Dr Niamh Plunkett Head of Teaching & Learning (ATU
Sligo)
niamh.plunkett@atu.ie
You are very welcome to Atlantic Technological University (ATU) and we look forward to supporting you in your academic/teaching role. Regardless of whether you are new to teaching or new to ATU we hope you will find our Online Academic Orientation Programme and this Academic Orientation Guide valuable in supporting you with the technical and operational aspects of your role.
Overview of the Online 6 Week Programme to Support the Academic Orientation Course
The programme commences in September and January each year. It takes place one hour per week for six weeks between 1-2 p.m. via MS Teams. The programme is facilitated by Colin Birney ATU Sligo Lecturer and supported by Seán Daffy ATU Galway-Mayo Learning Technologist and Philip Walker Instructional Designer and is open to all ATU Academic Staff to attend.
Each week Colin will facilitate an online 1 hour lunch time "Ask me Anything" session whereby participants can ask the facilitators (Colin, Seán and Philip) any questions they have on the topics being discussed that week. It is strongly recommended to watch the recordings and read the written material prior to the live online session.
If you miss out on the live lunch time sessions you can access all the recordings on the Teaching & Learning Induction Sharepoint page.
Enter our dedicated Academic Orientation Course HERE
Colin Birney colin.birney@atu.ie
Mr. Colin Birney is a lecturer at ATU, Sligo since October 2017 in the Department of Civil and Construction Engineering within the faculty of Engineering and Design. A quantity surveyor by trade and a fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and chartered member of the Society of Chartered Surveyors of Ireland, with over 20 years’ experience in industry. On starting in ATU Sligo, Colin realised very quickly that delivering lectures to the students was only one part of the overall lecturing profession. Colin facilitates the induction programme for all ATU academic staff to support you in the technical and operational aspects of your teaching role.
Dr Seán Daffy sean.daffy@atu.ie
Dr Seán Daffy is a Learning Technologist at ATU, Galway-Mayo. With a background in Archaeology (PhD 2013), Seán taught undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in Landscape Archaeology and gained a special interest in the use of educational technology in field-based sciences. Pursuing this interest, Seán specialised in Technical Communication and E-Learning (MA 2017) and works on multidisciplinary projects with a focus on environmental education and sustainability. Sean is the GalwayMayo mentor lead on the academic induction programme.
Philip Walker philip.walker@atu.ie
Philip Walker is an Instructional Designer at ATU, Donegal. After training as a Primary teacher, Philip worked for 10 years as a Learning Technologist within the UK’s Higher Education sector. He has experience supporting online and campus-based programmes, built in Blackboard and on popular MOOC platforms. Philip’s interest lies in harnessing mixed media and emerging technologies to enhance learning experiences.
Patricia Henry patricia.henry@atu.ie
Ms. Patricia Henry is the Teaching & Learning Support Officer at ATU Sligo. Patricia coordinates the registration of all participants on the Online Academic Induction programme. Patricia also manages the Teams link for the live programme and follows up each week with recording links and resources. For any staff who have not been able to attend the live sessions or view the recordings, you can register your interest for attending the next programme roll-out with Patricia by emailing patricia.henry@atu.ie
1. Moodle
Moodle is the virtual learning environment (VLE) used to collaborate between the lecturer and the student. It is a learning management system providing a platform for e-learning and it helps the lecturer in conceptualising the various courses, course structures and curriculum thus facilitating interaction with full time and online students. Moodle can be accessed via the ATU website and any modules that you are registered on will be visible on your own Moodle page (you need to login using your ATU ID & password). To view the Moodle pages that you have access to, click on ‘Dashboard’ or hover your cursor over ‘My Course’ at the top right of the Moodle page.
The lecturer listed on the Moodle page has editing rights of the page. A student listed on the Moodle page does not. To edit the Moodle page:
• At the top right of page click ‘Turn editing on’. In the Galway-Mayo Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) click the ‘Pencil’ edit icon.
• The Moodle page can now be edited.
• To edit an activity or resource already on the page, click the drop-down arrow on ‘Edit’ to the left of the section.
• The drop down gives options (Edit settings, Move right, Hide, Duplicate, Assign Roles, Delete).
• Edit settings allows several changes that can be made depending on the type of activity or resource. For example, if the activity or resource is a file, this is where files can be added, deleted, changed and the file name can be edited. A file can be a PDF, MS Word, MS Excel, Zip Folder etc.
• To add a new activity or resource, click on ‘Add an activity or resource’ at the bottom left of each label.
• When you click on this, you will be given a list of activities or resource to choose from.
• Click on the appropriate activity or resource for your task.
• For example, if you are uploading lecture notes on to the Moodle page, click on ‘File’. Name the file in the box provided (e.g. Lecture 1 – Introduction). In the select files box, you can either click on the add files or folders green boxes or you can drag your file directly into the box. To do this, left click on the file you want to add, hold down the left button on the mouse and drag it into the box. Moodle will then automatically upload the file to the Moodle page.
• There are other various options that can be used too on this section. For example, ‘Restrict access’.
• Once complete, click on ‘Save and return to course’. The file or folder you added will now appear on your Moodle page, within the main label. A label is a main heading or tile. To rename a label, click on the small pen to the right of the label name and edit the text. Then click Enter on your keyboard and the new text will be saved.
• The add an activity or resource is where you can also add an assignment, attendance, Moodle quiz, Turnitin assignment, website URL, etc.
• To move a newly added activity or resource within the Moodle page, click on the small cross to the right of the activity or resource and it can be moved up or down anywhere on your Moodle page.
• To hide any section, activity, or resource on your Moodle page, click the ‘Edit’ arrow to the left of the activity and choose ‘Hide’. The student will not be able to see this activity in their view. In your view the text for the activity will be grey rather than green and there will also be a box below the activity stating ‘Hidden from students’. To make the activity visible to the students, click on the Edit arrow again and click on ‘Show’. This is where you can also delete an activity.
• Once editing is complete, click ‘Turn editing off’ at the top left of the Moodle page. In the Galway-Mayo VLE click the ‘Pencil’ edit icon again to turn editing off.
• To change view to see the view that the students have, click on the drop-down arrow beside your name at the very top left of the Moodle page and choose ‘Switch role to’. Then click on the ‘Student’ option.
• This will give you the student’s view. This is very useful, especially if you want to be sure that the students cannot see sections on the Moodle page that they should not be able to view yet. For example, an assignment which is not yet open.
• To return to your normal view, click on ‘Return to my normal role’ in the top middle of the Moodle page. In the Galway-Mayo VLE click on the drop-down arrow beside your name again and choose ‘Return to my normal role’.
• To change the Moodle page view, for example to Tiles, click on the settings wheel at the top left of the Moodle page. In the Galway-Mayo VLE the settings wheel is at the top right of the Moodle page. From the drop-down click on ‘Edit settings’ and choose ‘Course format’. From the box on the left of format, choose your format view. Once you have chosen your format, click on ‘Save and display’ at the bottom of the Moodle page.
• The section listed on the left-hand side of the Moodle page are the administration parts of the page. This is where a new block can be added (note: you must have editing turned on for the ‘add a block’ option to appear). For example, a Panopto block or an attendance block (Panopto block option unavailable in Galway-Mayo). To move any block up or down on the list, while editing is turned on, grab the small cross to the left of the settings wheel by left clicking on your keypad or mouse and hold and move.
• To view all the participants on your Moodle page, click on ‘Participants’ on the left administration section of the page. You and all students will be listed. You should be listed as ‘Lecturer’. If a student is not listed on the Moodle page, then they are not registered on the module. If this is the case, the student needs to go to the Admissions office and get registered. Until a student is registered they cannot access the VLE, take assessments or you cannot enter results into Banner.
2. Company Portal
• The Company Portal will be on your computer desktop.
• The Portal allows you to securely access and download apps for your day-to-day work as a lecturer.
• Examples of apps on the Portal include Panopto, Adobe Reader, Nitro Pro, Sandbox.
• To access the apps, open the Company Portal app from your desktop. The default screen is the ‘Home’ tab.
• Below this is the ‘Apps’ tab, which will list the apps available in ascending or alphabetical order. This filter can also be changed to descending, oldest, newest etc.
• You can also sort by category.
• Once you have found the app that you want to install, just click on the app and then click on ‘Install’ at the top right of the screen.
• The app will then download onto your desktop.
• To find the app after it is installed, click on the ‘Search’ button at the bottom left of your desktop home screen and type in the name of the app.
• From here you open the app or pin it to the computer taskbar.
3. Panopto Recordings
Note: Panopto is available for all ATU staff to download from the company portal. However the Galway-Mayo VLE does not have the Panopto block, and Panopto is not automatically installed on Galway-Mayo devices. Galway-Mayo Staff tend to use Teams to record classes and videos (See the Teams subsection ‘Teams at ATU Galway-Mayo’ below).
• Panopto is a platform which is administered by a third party to record your screen and any audio during the recording.
• Panopto records everything on your screen and the recording can be paused when being viewed. For this reason, do not show anything on your screen during the recording apart from the information related to your lecture. For example, email or MS Teams pop ups should be switched off during the recording because they will be clearly visible on the recording.
• Panopto can be accessed in two ways. The first is via the ATU Website under the staff Portal.
• If you don’t have a Panopto icon on your desktop, contact the Online, Flexible, and Professional Development (OFPD) department and one of the instructional designers will assist you to install the icon.
• To record, open the Panopto icon from your desktop.
• The default opening page is ‘Create New recording’.
• At the top of the Panopto page the default folder will be the academic year and your name. If you record, the recording will be saved in this location.
• You can change the location of where you want the recording to be saved. For example, under the Moodle page.
• However, because of provisioning Panopto to a specific Moodle page, this link can often have to be reprovisioned and can take time to reprovision. It’s best to keep the default folder for saving the recordings under your name for the academic year and moving the recording to the appropriate Moodle page folder after the recording is complete.
• The name of the recording can also be edited. For example, Lecture No. 1 Introduction to Module.
• On the left of the screen, there are drop-downs for Video, Audio and Quality.
• Panopto will pick up automatically, the default camera from your computer or laptop. Note, that if you choose to switch your camera on, this will make your recorded file larger and will take additional time to upload. If you use MS Teams to host your lecture, you can switch your video on here anyway and your video image will be recorded.
• Panopto will pick up your computer microphone automatically. However, if you use a headset with a microphone, you will need to go the drop-down and choose the external microphone. There will be less feedback from an external microphone. At the top left of the Panopto page, there is a microphone graphic which will show you if your microphone is working correctly going from green to yellow to red. Always check your microphone using the graphic prior to starting your recording. Otherwise, your voice may not be recorded, and you may have to do the entire recording again.
• The default Quality for Panopto is ‘High’. You can also choose standard or ultra. High quality is the best option.
• There is a check box below ‘Quality’ titled ‘Capture Computer Audio’. Check this box if you want other voices recorded as well as your own. For example, student input. If this box is not checked the student’s voices will not be recorded. Note, if you are using a docking station, make sure either the computer inbuilt microphone or the external microphone is used for the recording and not the docking station, otherwise the student’s voice will not be recorded as the docking stations have an inbuild microphone. Sometimes Panopto will automatically pick up the docking station as the microphone.
• Below this ‘Secondary Sources’ are listed. Capture PowerPoint, Main Screen and Second Screen. If you use Adobe Connect or MS Teams to carry out your lecture, there is no need to capture PowerPoint as Panopto is recording your screen anyway.
• If you choose ‘Capture Main Screen’ Panopto will record your main screen only, even if you are using more than one screen. To check what Panopto is recording, click on the box titled ‘Enable screen capture preview’ at the bottom of the Panopto screen. This will let you view exactly what Panopto is or will be recording.
• ‘Capture Second Screen’ will record a second screen if this is what you want recorded. If there is information on your second screen that you do not want to be recorded, make sure this box is not checked.
• At the bottom of the screen, set the ‘Resolution’ to 1920 x 180, the ‘fps’ to 15 and the ‘kbps’ to 1500.
• When you are ready to record, click the red ‘Record’ button at the top left of the Panopto screen. It’s good practice to let the students know that you will be recording prior to clicking the record button.
• You can pause the recording at any time during the recording by clicking the ‘Pause’ button beside the ‘Record Button’. To resume the recording again click the ‘Resume’ button.
• When you are finished the recording, click the ‘Stop’ button.
• A ‘Recording Complete’ box will appear. You can either delete and record again or click the ‘Done’ button. Your recording will now start uploading to your folder and you will be brought to the ‘Manage Recordings’ screen. This will take a few minutes depending on the length of time of the recording and your internet speed. Note that if you accidently switch off your computer or laptop before the recording is uploaded or lose internet connection, your recording will still upload in its own time when you are connected to the internet again.
• You can now move, edit, change the name etc., of you recording.
• Go to the ‘Manage Recordings’ tab at the top of the Panopto screen. All of your recordings will be listed, the most recent recording listed at the top.
• Click on ‘Manage My Recordings’ at the top of the screen in blue.
• This will open all recordings that you have access to including the recording you just completed.
• You can also search for your recording by clicking on the ‘Browse’ button on the left of the screen.
• In the ‘Search all folder’ box, type in the location folder of your recording which you previously set up in the ‘Create New Recording’ tab. For example, the academic year and your name (2022/23 ColinBirney: Colin Birney).
• When your recording is listed, you have various options.
• Settings, Share, Edit, Stats and Delete.
• In Settings, you can edit the name of the recording, the preview image, etc.
• In share, you can set who will have access to view the recording. This should be set to ‘Only specific people and groups’. In this way only those registered on your Moodle page will be able to view the recording. If you set this to ‘anyone who has the link’, then your recording can be viewed by anyone who has this link and downloaded.
• Edit will allow you to cut and crop the recording if required.
• Stats will show you amounts other thing, who has viewed the recording and for how long.
• Delete will permanently delete your recording.
• To move your recording to the Moodle page, check the box at the top left of the recording preview image and then click on ‘Move’.
• You can now choose the folder (Moodle page) that you want your recording to be visible.
• Once chosen, click on the ‘Move’ (green) button.
• Your recording will now be visible on the appropriate Moodle page.
• On the Moodle page, the recording will be visible under the ‘Panopto’ block.
• You can also place your recording under a label within your Moodle page. To do this:
• Open Panopto App.
• Click Manage Recordings.
• Click Manage My Recordings.
• Locate the Recording you want to Embed.
• If you want to change the Image of the recordings, click Settings, at Preview Image, click Edit and upload the background that you want via Choose File. Click Save before closing.
• After closing this window, click on Share.
• Click on Embed.
• Set the Width to 668.
• Click Copy Embed Code.
• Open the Moodle page you want to embed the recording.
• Turn editing on.
• Click Add an activity or resource in the desired location on the Moodle page.
• Click on Label.
• You will get this view.
• If you don’t have this view, contact one of the Instructional Designers and they will set you up with the appropriate view.
• Click on the Expand arrow
• You will then get this view.
• Click on the HDML button.
• You will get this view.
• Delete the code that is displayed.
• Paste in the embedded code that you copied.
• Then Save and Return to Course.
4. Timetables
• You can view both your own timetable and the student’s timetables on the ATU website.
• Open the website and click on ‘Staff Portal’.
• Below the main tiles ‘Timetables’ will be listed. Note that the exact location of timetables on the website will often move.
• Click on ‘Timetables’.
• The default screen will be the Staff Timetables.
• Put in your Staff ID. Keep the Timetable layout at Grid Format. You can choose ‘This Week’, Semester 1 or 2 or a specific date from the drop-down. Choose all week, weekdays or a specific day from the ‘Days to View’ drop-down. Choose the start and end time.
• When complete, click on ‘View Timetable’.
• Your pre-populated timetable will be displayed showing days and times of your lectures, the room allocation and the student cohort. This timetable is pre-populated by your Head of Department and the timetables office.
• Note, check your timetable regularly as changes are sometimes made particularly at the start of a semester.
• To view the student’s timetable, click on ‘Students’ at the top of the webpage.
• Then click on ‘My Timetable’.
• There are a series of drop-down filters to choose from.
• Chose a Department, a Student Group, Layout, Weeks etc.
• Click on ‘View Timetable’.
• This will display the chosen student cohort’s timetable showing the days and times of the modules, the room allocation, and the name of the lecturer.
• You can also check the timetable for individual rooms.
• Below the ‘Timetable’ button, you can click on rooms by dept. and rooms by zone.
• If you click on ‘Rooms by Zone’, you can filter by block, and then by individual room.
• In this way, you can see if a particular room at a specific time and day is available during any week of the academic year. This is useful if lab work using computers is necessary.
5. OneDrive
• OneDrive is a cloud-based file saving system, which is operated by Microsoft and all files saved in OneDrive are securely saved and backed up by Microsoft.
• OneDrive files can be accessed using any device that has an internet connection.
• Lecturers have 1Terabyte (1,000,000 megabytes) of storage and students have 0.5Terabytes on OneDrive.
• OneDrive can be accessed through the ATU website, Staff Portal.
• Click on ATU Staff Hub and the One Drive app will be located at the top row.
• OneDrive should be listed on the left-hand side list of apps.
• If it’s not listed, click on the cube dots above the app and it will be listed here. Click on the OneDrive icon.
• This is where files and folders can be viewed or uploaded, and new folders can be created.
• In this web page, OneDrive can also be synchronised with your computer so that the files and folders can be saved and viewed similar to the Desktop of a computer. This means that you do not have to open the web-based system each time you want to save or view files on OneDrive.
• You can also synchronise OneDrive with the computers in each classroom and only takes a few minutes for the synchronisation to take complete.
• OneDrive only needs to be synchronised once with each computer or device.
• To synchronise with your computer or device, click on the ‘Sync’ button at the top of the OneDrive screen and follow the instructions.
• For OneDrive to work, you must be connected to the internet, otherwise files and folders cannot be saved or viewed.
6. Microsoft Teams
• Microsoft Teams (MS Teams) is a communications platform, useful for hosting online meetings, making direct audio and video calls and sharing files and folders.
• MS Teams can be used for online lectures.
• To set up a new meeting, click on the Calendar tab on the left-hand side and then click on the ‘New meeting’ button on the top right-hand corner of the main page.
• Here you can add the title of your meeting, add attendees (via their email address), and set a date and time for your meeting.
• You can also set up recurring meeting by using the drop-down ‘Does not repeat’. Here you will be given a few options. One option includes ‘Custom’ where you can set a start date, an end date and repeats daily or weekly. This is useful when setting up online lecture links.
• Once you have added your attendees, you can click the ‘Send’ button and whoever is listed on the attendees list will receive an email where they can accept of decline your invitation to your meeting.
• If they accept your invitation, your meeting link will automatically drop into their own MS Teams calendar.
• To get the meeting link you must input at least one attendee. However, Microsoft Outlook can also be used to set up MS Teams meetings without adding any attendees. Open Outlook and open the Calendar tab. Click on the day and time of the meeting you want to create. Then click on the ‘New Teams Meeting’ tab at the top of the Outlook screen. Here you can enter the Title of the meeting and save by clicking on File and Save. This will automatically set up a meeting on MS Team platform. This will take a minute or two to sync. Once the meeting is added to the MS Teams platform, you can get the link by right clicking on the meeting without opening it and click on ‘Copy link’.
• You can now send the meeting link by email to the attendees who you want to attend.
• For an online lecture, you can upload the link to your meeting(s), onto the Moodle page by using the ‘Add an activity or resource’ and adding the link as an URL.
• To start the meeting, double click on the meeting on MS Teams calendar and then click on ‘Join’ at the top right-hand corner.
• Before you join the meeting, you will be asked to switch on your microphone and your camera.
• Your camera has Background filters.
• To activate Background Filters, turn on your camera and click on ‘Background filters’.
• You will be presented with Background Filter options on the left-hand side of your screen.
• You can also add your own Background Filter by clicking on ‘Add new’ at the top of the filters.
• By having a Background Filter, the other attendees on the meeting will see you but not anything in the background behind you. They will only see you and the filter you have chosen.
• By having a Background Filter, the other attendees on the meeting will see you but not anything in the background behind you. They will only see you and the filter you have chosen.
• Click ‘Join now’ button and the meeting will start. All other attendees who have joined the meeting via their own MS Teams will be visible to you on the screen.
• You can turn off or on your microphone or camera at any time by clicking on the appropriate icon at the top taskbar.
• Click ‘Join now’ button and the meeting will start. All other attendees who have joined the meeting via their own MS Teams will be visible to you on the screen.
• You can record the meeting on MS Teams by clicking the 3 dots on the top taskbar and then ‘Start recording’.
• You can turn off or on your microphone or camera at any time by clicking on the appropriate icon at the top taskbar.
• To end the recording, click on the 3 dots again and ‘Stop recording’.
• You can record the meeting on MS Teams by clicking the 3 dots on the top taskbar and then ‘Start recording’.
• To end the recording, click on the 3 dots again and ‘Stop recording’.
• Once the recording is stopped, the recording will automatically be uploaded on to MS Teams in the Chat tab on the left-hand side. By clicking on the 3 dots beside the recording, you can open the recording, share, copy the link to the recording etc. However, it is not recommended to use the MS Teams for recording online lectures as there are issues with giving viewing access to students. Students often must request access to view the recording and you will receive an email whereby you will grant access. If you have a lot of students, this will be a lot of emails. For this reason, it’s recommended that you use Panopto to record all online lectures.
• During a meeting or online lecture, you can split the students into breakout rooms.
• Once the recording is stopped, the recording will automatically be uploaded on to MS Teams in the Chat tab on the left-hand side. By clicking on the 3 dots beside the recording, you can open the recording, share, copy the link to the recording etc. However, it is not recommended to use the MS Teams for recording online lectures as there are issues with giving viewing access to students Students often must request access to view the recording and you will receive an email whereby you will grant access. If you have a lot of students, this will be a lot of emails. For this reason, it’s recommended that you use Panopto to record all online lectures.
• During a meeting or online lecture, you can split the students into breakout rooms.
• To do this, click on the ‘Rooms’ tab on the top taskbar and ‘Breakout rooms’.
• To do this, click on the ‘Rooms’ tab on the top taskbar and ‘Breakout rooms’.
• Once you click this button, you can either automatically or manually assign participants to a room. You can also insert the number of rooms you need in the dropdown. Note that if you are the only person in the room, you cannot assign participants. Assignment to rooms can only be done with those already in the main meeting room.
• Once you click this button, you can either automatically or manually assign participants to a room. You can also insert the number of rooms you need in the dropdown. Note that if you are the only person in the room, you cannot assign participants. Assignment to rooms can only be done with those already in the main meeting room.
• Once you chose either automatically or manually, click the ‘Create Rooms’ button.
• Once you chose either automatically or manually, click the ‘Create Rooms’ button.
• The Breakout Rooms are now set up on the right-hand side of the screen.
• The Breakout Rooms are now set up on the right-hand side of the screen.
• Under the ‘Assign participants’, the names of all of those on the meeting will be listed, except for your own name as you are the administrator.
• Under the ‘Assign participants’, the names of all of those on the meeting will be listed, except for your own name as you are the administrator.
• Click on the ‘Assign participants’ drop-down arrow and check the box against each participant for each room.
• Click on the ‘Assign participants’ drop-down arrow and check the box against each participant for each room.
• Check the names of the participants you want in each room. The ‘Assign’ button will light up. When you have all the participants checked, click on the ‘Assign’ button and pick a room for them to go into. The participants will each be now automatically placed into the room that you assigned.
• Keep doing until there are no names left, so that you know every participant has been assigned a room. The number of participants in each room will be displayed against the Room number.
• Check the names of the participants you want in each room. The ‘Assign’ button will light up. When you have all the participants checked, click on the ‘Assign’ button and pick a room for them to go into. The participants will each be now automatically placed into the room that you assigned.
• At this stage none of the rooms are open yet and all the participants are still in the main meeting room.
• Keep doing until there are no names left, so that you know every participant has been assigned a room. The number of participants in each room will be displayed against the room number.
• Once you have done this, hover over the ‘CLOSED’ button for each room and three dots will appear. Under this is listed more options and ‘Open room’.
• At this stage none of the rooms are open yet and all the participants are still in the main meeting room.
• Once you have done this, hover over the ‘CLOSED’ button for each room and three dots will appear. Under this is listed more options and ‘Open room’.
• Click on ‘Open room’ and the rooms will automatically open with the participants placed automatically in each of their assigned rooms.
• Each room will display ‘Opening’. Wait a few seconds and then each room will open. Once open, the button will change to ‘OPEN’ and colour green.
• The participants are now in each of their individual rooms.
• You as the administrator can now join and leave any of the rooms as you wish.
• Hover over the ‘OPEN’ button highlighted in green. Three dots will appear and under this ‘Join room’. Click on the ‘Join room’ button. You can also rename the room or close the room.
• Once you click ‘Join room’ you are now a participant in the room with the others there.
• You can leave the room by clicking ‘Leave’ coloured red at the top right of the room.
• To end the breakout rooms and bring everyone back into the main meeting room click the ‘Close rooms’ button beside manage rooms.
• After a few seconds, the rooms will start closing.
• Click the ‘Resume’ button at the top of your screen.
• All participants will now be automatically dropped back in the main meeting room and the breakout rooms will be closed.
• Every participant at the meeting is now back in the main room again.
• Teams can be used to share files and folders by using the ‘Teams’ tab on the left-hand side of the MS Teams screen.
• Here, you can join or create a team.
• When you create a team, you can name the team and add members to the team you have created.
• You and all members can add and delete files and folders to the team, which can then be viewed and downloaded by all members of the team.
• Similarly, if you have been added to a team, created by someone else, you can add, delete, view and download any file or folder.
• To access files and folders, when you click on a ‘Team’, the default view is any posts that have been inputted by any member of the team. At the top of the screen beside ‘General’ ‘Posts’ and ‘Files’ buttons are available. Click on the ‘Files’ button and this is the location for adding, deleting, viewing, and downloading files and folders by any member of the team.
• To add members to a team for which you are the owner (i.e., the person who created the team), open the team and click on the 3 dots beside the team’s name.
• You will be given a list of options.
• To add a member or remove a member, you can either click on ‘Manage team’ or ‘Add member’.
Teams at ATU Galway Mayo
• When you request a Moodle course in the ATU Galway Mayo VLE an MS Team with the same name is automatically created.
• Anyone who enrols on the Moodle course is automatically made a member of this team and module teachers are made Team owners.
• When you schedule meetings within this Team, every member automatically receives the meeting invite and sees the meeting in their calendar (there is no need to add them as participants when you create the meeting).
• If you record these meetings the recording will automatically be saved in the channel ‘Files’ tab in a folder called ‘Recordings’. A meeting transcript is also automatically generated. It is a good idea to give the recoding a meaningful name (topic or week number) as soon as possible.
• The recoding is automatically ‘read only’ (cannot be downloaded or edited) for Team members.
• If you want to share the recording, download it, or manage/remove access you can click on the recording to open it in MS Stream. There you can download the video by clicking on the ellipses (…) above the video screen or share and manage access by clicking on the ‘Share’ button on the top right of the screen.
• The share options allow you to stop sharing or to get a link or embed code that you can add to your Moodle page.
7. Lecture Plan
• Students must receive an assessment plan at the beginning of each semester.
• A lecture plan is not a requirement for a lecturer.
• However, it is useful for planning out your semester for each module by scheduling a lecture or lectures for each week of the semester, scheduling when continuous assessment will be given and hand-up dates, and any non-teaching weeks.
• It’s also useful to show the students this lecture plan at an introduction lecture for each module. In this way, the students are aware of what lectures will be delivered each week, how many continuous assessments will be given and when they will be given.
• Feedback from students has confirmed that they find this lecture plan very helpful to understand from week one what to expect for the entire semester.
• It’s also best to say to the students that the plan is subject to change over the semester, but not dramatically. Perhaps, lectures may be delivered in a different week or continuous assessment dates may change to accommodate overload of work due to other modules.
8. Self Service Banner
• Self Service Banner is the platform used for uploading electronic exams and continuous assessment grades by the lecturer / internal examiner.
• The Self Service Banner can be accessed from the ATU Staff Portal.
• When you click on Self Service Banner on the Staff Portal, you will be given 3 options. Choose ‘Faculty Grade Entry’.
• You will then be brought to the screen for grade entry.
• The default view is ‘Final Grades’. You need to click on ‘Gradebook’ at the top left of the screen to enter component grades.
• On this screen you will see the programme, the module name, the academic year and the Cross Reference Number (CRM) number.
• If your module or CRN is not included on your list, contact your depart administrator and they will add you to the appropriate module and CRN.
• Click on the module for which you want to enter grades.
• ‘Composite Grades’ and ‘Components’ will now highlight in green.
• Click on ‘Components’ to enter grades.
• Hover over the required component assessment, which will highlight (e.g., continuous assessment and final exam).
• Click on the required component, and the Gradebook will appear, allowing you to enter grades.
• Enter the grade in the ‘Score box’.
• Enter the grade out of 100%. Meaning, if the continuous assessment for your module is 40% and the student has achieved 75% out of 100% for continuous assessment, enter 75% and not 30%. Self Service banner will make the adjustment for the 40% weighting.
• When all grades have been entered click on the ‘Save’ button.
• To view the grades, click on ‘Composite Grades’.
• This will display the students name and number and the overall final grade.
• If a student is not listed on Self Service banner, the student is not properly registered. The student will need to contact Admissions directly and get themselves registered. Otherwise, the student will not be listed on the Exam Broad Sheet and will not receive a result.
• The grades for each student which you have entered into Self Service banner will appear on the Exam Broad Sheet for the exam board meetings.
9. GURU
• GURU is the platform for uploading your exam papers and your continuous assessment.
• Please click on the following link for an introductory video to GURUhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrnCQD0BxQA
• GURU can be accessed from all ATU Staff from the following links:
ATU Donegal GURU
ATU Sligo & St. Angela's GURU
ATU Galway GURU
• When you click on ‘GURU’ you will have two buttons. ATU Staff Login and External Examiner Login. Click on the ‘ATU Staff Login’ button.
• Your modules will be listed on the left-hand side of the screen and on the main screen within the ‘My Modules’ tile.
• If your module is not listed, you can search at the top left of the page.
• All modules will be listed with the module code and the module CRN number.
• Note that there are separate CRN numbers for full time and part time student cohorts and for repeat exams. For grade entry but only one exam paper per module code allowed for each exam session.
• Click on a module for which you are the internal examiner.
• On this screen you will have tabs for module info., examination papers, module descriptor, continuous assessment and reports.
• Examination papers allows you to generate exam and solutions templates for the exam and repeat exam and upload the exam papers.
• Module descriptor displays the final module descriptor for the module. It can be downloaded from Academic Module Manager (AMM) and it's a good idea to upload to the module page in Moodle so that the students an view it.
• You can upload continuous assessments for the module in the ‘Continuous ‘Assessment’ tile.
• In the ‘Reports’ tile you can view current and past external examiner reports on the programme.
• To download the exam and solutions templates for the exam and repeat exams, click on the ‘Examinations Papers’ tile.
• You will see either January or June template and August template.
• When you click on the appropriate month, there are several options which you must populate prior to downloading the exam paper template.
• The first is to select any additional requirement for when the students are sitting the exam, so that the exam invigilator is aware of these additional requirements. Otherwise, the invigilator will not allow these additional requirements during the exam. So that the exam invigilator is aware of these additional requirements.
• The next is to state the number of questions on the exam paper and how many have to be answered.
• Lastly chose a password. Remember this password, otherwise, you will not be able to open the exam paper again.
• You can then download the exam template and the solution template.
• The template will be in a MS Word file and can be edited by you.
• You must also complete the exam solutions, which are the outline answers the students would have to give for each question to attain 100%. The external examiner can then see if the grade given by you is appropriate to the answer given by the student.
• Once you have completed both templates, you must now upload to GURU.
• Click on ‘Step 2: Upload Examination Papers’.
• You can click and drag your completed work into the appropriate tile. Note, there are four templates. 1 – exam, 2 – exam solutions, 3 – repeat exam, and 4 – repeat exam solutions.
• When you drag your template into the appropriate tile you will be given the option to view and confirm your work. Once you do this, the MS Word file will be converted to a pdf file.
• The external examiner will now have access to your exam papers and solutions via the GURU system. They may come back with comments on your work. These comments are recommendations only and you can either accept the recommendations or leave your questions as they are.
• Continuous assessment can be uploaded to GURU by opening the ‘Continuous Assessment’ tab and click the ‘Add a Module Resource’ button. The external examiner can view your continuous assessment uploads.
• The exams office will print the exam papers that you have uploaded and these are the exam scripts that the students will sit.
• The maximum duration for an exam for a 5 ects module is 2 hours.
10. Exam Board Meetings
Click on the following link for the current Marks & Standards Policy.
There are 4 exam board meetings in an academic year.
1. Winter pre-exam board;
2. Summer pre-exam board;
3. Summer Final Exam Board in June;
4. Autumn repeat Exam Board in September.
• As an internal examiner, it is mandatory that you attend all exam board meetings.
• The external examiner(s) must review samples of the students work prior to the final exam board meeting. The internal examiner must make the samples available to the external examiner. One of the duties of the external examiner is to attend the final exam board meeting and to write up a report on the status of the programme following the meeting. There must be at least one external examiner for each programme but preferably two. One from industry and one from academia.
• At the exam board meeting, the Broadsheet of Examination Results are read through, normally by each year coordinator, depending on the stage.
• The Broadsheet of Examination Results is the complete list of all students and their grades for all modules for an academic year.
• The student’s names are listed alphabetically (surname) starting at stage 1 (first year) and the grades for each module for each semester.
• The grade is the main number in the middle of each box.
• If the grade has a bracket around it, it was passed in a previous academic year and the student had other modules to repeat.
• The five-digit number above the grade is the module CRN number.
• If there is a small number at the bottom left-hand corner of the box, this is the number of attempts the student has taken for this module. Currently, the maximum number of attempts that a student can have for a module is five.
• If a student passes a module, they are exempted from further assessment in that module.
• To the left-hand side of the result, the student’s Grade Points Average (GPA) is listed. This is the average grade for all the modules for the academic year.
• In an award year, the GPA will determine what award the student will receive.
• Also listed are the number of credits that a student has attained to date from all their years of study.
• There are 60 credits for each stage of the programme. Therefore, for example, if a student has 55 credits for stage 1, then they have failed one of their modules.
11.
Project Book
• Following the final exam board meeting in June, if a student fails a module at the end of a semester, they have an opportunity to repeat an exam or continuous assessment or both in August. For example, if a student passes their continuous assessment (a grade above 40% out of 100% for continuous assessment only) but their overall result is below 40% because their exam grade is low, the student has failed the module. However, they do not have to repeat the continuous assessment. They must repeat the exam only to pass. However, some modules may state that the continuous assessment and the exam must be passed. This will be stated in the module descriptor for each module.
• This is communicated to the student by means of a Project Book/Repeat Assignment.
• The Project Book is completed by you, the internal examiner in a MS Word file and uploaded to a shared folder as a pdf file, named and saved as the student’s name the student’s number and your name.
• The shared folder location and the Project Book template for each academic year will be emailed to you prior to the issuing of the Project Books to those students who have failed a module.
• Project Books will be issued to the students.
12. Application to Extend Continuous Assessment Deadline
• A student can apply for an extension of time to the continuous assessment deadline.
• To do this, the student must make an application to extend the deadline using the appropriate form.
• The form which must be used is the EXAM030 and can be found at the following link.
• Click on the following link for the EXAM030 Extension to Deadline Procedure.
• The EXAM030 form is available to staff and students on the ATU Website.
• For staff the form is available in ‘Staff Portal’, then ‘Sligo Document Store’.
• An extension of time to a continuous assessment can only be granted for specific grounds. These being:
1. Health - medical certificate required or Student Health Service letter
2. Unforeseen external work commitments - letter from employer to that sentence
3. Other - family circumstances, personal circumstances, significant religious/cultural circumstances and financial hardship
• The application must be made no later than 4 days before the assignment is due by the student to the lecturer.
• The lecturer then either accepts or rejects the application giving reasons.
• The lecturer also gives a revised due date if the application is approved, signs it and returns the form to the student.
13. Email Signature
• As a member of staff in ATU, it’s important that you use the correct email signature on MS Outlook.
• Below is the current email signature template for ATU Sligo:
<<First Name>> <<Surname>> <<Title>>
Ollscoil TeicneolaÃochta an Atlantaigh OTA Sligeach, Lána na Fuinseoige, Sligeach, F91 YW50, Éire
Confidentiality Note: The information contained in this email and any attachments to it may be legally privileged and include confidential information. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately of that fact.
• Edit the following details in the Signature above to include your personal details:
• First Name, Second Name, Title, and Telephone Extension.
• To edit your Signature through Outlook:
• From the main Microsoft Outlook window, click on file, click Options, and then click the Mail tab (on left hand side).
• In the list find where it says Create or Modify signatures for messages and click the tab Signature.
• Where it says ‘Select Signature to edit’ you will see a number of boxes – Delete, New, Save & Rename.
• Click ‘New’.
• Type a Name for this Signature – include a suitable name e.g. External Signature.
• Copy and paste all of the edited text below (Review spacing to ensure that all the text is aligned in your signature).
14. IT Helpdesk
• If you have an IT issue, you can contact IT Services via the ATU website.
• On the ATU Website, click on ‘Staff Portal’.
• Then click on the relevant location tile and then IT Helpdesk.
• In this page you log a request, view solutions, and view your software licenses.
• To log a request, click on the ‘Log a Request’ button.
• In this page, select a category, type in a subject and a description of the issue.
• Then click on ‘Add Request’ at the bottom of the page.
• Your request is automatically issued to IT Services.
• An automatic email will be sent to you with a ticket reference number.
• In this way, the issued logged by you must be closed out.
• This is the only mechanism to contact IT Services with an IT issue. Do not email IT Services directly as your email may not be responded to and you will not receive a ticket reference number.
15. Online Library
• ATU provides an online library for staff as well as the physical library.
• To access the online library, go to the ATU website and click on ‘Staff Portal’.
• Then click on ‘Library’.
• You will be brought to the search page.
• In this page, you can type in the keyword for the book, article, journal that you want to view.
• A list of online books, articles, and journals available based on your keyword will be displayed.
• Click on the document that you want to view, and it will open for you to view.
• Due to copyright, you will not be able to download the document.
• ATU has a very large library of books, articles, and journals.
16. Core Portal
• Core portal is the platform where you can view your staff profile, your expenses, your pay, any training you carried out in relation to ATU, and your pension.
• You can view your tax details under the ‘Pay’ tab. Here you will see your PPS number and your tax credits.
• For any ATU related expense claims can be claimed using the Core Portal.
17. Academic Module Manager (AMM)
• All modules must be written up by lecturing staff to produce the module descriptor for each module.
• The module descriptor follows a standard format.
• Modules are generally drafted during a programmatic review.
• The programmatic review happens after a specific period of time depending on the programme. For example, every 5 years.
• The programmatic review is a review of the overall programme taking account of student, lecturing staff and external employer feedback.
• As a result of the feedback, new modules may be drafted, obsoleted or existing modules revised.
• Modules can also be revised between programmatic reviews.
• Academic Module Manager is the platform used to write up new modules or revise existing modules.
• To access Module manager, open the ATU Sligo website, then ‘Staff Portal’, then ‘Module Manager’.
• There is an Academic Module Manager users guide available to take you step by step through how to use Module manager. This is available in the application.
• When writing up the module descriptor, you will be asked to write up the indicative syllabus and learning outcomes for the module.
• Note that appropriate verbs should be used when writing up the learning outcomes. Bloom’s Taxonomy will help with this.
• The percentage for continuous assessment and exams, contact hours with the students, independent student learning, and reading material is determined within the module descriptor.
• Once written up by the lecturer, the module descriptor must be approved by the Head of Department and validated before it can be used.
• Module Manager is also used to build new programmes as part of the programmatic review process.
• It is during the programme build that the learning outcomes of all the new or revised modules are mapped against a standard set of learning outcomes relevant to the programme and the individual modules.
• Information inputted into Module Manager will automatically form the information related to the programme within the ATU website.
• The approved learning outcomes, curriculum and delivery of each module is set out in the module descriptor in AMM.
• Each lecturer must deliver and assess the module as outlined in the approved module descriptor.
18. Online, Flexible & Professional Development (OFPD)
• OFPD provides training, support, and instructional design services for all staff.
• OFPD provides a lot of resources on the OFPD Moodle page, which is available to all academic staff by means of documents and pre-recorded instructional videos.
• The instructional design team are also available for one-to-one advice and provide exemplar advice in all areas of online teaching and learning.
• The new Teaching & Learning Sharepoint site is now available to all ATU staff. The new ATU Teaching & Learning website is currently under construction and will be available to all staff in the near future.
• The Teaching and Learning Centre is committed through the delivery of workshops, seminars and digital badge attainment in providing an effective Institutional approach to teaching, learning and assessment through a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) lens.
• It is our aim to support staff with engagement in their teaching and learning from the outset of module/programme development and in their teaching role.
• We have also established academic support centres (Maths, Engineering, Academic Writing and English Language) to support students with their learning, progression and success.
20. Frequently Asked Questions
What is the procedure for collection of exam papers?
• An email will be sent from the exam’s office with a room location and collection times as soon as the exam session has started. Collect in person or nominate in writing a person to collect, (email to examinations.sligo@atu.ie).
• Confirm that you have the right number of scripts before you leave the collection room.
• The examinations office does not arrange the posting or couriering of examination scripts.
• If collecting on behalf of a lecturer, the nominated collector must sign out on their behalf agreeing the ‘Record of Examinations Scripts’ sheet is reconciled with the number of scripts in the relevant envelope.
Do I need to be present for my exams?
If the exam is run during normal working days, then you should attend the exams centre 10-15 minutes after the exam has started to check the correct paper is distributed and there are no queries on the paper. Each lecturer must be available on campus or contactable through their office phone or through Microsoft teams for the duration of the examination. The lecturer must be contactable should any queries arise on the examination paper that cannot be easily clarified by an examination officer.
A lecturer may attend a venue to check a paper in accordance with local arrangements but must not enter the venue during the first 15 minutes of the exam. Examiners should not remain in the exam hall any longer than 10 to 15 minutes.
If the exam is run during annual leave days, then you are not obliged to attend, however many lecturers will check in. If a student raises their hand, you must speak to them in the presence of an invigilator. You must be very careful to clarify the paper only and not provide any direction to the student as to how to answer.
When do I need to submit my exam results?
The date for all results to be in Self Service Banner is highlighted on the academic calendar. A reminder is usually sent through the faculty. All results must be entered on Banner before that time.
How do I claim for exam corrections?
A link to the automated form is in the Document Store.
Claims are processed twice yearly, once after S1 and the processing of the claims for exams scripts following semester 2 examinations is not processed until after the August exam session, usually around end of September/October time.
Please note that each semester the Academic Induction Guide will be updated to reflect any new processes, systems, or information as we continue to integrate changes across all ATU.
The front cover of the guide will clearly indicate the semester it aligns too. The Guide is also available in digital & pdf formats on the Teaching and Learning Centre Academic Induction Moodle Page. Please note that each semester the Academic Induction Guide will be updated to reflect any new processes, systems, or information as we continue to integrate changes across all ATU. The front cover of the guide will clearly indicate the semester it aligns too. The Guide is also available in digital & pdf formats on the Teaching and Learning Centre Academic Induction Moodle Page.
Please note:
• The form can only be used to submit claims for the marking of examination scripts i.e. scripts that arise from exams scheduled by the examinations office and published on the exam timetable.
• To claim for marking of CA, Labs, thesis etc there is another claim form administered by your faculty.
• If your exam was not in the exam schedule it will not be included in the lists below.
