We are involved in a range of e-learning projects and pilots, centred around the innovative use of technology to support and assist the development of teaching and learning at the University of Bristol. Initiating, implementing and evaluating projects is often done in partnership with Faculty Pathfinders however we also work independently with individuals, groups, departments and faculties within the University, as well national and international partners.
Some of the projects in which we are involved include:
The University is undertaking a user needs analysis to determine institutional requirements for online submission and management of coursework. Online submission and coursework management was initially chosen because it is an area that has experienced significant growth over the last 18 months and currently consumes significant financial and human resources. It was therefore anticipated that electronically facilitated improvements in this area would be of high value to a very wide range of stakeholders within the University.
Phase one of the consultation was undertaken during July, August and September of 2008 and is now complete. If you would like more information on this please contact hilary.griffiths@bristol.ac.uk
Blackboard currently runs on one application server hosting the web interface and business logic layer with Apache, Tomcat and some Perl programs and one database server hosting an Oracle database. These servers are single points of failure. Implementation of the Blackboard resilience project will move the current service to a more resilient and scalable architecture that will include load balanced multiple application servers. We hope to have this in place for the start of the 09/10 academic year. More information and updates will be posted on the Blackboard user area website: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/is/computing/applications/blackboard/developments.html
Throughout 2008 a member of the e-learning team led a user needs analysis which involved interviewing academics and support staff from across the university. Also, a number of commercial and open source e-portfolio software solutions were evaluated for their comparative strengths and weaknesses and potential to meet the needs identified. The outcome was a recommendation to further develop an existing locally developed tool called EELS e-Portfolio. This was approved by the e-Learning Board in January 2009. Funding for development is now being sought from a variety of sources.
With the e-Learning Boards approval the e-Learning Team are trailing software which enhances Blackboard’s functionality by providing audio discussion boards, voice emails, an audio podcast tool and desktop conferencing. The latter tool can also be accessed directly, i.e. without Blackboard. A small number of trials using these tools by academics and their students are in the planning stage and are expected to run throughout the next three months. The trail will end in June 2009 i.e. when the initial software licence expires. At that time, based on evaluative data and liaison with appropriate IS representatives the e-Learning Board will decide whether or not to make a case to fund the ongoing provision of all or parts of the software.
If you would like more information about these projects, please email e-learning@bristol.ac.uk