Blackboard 9.1 is now live!

You may well have noticed that the University's Virtual Learning Environment looks a little different at http://blackboard.swansea.ac.uk The Learning Portal has been upgraded to the latest version of Blackboard - Blackboard 9.1.

Although it looks different, most of the changes are to the interface and all of the features you've used before are still there, so it shouldn't take too long to get used to the changes. In addition, there are some useful new features. There is a support site for the new version, which includes an overview, tutorials and further information. http://learninglab.swan.ac.uk/blackboard9/ As well as the support site, the e-learning team will be running lots of training sessions on the new version. You can find information on the training here http://learninglab.swan.ac.uk/blackboard9/training.html

If you can't find the information you need from the support site, you can, as always, contact the e-learning team at blackboard@swansea.ac.uk

Free Webinar: How to run a virtual classroom session

The eLearning Network are running a free webinar on 'How to run a virtual classroom session'

Date: 2 August 2010
Time: 12 noon
Venue: Online

More and more education and training providers are making use of web conferencing as a way to bring learners together for events that would have previously been conducted in the classroom, or which may not previously have been practical or economic on a face-to-face basis. Effective virtual classroom sessions go way beyond webinars or online meetings to involve all participants as much as or more than the physical classroom, through the use of a wide variety of multimedia and interactive techniques. In this session, Clive Shepherd and Barry Sampson will share the benefit of their extensive experience with virtual classrooms to help you both assess the potential for the greater use of live online learning in your organisation and ensure that the sessions that you do deliver are as least as successful as your face-to-face events.

A joint eLN/ALT webinar. To register, follow the link below
http://www.alt.ac.uk/workshop_detail.php?e=371

Improving Learning for All: A Day for Teachers of International Students

As part of the Higher Education Academy's Teaching International Students project Swansea Metropolitan Unviersity will be hosting a one day workshop on teaching international students on Friday the 3rd of September. The workshop is aimed at practitioners who work with international students on a day to day basis - whether in the classroom or in support if the student's studies.

The event is offered as a practical workshop where delegates will have the opportunity to work with the resources being created as part of the TIS project and to hear individual papers from local colleagues.

For further information and details of how to register please see here
http://sites.google.com/site/improvinglearningforall/home

New tool to search for e-learning resources

The Jorum Team is pleased to announce the release of a new unified search tool - created to allow you to search the JorumOpen and JorumUK collections simultaneously. This means that searching for resources is now even easier, providing instant results gleaned from both collections at once.

This is the first release of the tool, which is still in development. They would value any feedback on your experience of using the search tool - you can post comments within a dedicated discussion forum on the Jorum Community Bay, or fill in the feedback form on the website. Providing feedback allows us to incorporate your views and ideas into future releases.

Further details about the search tool can be found on the Jorum website.