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The employability strand has been added to the Steps to Success programme highlighting the importance career planning plays as a prominent part of student expectations of their university experience. To help address this the Learning Services team have developed a programme that enables students to enhance their digital presence, and information literacy skills for the workplace. Sessions include how to manage your digital footprint, present yourself online and create an online profile, how to carry out research and present information in the workplace. It also includes how to develop an action plan to improve your digital and information literacy skills at work. The sessions also consider employer expectations of new graduates, and a taster session on ECDL.The more traditional Steps to Academic Success strand offers sessions on planning, researching and writing a dissertation, finding journal articles using Discover More, developing reading and academic writing, critical analysis and assignment planning, and Harvard referencing.

It is envisaged that students attending the Routemaster sessions will increase their awareness of the academic skills required for university work and raise their awareness of digital and information literacies in preparation for employment and success in the workplace.The Routemaster programme has been extensively publicised on web pages, plasma screens, blogs and social media.The full programme is available on the Learning Services web pages (click on assignment help: support and workshops: your route to success). There are a number of repeat sessions to offer flexibility and a choice of date.If you would like to discuss developing any of the Routemaster sessions into bespoke sessions for your students, please contact your Liaison Librarian, who can work with you to develop sessions aimed at specific subject and year groups.

If you would like to build up your own expertise in the areas covered by Steps to Employability, similar sessions are offered to staff through the Developing Digital Excellence programme.

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FacultyFocusThe Learning Services newsletter for the Faculty of Education, Health & Social Care and Arts & Sciences

Routemaster: Steps to success in academic skills and employabilityLearning Services have developed the ‘Routemaster: Your Route to Success’ programme for 2013/14 with two themed strands to help students develop their study and research techniques, and their awareness of employability issues. The two themed strands are entitled Steps to Academic Success and Steps to Employability respectively.

NEW FO

R 2014

STOP PRESS...

The programme timetable ~

Add a book…At the start of January 2014 we are launching a new service to improve access to the resources you need.

If there is a book we don’t hold in one of our libraries and you need it for your course, you will be able to request it via an online form and we will try our best to get a copy. The service will be open to everyone.More information about this new service will be available in January.

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The Education Resource Collection (ERC): a new location, a new look

During summer 2013 the education resource collection or ERC was relocated to the first floor of the University library. This material complements our subject web links to classroom resources and is well used by trainees. We’ve spoken to Andy Tomkins, the liaison librarian for education about the move.

What is the collection and why move it?The resource collection aims to provide material to enhance placements and offers books, DVDs, kits, worksheets and posters relevant for all ages up to and including GCSE. For several years it was spread across the ground floor of the Ormskirk library and we were keen to seize the opportunity to bring it together on the first floor.

It looks different- what’s new?We’ve given the whole collection a fresh look with a colour co-ordinated theme- new shelf ends, furniture, display areas. We’ve also invested in smart modern packaging to make the resources more attractive.One focus is the newly created phonics collection, designed to allow trainees to browse the schemes they will find in schools.

How can tutors get involved?We are always keen to receive ideas for materials, tutors are best placed to know what will aid trainees with their placements. There is also a tutor role in promoting and using the collection with groups in order to build trainee confidence.

What are your strangest items?Probably the artefacts- we have costumes, Tudor toys and even a snake- if it can be packaged and issued, we’ll stock it!

Staff move to Creative Edge The Media Development Team has moved to the new Creative Edge building, where they are based on the ground floor in a shared office space with technical support staff from the Department of Media and Department of Computing.

If you want to find us, our room number is G006 with a new name on the door - Creative Media Support.We are pleased to welcome Ian Steel who joined us in September as our new studio manager and will lead the Media Development Team. Ian is also based in our new office space in Creative Edge.Creative Edge houses 2 television studios and specialist media suites. The studios are based on 2 floors, the broadcast studio on the ground floor, and the Multipurpose studio (MPS) on the first floor.As part of the new build, the brief was to design one of these studios to a broadcast standard model, to include a media networked file based storage solution to allow collaborative work across the specialist media teaching spaces. Work can also be recorded within the studios and then edited within the specialist teaching spaces without the need for video tape, or hard drives. This new media asset management system and amazing broadcast studio is an exceptional resource for Edge Hill staff and students. The broadcast studio is now being heavily used by students, and after Christmas we would be delighted to show you around this high quality installation.Other facilities in Creative Edge include off-air recording facilities which are based on the lower ground floor, along with two audio suites, and individual editing booths situated on the second floor.

Media EquipmentMany of you will be aware that the media equipment has moved from the LINC to the Library. We have also introduced a range of improvements following customer feedback, these include:

• Trollies for loan which can be taken on location with you• Longer loans available through a renewal option• New JVC SDHD cameras• Extended access to the kit - the Library desk is open more than 28 hrs longer than the LINC• Monday - Friday 8.00am-9pm, Saturday & Sunday 11am-6pm• Additional batteries available to reduce the amount of time equipment is unavailable

These improvements will help staff and students to borrow equipment quicker than before.If your students are unsure as to which cameras and associated peripherals we loan, they can visit: edgehill.ac.uk/ls/subject/media for a full pictured list of the equipment and whom can borrow each piece. Anyone with any important filming or training is also able to request equipment via the online form at: edgehill.ac.uk/ls/subject/media/equipment-booking please give 3 days’ notice to use this feature.

The Learning Services newsletter for the Faculty of Education, Health & Social Care and Arts & SciencesDecember 2013

|The new £18m Creative Edge building houses our high-definition television studios.

Your starter for 4.19 and above:Learning Services support for the National Students Survey

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ehu.ac.uk/askus

Ask UsIn May 2013 Learning Services launched its new searchable knowledge base – Ask Us www.ehu.ac.uk/askus

Working with you we can…

D Discuss with you and your colleagues your perceptions of what works and what doesn’t D Give you intelligence on what is popular, where there are peaks of demand or low levels of usage D Work with you to remodel reading lists. This might include buying more stock, updating editions

and focussing on what is essential at key points during a semester D Improve the levels of integration in your BlackBoard sections and signpost students more directly

to reading list items, digitised material or electronic resources

How can we help?

It can be tricky unpicking why students score Learning Resources lower than predicted. To help you work with us and your students to identify what interventions might be used to improve the scores we have drafted a menu of suggested activities.

The aim of Ask Us is to provide all our customers with easy access to a range of help and support at point of need, 24 hours a day. Ask Us has over 140 questions/answers within the database and is growing each month. Ask Us also provides an option to chat live with customers and receive and respond to enquiries via text message. Since the product was launched on the 13th of May we have seen our question/answers viewed over 1,700 times.Analysis of the October statistics showed that over 43% of customers are finding the answer to their question within the knowledge base without having to contact us directly. This means that they can quickly get back to their study without having to pick up the phone, or wait for a response to an email. For answers that are not already in the knowledge base, the average turnaround time for replies in October was just over 4 hours.

The Learning Services newsletter for the Faculty of Education, Health & Social Care and Arts & Sciences

Working with your students we can….

D Set up Q and A sessions with your students to identify problem ‘hot spots’ D Provide information literacy sessions to students in all years and levels to increase

awareness of resources; finding, applying and citing them accurately D Hold short sessions with students on using eBooks and eBook apps to help them find

what they’re looking for quickly and effectively

We are also offering the opportunity for our staff and/or our student assistants to provide assistance in your departmental spaces – this might include 1-1 peer support or bespoke sessions. We will be in touch to discuss this with you in more detail. And finally, we are currently working with our colleagues in IT Services on a fact based communication plan, focussing on some of the investments and enhancements which have taken place over the last 12 months; We want to draw attention to where these changes have had a positive impact on students’ learning, assessment outcomes or simply an appreciation of the breadth of support available.

We will be working on this over the next few months, so if you have any ‘good news’ stories or specific resources or support you would like to highlight please do get in touch with either Rachel Bury rachel.bury@edgehill.ac.uk or Jenny Jordan jenny.jordan@edgehill.ac.uk

For more information about Ask Us go to www.ehu.ac.uk/askus or email our Help and Support Manager Andrew Billinton andrew.billington@edgehill.ac.uk

December 2013

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Turnitin for iPad: Why use it and what to consider

Getting the message out there...

In the Autumn term, Learning Services saw a record number of students for Information and Research skills classes in the Faculty of Health and Social Care.

The Research skills class was redeveloped this year, to include more emphasis on Information Literacy skills. We also introduced Google Scholar and NHS Evidence in 3rd Year which has proved very popular with students. Finally, we reworked our classes for Social Work students and added an element of legal resources to the session.

We ran 46 sessions in total and saw 912 students in this time and since then we’ve had a range of 1-2-1 sessions with the students to embed our resources and continue to support their searching skills. We also ran 10 induction sessions for the new 1st years and saw 487 students in total. For the first time, we ran an employability session (Your Digital Tattoo) which looked at student’s digital presence and emphasised the ways in which you can market yourself to potential employers and avoid common mistakes. In light of recent headlines about social media, this was a timely session and we saw nearly 150 students.

We will continue to redevelop our Programme for Health students and we have developed new sessions around Planning a Search Strategy and also eBooks. Iain Gannon continues to work closely with the Faculty to develop sessions on academic writing and referencing for students. Next year, based on student feedback, we will be looking to make our skills classes more interactive and fun. So watch this space!

During the summer of 2013, Turnitin released their new Apple iPad app. It provides a convenient way to access and mark student assignments submitted online via Turnitin. So far it’s proven to be very effective and feedback has been positive. For those who are planning on giving it a go here is some information that might help.

So why use it…

SpeedThe process of e-marking a number of papers through its interface feels more intuitive as opposed to its desktop equivalent. The way in which it moves through the papers (using the two fingers side swipe) is a key time saver, and now you can use your fingers to put the QuickMarks and feedback commentary on the paper itself.

Offline MarkingWith the app you can now mark offline by using the sync function (select the circular arrow at the top right hand side of the main screen). Before going offline you simply need to run the sync function (whilst on Wi-Fi). When completed the app will have downloaded all the submissions locally to your device. This means you can now work totally offline and avoid any slow loading times and of course introduce flexible ‘Martini’ style marking. ‘Anytime, anyplace, anywhere’.Once marking has been completed you simply just have to re-sync (Wi-Fi connection needed) your marked papers back to Turnitin.

What to consider...

SecurityTo use the app, you need to generate a one use access code from the Turnitin area of your Learning Edge module. Once you’ve entered the code in your iPad, the app remembers the code by default - meaning if you lose your iPad or share it, others could access students’ Turnitin assignments and change grades/feedback. Therefore we recommend you unlink your iPad from Turnitin when not in use. It is also advisable to set a passcode on your iPad.

Internet AccessIt’s recommended that you use Wi-Fi rather than 3G/4G mobile data. Syncing the app can be particularly heavy on data usage, and therefore more likely to incur additional costs if you are limited to a certain allowance.

Keeping synchedThe app sends changes made on your iPad to Turnitin frequently (assuming you have connection). However, changes made on Turnitin via the desktop equivalent are not sent to your iPad. Therefore you should do a manual sync every time you start marking on an iPad.

The Learning Services newsletter for the Faculty of Education, Health & Social Care and Arts & SciencesDecember 2013

Your Digital Tattoo...

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The Learning Services newsletter for the Faculty of Education, Health & Social Care and Arts & SciencesDecember 2013

The Learning Services’ Information Literacy Offer

Making the most of mobile: advice for staff

Mobile access to services and support is an important feature of the student experience, and there is action you can take to help your students make the most of this technology:

D Highlight the benefits of using Edge Hill apps - Blackboard Mobile Learn, EHU Central (with PC Availability, Ask Us & Campus Maps) and Blackboard Collaborate Mobile

D Help your students edit their Blackboard Mobile Learn notification preferences – some want to be notified about everything, others feel like they’re being spammed!

D Suggest your students sync their Edge Hill email with their mobile device for easy access – or that they check their mails frequently via Edge Hill Central app

D Signpost the mobile friendly library facilities (and librarians who can help your student use them!) – Catalogue Search, Discover More and downloadable eResources from Ebrary, DawsonEra and MyiLibrary

D Develop mobile friendly content for your course – eg. .pdfs, HTML5 presentations*, MP3 and MP4 media files AND make use of the other mobile friendly tools – i.e. Blog, Journal, Discussion Board, and Tests. (*Tools like iSpring, Articulate or Camtasia are great for creating mobile and browser friendly presentations)

D Send relevant & timely announcements, share lecture notes and post grades in the grade book – all features your students want to access on their mobile devices

D Point out the Eduroam wireless network service available across Edge Hill campuses and at many other institutions (in the UK and abroad) – which provides easy, secure, online access using standard Edge Hill login credentials

D Encourage your students to visit the Learning Services #EHUGetConnected events (or engage from a distance on Twitter)

D Find out how your students are using mobile technology & respond to their feedback – what improves their experience right now?

D Develop your own mobile knowledge and skills and keep up to date with new apps that you might be able to use in your Teaching and Learning – Learning Services run sessions on mobile technology throughout the year and your Learning Technologist is always available to help!

Learning Services aim to integrate information literacy skills into the learning journey, developing student-centred learning to be delivered at the point of need. All students would benefit from an equal opportunity to become information literate and recognise the direct relevance of information literacy to their studies.

Information literacy skills are required to effectively perform evidence-based research by locating reliable evidence to inform decision making. These skills will assist your students in life-long learning and enhance their employability skills. So how can this be applied to student’s research at university? The following topics have been identified as key to developing information literate students:

• A need for information – what is the research question?• The resources available – what resources are best suited to the enquiry?• How to find information – how do they formulate the research strategy?• The need to evaluate search results – how do they critically evaluate the quality of the information retrieved?• Ethics and responsibility of use – how do they avoid plagiarism and reference correctly?• How to communicate or share their findings – how should they present their findings?• How to manage their findings – how can they store and retrieve their results?• A sustainable programme working with students at each level would ensure the ongoing delivery of effective and efficient training. This would ideally be through sessions offered to students during each year of their studies. Learning Services’ can contribute to the development and delivery of sessions for your students. So please work with your Academic Liaison Librarian to develop bespoke information literacy sessions, embedded at key transition points, for each level of the student journey.