UCL Connected Learning Environment
The UCL Connected Learning Environment
Links to the main resource centres for staff.
- Moodle UCL’s Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) is is already familiar to students and academic colleagues, but mainly as a repository for module materials and a place to upload assignments. As we move our teaching materials online, we have is an opportunity to make more active use of Moodle. Moodle has many other tools that can help keep your students engaged and learning in the absence of face-to-face sessions. In the early stages of ‘pivot’ some interactive features of Moodle were explored in Teaching Continuity – a Moodle Toolkit. Since then H5P, a simple-to-use tool to create interactive content has been added. The possibilities of Moodle will be explored in some detail in Online ABC. UCL Case Study: Moodle tools to make your teaching more interactive.
- Blackboard Collaborate (virtual classroom) UCL’s web conferencing or online classroom platform. It is integrated within Moodle as an activity, providing access to a range of different functions in a live, or synchronous, learning environment. UCL Case Study: Using Blackboard Collaborate to teach students across the world.
- Lecturecast Universal Capture Personal (screen recording) is a stand-alone application which can be used to create recordings (captures). Recordings can include slides (or whatever you choose to show on your computer screen), video of the presenter and audio.
- ReadingLists@UCL is an online service that gives students easy access to materials on their reading lists wherever they are, and allows academic staff to create and update their own reading lists.
- Mentimeter (polling) is an online polling, questioning and voting tool that you can use in your classes or presentations, whether they are face-to-face or online, synchronous or asynchronous. UCL has a site-wide licence. UCL Case Study: Engaging students asynchronously with Mentimeter.
- Reflect (WordPress blog) is a form of WordPress, the industry-standard blogging and website-building tool. Blogs may be used to help students reflect on their experiences during study, build a portfolio of their work, collaborate on projects and create public-facing materials. UCL Case Study: Medical Science students use UCL Reflect to create scientific blogs for assessment.
ABC and the Connected Learning Environment
ABC uses the concept to learning types to link the pedagogical aspects of learning design with the technical infrastructure. This can be represented as a Tool Wheel. The tools in the centre are fully supported. Note Mentimeter has now migrated to the inner circle!
As this is hard to read, the following pages provide another view and link directly to with links to UCL’s extensive Moodle Miniguides.
- Tool Wheel
- Links to main technologies (Resource Centres)