Thing 13: Digital Learning Spaces
In this Thing you’re going to look at some of the online or digital learning spaces used in learning and teaching at the University. It’s important to be aware of the different security levels of digital spaces, how you can use information provided in those spaces, and how to get the most out of each digital space.
Students and staff members at The University of Edinburgh can use their University Login to access information and digital spaces that are for staff and students only. For example, electronic books, papers, databases, and media the University has purchased for educational and research purposes, or learning spaces where students and teachers can have discussions and create content in safe spaces.
Click here for more information about the University Login
Remember, that as digital citizens how you behave in virtual spaces shouldn’t differ from how you behave in physical spaces. It’s important to act with empathy, compassion and kindness in both your online and offline interactions.
Learn
Learn is the main Virtual Learning Environment at the University of Edinburgh, supporting more than 5000 courses annually. Learn provides access to course materials, assignments, grades, feedback, lecture recordings, resource lists and much more. It’s only accessible to our staff and students and is used to support face to face teaching, blended learning, and fully online courses.
Learn is a secure online environment where we can upload and host literature and media that the University has licensed for teaching and research. Note that the teaching materials shared in these spaces are for students and staff only and should not be downloaded and shared elsewhere online.
In Learn we can participate in course discussions, break off into specific groups within courses for tutorials, study groups or projects, undertake tests, submit assignments, and access grades and feedback.
To familiarise or refresh your knowledge of how to make the most of Learn there are excellent guides and tips on the SharePoint Using Learn as a Student help pages.
Collaborate
Collaborate is the University supported virtual classroom and meeting tool. All staff and students can create, and access Collaborate sessions directly in the Collaborate channel in MyEd. Collaborate can be used by staff and students for one-to-one meetings; tutorials; student discussions; informal chats; or as part of Learn group work.
Introduction to Collaborate university webpage
Collaborate User Interface Tour – YouTube
Microsoft Teams
MS Teams is a collaboration platform that is part of the Office 365 suite and available to all University staff and students. Teams allows you to easily chat with colleagues, upload and collaborate on files, hold audio and video meetings. Some Schools and Departments use Microsoft Teams (MS Teams) for virtual tutorials and other learning and teaching activities.
MS Teams also allows you to collaborate with staff and students at different institutions by inviting them to attend and participate in online meetings and groups. This means that there can be Groups, chats, and video meetings with people who are not University of Edinburgh staff or students.
How do I access and navigate MS Teams?
If you want extra help with MS Teams, you can book a place on one of our “Getting Started with Teams” training webinars. These are open to all staff and students at the University of Edinburgh. To book a place on one of these webinars, please search for “Getting started with Teams” on Events Booking.
Wooclap
Wooclap is the University’s, centrally supported electronic voting system for in-class polling and asynchronous activities. Wooclap is used in classes to ask different types of questions that can be answered digitally on your smartphone, tablet, laptop, or computer.
Some question types (e.g. Multiple Choice, Matching, Sorting, etc.) have defined correct answers and so allow for scoring. Some can be option to scored or not (e.g. Open question, Word cloud, Find a number). Others are intended for collaborative or information gathering activities (e.g. Poll, Brainstorming, Rating etc.).
Participant guides for Wooclap
How to complete Thing 13
Step 1
Go to the SharePoint Using Learn as a Student help pages and explore the features, guidance, and tips on using Learn.
Step 2
Did you come across a feature you hadn’t known about or learn something new about Learn? Write a blog post and reflect on how you have been using Learn and if there are any of its applications or tips that you could start to use to help you with your studies.
Further Resources
To familiarise or refresh your knowledge of how to make the most of Learn there are excellent guides and tips on the SharePoint Using Learn as a Student help pages.
Thing 14: Collaborative Tools
Digital collaborative authoring tools allow multiple people to work together and contribute to projects simultaneously. There are many different tools available, for example Google Drive, Google Documents, or Dropbox, but you’re going to look at those that are provided within the University’s learning spaces behind the University Login.
Office 365
The University provides access to Office 365 to allow all staff and students to benefit from an extensive range of features, including 1Tb of document storage space in your OneDrive, 50Gb for email, and access to download Microsoft Office on up to 5 devices.
Once you have registered to use Outlook (email and calendar) with your UUN, you will have access to lots of apps that will help you to complete coursework, connect with others and work efficiently online. There are a number of excellent collaborative tools available in Office 365 that we’re going to have a look at here.
Office 365 Guidance for students
SharePoint
You might be familiar with using services such as Dropbox and Google Docs for online document sharing and collaboration outside of the University, but within the University SharePoint Online is a fantastic tool for these purposes. As everyone accesses SharePoint using their University login, all materials created and shared are password protected and accounted for. As a student, you could use SharePoint to create a ‘Team site’ for group work on a course assessment, create a ‘Communication site’ to display a presentation, or use a ‘Team site’ for society committee work.
SharePoint Guidance for Students (University login required)
Office 365 – Planner
If you’re looking for an easy but organised way to manage a group project, delegate tasks, and track progress you can use Planner – a task management app that’s part of Office 365. You can also use it to plan personal tasks and manage your workload.
Planner for Students (University login required)
Office 365 – One Note
Another brilliant tool that comes with our Office 365 package is OneNote – a digital notebook that allows you to organise your study notes and course content, enabling you to keep track of every assignment and project. You can access and edit your OneNote notebooks from anywhere, across devices, and turn your notes into live documents with digital ink, handwritten text, sketch diagrams, videos, pictures, and more.
OneNote Guidance for Students (University login required)
Did you know?
Your student email account is part of Office 365, as is your Outlook calendar which is shareable with your classmates.
Email and Calendar Guidance for Students (University login required)
How to Complete Thing 14
Step 1
Choose one of the collaborative tools listed above, SharePoint, Planner, or One Note. Read through the guidance materials and have a go at using the tools to create something.
Step 2
Write a reflection in your blog on how the tool could be useful to your studies for collaborative work or planning out your time and projects.
