Notes from 'Staff for iPads' Project Session

Some notes from the presentation by Olaojo Aijegbayo, on Staff Use of iPads, the BERA-funded project which supplied Univ Huddersfield's Business School staff with iPads and evaluated their use in admin, research, and teaching-related tasks:

A link to the project and a preliminary look at a survey of staff using their ipads, with Wordle summary of the apps they use for each of the three kinds of tasks (admin, research, teaching): http://bjetipadproject.wordpress.com/2013/08/01/ipad-survey-results-infographics/


And a link to the recording I made of the session itself, by Adobe Connect. The sound is not great but it's alright. I'm still learning with Adobe Connect!

https://connect.le.ac.uk/p9kwe4kak1d/


One important issue that came out in discussion is the need for some form of support for staff, to enable them to maximise the affordances of a tablet in learning and research. For example, one staff member used Educreations app to mark up and sketch out an explanation of a difficult concept, incorporating images and photos, and saving the whole thing as a short video which is distributed over their VLE, and this gave other staff some ideas to try. At Huddersfield, they are beginning some iPad Coffee Club meetings which try to provide this support.

So on that note, if you have a handheld-learning related issue you would like to explore or question to address, please let me know and we'll figure out a way to address it in an upcoming meeting!

Terese Bird, Learning Technologist, Institute of Learning Innovation, University of Leicester

Evaluating Academics' Use of iPads for Academic Practices

Ola Aiyegbayo, University of Huddersfield

This Friday, 20 September 2013, sees the reconvening of University of Leicester's Handheld Learning Group. We welcome Ola Aiyegbayo from University of Huddersfield, who will share with us his findings from a BERA-funded project evaluating academics' use of iPads for their own academic practice. I also have it on good authority that Ola hopes to see how our ad-hoc Handheld Learning Group is working out, as he is looking at support models, both formal and informal, for university use of mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones.

So please join us at 1pm at the Learning Inn, Room 0.08 105 Princess Road East. Bring your lunch if you like; we'll supply a cuppa and a home-baked treat!

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Terese Bird, Institute of Learning Innovation, University of Leicester

'iPads for Staff' study is topic of next Handheld Learning meeting

Announcing the next gathering of the Handheld Learning Group at the University of Leicester - Friday 20 September at 13.00, at the usual venue of 105 Princess Road East -- the newly-renamed Learning Inn. Bring your lunch; we'll supply a cuppa and a home-baked treat.

Speaker: Olaojo Aiyegbayo, University of Huddersfield

Title: Academics' use of iPads @ University of Huddersfield

                                                Staff with iPads - Photo by ShawnKBall on Flickr

This session will focus on how academics at University of Huddersfield (UoH) are using their iPads for academic practices. It will also focus on the reported benefits and limitations of using the iPads for academic practices as well as provide a list of popular apps used for academic practices.

The findings are drawn from data gathered via an online survey which was completed by 84 academics as well as semi-structured interviews conducted with 22 colleagues.

This session will be of interest to academics and learning technologists using or planning to use iPads as well as other tablet devices.

Terese Bird, Learning Technologist and SCORE Research Fellow, Institute of Learning Innovation, University of Leicester

Leicester App and Blackboard Mobile Learn

On Friday 14th December, our newly-renamed Handheld Learning Group met around cookies and brownies to discuss the recent launch of the Leicester app and Blackboard Mobile Learn. I had been thinking of these two as separate things, but they are connected and they are both ultimately made available by Blackboard.

On the Apple store, you can find the Leicester app by searching for LeicesterUni (I don't know if it is titled the same in the Android store). It is free. When you download it, you can see a gateway into Blackboard. You need your university login for that part; it is an applet called Blackboard Mobile Learn (which can actually be downloaded as a separate app). Blackboard Mobile Learn offers users most functions of Blackboard in a custom-made environment for their mobile device -- even Blackberry.

The LeicesterUni app was launched rather quietly after autumn term started, and since then, even with not much publicity, it has been downloaded over 3000 times. 2500 of these have been to iOS devices (iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch). Besides the Blackboard section, the app offers campus maps, a way to quickly find a free campus PC, and a portal into the library search system, plus more. The ITS and Marketing joint project team responsible for the app have been meeting with students to keep up on student opinion and wishes for further development. I asked how staff could register a request for something to be added to the app, and the answer is that there is a feedback button on the app (it's kind of hard to see and it looks like a lightning flash), where email addresses are listed to register such requests.

LeicesterUni app on iOS

As for Blackboard Mobile Learn itself, ITS have written some guidelines about what definitely does not work and what definitely does work:

• Blackboard Mobile Learn help page – overview of what will work and links to documents from Blackboard with more details
• Best practice for mobile – how can you make your Blackboard course sites work better from a mobile device?

And Catherine Leyland of ITS says "This information is a starting point but needs to be developed as we use Blackboard mobile more within the University and get more idea of what works and how best to use it.  If anyone does come across anything else they want to share, useful tips etc. then could you let me know and I’ll update these pages?" So there is our invitation!

As for me, I have been encouraging instructors to solicit feedback from their students regarding Blackboard Mobile Learn, so that we can be aware of issues and how the students are using it.

Terese Bird, Learning Technologist, University of Leicester

If it's good enough for us, it's good enough for Cameron

This week it's all about the apps. Everyone who is anyone has one, from the University of Leicester to David Cameron. Who's next, Barapp Obama?

Using GoodReader on an iPad for taking academic notes

Video: Rob Parsons

GoodReader

Desert Island Apps: Alan Cann

Desert Island Apps is an occasional series in which we ask people: what apps could you not live without. This post is by Alan Cann.


The first app which springs to mind is GoodReader. I use it for taking papers to meetings - I've essentially gone paperless since I started using this app. It's also useful for simple annotations on documents, but for longer writing, I prefer:


PlainText, a very simple note taking app. When I'm writing I like the minimum of distractions, and that's exactly what PlainTest gives me. It also syncs with DropBox, if you like that sort of thing.


Skitch is my goto image editing app on the iPad and iPhone. It does far less than full strength image editors, but it has great annotation features - something which really can make a picture (such as a screenshot) worth a thousand words.


My final essential is the misnamed Google Search app. Sure, it does Google searches - including, in the latest version, voice searches which rival the power of Siri (and it's a darn sight easier to say "Kennebunkport" into the microphone than to try to remember how to spell it then type it on an iPhone. And Google Goggles is powered by magic. But the real power of this app comes from the apps link at the bottom of the home screen - touch that and you have full mobile access to GMail, your Google Drive documents, Google Reader, and the best mobile interface to Google Plus.