Current Developments

Contact: Helen Walmsley.
Externally Funded by TEQF for original work.
Summary: The eLearning Models project aims to create, use and share simple eLearning models. The Best Practice Models for eLearning online community has members from Staffordshire University, the SURF Colleges and external practitioners from all over the world. Models are available for a range of technologies, tools and delivery methods. In addition, a model based on best practice principles has been developed that can be used to create new models for emerging technologies.

Click here for the Best Practice Models for e-Learning introduction page

Contact: Fleur Corfield.

Summary: Enable focuses on joining together the University's change management initiatives around Curriculum Design and Development. This project will be running for the next 3 years and 6 months and will enable the university to be more efficient in its management of initiatives. This will transform policies, processes, and supporting technologies for curriculum/product development making them more responsive and agile in responding to demand and allow services and faculties to encourage the development of employer engagement and flexible awards. It encompasses several other University projects and initiatives which have been identified as Enable spokes and test-beds.

Find out more:Enable website

Contact: Hamza Badenjiki.
Summary: The Qualtrics software allows teaching staff to create online surveys and collect students' feedback. It is available for all University staff but at present we are specifically working with Faculty of Computing and Engineering Technology to replace their paper-based survey system.

Contact: Sue Lee

Summary: In Nov 2010 Staffordshire University Learning Development and Innovation (LDI) team in conjunction with the Student Office ran a survey “Students love Gadgets, fact or fiction?” to ascertain the ownership and use of mobile technologies.

Every student registered at the university was emailed the link to the online survey directly to their student email address. The survey was titled “Students love Gadgets - Fact or Fiction?” It was hoped that this would appeal as much to students who do not use technology as well as those who do. Emphasis was made that the students’ replies would help us to target our efforts towards the things they wanted rather than what we thought they wanted. 

The questions asked were based upon a set originally produced by Edinburgh University. Staffordshire, Plymouth, Manchester Metropolitan, Bolton and Bradford universities used a jointly revised set of questions over the same period in late 2010. The combined results of this activity will appear in a separate publication.  As an additional question to the “joint set”, students at Staffordshire were also asked questions about their willingness to use their personal technologies for learning at the university. 

Access the 2010 report here (PDF, file size: 868.63KB)

Contact: Ian Watts. 
Summary: Development of web based resources to streamline processes related to staff and student use of the Blackboard VLE and ensure data that already exists is re-used. This will help ensure correct information is supplied and will help remove manual tasks reducing the likelihood of errors.

Contact: Sue Lee. 
Summary: A mandatory Peer Observation of Teaching was first introduced to the university in 2000. This scheme (Negotiated Online Peer Observation - NOPO) was introduced to ensure that the online student learning experience is of a consistently high standard. As online learning offers specific challenges, constraints and opportunities we have developed a supplementary scheme aimed at bringing colleagues together who are delivering course materials online. We want to share good practice across the university in all areas of technology supported learning. This can be anything from full distance learning courses to courses that have resources online to support students

Find out more: NOPO Website