blackboard Rollover 2021-22 Read More »

TEL Workshops and Facilitated Discussions

Leave a Comment / Accessibility, Blackboard, Camtasia, Collaborate, Panopto, PebblePad, Training, Vevox, Video /

Between now and the end of March, we will be running a series of online workshops to help staff get to grips with a range of learning technologies.  In addition to our familiar sessions, we will also be running five facilitated discussions covering topics such as moving tuition online, student engagement and best practice using PebblePad. Staff will have the opportunity to share their experiences and learn new approaches from colleagues, guided by members of the Technology Enhanced Learning Unit.

 

Blackboard Made Simple  25th January, 10.15 – 11.15 
Collaborate Virtual Classroom  27th January, 10:15 – 11:15am 
Using Tests and Surveys in Blackboard  3rd February, 10.15 – 11.30 
Blackboard Accessibility and Ally  5th February, 10.15 – 11.30 
Facilitated discussion – moving to online teaching: what works?  8th February, 11.15 – 12.15 
Camtasia  10th February, 10.15 – 11.30 
Using Blackboard for Blended and Mobile Learning  12th February, 10.15 – 11.30 
Recording from your Desktop using Panopto  17th February, 10.15 – 11.30 
Vevox Polling Software  19th February, 10.15 – 1130 
Facilitated discussion: Good practice with PebblePad  3rd March, 10.15 – 11.30 
Assessing student presentations online using Collaborate and Panopto  11th March, 10.15 – 11.30 
Facilitated discussion: approaches to online assessment 17th March, 10.15 – 11.15 
Facilitated discussion: recording teaching sessions tips and tricks  25th March, 10.15 – 11.15 

If you are interested in attending any of these sessions, please sign up via the Staff Development Workshops pages on the staff portal.

TEL Workshops and Facilitated Discussions Read More »

Technology Enhanced Learning Support Sessions for Academics

Leave a Comment / Blackboard, Camtasia, Collaborate, Panopto, Training, Turnitin, Vevox /

Following the government announcement that Universities should move to online teaching by 9th December, we thought it would be a good time to reinstate the TEL drop-in sessions for academic staff via Collaborate.

 We know that it can be daunting moving your tuition online and sometimes it’s not always clear where to begin, or how to effectively adapt your materials for online delivery so that your students still get the most out of your sessions.

That’s why the Technology Enhanced Learning Unit will be offering drop-in sessions over the next four weeks for academics to pop in and speak to us. We’ll be there to listen to your requirements and help you bounce ideas around for moving your sessions online successfully. We’ll be able to offer suggestions on various tools that you can use to achieve your learning objectives and offer expertise on how to adapt your existing face to face sessions so that they run smoothly when you come to delivering them online.

Sessions will run from 10am-11am every Tuesday and Thursday, with the first taking place on Tuesday 24th November and the final session on Thursday 17th December. There\’s no need to book. Just click on the link below to access the sessions:

Join Drop-in Session

As ever, make sure that you are using either Chrome or Firefox to join.

Technology Enhanced Learning Support Sessions for Academics Read More »

Save the Date! – ‘TEL’ Me More Seminar

Leave a Comment / Blackboard, Camtasia, Collaborate, Conferences, Panopto, Training, Turnitin, Vevox /

On Wednesday 16th December, the Technology Enhanced Learning Unit will be hosting their annual ‘TEL’ Me More Seminar.

The event, which was originally planned for March, will be fully online and colleagues from across the University will be showcasing their use of technology as part of their learning and teaching.

With the current environment, online teaching has grown significantly over the past several months and this event will provide a fantastic opportunity to network with colleagues from different areas of academia, generate ideas and learn new skills, which you can take forward in to your own learning and teaching.

To secure your place, sign up via the ‘Staff Development Workshops’ page.

Full programme details will be released shortly.

Are you interested in presenting at the seminar? We currently have one slot available. If you would like to present (no more than 10 minutes), please email tel@worc.ac.uk with a short summary of your presentation.

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