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<dc:creator><![CDATA[Edward Green]]></dc:creator>
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<description><![CDATA[This February I was back at the PHPUK conference in London. The venue this year was 1 America Square with a historic wall through the middle of one of the rooms. There were three tracks to follow so unfortunately we couldn’t go to all the talks, but managed to cover two thirds. It Depends – […]]]></description>
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<p>This February I was back at the PHPUK conference in London. The venue this year was 1 America Square with a historic wall through the middle of one of the rooms. There were three tracks to follow so unfortunately we couldn’t go to all the talks, but managed to cover two thirds.</p>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">It Depends – Gary Hockin</h2>
<p>After a short welcome to the conference (and the new venue), Gary Hockin gave a talk about how decisions that we make every day have different outcomes based on the context. There are always trade-offs to consider for every choice we make and because one option is not chosen in one instance, it doesn’t mean it is unsuitable for all situations.</p>
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</div></figure>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Know Your Enemies: Live Exploit of a PHP Engine Security Breach – Alexandre Daubois</h2>
<p>Alexandre presented an interesting talk on real exploits or attempted exploits in PHP. The most interesting example to me was an attempt to add malicious code that would allow executing any code on a server running PHP as long as it’s connected to the internet. This was done by interpreting a specific header on incoming requests as code to run when given a certain prefix. It even made it to a release candidate before it was noticed by other contributors. This was done by exploiting a vulnerability in the version control server that allowed the malicious actor to submit the code changes under a different user. Luckily the code was spotted and removed before becoming widely available in a full release. This also influenced the decision to move the code into GitHub, so maintainers didn’t have to worry as much about the security of the code.</p>
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</div></figure>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Packets, Protocols and PHP: Networking Fundamentals for Developers – Jessica Smith</h2>
<p>This next talk discussed what happens behind the scenes whenever a network request is made over the internet. Jessica covered a lot during the 45 minutes and even though it isn’t knowledge that I’d usually consider a key part to my job, I think it is very useful to understand what is happening in the background when users are accessing your website. It still amazes me how we can send information across the world in seconds (or less) over the internet. Even with an explanation on how data is split into packets and how they are routed, it’s still hard to comprehend.</p>
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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The Four Pillars of Observability – Florian Engelhardt</h2>
<p>Next came a guide to monitoring live applications and how to quickly find when something is wrong with Florian. I found a lot of the tips to be relevant to websites I have worked on within the university such as the Short Courses Platform (SCP). Occasionally we have a bug in the site, and it can be very difficult to find what the actual cause of it is. Using metrics, logging, tracing, and profiling we can get a better idea of what is causing an issue and why it has started happening. As a developer, I’m used to using logs and error messages to get an idea about what is going wrong when something breaks, but Florian gave some interesting ideas that aren’t completely code related like monitoring live sales (or course enrolments for the SCP) and visualising them. If the numbers start to drop rapidly, then something has probably broken which means people can’t use the website properly.</p>
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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Saving Time by Using a Debugger – Derick Rethans</h2>
<p>Derick gave a demonstration on ways to use Xdebug to improve developer efficiency. Once setup, it can be a useful tool for stepping through PHP code and inspecting the current state of the web application to find out what is happening. Personally, I have used debuggers with C# and C++ code and found it useful there since I don’t have to recompile anything to add in some logs and inspect data. In interpreted languages like PHP, this isn’t something I have considered before, however I will definitely be finding it useful in my future work. Even though some technical issues disrupted the live demonstrations, Derick still managed to inspire me to check out Xdebug for myself and use with both personal and work projects.</p>
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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Stepping away from the code… but not quite… – Wim Godden</h2>
<p>This was one of my favourite talks of the day from Wim about how stakeholders in a project should approach the code, particularly emphasising when people in management or non-development roles need to <em>step away from the code</em> and let developers do their job. He talked about how people from outside of development teams, especially those with development experience, can often try to dictate the implementation of a feature rather than what the result of having that feature should be which can cause issues with development and often makes the process of adding a feature take longer. Providing high quality user stories that have good coverage of what the users need to be able to do on the application will be far more valuable to developers. He also talked about how the career progression of a developer doesn’t have to be continuously upwards within an organisation. Instead, it’s ok to move up and down or stay where we’re comfortable.</p>
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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Escaping the Code Maze – Yannick Chenot</h2>
<p>To finish off the day, Yannick discussed how we can make our code easier to understand by reducing the assumptions that can be made. Some languages are already stricter on some of the methods of explaining code such as providing types to variables with static types, whereas languages like PHP don’t enforce many rules like this. He demonstrated a few PHP classes and how the assumptions can be reduced by making simple changes that can greatly improve the readability of the code.</p>
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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">In conclusion</h2>
<p>There were lots of interesting topic discussed throughout the day and plenty to think about afterwards. I will definitely be looking into Xdebug and different tools for monitoring and observing web applications. I found Wim Godden’s talk about how we should see code in different roles across an organisation interesting. I’d highly recommend watching/listening to the recording as this one is also relevant to less technical people who work with developers.</p>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Elephants </h2>
<p>I’ve also started a collection of PHP elephants with two from this conference.</p>
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<title>PHPUK Conference 2025</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/egreen2/2025/08/19/phpuk-conference-2025/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/egreen2/2025/08/19/phpuk-conference-2025/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Edward Green]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 19 Aug 2025 11:09:19 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorised]]></category>
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<description><![CDATA[In February, a colleague and I got the chance to attend the PHPUK conference 2025. Throughout the day, we attended talks from various contributors to the PHP community. The conference had two tracks, which allowed us to split up and cover as much as possible with plenty of breaks to discuss what we’ve learnt about. […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>In February, a colleague and I got the chance to attend the PHPUK conference 2025. Throughout the day, we attended talks from various contributors to the PHP community. The conference had two tracks, which allowed us to split up and cover as much as possible with plenty of breaks to discuss what we’ve learnt about.</p>
<p>Before splitting into separate tracks, Daniel Terhorst-North gave a talk on behaviour driven development (BDD) and the 20 years of history behind it. He showed how even though it was started by one person, the community has kept it going.</p>
<p>The next speaker I listened to was Wim Godden who spoke about deploying software at both small and large scales and automating the processes behind it as much as possible. He showed a real-world example of deploying software to rental lockers for a Belgium based company. They used a tool called Ansible to remotely connect to each computer and run tasks for setting up the computer, installing software, and running the company’s software that operates the lockers. This talk felt especially relevant to the Short Courses Platform I am currently working on, since we are also using Ansible to deploy the website onto multiple servers and update it when required.</p>
<p>After a quick break and discussion about the talks we’d listened to, I attended a talk about how large codebases can be compared to onions from Katy Ereira. She explained how large systems can be broken down into smaller, more understandable parts and comparing them to different parts of an onion to help understand their function.</p>
<p>Nils Adermann gave a talk on securing software supply chains. When most people add a library to their codebase, they don’t always think about the security of the library itself, and especially not the dependencies required by it. However, a dependency of a dependency of a library used for something as simple as logging messages could have a security vulnerability that affects the whole codebase. Nils talked about ways to protect against that using tools like GitHub Dependabot or Conductor, which Private Packagist is currently developing. He also revealed how many widely used and often open source libraries receive extremely little funding, which can make it difficult finding volunteers to maintain security.</p>
<p>Over lunch, we discussed the speakers we had listened to and spoke to other attendees of the conference.</p>
<p>Next was a talk from Gina Banyard about discovering edge cases in the PHP language. As a PHP core maintainer, they had an interesting perspective on how bugs are diagnosed and discussions about the expected functionality. Some examples of recently addressed bugs were demonstrated, along with how PHP now handles them.</p>
<p>After the final break, I attended a talk about OpenAPI from Lorna Mitchell, which discussed what the OpenAPI specification is and how it can benefit both developers and users of APIs. The specification assists developers in designing APIs and creating extensive documentation for them through a schema written in either JSON or YAML. Since it is language agnostic, it can be applied to any API.</p>
<p>The conference provided some interesting perspectives and ideas that I will be sharing with other colleagues and may encourage us to consider in current or future projects. Many of the talks were not just relevant to PHP, so can be applied to other projects such as the short courses platform, which already uses Ansible for deployment.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Information about all the speakers and recordings of the talks can be found on the <a href="https://www.phpconference.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PHPUK Conference website</a></p>
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<pubDate>Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:08:58 +0000</pubDate>
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<description><![CDATA[This February I was back at the PHPUK conference in London. The venue this year was 1 America Square with a historic wall through the middle of one of the rooms. There were three tracks to follow so unfortunately we couldn’t go to all the talks, but managed to cover two thirds. It Depends – […]]]></description>
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<p>This February I was back at the PHPUK conference in London. The venue this year was 1 America Square with a historic wall through the middle of one of the rooms. There were three tracks to follow so unfortunately we couldn’t go to all the talks, but managed to cover two thirds.</p>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">It Depends – Gary Hockin</h2>
<p>After a short welcome to the conference (and the new venue), Gary Hockin gave a talk about how decisions that we make every day have different outcomes based on the context. There are always trade-offs to consider for every choice we make and because one option is not chosen in one instance, it doesn’t mean it is unsuitable for all situations.</p>
<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
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</div></figure>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Know Your Enemies: Live Exploit of a PHP Engine Security Breach – Alexandre Daubois</h2>
<p>Alexandre presented an interesting talk on real exploits or attempted exploits in PHP. The most interesting example to me was an attempt to add malicious code that would allow executing any code on a server running PHP as long as it’s connected to the internet. This was done by interpreting a specific header on incoming requests as code to run when given a certain prefix. It even made it to a release candidate before it was noticed by other contributors. This was done by exploiting a vulnerability in the version control server that allowed the malicious actor to submit the code changes under a different user. Luckily the code was spotted and removed before becoming widely available in a full release. This also influenced the decision to move the code into GitHub, so maintainers didn’t have to worry as much about the security of the code.</p>
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</div></figure>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Packets, Protocols and PHP: Networking Fundamentals for Developers – Jessica Smith</h2>
<p>This next talk discussed what happens behind the scenes whenever a network request is made over the internet. Jessica covered a lot during the 45 minutes and even though it isn’t knowledge that I’d usually consider a key part to my job, I think it is very useful to understand what is happening in the background when users are accessing your website. It still amazes me how we can send information across the world in seconds (or less) over the internet. Even with an explanation on how data is split into packets and how they are routed, it’s still hard to comprehend.</p>
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</div></figure>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The Four Pillars of Observability – Florian Engelhardt</h2>
<p>Next came a guide to monitoring live applications and how to quickly find when something is wrong with Florian. I found a lot of the tips to be relevant to websites I have worked on within the university such as the Short Courses Platform (SCP). Occasionally we have a bug in the site, and it can be very difficult to find what the actual cause of it is. Using metrics, logging, tracing, and profiling we can get a better idea of what is causing an issue and why it has started happening. As a developer, I’m used to using logs and error messages to get an idea about what is going wrong when something breaks, but Florian gave some interesting ideas that aren’t completely code related like monitoring live sales (or course enrolments for the SCP) and visualising them. If the numbers start to drop rapidly, then something has probably broken which means people can’t use the website properly.</p>
<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
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</div></figure>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Saving Time by Using a Debugger – Derick Rethans</h2>
<p>Derick gave a demonstration on ways to use Xdebug to improve developer efficiency. Once setup, it can be a useful tool for stepping through PHP code and inspecting the current state of the web application to find out what is happening. Personally, I have used debuggers with C# and C++ code and found it useful there since I don’t have to recompile anything to add in some logs and inspect data. In interpreted languages like PHP, this isn’t something I have considered before, however I will definitely be finding it useful in my future work. Even though some technical issues disrupted the live demonstrations, Derick still managed to inspire me to check out Xdebug for myself and use with both personal and work projects.</p>
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</div></figure>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Stepping away from the code… but not quite… – Wim Godden</h2>
<p>This was one of my favourite talks of the day from Wim about how stakeholders in a project should approach the code, particularly emphasising when people in management or non-development roles need to <em>step away from the code</em> and let developers do their job. He talked about how people from outside of development teams, especially those with development experience, can often try to dictate the implementation of a feature rather than what the result of having that feature should be which can cause issues with development and often makes the process of adding a feature take longer. Providing high quality user stories that have good coverage of what the users need to be able to do on the application will be far more valuable to developers. He also talked about how the career progression of a developer doesn’t have to be continuously upwards within an organisation. Instead, it’s ok to move up and down or stay where we’re comfortable.</p>
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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Escaping the Code Maze – Yannick Chenot</h2>
<p>To finish off the day, Yannick discussed how we can make our code easier to understand by reducing the assumptions that can be made. Some languages are already stricter on some of the methods of explaining code such as providing types to variables with static types, whereas languages like PHP don’t enforce many rules like this. He demonstrated a few PHP classes and how the assumptions can be reduced by making simple changes that can greatly improve the readability of the code.</p>
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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">In conclusion</h2>
<p>There were lots of interesting topic discussed throughout the day and plenty to think about afterwards. I will definitely be looking into Xdebug and different tools for monitoring and observing web applications. I found Wim Godden’s talk about how we should see code in different roles across an organisation interesting. I’d highly recommend watching/listening to the recording as this one is also relevant to less technical people who work with developers.</p>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Elephants </h2>
<p>I’ve also started a collection of PHP elephants with two from this conference.</p>
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<title>PHPUK Conference 2025</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/egreen2/2025/08/19/phpuk-conference-2025/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/egreen2/2025/08/19/phpuk-conference-2025/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Edward Green]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 19 Aug 2025 11:09:19 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorised]]></category>
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<description><![CDATA[In February, a colleague and I got the chance to attend the PHPUK conference 2025. Throughout the day, we attended talks from various contributors to the PHP community. The conference had two tracks, which allowed us to split up and cover as much as possible with plenty of breaks to discuss what we’ve learnt about. […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>In February, a colleague and I got the chance to attend the PHPUK conference 2025. Throughout the day, we attended talks from various contributors to the PHP community. The conference had two tracks, which allowed us to split up and cover as much as possible with plenty of breaks to discuss what we’ve learnt about.</p>
<p>Before splitting into separate tracks, Daniel Terhorst-North gave a talk on behaviour driven development (BDD) and the 20 years of history behind it. He showed how even though it was started by one person, the community has kept it going.</p>
<p>The next speaker I listened to was Wim Godden who spoke about deploying software at both small and large scales and automating the processes behind it as much as possible. He showed a real-world example of deploying software to rental lockers for a Belgium based company. They used a tool called Ansible to remotely connect to each computer and run tasks for setting up the computer, installing software, and running the company’s software that operates the lockers. This talk felt especially relevant to the Short Courses Platform I am currently working on, since we are also using Ansible to deploy the website onto multiple servers and update it when required.</p>
<p>After a quick break and discussion about the talks we’d listened to, I attended a talk about how large codebases can be compared to onions from Katy Ereira. She explained how large systems can be broken down into smaller, more understandable parts and comparing them to different parts of an onion to help understand their function.</p>
<p>Nils Adermann gave a talk on securing software supply chains. When most people add a library to their codebase, they don’t always think about the security of the library itself, and especially not the dependencies required by it. However, a dependency of a dependency of a library used for something as simple as logging messages could have a security vulnerability that affects the whole codebase. Nils talked about ways to protect against that using tools like GitHub Dependabot or Conductor, which Private Packagist is currently developing. He also revealed how many widely used and often open source libraries receive extremely little funding, which can make it difficult finding volunteers to maintain security.</p>
<p>Over lunch, we discussed the speakers we had listened to and spoke to other attendees of the conference.</p>
<p>Next was a talk from Gina Banyard about discovering edge cases in the PHP language. As a PHP core maintainer, they had an interesting perspective on how bugs are diagnosed and discussions about the expected functionality. Some examples of recently addressed bugs were demonstrated, along with how PHP now handles them.</p>
<p>After the final break, I attended a talk about OpenAPI from Lorna Mitchell, which discussed what the OpenAPI specification is and how it can benefit both developers and users of APIs. The specification assists developers in designing APIs and creating extensive documentation for them through a schema written in either JSON or YAML. Since it is language agnostic, it can be applied to any API.</p>
<p>The conference provided some interesting perspectives and ideas that I will be sharing with other colleagues and may encourage us to consider in current or future projects. Many of the talks were not just relevant to PHP, so can be applied to other projects such as the short courses platform, which already uses Ansible for deployment.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Information about all the speakers and recordings of the talks can be found on the <a href="https://www.phpconference.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PHPUK Conference website</a></p>
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<dc:creator><![CDATA[Edward Green]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:08:58 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Conference]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/egreen2/?p=21</guid>
<description><![CDATA[This February I was back at the PHPUK conference in London. The venue this year was 1 America Square with a historic wall through the middle of one of the rooms. There were three tracks to follow so unfortunately we couldn’t go to all the talks, but managed to cover two thirds. It Depends – […]]]></description>
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<p>This February I was back at the PHPUK conference in London. The venue this year was 1 America Square with a historic wall through the middle of one of the rooms. There were three tracks to follow so unfortunately we couldn’t go to all the talks, but managed to cover two thirds.</p>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">It Depends – Gary Hockin</h2>
<p>After a short welcome to the conference (and the new venue), Gary Hockin gave a talk about how decisions that we make every day have different outcomes based on the context. There are always trade-offs to consider for every choice we make and because one option is not chosen in one instance, it doesn’t mean it is unsuitable for all situations.</p>
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<iframe loading="lazy" src="about:blank" data-bs-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/w5Ja7Gysm_w?feature=oembed" width="660" height="544" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Know Your Enemies: Live Exploit of a PHP Engine Security Breach – Alexandre Daubois</h2>
<p>Alexandre presented an interesting talk on real exploits or attempted exploits in PHP. The most interesting example to me was an attempt to add malicious code that would allow executing any code on a server running PHP as long as it’s connected to the internet. This was done by interpreting a specific header on incoming requests as code to run when given a certain prefix. It even made it to a release candidate before it was noticed by other contributors. This was done by exploiting a vulnerability in the version control server that allowed the malicious actor to submit the code changes under a different user. Luckily the code was spotted and removed before becoming widely available in a full release. This also influenced the decision to move the code into GitHub, so maintainers didn’t have to worry as much about the security of the code.</p>
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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Packets, Protocols and PHP: Networking Fundamentals for Developers – Jessica Smith</h2>
<p>This next talk discussed what happens behind the scenes whenever a network request is made over the internet. Jessica covered a lot during the 45 minutes and even though it isn’t knowledge that I’d usually consider a key part to my job, I think it is very useful to understand what is happening in the background when users are accessing your website. It still amazes me how we can send information across the world in seconds (or less) over the internet. Even with an explanation on how data is split into packets and how they are routed, it’s still hard to comprehend.</p>
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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The Four Pillars of Observability – Florian Engelhardt</h2>
<p>Next came a guide to monitoring live applications and how to quickly find when something is wrong with Florian. I found a lot of the tips to be relevant to websites I have worked on within the university such as the Short Courses Platform (SCP). Occasionally we have a bug in the site, and it can be very difficult to find what the actual cause of it is. Using metrics, logging, tracing, and profiling we can get a better idea of what is causing an issue and why it has started happening. As a developer, I’m used to using logs and error messages to get an idea about what is going wrong when something breaks, but Florian gave some interesting ideas that aren’t completely code related like monitoring live sales (or course enrolments for the SCP) and visualising them. If the numbers start to drop rapidly, then something has probably broken which means people can’t use the website properly.</p>
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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Saving Time by Using a Debugger – Derick Rethans</h2>
<p>Derick gave a demonstration on ways to use Xdebug to improve developer efficiency. Once setup, it can be a useful tool for stepping through PHP code and inspecting the current state of the web application to find out what is happening. Personally, I have used debuggers with C# and C++ code and found it useful there since I don’t have to recompile anything to add in some logs and inspect data. In interpreted languages like PHP, this isn’t something I have considered before, however I will definitely be finding it useful in my future work. Even though some technical issues disrupted the live demonstrations, Derick still managed to inspire me to check out Xdebug for myself and use with both personal and work projects.</p>
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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Stepping away from the code… but not quite… – Wim Godden</h2>
<p>This was one of my favourite talks of the day from Wim about how stakeholders in a project should approach the code, particularly emphasising when people in management or non-development roles need to <em>step away from the code</em> and let developers do their job. He talked about how people from outside of development teams, especially those with development experience, can often try to dictate the implementation of a feature rather than what the result of having that feature should be which can cause issues with development and often makes the process of adding a feature take longer. Providing high quality user stories that have good coverage of what the users need to be able to do on the application will be far more valuable to developers. He also talked about how the career progression of a developer doesn’t have to be continuously upwards within an organisation. Instead, it’s ok to move up and down or stay where we’re comfortable.</p>
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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Escaping the Code Maze – Yannick Chenot</h2>
<p>To finish off the day, Yannick discussed how we can make our code easier to understand by reducing the assumptions that can be made. Some languages are already stricter on some of the methods of explaining code such as providing types to variables with static types, whereas languages like PHP don’t enforce many rules like this. He demonstrated a few PHP classes and how the assumptions can be reduced by making simple changes that can greatly improve the readability of the code.</p>
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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">In conclusion</h2>
<p>There were lots of interesting topic discussed throughout the day and plenty to think about afterwards. I will definitely be looking into Xdebug and different tools for monitoring and observing web applications. I found Wim Godden’s talk about how we should see code in different roles across an organisation interesting. I’d highly recommend watching/listening to the recording as this one is also relevant to less technical people who work with developers.</p>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Elephants </h2>
<p>I’ve also started a collection of PHP elephants with two from this conference.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/egreen2/2025/08/19/phpuk-conference-2025/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/egreen2/2025/08/19/phpuk-conference-2025/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Edward Green]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 19 Aug 2025 11:09:19 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorised]]></category>
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<p>Before splitting into separate tracks, Daniel Terhorst-North gave a talk on behaviour driven development (BDD) and the 20 years of history behind it. He showed how even though it was started by one person, the community has kept it going.</p>
<p>The next speaker I listened to was Wim Godden who spoke about deploying software at both small and large scales and automating the processes behind it as much as possible. He showed a real-world example of deploying software to rental lockers for a Belgium based company. They used a tool called Ansible to remotely connect to each computer and run tasks for setting up the computer, installing software, and running the company’s software that operates the lockers. This talk felt especially relevant to the Short Courses Platform I am currently working on, since we are also using Ansible to deploy the website onto multiple servers and update it when required.</p>
<p>After a quick break and discussion about the talks we’d listened to, I attended a talk about how large codebases can be compared to onions from Katy Ereira. She explained how large systems can be broken down into smaller, more understandable parts and comparing them to different parts of an onion to help understand their function.</p>
<p>Nils Adermann gave a talk on securing software supply chains. When most people add a library to their codebase, they don’t always think about the security of the library itself, and especially not the dependencies required by it. However, a dependency of a dependency of a library used for something as simple as logging messages could have a security vulnerability that affects the whole codebase. Nils talked about ways to protect against that using tools like GitHub Dependabot or Conductor, which Private Packagist is currently developing. He also revealed how many widely used and often open source libraries receive extremely little funding, which can make it difficult finding volunteers to maintain security.</p>
<p>Over lunch, we discussed the speakers we had listened to and spoke to other attendees of the conference.</p>
<p>Next was a talk from Gina Banyard about discovering edge cases in the PHP language. As a PHP core maintainer, they had an interesting perspective on how bugs are diagnosed and discussions about the expected functionality. Some examples of recently addressed bugs were demonstrated, along with how PHP now handles them.</p>
<p>After the final break, I attended a talk about OpenAPI from Lorna Mitchell, which discussed what the OpenAPI specification is and how it can benefit both developers and users of APIs. The specification assists developers in designing APIs and creating extensive documentation for them through a schema written in either JSON or YAML. Since it is language agnostic, it can be applied to any API.</p>
<p>The conference provided some interesting perspectives and ideas that I will be sharing with other colleagues and may encourage us to consider in current or future projects. Many of the talks were not just relevant to PHP, so can be applied to other projects such as the short courses platform, which already uses Ansible for deployment.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Information about all the speakers and recordings of the talks can be found on the <a href="https://www.phpconference.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PHPUK Conference website</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
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<title>Data Visualization: The Intersection between Science and Art</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/dlam/2025/08/15/data-visualization-the-intersection-between-science-and-art/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[tli4]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 08:48:10 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[data]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Digital Learning Applications and Media]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[DLAM Feed]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Projects]]></category>
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<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/dlam/?p=5766</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 4</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span> Hi, I’m Hera, the Data Visualization Intern working on the Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) Data Dashboards. Before getting into this internship, data had already been a fundamental part of my life. As an undergraduate student studying Psychology and Linguistics, statistics is part of the core of what we do. We’ve been taught how […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p> </p>
<div id="attachment_5767" style="width: 1811px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-5767" class="wp-image-5767 size-full" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/dlam/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-15-092443.png" alt="Image of the TEL Data Dashboard SharePoint" width="1801" height="780" srcset="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/dlam/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-15-092443.png 1801w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/dlam/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-15-092443-300x130.png 300w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/dlam/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-15-092443-1024x443.png 1024w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/dlam/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-15-092443-768x333.png 768w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/dlam/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-15-092443-1536x665.png 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 1801px) 100vw, 1801px" /><p id="caption-attachment-5767" class="wp-caption-text">The TEL Data Dashboard SharePoint</p></div>
<p> </p>
<p>Hi, I’m Hera, the Data Visualization Intern working on the Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) Data Dashboards. Before getting into this internship, data had already been a fundamental part of my life.</p>
<p>As an undergraduate student studying Psychology and Linguistics, statistics is part of the core of what we do. We’ve been taught how to approach data, clean it, visualize it, and analyze it. We’ve been taught how to run countless tests on it to figure out numbers like p-values and Cohen’s d.</p>
<p>Data and statistics are the shield behind what we do, the numbers that say “yeah, we’re 95% confident that what we found was not just an outcome of chance”.</p>
<p>It is the “sciencey” part.</p>
<p>But the visualization was small. It was more about getting the numbers to fit certain significance levels, just cold numbers and letters on a report. Visuals were required to have a better understanding of distributions. Although they were important and did tell a story, they weren’t exactly pretty and exciting standing by themselves. The excitement mainly comes when significant values are put into the context of suggesting that some scientific discoveries are “real”.</p>
<p>So when I got the opportunity to look at the data of LTW services when creating the dashboards, it was like a whole new world of fantasies and stories.</p>
<p>You start with the same old things that you do with any data.</p>
<p>You explore it, get yourself familiarized with it. Make sure you know what each data point means, how they each interlink with another. Meet with the data providers, service managers, and ask clarifying questions: What data points are relevant? What do you want to see on the dashboards? What would users want to see?</p>
<p>You clean the data, make sure everything is consistent, check for errors, and decide what measures to exclude and what measures to keep. You filter the data, merge stuff together when needed, and transform it into formats that PowerBI won’t give you errors working with.</p>
<p>And then the fundamental part of this internship, and the most exciting part – you paint visuals with numbers.</p>
<p>Bar charts, line graphs, area graphs, and pie charts.</p>
<p>Name cards, funnels, slicers, and filters.</p>
<p>Numbers are no longer just numbers. They are grouped together in bars or lines or arcs, illuminated with vibrant colours, and interactive with everything else that you click on.</p>
<p>PowerBI is my paintbrush.</p>
<p>An annoying one at certain times, trying to get it to do what I want, but a very useful one too indeed. You can play around with it in so many different ways: filter, slice, cross-highlight, drill down…</p>
<p>It was a constant problem-solving process to organize the data in certain ways and to customize the visualizations, trying to figure out relationships between models, and edit interactions between visuals so that related data move together. As there are ten services that I create dashboards for, and each of them is unique, the whole process starts again brand new with every dashboard that I make.</p>
<p>I also got to play around with the colours, the blank spaces, the shapes and lines – just like an artist would with his or her pieces of work.</p>
<p>But it was not only art in terms of the visuals. It was also art in terms of storytelling.</p>
<p>When data forms more than tables and numbers, you start to see the pictures more directly. Visualizations help to filter down the data to the most important bits, which makes the difficult communication of huge datasets much easier.</p>
<p>You can tell the story through different perspectives and dimensions. You can see the trend through time and years, a story of rises or fluctuations that make you wonder why there are certain peaks or troughs. You can see the categorizations by departments or user roles, which reveal how similar or different things are with students versus staff.</p>
<p>And as a product, the dashboards go through iterations of feedback with the data providers, service managers, and LTW representatives from the different schools. I was constantly having meetings to display my dashboards and to ask for feedback.</p>
<p>In fact, meeting with the services was one of the best parts. With both the initial walk-through of the datasets and the later feedback for the completed dashboards, collaboration with the different teams gave me a short glimpse of all of their work and inputs over the years. All the hidden work and immense effort behind the scenes, where I would not have known if I didn’t have the chance to work with LTW as an intern. The most inspiring part, though, was seeing their incredible expertise and familiarity with the services that they manage, and that was what brought the sparks into their eyes when they saw the dashboards.</p>
<p>So the dashboards tell way more than what someone can imagine, because people have different perspectives when they look at the same visualizations.</p>
<p>For the management teams of the different schools, the visualizations tell a story that reveals the preferences of their students and staff. For the data providers and service managers, the dashboards provide a snapshot of all their efforts and inputs into their services over the past few years.</p>
<p>For me, the whole project was a journey of exploration, discovery, and growth.</p>
<p>A journey of exploring the intersection between science and art.</p>
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<title>Elia Müller – Initial thoughts on doing Accessibility Checks</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2024/07/05/elia-muller-initial-thoughts-on-doing-accessibility-checks/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2024/07/05/elia-muller-initial-thoughts-on-doing-accessibility-checks/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[emuller2]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 05 Jul 2024 10:23:36 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[EDE]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Educational Design and Engagement]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Learn Foundations Intern]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Learn Foundations Learning Applications Developer]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[summer]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorised]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[university of edinburgh]]></category>
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<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 2</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>Year of study & degree: 2nd year Psychology and Linguistics Internship: Learn Foundations Intern Meal deal of choice: Least offensive looking sandwich + Bakery item + Smoothie Favourite floor in Argyle House: Definitely K The title of your preferred work playlist: tasteless bops Subpar Slides As a Learn Foundations Intern, I’m involved in conducting a […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 2</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span><hr />
<p><b><span data-contrast="auto">Year of study & degree: </span></b><span data-contrast="auto">2</span><span data-contrast="auto">nd</span><span data-contrast="auto"> year Psychology and Linguistics</span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></p>
<p><b><span data-contrast="auto">Internship:</span></b><span data-contrast="auto"> Learn Foundations Intern</span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></p>
<p><b><span data-contrast="auto">Meal deal of choice:</span></b><span data-contrast="auto"> Least offensive looking sandwich + Bakery item + Smoothie</span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></p>
<p><b><span data-contrast="auto">Favourite floor in Argyle House:</span></b><span data-contrast="auto"> Definitely K</span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></p>
<p><b><span data-contrast="auto">The title of your preferred work playlist:</span></b><span data-contrast="auto"> tasteless bops</span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></p>
<hr />
<h2><span data-contrast="none">Subpar Slides</span><span data-ccp-props="{"134245418":true,"134245529":true,"201341983":0,"335559738":160,"335559739":80,"335559740":279}"> </span></h2>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">As a Learn Foundations Intern, I’m involved in conducting a number of checks on the university’s Virtual Learning Environment, Learn. We are tasked with verifying the presence of a school-dependent template and making sure that the correct variables are present, among other things (think LOTS of Excel spreadsheets filled with Ys and Ns).</span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">But the part of my internship that has intrigued me the most so far is the accessibility checks that I’ve had to fill out for a random sample of courses from each school. More specifically, I thoroughly enjoyed scrolling through the PowerPoint slides of various courses and imagining the lectures that had accompanied them (a personal favourite so far were the slides of a female filmmakers course from which I got great movie recommendations). </span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">But what about the accessibility of these slides? </span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">It leaves much to be desired, unfortunately. Aside from scans of documents, PowerPoints seem to be the documents that consistently have the most accessibility issues, ranging from insufficient contrast between text and slide backgrounds to images that didn’t include alternative text. </span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">I was stumped, as there is guidance on how to make PowerPoint presentations accessible to all, as well as </span><a href="https://uoe.sharepoint.com/:p:/r/sites/Anintroductiontoaccessibilityinlearningtechnology/Shared%20Documents/PowerPoint%20Accessible%20Template%201.pptx?d=w0026da0da47d4bc08995b30bfe529ecb&csf=1&web=1&e=7RS9cA"><span data-contrast="none">a</span><span data-contrast="none"> template</span></a><span data-contrast="auto"> provided by the university. Why weren’t people using that template?</span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></p>
<h2><span data-contrast="none">Both beautiful and accessible</span><span data-ccp-props="{"134233117":false,"134233118":false,"134245418":true,"134245529":true,"201341983":0,"335551550":1,"335551620":1,"335559685":0,"335559737":0,"335559738":160,"335559739":80,"335559740":279}"> </span></h2>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">Whilst I was staring incredulously at the university template that was getting so little use, I came to the realisation that a possible explanation for its invariable rejection was that it was a little </span><i><span data-contrast="auto">too </span></i><span data-contrast="auto">template-like. Its background is a neutral navy blue, and its font is Arial. What it has in accessibility, it lacks in flair. I believe that one reason the template may not be used is that course organisers want to add personality to the slides.</span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">But surely both are possible? This got me thinking about the way in which I design my own PowerPoint presentations. I frequently make use of online databases of PowerPoint templates, where I can choose between a myriad of different layouts and designs. </span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">How could we blend the world of accessibility and the world of design freedom?</span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></p>
<h2><span data-contrast="none">A possible route forward</span><span data-ccp-props="{"134245418":true,"134245529":true,"201341983":0,"335559738":160,"335559739":80,"335559740":279}"> </span></h2>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">One of the aspects I appreciate most about having an internship within ISG is that my line manager and supervisors are very keen on hearing our feedback and potential suggestions for improvements. This allowed me to suggest a database of accessible PowerPoint templates, to expand on the single template that currently exists and to enable course organisers to opt for an accessible template without sacrificing their aesthetic desires. If time permits, I would like to work on this project in the later stages of my internship.</span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></p>
<h6>– your new Blog Editor</h6>
<span class="uoe-published-time uoe-seo-hidden-area">
<time datetime="2024-07-05" itemprop="dateModified">Jul 5, 2024</time>
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<title>Tallulah Thompson – What I have learnt from the Media and Podcasting Internship</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2024/05/27/tallulah-thompson-what-i-have-learnt-from-the-media-and-podcasting-internship/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2024/05/27/tallulah-thompson-what-i-have-learnt-from-the-media-and-podcasting-internship/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[tthompso]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 27 May 2024 08:14:32 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Digital Learning Applications and Media]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Internships]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/?p=2426</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 3</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>Programme of Study and Year: 1st year Informatics (MInf) Intern Position: Media and Podcasting Intern I have now been working with the Digital Learning Applications and Media (DLAM) group as the Media and Podcasting Intern since February. It’s been an amazing experience – I’ve had the opportunity to get involved in so many interesting things and […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 3</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span><p><strong>Programme of Study and Year: </strong>1st year Informatics (MInf)<br />
<strong>Intern Position: </strong>Media and Podcasting Intern</p>
<hr />
<p>I have now been working with the Digital Learning Applications and Media (DLAM) group as the Media and Podcasting Intern since February. It’s been an amazing experience – I’ve had the opportunity to get involved in so many interesting things and to work with a brilliant team led by Karen Howie. I’m really grateful to Karen and my colleagues for stretching me and supporting me in equal measure. As my internship comes to an end soon, I have decided to share my reflections and what I have learnt.</p>
<p><!-- notionvc: 0025adfe-330e-429b-a7a2-3092aef75b03 --></p>
<h3>Why I applied for this internship</h3>
<p>At the end of my first semester, I decided I wanted to find a job for the following semester that would allow me to interact with more people across the university, and that ideally would involve a project that would benefit others. After looking through many Computer Science related jobs, I found that most were exclusive to penultimate/final year students, and I realised I would have to broaden my search. I started looking for jobs, that despite being less directly related to my field of study, would still be relevant to my interests and help me gain professional experience and valuable skills. That was when I came across the Media and Podcasting Intern job opportunity on MyCareerHub; when I read the job description, I knew I had to apply! It was so appealing because it would allow me to bridge two of my main interests: technology and data, and content creation.</p>
<h3>What I have been doing</h3>
<p>My job has mainly entailed looking through videos uploaded to Media Hopper Create, and analysing their metadata to see how it can be improved, coming up with a metadata guidance document and checklist, collating videos to display on the front page that correspond to monthly themes, collaborating with content owners to improve the accessibility of their media, and, most excitingly, helping design the layout of the front page of the new Media Hopper Create website.</p>
<h3>What I have learnt</h3>
<p>This experience has taught me so much about metadata (<a href="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2024/03/20/2398/">see my previous blogpost</a>) and really highlighted the importance of having good metadata when it comes to improving the accessibility and findability of media. A small yet surprising fact I have learnt is that podcasts do not have to be audio only, and in order for media to be classed as a podcast on Media Hopper Create, it needs to be designed to be consumed in an episodic format, although, majority of the time, a podcast is audio only. I had used Media Hopper Create prior to my internship, however, this was mainly for watching lecture recordings, I hadn’t appreciated the range in content on the website and will continue to use it even after my internship ends. Another thing I hadn’t realised was how useful my ability to code is. I was asked to look through 2 data files and identify the entries that were in one and not the other; and being the Computer Science student that I am, rather than doing this manually/through Excel, I wrote a Python program to do this, which meant that I could complete this task in a much faster and more accurate way. I also used my Python skills to analyse metadata, identify trends and representing them as graphs. I so happy to discover how laterally applicable my skillset is!<!-- notionvc: 1730fcf1-c979-4f30-a932-ddc83022c226 --></p>
<h3>My thoughts</h3>
<p>Overall, this internship has not only expanded my understanding of metadata and media management but also reinforced the value of my technical skills in real-world applications. I’m excited to carry forward these lessons and continue exploring the intersection of technology and media in my future endeavours. I would like to thank Karen, Liam and the rest of the wonderful DLAM team for this amazing experience.</p>
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<time datetime="2024-05-27" itemprop="dateModified">May 27, 2024</time>
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<title>Tallulah Thompson – Reflections on metadata</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2024/03/20/2398/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2024/03/20/2398/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[tthompso]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 20 Mar 2024 14:10:54 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Digital Asset Management System Metadata Intern]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Digital Learning Applications and Media]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Digital Media Assistant]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Internships]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/?p=2398</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 4</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>Programme of Study and Year: 1st year Informatics (MInf) Intern Position: Media and Podcasting Intern Introduction Hi! I’m Tallulah and I’m in my 4th week as the Media and Podcasting Intern with Media Hopper Create. So far, I’ve been looking through videos uploaded to Media Hopper Create to analyse their metadata and see how it could […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 4</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span><p><strong>Programme of Study and Year: </strong>1st year Informatics (MInf)</p>
<p><strong>Intern Position: </strong>Media and Podcasting Intern</p>
<hr />
<h3>Introduction</h3>
<p>Hi! I’m Tallulah and I’m in my 4th week as the Media and Podcasting Intern with Media Hopper Create. So far, I’ve been looking through videos uploaded to Media Hopper Create to analyse their metadata and see how it could be improved, coming up with a metadata guidance sheet, and I’ve collated videos to display on the front page that correspond to monthly themes.</p>
<h3>Metadata</h3>
<p>Most of my internship so far has involved looking at metadata. Metadata essentially is data about data. In the context of Media Hopper Create, it is the information associated with the different videos that have been uploaded, for example, title, video description, tags, captions, publisher, etc. Having good metadata will make it easier for users of Media Hopper Create to find videos. Unfortunately, the quality in the metadata across the videos is quite inconsistent, which is why one of my jobs is to write guidance to help improve the quality and to make the media easier to find.</p>
<h3>What is good metadata?</h3>
<p>Good metadata will help organise, find and understand data. It should serve as the bridge between content and users. When it comes to videos uploaded to Media Hopper Create, this is what good metadata should look like for media:</p>
<p><strong>Title:</strong> should be clear and give context, for example, if it is a lecture., a good format would be: [Course Name] [Video Subject], rather than just naming a video “Overview” or “Summary”, e.g., “Object Oriented Programming, Lecture 2: Conditionals and Loops”. The users should be able to have a good idea what the video is about based on the title.</p>
<p><strong>Description:</strong> brief description of what the video is about. It should not just be the title repeated, and it should be detailed enough so that users should not have to watch the whole video to see if it is going to be useful to them</p>
<p><strong>Tags:</strong> should be relevant and specific to the video and should not be too general, for example having the tag “acts” on a video about climate change is not specific enough to the video. If the video is a podcast, adding the tag “podcast” will help users who are specifically finding a podcast, and/or if the video is only audio, adding the tag “audio only” will help users who are specifically finding audio only videos . It is better to have fewer tags that are specific and relevant to the video that will help the users find what they are looking for rather than having many tags that are not specific enough. Tags are added from frequently used words in the auto-generated captions, but sometimes these are not the most relevant, so after captioning is complete, it would be good to go through the tags and remove the irrelevant ones. Having a consistent format for tags will make it easier to organise videos, for example, a video with the tag “#artificialintelligence” will be considered different to a video with the tag “artificial intelligence”. A good format for tags is having them completely lowercase.</p>
<p><strong>Captions:</strong> key accessibility feature for many, including but not limited to: people who are deaf or hard of hearing, people who have difficulty processing auditory information, and people whose native language is not English. At the very least, auto-generated captions should be requested for videos uploaded to Media Hopper Create, although at times they can be inaccurate, it is still better than nothing. These captions can either be corrected by the uploader or a request can be put in to have them reviewed and corrected by the captioning team, to make them as accurate as possible.</p>
<p><strong>Attachments:</strong> The transcript, which is created from the auto-generated captions should be uploaded automatically. It is useful to not remove the transcript as it will allow users to search through it to see if the video is relevant. If a presentation is included in the video, uploading the slides will make it more convenient for the user.</p>
<p><strong>Chapters:</strong> divides the video into different sections based on what it is about. Adding in chapters is very useful especially when the video is longer than 30 mins, because it will allow the user to find what they are looking for in a video without having to watch the whole video.</p>
<h3>What is “bad” metadata?</h3>
<p>When videos uploaded to Media Hopper Create have “bad” metadata, it can lead to poor content sorting, making it harder for users to find videos that they are looking for. For instance, when the title for a lecture video is just “0.0”, rather than having the course the lecture is from and more information about the video, it makes it very difficult for users to find this video unless they specifically have the link/know exactly where to find it. It also means that users are less likely to watch the video as they will not know if it is relevant to them. If a video has too many tags that aren’t specific or relevant to the video, when users try searching based on tags, many less relevant videos might come up, making it harder for the user to find what they are looking for.</p>
<h3>My thoughts</h3>
<p>In my opinion, the main issue with the metadata associated with videos uploaded to Media Hopper Create is that it is inconsistent. Having inconsistent metadata makes it much harder for videos to be organised, which will then make it harder for users to find what they are looking for. As part of my internship, I have been tasked with writing a metadata guidance sheet for video uploaders, which I hope will increase the consistency in quality of metadata of videos uploaded. Although this guidance won’t necessarily be able to change the metadata of the already uploaded videos, by hopefully improving the metadata for future videos, it will mean that users can access the most up to date and relevant videos to them much more easily.</p>
<h3>What I have learned so far</h3>
<p>Before I started this internship, I thought I had quite a good idea of what metadata was and its importance. Although I have only been interning with Media Hopper Create for 3 weeks, I realised, I have already learned a lot. I’ve learned a lot about Media Hopper Create and how useful it is as a service for the University, and I didn’t realise how such small details in metadata could make such a big difference in the user experience. I’m looking forward to the rest of my internship and learning even more about metadata.</p>
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<time datetime="2024-03-20" itemprop="dateModified">Mar 20, 2024</time>
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<title>Lewis Forbes – LaTeX and Accessibility</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2023/08/15/lewis-forbes-latex-and-accessibility/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2023/08/15/lewis-forbes-latex-and-accessibility/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[lforbes3]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 15 Aug 2023 14:46:31 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Digital Learning Applications and Media]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Digital Learning Intern]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/?p=2152</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 5</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>Programme of Study and Year: Informatics (MInf), going into final year. Intern Position: Digital Learning Intern As a former Computer Science and Maths student (now just a Computer Science student), LaTeX has brought me much grief over my time at university. Writing my 30+ page dissertation using the software definitely increased my confidence in using […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 5</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span><hr />
<p><strong>Programme of Study and Year: </strong>Informatics (MInf), going into final year.</p>
<p><strong>Intern Position: </strong>Digital Learning Intern</p>
<hr />
<p>As a former Computer Science and Maths student (now just a Computer Science student), LaTeX has brought me much grief over my time at university. Writing my 30+ page dissertation using the software definitely increased my confidence in using it, but to be honest I still don’t really understand how it works and frequently rely on StackOverflow.</p>
<p>As such, it was saddening but somewhat validating to learn that the problem of accessibility in LaTeX is one which has been plaguing the community for years – it’s maintained by a team of volunteers who have struggled to implement features which are becoming standard in electronic documents. In this post I’ll share my attempts at creating the most accessible LaTeX documents possible and conclude with steps you can take to achieve this. The speed at which LaTeX seems to advance (and break) led to a lot of trial and error in this process, and it’s possible that things which worked for me might not work for you.</p>
<p>I used the <a href="http://edin.ac/ally">accessibility evaluation software Ally</a> to determine what makes documents accessible, which gives documents an accessibility percentage and suggests where improvements can be made. Ally gave the initial PDF I provided a score of 5%, but guided me to create a document with a score of 96%. It did not comment on maths however, which is not accessible by default in LaTeX as explained in this <a href="https://asarantsev.github.io/WebArchive/access.pdf" class="mtli_attachment mtli_pdf">report by Massie and Sarantsev</a>.</p>
<figure id="attachment_2238" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2238" style="width: 277px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-2238" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2023/08/image-218x300.png" alt="" width="277" height="382" srcset="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2023/08/image-218x300.png 218w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2023/08/image.png 569w" sizes="(max-width: 277px) 100vw, 277px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-2238" class="wp-caption-text">Ally’s initial rating and comments for an unchanged LaTeX document.</figcaption></figure>
<p>Based on Ally’s guidance and the information in the report mentioned, the inaccessible aspects of default LaTeX documents are their lack of tagging and headers, lack of alt text, lack of metadata, and maths which cannot be meaningfully read by screen readers.</p>
<h2>LaTeX Accessibility Summary</h2>
<p>If your document contains a lot of maths, I recommend creating an HTML5 file using <a href="https://pandoc.org/index.html">Pandoc</a>. See the checklist in the ‘Maths’ section below for information on this.</p>
<p>If your document has no maths, follow these steps:</p>
<ol>
<li>Add alt text as explained in the first two bullet points in the ‘Alt Text’ section below.</li>
<li>Add metadata as explained in the ‘Metadata’ section below.</li>
<li>Add tags/headings using the using <a href="https://pdfix.io/make-pdf-accessible/">this PDFix tool</a>.</li>
</ol>
<p>As mentioned, following these steps produced <a href="https://www.overleaf.com/read/wnfhnwdpbfmy">96% accessible LaTeX project</a>, based on Ally’s score of its PDF after tagging.</p>
<hr />
<p>I will now go into more detail about each of the different inaccessible areas mentioned.</p>
<h2>Alt Text</h2>
<p>Alternative text is often included for those <a href="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/website-communications/improving-alt-text-at-the-university/">using screen readers</a>, but thanks to the <a href="https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/the-curb-cut-effect-8a6b68d6485">curb cut effect</a> has uses for many people – both visually impaired and sighted. Different sources recommend different ways of including this:</p>
<p>I successfully added alt text using the following methods:</p>
<ul>
<li>Using a parameter on caption <code>\caption[alt text]{caption text}</code>, as recommended by ChatGPT. This should be used when <code>\includegraphics{}</code> is used within a <code>\figure{}</code> environment.</li>
<li>Using <code>\pdftooltip{}</code> from the <a href="https://ctan.org/pkg/pdfcomment?lang=en">pdfcomment interface</a> successfully added tooltips with user-specified text to the document, which Ally recognized as alt text. This should be used when <code>\includegraphics{}</code> is being used with no <code>\caption{}</code>. For example, I used it in a <code>\subfloat{}</code> environment. This was advised in this <a href="https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/75102/need-alt-text-for-images-in-pdf-for-screen-readers?answertab=modifieddesc#tab-top">StackExchange forum</a>.</li>
</ul>
<p>The following methods were recommended by various sources, but did not allow me to successfully add alt text to images:</p>
<ul>
<li>Using <code>\Description{}</code> as recommended in this <a href="https://authors.acm.org/journals/how-to-write-alt-text-and-why">Association for Computing Machinery article</a>. This command was not recognized by the compiler, and no packages to include were mentioned.</li>
<li>Using <code>\nextalt{}</code> as recommended in this <a href="https://people.bath.ac.uk/cspehj/maths-access/latex-instructions/sect0049.html">webpage by Emma Cliffe at Bath University</a>. This command was not recognized by the compiler even with the inclusion of the graphicsx package as mentioned.</li>
<li>Using the accessibility package and the <code>\alt{}</code> comment as recommended in this <a href="https://libguides.lib.msu.edu/c.php?g=995742&p=8207771">Michigan State University Library guide</a>. This also didn’t work.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Metadata</h2>
<p>Ally highlights the need for the inclusion of a PDF’s title and language. This allows screen readers to introduce the document, which can be included with the following lines in the document preamble:</p>
<p><code>\usepackage{hyperref}<br />
\hypersetup{pdftitle={Document Name}, pdflang={en-GB}}</code></p>
<h2>PDF Tagging & Headings</h2>
<p>There does not appear to be a way of reliably generating tagged PDFs using LaTeX. The unsuitability of two potential solutions I came across follows:</p>
<ul>
<li>As outlined in the <a href="https://ctan.math.illinois.edu/macros/latex/contrib/tagpdf/tagpdf.pdf" class="mtli_attachment mtli_pdf">tagpdf documentation</a>, the tagpdf package is not meant for normal document production. As such, the syntax required to use it is complicated and the package likely contains bugs.</li>
<li>As outlined on the <a href="https://github.com/AndyClifton/accessibility"><!--StartFragment --><span class="cf0">Accessibility package GitHub page</span></a>, the accessibility package is also not suitable for production and is no longer maintained. Although it does produces tagged PDFs according to Ally, it sometimes leads to documents not compiling, and sometimes causes unexpected behaviour. As an example:
<ul>
<li>This <a href="https://www.overleaf.com/read/jhnbjpgkbfgy">compilable project</a> does not contain the package, but otherwise identical <a href="https://www.overleaf.com/read/xrqdvtbrksds">uncompilable project</a> contains the package.</li>
<li>In this <a href="https://www.overleaf.com/read/vjnnqxjwtnvy">incorrectly compiled project</a> some of the text is duplicated whereas in this <a href="https://www.overleaf.com/read/grpjgthrpcvq">correctly compiled project</a> no duplication occurs.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p>Tags can be added to a PDF once it’s been created by a few different services, namely Adobe Acrobat Pro DC, Microsoft Word, and PDFix. Since Acrobat Pro isn’t free to use and Word seems to often ruin the format, I found PDFix’s <a href="https://pdfix.io/make-pdf-accessible/">‘Make PDF Accessible’ tool</a> to be the best solution. This also allows metadata to be changed. The company appear reputable with the <a href="https://pdfix.net/privacy-policy/">PDFix privacy policy</a> stating they delete all provided files for 30 days and pass data to third parties “only within the extent necessary to meet its obligations”.</p>
<p>The only problem I found with this service was its inability to render a <code>.pdf</code> vector image. This format is unusual, and was easily fixed by converting the image to a <code>.png</code> file.</p>
<h2>Maths</h2>
<p>Making maths accessible in LaTeX does appear to be possible but is a little complex. Most sources seem to recommend converting LaTeX documents to HTML5 documents via a semi-automated process using various tools. This aforementioned <a href="https://asarantsev.github.io/WebArchive/access.pdf" class="mtli_attachment mtli_pdf">Massie and Sarantsev paper</a> provides a good overview of the topic.</p>
<p>I found <a href="https://pandoc.org/index.html">Pandoc</a> to be the easiest tool to do this conversion. To convert maths it uses <a href="https://www.mathjax.org/">MathJax</a> – a JavaScript engine which creates “beautiful and accessible math in all browsers”. HTML documents are accessible by default since they are tagged, and contain conventions for setting alt text and metadata. See this <a href="https://docs.mathjax.org/en/v2.7-latest/misc/accessibility-features.html#screenreader-support">MathJax documentation page</a> for information on screen readers for maths it helps display.</p>
<p>Once installing Pandoc, LaTeX documents can be converted on Windows as follows:</p>
<ol>
<li>Open command prompt (press <code>Win+R</code>, type cmd, press enter).</li>
<li>Copy the location of the folder containing the <code>.tex</code> file you wish to convert. The <code>.bib</code> file should be in the same directory.</li>
<li>In command prompt, enter:
<ul>
<li><code>cd "the folder location you copied"</code></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Enter the following command, replacing <code>myTex.tex</code> and <code>myBib.bib</code> with your filenames.
<ul>
<li><code>pandoc myTex.tex -f latex -t html -s -o output.html --bibliography myTex.bib --citeproc --mathjax</code></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Move the new file <code>output.html</code> up one folder level. For example, from <code>C:/folder1/folder2/folder3/output.html</code> to <code>C:/folder1/folder2/output.html</code>. This is so images’ paths are correct.</li>
<li>Open <code>output.html</code>.</li>
</ol>
<p>You might find Pandoc is <span class="NormalTextRun SCXW204967602 BCX0">less forgiving with syntax errors than your usual </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW204967602 BCX0">compiler when it comes to your bibliography</span>. A verifier such as <a href="https://flamingtempura.github.io/bibtex-tidy/">BibTeX Tidy</a> can be used to identify and correct errors.</p>
<h2>The Future</h2>
<p>Decreasing the steps authors have to take to make their LaTeX documents accessible is an area of active development, as outlined in <a href="https://www.latex-project.org/publications/indexbytopic/pdf/">The LaTex Project’s accessibility publications</a>. The most recent update I’ve seen comes from this <a href="https://www.latex-project.org/news/2023/05/27/latex-dev-2/">LaTeX news article</a> introducing the final pre-release of the June 2023 version of LaTeX.</p>
<p>This pre-releases produced viable, tagged documents for simple files, but cannot format some complex files, as shown in the image below. For documents with tables it produced well-compiled PDFs, but they were untagged. This means the pre-release is currently no better than the tagging methods mentioned above.</p>
<figure id="attachment_2203" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2203" style="width: 967px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-2203 size-full" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2023/08/image-3.png" alt="A screenshot of a unreadable document, containing text which overflows to off of the page and displayed commands." width="967" height="559" srcset="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2023/08/image-3.png 967w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2023/08/image-3-300x173.png 300w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2023/08/image-3-768x444.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 967px) 100vw, 967px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-2203" class="wp-caption-text">A poorly formatted document produced by the final June pre-release of LaTeX.</figcaption></figure>
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<time datetime="2023-08-15" itemprop="dateModified">Aug 15, 2023</time>
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<title>Ioana-Sabina Susanu – My Digital Learning Internship, in a nutshell.</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2023/06/07/ioana-sabina-susanu-my-digital-learning-internship-in-a-nutshell/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2023/06/07/ioana-sabina-susanu-my-digital-learning-internship-in-a-nutshell/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[lforbes3]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 07 Jun 2023 14:48:11 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Digital Learning Intern]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/?p=1905</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 2</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>Programme of Study and Year: 3rd year Astrophysics Hobbies: Reading, music, karate Intern Position: Digital Learning Intern Describe your role in 4 words: interesting, challenging (at times), rewarding I wanted to take the time to do a blog post on how my internship has been for the past year. I have worked full-time during the […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 2</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span><hr />
<p><strong>Programme of Study and Year: </strong>3rd year Astrophysics</p>
<p><strong>Hobbies: </strong>Reading, music, karate</p>
<p><strong>Intern Position: </strong>Digital Learning Intern</p>
<p><strong>Describe your role in 4 words: </strong>interesting, challenging (at times), rewarding</p>
<hr />
<p>I wanted to take the time to do a blog post on how my internship has been for the past year. I have worked full-time during the summer in the DLAM TEL team (Digital Learning Applications and Media, Technology Enhanced Learning – so many acronyms!), and part-time during the academic year.</p>
<p>I have done mostly Accessibility testing on various applications, including Turnitin, Moodle, Echo360, Collaborate and Ally, but also other tasks like caption verification or blog editing. I have had a lot to learn about all of the different software types and environments used within the University, and how important each piece of technology is.</p>
<p>Wrapping up my time in DLAM, I wanted to share once again how important the topic of Accessibility is, since it is what the vast majority of my work consisted of. Even though it seems that most of the regulations and adaptive software is concentrated on visual impairment (and too few regulations cover physical impairment – but this is a discussion for another time), it is certain that every little element that is made accessible on a page/application/platform makes a huge difference. Every colour combination, every button, every description and every message matters and can make the navigation better for users if accessibility is taken into consideration.</p>
<p>That being said, my work has been varied, and I never got a chance to get ‘bored’ as every thing I had to do was different from the previous one. I had the opportunity of working with a lot of different people, and I had a lot to learn from everyone I’ve met during my internship. The fact that the team has been welcoming and helpful made a great difference for me and my work – being relaxed and confident in my actions made me more productive, efficient and attentive to details</p>
<h2>Make the most of Learning Technology!</h2>
<p>I would like to end this blog post with a big ‘Thank you’ to the DLAM TEL team, and the wider Learning, Teaching and Web community for the continued support throughout the year.</p>
<p>I certainly recommend giving Learning Technology a chance, regardless of your degree – in the end, it is used by everyone at University, and it’s a very diverse field that will never make you bored.</p>
<p>And lastly, make the most of the resources available – there is a wide variety of them (books, software, databases, videos, courses, trainings), all available at a few clicks’ distance.</p>
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<time datetime="2023-06-07" itemprop="dateModified">Jun 7, 2023</time>
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<title>Eva Spanachi – The journey of being a Digital Learning Intern</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2022/08/04/__trashed/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2022/08/04/__trashed/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[espanach]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 04 Aug 2022 14:15:15 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Digital Learning Intern]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/?p=1629</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 4</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>Programme of Study and Year: 4th Year Chemistry Hobbies: Art, reading, yoga, baking Intern Position: Digital learning Intern Describe your role in 4 words: Write a blog guys! “Known as” at the office: That annoying person who wouldn’t stop sending emails about the ISG Student Employee blog The opportunity to be part of the ISG […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 4</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span><h1></h1>
<hr />
<p><strong>Programme of Study and Year:</strong> 4<sup>th</sup> Year Chemistry</p>
<p><strong>Hobbies:</strong> Art, reading, yoga, baking</p>
<p><strong>Intern Position:</strong> Digital learning Intern</p>
<p><strong>Describe your role in 4 words:</strong> Write a blog guys!</p>
<p><strong>“Known as” at the office:</strong> That annoying person who wouldn’t stop sending emails about the ISG Student Employee blog</p>
<hr />
<h2>The opportunity to be part of the ISG team</h2>
<p>In mid-April, having the usual mid-semester crisis I started thinking of what I would be doing over the summer! So I started a search to find an internship and I came across the various roles offered by ISG on MyCareerHub and everything looked very interesting (and not chemistry related, which would allow my brain to have a break from all the science). Having my interview with some of the Digital Learning Applications and Media (DLAM) members, I immediately realized that I really wanted to become part of that lovely team and was therefore really happy to receive an offer for the digital learning role.</p>
<h2>The internship so far…</h2>
<p>Part of my internship consists of general testing, as well as accessibility testing on University platforms. After undergoing some training on accessibility, I was so surprised to realize how unfamiliar I was with the whole concept and I definitely learned a lot about how to make things more accessible by considering things like using a correct colour contrast, alternative text when using images, captions in videos and the general structure of a site to make it easy to navigate when someone is not using a mouse or using a speech navigator for example. The general lesson I learned however, was to actually keep in mind the various audiences and not just assume that we all use computers and technology in the same way, but we definitely all deserve to be able to access and navigate through all online environments.</p>
<p>Another part of my role has been to create screencasts using MediaHopper to provide instructions on how to navigate around some teaching and learning sites such as Learn. I now know the struggle of having to record your own voice, and the need to have approximately a hundred takes before you decide to give up and use whatever you have recorded by convincing yourself that it is good enough! The first video I had to script and record was 1.5 mins long and it took me a day to perfect, caption and finally post so I can only imagine how difficult it must be to record an hour long lecture!</p>
<p>I was also recently able to observe how the Unidesk side of the team works and see how they keep the Learning Technology of the University working, and ensure that any issue that occurs is resolved. So I had the opportunity to follow through the process of how an issue, that a staff member or student may be dealing with on different university platforms, such as Turnitin and Learn, is handled and eventually resolved. In the next few weeks I will also be able to go through a few issues and try to propose a way to resolve the problem, and become familiar with the different stages of coming up with a solution.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-1805 " src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2022/07/IMG20220328150556-scaled-e1659605487903-300x241.jpg" alt="" width="467" height="375" srcset="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2022/07/IMG20220328150556-scaled-e1659605487903-300x241.jpg 300w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2022/07/IMG20220328150556-scaled-e1659605487903-1024x822.jpg 1024w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2022/07/IMG20220328150556-scaled-e1659605487903-768x617.jpg 768w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2022/07/IMG20220328150556-scaled-e1659605487903-1536x1233.jpg 1536w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2022/07/IMG20220328150556-scaled-e1659605487903.jpg 1919w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 467px) 100vw, 467px" /></p>
<p> </p>
<h2>Getting familiar with Blogs.ed!</h2>
<p>The general and accessibility testing I did was on Blogs.ed which was really useful because it helped me get familiar with the website as I had to use it daily as part of having the role of the student intern blog editor. My first task with this role was to come up with a template for the blog posts (a challenging task considering I had never written a single blog post or anything similar before). So I had to come up with a plan!</p>
<p>-> <strong>Plan A:</strong> Read all the previous blogs written by interns and get inspired. Well, I discovered that there were too many previous interns and hence too many previous blogs and too little time! -> <strong>Plan B:</strong> Read <em>a few</em> blogs from each past summer to get inspired and create a template. That actually worked and I managed to structure a template. Step 1 done! <strong>Step 2-</strong> Get the template approved and come up with a strategy on how to approach the other interns. I knew immediately that I had to find a way to make my fellow interns want to write blog posts without being too annoying. <strong> Step 3-</strong> After annoying the interns I then had to edit and proofread their blogs and finally post them on <a href="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/">the Information Services Group: Student Employee Blog</a>. It has been great to see that the plan actually worked and interns did offer to write a blog, and I definitely enjoyed reading them all!</p>
<h2>A few weeks left…</h2>
<p>Only a few weeks left for the end of my internship and I am thankful that I had the opportunity to be part of such a lovely team, where everyone was very welcoming and supportive throughout the internship. Also very grateful that Covid managed to calm down and allow us to go to the office now and then and enjoy each other’s company in person, and got to meet other interns during the great Unitemps social events!</p>
<p><strong>I hope all the interns had a great time during their internships and enjoyed their summers as well! Hopefully the rest of the staff in ISG enjoyed having us around and I am sure all of us appreciate their work and effort a lot more now that we got to see what is happening behind ‘the scenes’.</strong></p>
<p> </p>
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<time datetime="2022-08-04" itemprop="dateModified">Aug 4, 2022</time>
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<title>Ioana -Uncovering the depths of accessibility testing in the Digital Learning Internship</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2022/07/25/ioana-uncovering-the-depths-of-accessibility-testing-in-the-digital-learning-internship/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2022/07/25/ioana-uncovering-the-depths-of-accessibility-testing-in-the-digital-learning-internship/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[espanach]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 25 Jul 2022 13:10:59 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Digital Learning Intern]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/?p=1727</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 3</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>Programme of Study and Year: Astrophysics (MPhys), going into 3rd year Hobbies: Reading, listening to music, taking walks, watching TV series Intern Position: Digital Learning Intern within Learning, Teaching and Web (LTW) Fun fact about your internship: I have become knowledgeable in Accessibility testing, even though this was not the plan initially Describe your role […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 3</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span><hr />
<p><strong>Programme of Study and Year:</strong> Astrophysics (MPhys), going into 3<sup>rd</sup> year</p>
<p><strong>Hobbies:</strong> Reading, listening to music, taking walks, watching TV series</p>
<p><strong>Intern Position:</strong> Digital Learning Intern within Learning, Teaching and Web (LTW)</p>
<p><strong>Fun fact about your internship:</strong> I have become knowledgeable in Accessibility testing, even though this was not the plan initially</p>
<p><strong>Describe your role in 4 words: </strong> Challenging, rewarding, technical, awesome</p>
<hr />
<h2>The internship experience in a nutshell</h2>
<p>I have found out about these internships from the Unitemps website. I kept checking it in March, as I knew that was the time when the summer roles would be advertised. I have also received notifications over e-mail regarding the roles and how to apply. My role requires me to become familiar with a variety of learning technology applications, and do the accessibility testing based on a specific script and using assistive software. The most enjoyable part is that I get to see, learn, experience and test a lot of the University’s platforms, applications and integrations, and I have the chance to see these from a developer point of view. Additionally, it is just enjoyable to collaborate with my team members and socialise with other interns when we are in the office. Speaking of socialising, the Unitemps social events for interns are the best – the food is great and I always get to meet and talk to lots of interesting people with various experiences.</p>
<h2>Highlights of Digital Learning – Creating documentation and conducting accessibility testing</h2>
<p>I find the 9-5 life surprisingly relaxing, especially when I work from home. Office days can be a bit more tiring, but they are the most fun as almost everyone is there on certain days. My team is welcoming and friendly, even in busy and stressful times – for which I admire them greatly. I really enjoy that communication is very efficient within the team, both when we are in the office and when we are working remotely.</p>
<p>My role so far has helped me overcome certain ‘fears’, for example listening to my own voice. I had to create some videos with instructions on how to use one of the applications within the University. I already had the script, I just had to record my screen while navigating the application. Even though it seems like a simple task, the idea of recording my own voice felt strange. After talking to my manager and some of the members of my team about this, I found that my feeling was quite common – no-one likes to record and listen to their own voice! Therefore I was a bit more confident that nothing could go wrong and I recorded the videos. Listening to my own voice while doing the captioning was not that bad – especially since I was focused on the quality of the sound and the content itself. The feedback I received for the videos was good, which boosted my confidence for this type of task.</p>
<p>As my work requires me to do accessibility testing, I had the opportunity to discover how complex this field is, and how many regulations need to be taken into account for a webpage/application/platform to be considered accessible. As an example, I was aware of captioning being needed for videos, but I wasn’t aware of the exact ratios needed for colour contrasts within a page. In addition, I could see how certain types of assistive software interact with the University platforms and applications, and which issues are encountered. While I still have some training sessions to do, I have developed an awareness for accessibility and I feel that this subject should be promoted more.</p>
<p>The internship has been a great experience so far. I feel lucky that I am a part of a lovely team (DLAM TEL – Digital Learning Applications and Media, Tech Enhanced Learning) where everyone is friendly and willing to help. I have a lot to learn from all of the team members, and also the other interns. The working environment is very good and inspiring, and it allows me to develop valuable skills that will certainly be beneficial in future assignments.</p>
<p><strong>Through this blog post, I would like to wish all the other interns the best of luck in their internships and projects, and to thank all the staff members for being welcoming and supportive in every matter. And last but not least, I encourage every student to apply for a summer internship within the Information Services Group – it’s definitely a fantastic experience!</strong></p>
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<time datetime="2022-07-25" itemprop="dateModified">Jul 25, 2022</time>
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<title>How I develop skills as a continuing App Developer Intern – Martin Lewis</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2022/04/20/how-i-develop-skills-as-a-continuing-app-developer-intern-martin-lewis/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2022/04/20/how-i-develop-skills-as-a-continuing-app-developer-intern-martin-lewis/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[awilso35]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 20 Apr 2022 11:59:17 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Learn Foundations Learning Applications Developer]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/?p=1581</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 2</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>Martin Lewis is a final year student in BSc (Hons) Computer Science, and started working as a Summer Intern in ISG in 2020, as one of our interns auditing Learn. Martin really impressed the Learn team with his initiative in finding a chance to automate some work, so since summer 2021 he has since been […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 2</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span><p><em>Martin Lewis is a final year student in BSc (Hons) Computer Science, and started working as a Summer Intern in ISG in 2020, as one of our interns auditing Learn. Martin really impressed the Learn team with his initiative in finding a chance to automate some work, so since summer 2021 he has since been working with the Learn team in a more technical role, doing programming.</em></p>
<p>I started work in Information Services Group (ISG) at the University as a <strong>Summer Intern</strong> in 2020 and 2021, and <strong>since then I’ve been working for ISG doing technical bits and pieces</strong>. In this blog post I’ll be discussing <strong>what I’ve been doing as a part of my work for ISG and what skills this has helped me develop.</strong></p>
<p>Initially I was doing rather non-technical work as part of the Learn Foundations project getting the University’s Learn courses prepared for the new academic year. This was adding things like the course outline and organiser details into these fresh courses. <strong>However, I managed to find a way to automate parts of the workflow I was assigned to and from there began to do technical work for the ISG.</strong><br />
I now have the very long winded title of ‘Learn Foundations Applications Developer Intern’ in which I do development work, making applications that are usually, sometime tangentially, related to the Learn Foundations Project.</p>
<p>For those more technically minded, I’m working in the PHP programming language doing full stack (front and backend) work using the Laravel framework. An excellent opportunity to learn a new language and framework. <strong>There is also the chance to work on real world projects that contain issues and experiences that cannot be found in the classroom or in a coursework assignment.</strong> With real team members (big thanks to Andrew and his team who I have been working with) and <strong>projects that have a real outcome (not just a grade).</strong></p>
<p>Now this is not only a good opportunity to hone skills but it also looks very good on a CV. Already having practical software development experience is fantastic and it also is a great source of discussion <strong>during interviews being able to bring up situations and decisions you made outside of a classroom is great.</strong></p>
<p>Now let’s look at the day to day practicalities (this is just my experience your mileage may vary with role and when you might work). The work is remote, as you could probably guess, which fits well alongside my majority remote learning these past few years. Over the summers I’ve worked full time, 35 hours a week, being treated as a standard member of university staff. Then over the semesters only 7 hours a week which I find easy to fit around my studies and personal life but it does often mean rather slow progress in the projects you work on.</p>
<p><strong>Both of the line managers I’ve had have been wonderful and very understanding about the need to change work patterns last minute or take time off around major deadlines and exams.</strong> The pay isn’t too bad and goes a long way towards covering my rent.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if I’ll be continuing to work for the University after May as I am finally graduating. I will however apologise in advance to any potential future intern who has to work with my code! But the last two years have gone a long way to making me a much more employable graduate.</p>
<p>So do consider applying for an ISG internship,<strong> I’ve personally gotten a lot out of it and I think any proactive student can benefit greatly from such a role.</strong></p>
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<time datetime="2022-04-20" itemprop="dateModified">Apr 20, 2022</time>
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<title>Top Five Things I Like About my Internship</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2021/08/11/top-five-things-i-like-about-my-internship/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2021/08/11/top-five-things-i-like-about-my-internship/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[rcormac3]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 11 Aug 2021 11:07:16 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Digital Media Assistant]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/?p=1543</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 3</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>Hazel is the Digital Media Assistant Intern and is responsible for making promotional videos for some of the Ed Web Services and self-enroll courses that are available for staff with the aim of explaining the system and services better to encourage higher usage. She enjoys her job because it allows for creativity and also loves […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 3</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span><p><em>Hazel is the Digital Media Assistant Intern and is responsible for making promotional videos for some of the Ed Web Services and self-enroll courses that are available for staff with the aim of explaining the system and services better to encourage higher usage. She enjoys her job because it allows for creativity and also loves singing, dancing, cooking and has just recently starting learning the ukulele!</em></p>
<hr />
<p>“It’s summer again!” This was what I thinking as I finished my semester. Then what? What should I do this summer? I wanted to make myself useful and gain some experience, which led me to browse for internship opportunities, and fortunately, I was accepted as a Digital Media Assistant Intern under Learning, Teaching and Web services (LTW)!</p>
<p>Impacted by COVID-19, the ways in which we learn and work have changed drastically. As a student, I’m not really a big fan of online learning but to my surprise, I have enjoyed my remote-working internship experience. Here are the top five things I like about my internship experience, and I hope some of that resonate with yours too <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/16.0.1/72x72/1f642.png" alt="🙂" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /></p>
<h3>1) Have my own input and make things happen!</h3>
<p>I’d never really had any internship experience before I joined. From my what my friends said, they described it as more of a rigid form of working, which means managers tell them exactly what they need to do and manage all the tasks with frequent reporting. It seems like it curbs much of their own creative input into the work as they are only following what they are asked to do.</p>
<p>However, my internship experience is totally different! To my surprise, I am given a plethora of opportunities to have my own input in creative tasks. For example, I initiated ideas of the video storyboards and the design of them. The fact that most of them were accepted truly makes me feel empowered as my manager and colleagues trust my skills in making the videos happen.<em><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-1545 aligncenter" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2021/08/andrew-neel-cckf4TsHAuw-unsplash-300x200.jpg" alt="Table with laptop, mug, pen and paper and a mobile phone." width="411" height="274" srcset="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2021/08/andrew-neel-cckf4TsHAuw-unsplash-300x200.jpg 300w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2021/08/andrew-neel-cckf4TsHAuw-unsplash-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2021/08/andrew-neel-cckf4TsHAuw-unsplash-768x512.jpg 768w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2021/08/andrew-neel-cckf4TsHAuw-unsplash-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2021/08/andrew-neel-cckf4TsHAuw-unsplash-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 411px) 100vw, 411px" /></em></p>
<h3>2) Effective communication</h3>
<p>Since the internship is entirely remote, we have used different methods of communication. Making use of Microsoft Teams and Outlook Email functions facilitates effective communication and avoids long-winded boring meetings (which usually happens in a physical setting). With all the technology available, it makes Working from Home possible and seemingly more effective, saving travelling time and speeding up work productivity. Therefore, although we cannot see each other physically, I am still able to communicate with my line manager and other team members easily on a weekly basis and get things going.</p>
<h3>3) High flexibility (time management skills are required!)</h3>
<p>My internship experience is very flexible with the whole project timeline. I can take on the role to plan when things should be delivered and manage when I should sort out the ideas, video storyboards and drafts, etc. This has certainly strengthened my time management skills, as I have to ensure that I am not falling behind the schedule and the project can progress swiftly.</p>
<p>The high flexibility also enables me to schedule other commitments around it. This allows me to achieve a good work-life balance during this period. I know that having an unexpected flexibility with time might seem to be a bit too good to be true, but to be honest, it does require a lot of self-control and time management skills!</p>
<h3>4) Gaining diverse skills</h3>
<p>It is a pleasant surprise to be able to gain other skills outside of what I’ve already learned! My project requires collaboration with other team members in the project and that has enabled me to learn so much more in other aspects, such as content writing, visual design, persona creation etc. These are all valuable opportunities and relevant skillsets that will be very helpful in a workplace. The fact that I can gain all these diverse skills makes the whole experience much more fulfilling!</p>
<h3>5) Supportive environment</h3>
<p>Last but not least, I’ve got to say I’m so grateful to have a really supportive manager that has kindly guided me all along. My colleagues have been really welcoming and encouraging with what I have done. Also, other team members in LTW have helped me so much with their constructive feedback! This whole working environment is surely a great add-on to this internship experience as who wouldn’t love to be surrounded by smart and friendly people?</p>
<hr />
<p>I’m certain that some of you may have a similar/ different internship experience according to your own department/ projects. Feel free to comment down below and share yours too! <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/16.0.1/72x72/1f642.png" alt="🙂" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /></p>
<span class="uoe-published-time uoe-seo-hidden-area">
<time datetime="2021-08-11" itemprop="dateModified">Aug 11, 2021</time>
</span>
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<title>Data Visualization: The Intersection between Science and Art</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/dlam/2025/08/15/data-visualization-the-intersection-between-science-and-art/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[tli4]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 08:48:10 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[data]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Digital Learning Applications and Media]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[DLAM Feed]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Projects]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[internship]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/dlam/?p=5766</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 4</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span> Hi, I’m Hera, the Data Visualization Intern working on the Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) Data Dashboards. Before getting into this internship, data had already been a fundamental part of my life. As an undergraduate student studying Psychology and Linguistics, statistics is part of the core of what we do. We’ve been taught how […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p> </p>
<div id="attachment_5767" style="width: 1811px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-5767" class="wp-image-5767 size-full" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/dlam/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-15-092443.png" alt="Image of the TEL Data Dashboard SharePoint" width="1801" height="780" srcset="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/dlam/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-15-092443.png 1801w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/dlam/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-15-092443-300x130.png 300w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/dlam/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-15-092443-1024x443.png 1024w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/dlam/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-15-092443-768x333.png 768w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/dlam/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-15-092443-1536x665.png 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 1801px) 100vw, 1801px" /><p id="caption-attachment-5767" class="wp-caption-text">The TEL Data Dashboard SharePoint</p></div>
<p> </p>
<p>Hi, I’m Hera, the Data Visualization Intern working on the Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) Data Dashboards. Before getting into this internship, data had already been a fundamental part of my life.</p>
<p>As an undergraduate student studying Psychology and Linguistics, statistics is part of the core of what we do. We’ve been taught how to approach data, clean it, visualize it, and analyze it. We’ve been taught how to run countless tests on it to figure out numbers like p-values and Cohen’s d.</p>
<p>Data and statistics are the shield behind what we do, the numbers that say “yeah, we’re 95% confident that what we found was not just an outcome of chance”.</p>
<p>It is the “sciencey” part.</p>
<p>But the visualization was small. It was more about getting the numbers to fit certain significance levels, just cold numbers and letters on a report. Visuals were required to have a better understanding of distributions. Although they were important and did tell a story, they weren’t exactly pretty and exciting standing by themselves. The excitement mainly comes when significant values are put into the context of suggesting that some scientific discoveries are “real”.</p>
<p>So when I got the opportunity to look at the data of LTW services when creating the dashboards, it was like a whole new world of fantasies and stories.</p>
<p>You start with the same old things that you do with any data.</p>
<p>You explore it, get yourself familiarized with it. Make sure you know what each data point means, how they each interlink with another. Meet with the data providers, service managers, and ask clarifying questions: What data points are relevant? What do you want to see on the dashboards? What would users want to see?</p>
<p>You clean the data, make sure everything is consistent, check for errors, and decide what measures to exclude and what measures to keep. You filter the data, merge stuff together when needed, and transform it into formats that PowerBI won’t give you errors working with.</p>
<p>And then the fundamental part of this internship, and the most exciting part – you paint visuals with numbers.</p>
<p>Bar charts, line graphs, area graphs, and pie charts.</p>
<p>Name cards, funnels, slicers, and filters.</p>
<p>Numbers are no longer just numbers. They are grouped together in bars or lines or arcs, illuminated with vibrant colours, and interactive with everything else that you click on.</p>
<p>PowerBI is my paintbrush.</p>
<p>An annoying one at certain times, trying to get it to do what I want, but a very useful one too indeed. You can play around with it in so many different ways: filter, slice, cross-highlight, drill down…</p>
<p>It was a constant problem-solving process to organize the data in certain ways and to customize the visualizations, trying to figure out relationships between models, and edit interactions between visuals so that related data move together. As there are ten services that I create dashboards for, and each of them is unique, the whole process starts again brand new with every dashboard that I make.</p>
<p>I also got to play around with the colours, the blank spaces, the shapes and lines – just like an artist would with his or her pieces of work.</p>
<p>But it was not only art in terms of the visuals. It was also art in terms of storytelling.</p>
<p>When data forms more than tables and numbers, you start to see the pictures more directly. Visualizations help to filter down the data to the most important bits, which makes the difficult communication of huge datasets much easier.</p>
<p>You can tell the story through different perspectives and dimensions. You can see the trend through time and years, a story of rises or fluctuations that make you wonder why there are certain peaks or troughs. You can see the categorizations by departments or user roles, which reveal how similar or different things are with students versus staff.</p>
<p>And as a product, the dashboards go through iterations of feedback with the data providers, service managers, and LTW representatives from the different schools. I was constantly having meetings to display my dashboards and to ask for feedback.</p>
<p>In fact, meeting with the services was one of the best parts. With both the initial walk-through of the datasets and the later feedback for the completed dashboards, collaboration with the different teams gave me a short glimpse of all of their work and inputs over the years. All the hidden work and immense effort behind the scenes, where I would not have known if I didn’t have the chance to work with LTW as an intern. The most inspiring part, though, was seeing their incredible expertise and familiarity with the services that they manage, and that was what brought the sparks into their eyes when they saw the dashboards.</p>
<p>So the dashboards tell way more than what someone can imagine, because people have different perspectives when they look at the same visualizations.</p>
<p>For the management teams of the different schools, the visualizations tell a story that reveals the preferences of their students and staff. For the data providers and service managers, the dashboards provide a snapshot of all their efforts and inputs into their services over the past few years.</p>
<p>For me, the whole project was a journey of exploration, discovery, and growth.</p>
<p>A journey of exploring the intersection between science and art.</p>
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<title>Elia Müller – Initial thoughts on doing Accessibility Checks</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2024/07/05/elia-muller-initial-thoughts-on-doing-accessibility-checks/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2024/07/05/elia-muller-initial-thoughts-on-doing-accessibility-checks/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[emuller2]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 05 Jul 2024 10:23:36 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[EDE]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Educational Design and Engagement]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Learn Foundations Intern]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Learn Foundations Learning Applications Developer]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[summer]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorised]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[university of edinburgh]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/?p=2455</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 2</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>Year of study & degree: 2nd year Psychology and Linguistics Internship: Learn Foundations Intern Meal deal of choice: Least offensive looking sandwich + Bakery item + Smoothie Favourite floor in Argyle House: Definitely K The title of your preferred work playlist: tasteless bops Subpar Slides As a Learn Foundations Intern, I’m involved in conducting a […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 2</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span><hr />
<p><b><span data-contrast="auto">Year of study & degree: </span></b><span data-contrast="auto">2</span><span data-contrast="auto">nd</span><span data-contrast="auto"> year Psychology and Linguistics</span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></p>
<p><b><span data-contrast="auto">Internship:</span></b><span data-contrast="auto"> Learn Foundations Intern</span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></p>
<p><b><span data-contrast="auto">Meal deal of choice:</span></b><span data-contrast="auto"> Least offensive looking sandwich + Bakery item + Smoothie</span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></p>
<p><b><span data-contrast="auto">Favourite floor in Argyle House:</span></b><span data-contrast="auto"> Definitely K</span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></p>
<p><b><span data-contrast="auto">The title of your preferred work playlist:</span></b><span data-contrast="auto"> tasteless bops</span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></p>
<hr />
<h2><span data-contrast="none">Subpar Slides</span><span data-ccp-props="{"134245418":true,"134245529":true,"201341983":0,"335559738":160,"335559739":80,"335559740":279}"> </span></h2>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">As a Learn Foundations Intern, I’m involved in conducting a number of checks on the university’s Virtual Learning Environment, Learn. We are tasked with verifying the presence of a school-dependent template and making sure that the correct variables are present, among other things (think LOTS of Excel spreadsheets filled with Ys and Ns).</span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">But the part of my internship that has intrigued me the most so far is the accessibility checks that I’ve had to fill out for a random sample of courses from each school. More specifically, I thoroughly enjoyed scrolling through the PowerPoint slides of various courses and imagining the lectures that had accompanied them (a personal favourite so far were the slides of a female filmmakers course from which I got great movie recommendations). </span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">But what about the accessibility of these slides? </span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">It leaves much to be desired, unfortunately. Aside from scans of documents, PowerPoints seem to be the documents that consistently have the most accessibility issues, ranging from insufficient contrast between text and slide backgrounds to images that didn’t include alternative text. </span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">I was stumped, as there is guidance on how to make PowerPoint presentations accessible to all, as well as </span><a href="https://uoe.sharepoint.com/:p:/r/sites/Anintroductiontoaccessibilityinlearningtechnology/Shared%20Documents/PowerPoint%20Accessible%20Template%201.pptx?d=w0026da0da47d4bc08995b30bfe529ecb&csf=1&web=1&e=7RS9cA"><span data-contrast="none">a</span><span data-contrast="none"> template</span></a><span data-contrast="auto"> provided by the university. Why weren’t people using that template?</span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></p>
<h2><span data-contrast="none">Both beautiful and accessible</span><span data-ccp-props="{"134233117":false,"134233118":false,"134245418":true,"134245529":true,"201341983":0,"335551550":1,"335551620":1,"335559685":0,"335559737":0,"335559738":160,"335559739":80,"335559740":279}"> </span></h2>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">Whilst I was staring incredulously at the university template that was getting so little use, I came to the realisation that a possible explanation for its invariable rejection was that it was a little </span><i><span data-contrast="auto">too </span></i><span data-contrast="auto">template-like. Its background is a neutral navy blue, and its font is Arial. What it has in accessibility, it lacks in flair. I believe that one reason the template may not be used is that course organisers want to add personality to the slides.</span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">But surely both are possible? This got me thinking about the way in which I design my own PowerPoint presentations. I frequently make use of online databases of PowerPoint templates, where I can choose between a myriad of different layouts and designs. </span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">How could we blend the world of accessibility and the world of design freedom?</span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></p>
<h2><span data-contrast="none">A possible route forward</span><span data-ccp-props="{"134245418":true,"134245529":true,"201341983":0,"335559738":160,"335559739":80,"335559740":279}"> </span></h2>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">One of the aspects I appreciate most about having an internship within ISG is that my line manager and supervisors are very keen on hearing our feedback and potential suggestions for improvements. This allowed me to suggest a database of accessible PowerPoint templates, to expand on the single template that currently exists and to enable course organisers to opt for an accessible template without sacrificing their aesthetic desires. If time permits, I would like to work on this project in the later stages of my internship.</span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></p>
<h6>– your new Blog Editor</h6>
<span class="uoe-published-time uoe-seo-hidden-area">
<time datetime="2024-07-05" itemprop="dateModified">Jul 5, 2024</time>
</span>
]]></content:encoded>
<wfw:commentRss>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2024/07/05/elia-muller-initial-thoughts-on-doing-accessibility-checks/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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<item>
<title>Tallulah Thompson – What I have learnt from the Media and Podcasting Internship</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2024/05/27/tallulah-thompson-what-i-have-learnt-from-the-media-and-podcasting-internship/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2024/05/27/tallulah-thompson-what-i-have-learnt-from-the-media-and-podcasting-internship/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[tthompso]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 27 May 2024 08:14:32 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Digital Learning Applications and Media]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Internships]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/?p=2426</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 3</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>Programme of Study and Year: 1st year Informatics (MInf) Intern Position: Media and Podcasting Intern I have now been working with the Digital Learning Applications and Media (DLAM) group as the Media and Podcasting Intern since February. It’s been an amazing experience – I’ve had the opportunity to get involved in so many interesting things and […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 3</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span><p><strong>Programme of Study and Year: </strong>1st year Informatics (MInf)<br />
<strong>Intern Position: </strong>Media and Podcasting Intern</p>
<hr />
<p>I have now been working with the Digital Learning Applications and Media (DLAM) group as the Media and Podcasting Intern since February. It’s been an amazing experience – I’ve had the opportunity to get involved in so many interesting things and to work with a brilliant team led by Karen Howie. I’m really grateful to Karen and my colleagues for stretching me and supporting me in equal measure. As my internship comes to an end soon, I have decided to share my reflections and what I have learnt.</p>
<p><!-- notionvc: 0025adfe-330e-429b-a7a2-3092aef75b03 --></p>
<h3>Why I applied for this internship</h3>
<p>At the end of my first semester, I decided I wanted to find a job for the following semester that would allow me to interact with more people across the university, and that ideally would involve a project that would benefit others. After looking through many Computer Science related jobs, I found that most were exclusive to penultimate/final year students, and I realised I would have to broaden my search. I started looking for jobs, that despite being less directly related to my field of study, would still be relevant to my interests and help me gain professional experience and valuable skills. That was when I came across the Media and Podcasting Intern job opportunity on MyCareerHub; when I read the job description, I knew I had to apply! It was so appealing because it would allow me to bridge two of my main interests: technology and data, and content creation.</p>
<h3>What I have been doing</h3>
<p>My job has mainly entailed looking through videos uploaded to Media Hopper Create, and analysing their metadata to see how it can be improved, coming up with a metadata guidance document and checklist, collating videos to display on the front page that correspond to monthly themes, collaborating with content owners to improve the accessibility of their media, and, most excitingly, helping design the layout of the front page of the new Media Hopper Create website.</p>
<h3>What I have learnt</h3>
<p>This experience has taught me so much about metadata (<a href="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2024/03/20/2398/">see my previous blogpost</a>) and really highlighted the importance of having good metadata when it comes to improving the accessibility and findability of media. A small yet surprising fact I have learnt is that podcasts do not have to be audio only, and in order for media to be classed as a podcast on Media Hopper Create, it needs to be designed to be consumed in an episodic format, although, majority of the time, a podcast is audio only. I had used Media Hopper Create prior to my internship, however, this was mainly for watching lecture recordings, I hadn’t appreciated the range in content on the website and will continue to use it even after my internship ends. Another thing I hadn’t realised was how useful my ability to code is. I was asked to look through 2 data files and identify the entries that were in one and not the other; and being the Computer Science student that I am, rather than doing this manually/through Excel, I wrote a Python program to do this, which meant that I could complete this task in a much faster and more accurate way. I also used my Python skills to analyse metadata, identify trends and representing them as graphs. I so happy to discover how laterally applicable my skillset is!<!-- notionvc: 1730fcf1-c979-4f30-a932-ddc83022c226 --></p>
<h3>My thoughts</h3>
<p>Overall, this internship has not only expanded my understanding of metadata and media management but also reinforced the value of my technical skills in real-world applications. I’m excited to carry forward these lessons and continue exploring the intersection of technology and media in my future endeavours. I would like to thank Karen, Liam and the rest of the wonderful DLAM team for this amazing experience.</p>
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<time datetime="2024-05-27" itemprop="dateModified">May 27, 2024</time>
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<title>Tallulah Thompson – Reflections on metadata</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2024/03/20/2398/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2024/03/20/2398/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[tthompso]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 20 Mar 2024 14:10:54 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Digital Asset Management System Metadata Intern]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Digital Learning Applications and Media]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Digital Media Assistant]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Internships]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/?p=2398</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 4</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>Programme of Study and Year: 1st year Informatics (MInf) Intern Position: Media and Podcasting Intern Introduction Hi! I’m Tallulah and I’m in my 4th week as the Media and Podcasting Intern with Media Hopper Create. So far, I’ve been looking through videos uploaded to Media Hopper Create to analyse their metadata and see how it could […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 4</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span><p><strong>Programme of Study and Year: </strong>1st year Informatics (MInf)</p>
<p><strong>Intern Position: </strong>Media and Podcasting Intern</p>
<hr />
<h3>Introduction</h3>
<p>Hi! I’m Tallulah and I’m in my 4th week as the Media and Podcasting Intern with Media Hopper Create. So far, I’ve been looking through videos uploaded to Media Hopper Create to analyse their metadata and see how it could be improved, coming up with a metadata guidance sheet, and I’ve collated videos to display on the front page that correspond to monthly themes.</p>
<h3>Metadata</h3>
<p>Most of my internship so far has involved looking at metadata. Metadata essentially is data about data. In the context of Media Hopper Create, it is the information associated with the different videos that have been uploaded, for example, title, video description, tags, captions, publisher, etc. Having good metadata will make it easier for users of Media Hopper Create to find videos. Unfortunately, the quality in the metadata across the videos is quite inconsistent, which is why one of my jobs is to write guidance to help improve the quality and to make the media easier to find.</p>
<h3>What is good metadata?</h3>
<p>Good metadata will help organise, find and understand data. It should serve as the bridge between content and users. When it comes to videos uploaded to Media Hopper Create, this is what good metadata should look like for media:</p>
<p><strong>Title:</strong> should be clear and give context, for example, if it is a lecture., a good format would be: [Course Name] [Video Subject], rather than just naming a video “Overview” or “Summary”, e.g., “Object Oriented Programming, Lecture 2: Conditionals and Loops”. The users should be able to have a good idea what the video is about based on the title.</p>
<p><strong>Description:</strong> brief description of what the video is about. It should not just be the title repeated, and it should be detailed enough so that users should not have to watch the whole video to see if it is going to be useful to them</p>
<p><strong>Tags:</strong> should be relevant and specific to the video and should not be too general, for example having the tag “acts” on a video about climate change is not specific enough to the video. If the video is a podcast, adding the tag “podcast” will help users who are specifically finding a podcast, and/or if the video is only audio, adding the tag “audio only” will help users who are specifically finding audio only videos . It is better to have fewer tags that are specific and relevant to the video that will help the users find what they are looking for rather than having many tags that are not specific enough. Tags are added from frequently used words in the auto-generated captions, but sometimes these are not the most relevant, so after captioning is complete, it would be good to go through the tags and remove the irrelevant ones. Having a consistent format for tags will make it easier to organise videos, for example, a video with the tag “#artificialintelligence” will be considered different to a video with the tag “artificial intelligence”. A good format for tags is having them completely lowercase.</p>
<p><strong>Captions:</strong> key accessibility feature for many, including but not limited to: people who are deaf or hard of hearing, people who have difficulty processing auditory information, and people whose native language is not English. At the very least, auto-generated captions should be requested for videos uploaded to Media Hopper Create, although at times they can be inaccurate, it is still better than nothing. These captions can either be corrected by the uploader or a request can be put in to have them reviewed and corrected by the captioning team, to make them as accurate as possible.</p>
<p><strong>Attachments:</strong> The transcript, which is created from the auto-generated captions should be uploaded automatically. It is useful to not remove the transcript as it will allow users to search through it to see if the video is relevant. If a presentation is included in the video, uploading the slides will make it more convenient for the user.</p>
<p><strong>Chapters:</strong> divides the video into different sections based on what it is about. Adding in chapters is very useful especially when the video is longer than 30 mins, because it will allow the user to find what they are looking for in a video without having to watch the whole video.</p>
<h3>What is “bad” metadata?</h3>
<p>When videos uploaded to Media Hopper Create have “bad” metadata, it can lead to poor content sorting, making it harder for users to find videos that they are looking for. For instance, when the title for a lecture video is just “0.0”, rather than having the course the lecture is from and more information about the video, it makes it very difficult for users to find this video unless they specifically have the link/know exactly where to find it. It also means that users are less likely to watch the video as they will not know if it is relevant to them. If a video has too many tags that aren’t specific or relevant to the video, when users try searching based on tags, many less relevant videos might come up, making it harder for the user to find what they are looking for.</p>
<h3>My thoughts</h3>
<p>In my opinion, the main issue with the metadata associated with videos uploaded to Media Hopper Create is that it is inconsistent. Having inconsistent metadata makes it much harder for videos to be organised, which will then make it harder for users to find what they are looking for. As part of my internship, I have been tasked with writing a metadata guidance sheet for video uploaders, which I hope will increase the consistency in quality of metadata of videos uploaded. Although this guidance won’t necessarily be able to change the metadata of the already uploaded videos, by hopefully improving the metadata for future videos, it will mean that users can access the most up to date and relevant videos to them much more easily.</p>
<h3>What I have learned so far</h3>
<p>Before I started this internship, I thought I had quite a good idea of what metadata was and its importance. Although I have only been interning with Media Hopper Create for 3 weeks, I realised, I have already learned a lot. I’ve learned a lot about Media Hopper Create and how useful it is as a service for the University, and I didn’t realise how such small details in metadata could make such a big difference in the user experience. I’m looking forward to the rest of my internship and learning even more about metadata.</p>
<span class="uoe-published-time uoe-seo-hidden-area">
<time datetime="2024-03-20" itemprop="dateModified">Mar 20, 2024</time>
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<title>Lewis Forbes – LaTeX and Accessibility</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2023/08/15/lewis-forbes-latex-and-accessibility/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2023/08/15/lewis-forbes-latex-and-accessibility/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[lforbes3]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 15 Aug 2023 14:46:31 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Digital Learning Applications and Media]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Digital Learning Intern]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/?p=2152</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 5</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>Programme of Study and Year: Informatics (MInf), going into final year. Intern Position: Digital Learning Intern As a former Computer Science and Maths student (now just a Computer Science student), LaTeX has brought me much grief over my time at university. Writing my 30+ page dissertation using the software definitely increased my confidence in using […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 5</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span><hr />
<p><strong>Programme of Study and Year: </strong>Informatics (MInf), going into final year.</p>
<p><strong>Intern Position: </strong>Digital Learning Intern</p>
<hr />
<p>As a former Computer Science and Maths student (now just a Computer Science student), LaTeX has brought me much grief over my time at university. Writing my 30+ page dissertation using the software definitely increased my confidence in using it, but to be honest I still don’t really understand how it works and frequently rely on StackOverflow.</p>
<p>As such, it was saddening but somewhat validating to learn that the problem of accessibility in LaTeX is one which has been plaguing the community for years – it’s maintained by a team of volunteers who have struggled to implement features which are becoming standard in electronic documents. In this post I’ll share my attempts at creating the most accessible LaTeX documents possible and conclude with steps you can take to achieve this. The speed at which LaTeX seems to advance (and break) led to a lot of trial and error in this process, and it’s possible that things which worked for me might not work for you.</p>
<p>I used the <a href="http://edin.ac/ally">accessibility evaluation software Ally</a> to determine what makes documents accessible, which gives documents an accessibility percentage and suggests where improvements can be made. Ally gave the initial PDF I provided a score of 5%, but guided me to create a document with a score of 96%. It did not comment on maths however, which is not accessible by default in LaTeX as explained in this <a href="https://asarantsev.github.io/WebArchive/access.pdf" class="mtli_attachment mtli_pdf">report by Massie and Sarantsev</a>.</p>
<figure id="attachment_2238" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2238" style="width: 277px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-2238" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2023/08/image-218x300.png" alt="" width="277" height="382" srcset="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2023/08/image-218x300.png 218w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2023/08/image.png 569w" sizes="(max-width: 277px) 100vw, 277px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-2238" class="wp-caption-text">Ally’s initial rating and comments for an unchanged LaTeX document.</figcaption></figure>
<p>Based on Ally’s guidance and the information in the report mentioned, the inaccessible aspects of default LaTeX documents are their lack of tagging and headers, lack of alt text, lack of metadata, and maths which cannot be meaningfully read by screen readers.</p>
<h2>LaTeX Accessibility Summary</h2>
<p>If your document contains a lot of maths, I recommend creating an HTML5 file using <a href="https://pandoc.org/index.html">Pandoc</a>. See the checklist in the ‘Maths’ section below for information on this.</p>
<p>If your document has no maths, follow these steps:</p>
<ol>
<li>Add alt text as explained in the first two bullet points in the ‘Alt Text’ section below.</li>
<li>Add metadata as explained in the ‘Metadata’ section below.</li>
<li>Add tags/headings using the using <a href="https://pdfix.io/make-pdf-accessible/">this PDFix tool</a>.</li>
</ol>
<p>As mentioned, following these steps produced <a href="https://www.overleaf.com/read/wnfhnwdpbfmy">96% accessible LaTeX project</a>, based on Ally’s score of its PDF after tagging.</p>
<hr />
<p>I will now go into more detail about each of the different inaccessible areas mentioned.</p>
<h2>Alt Text</h2>
<p>Alternative text is often included for those <a href="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/website-communications/improving-alt-text-at-the-university/">using screen readers</a>, but thanks to the <a href="https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/the-curb-cut-effect-8a6b68d6485">curb cut effect</a> has uses for many people – both visually impaired and sighted. Different sources recommend different ways of including this:</p>
<p>I successfully added alt text using the following methods:</p>
<ul>
<li>Using a parameter on caption <code>\caption[alt text]{caption text}</code>, as recommended by ChatGPT. This should be used when <code>\includegraphics{}</code> is used within a <code>\figure{}</code> environment.</li>
<li>Using <code>\pdftooltip{}</code> from the <a href="https://ctan.org/pkg/pdfcomment?lang=en">pdfcomment interface</a> successfully added tooltips with user-specified text to the document, which Ally recognized as alt text. This should be used when <code>\includegraphics{}</code> is being used with no <code>\caption{}</code>. For example, I used it in a <code>\subfloat{}</code> environment. This was advised in this <a href="https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/75102/need-alt-text-for-images-in-pdf-for-screen-readers?answertab=modifieddesc#tab-top">StackExchange forum</a>.</li>
</ul>
<p>The following methods were recommended by various sources, but did not allow me to successfully add alt text to images:</p>
<ul>
<li>Using <code>\Description{}</code> as recommended in this <a href="https://authors.acm.org/journals/how-to-write-alt-text-and-why">Association for Computing Machinery article</a>. This command was not recognized by the compiler, and no packages to include were mentioned.</li>
<li>Using <code>\nextalt{}</code> as recommended in this <a href="https://people.bath.ac.uk/cspehj/maths-access/latex-instructions/sect0049.html">webpage by Emma Cliffe at Bath University</a>. This command was not recognized by the compiler even with the inclusion of the graphicsx package as mentioned.</li>
<li>Using the accessibility package and the <code>\alt{}</code> comment as recommended in this <a href="https://libguides.lib.msu.edu/c.php?g=995742&p=8207771">Michigan State University Library guide</a>. This also didn’t work.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Metadata</h2>
<p>Ally highlights the need for the inclusion of a PDF’s title and language. This allows screen readers to introduce the document, which can be included with the following lines in the document preamble:</p>
<p><code>\usepackage{hyperref}<br />
\hypersetup{pdftitle={Document Name}, pdflang={en-GB}}</code></p>
<h2>PDF Tagging & Headings</h2>
<p>There does not appear to be a way of reliably generating tagged PDFs using LaTeX. The unsuitability of two potential solutions I came across follows:</p>
<ul>
<li>As outlined in the <a href="https://ctan.math.illinois.edu/macros/latex/contrib/tagpdf/tagpdf.pdf" class="mtli_attachment mtli_pdf">tagpdf documentation</a>, the tagpdf package is not meant for normal document production. As such, the syntax required to use it is complicated and the package likely contains bugs.</li>
<li>As outlined on the <a href="https://github.com/AndyClifton/accessibility"><!--StartFragment --><span class="cf0">Accessibility package GitHub page</span></a>, the accessibility package is also not suitable for production and is no longer maintained. Although it does produces tagged PDFs according to Ally, it sometimes leads to documents not compiling, and sometimes causes unexpected behaviour. As an example:
<ul>
<li>This <a href="https://www.overleaf.com/read/jhnbjpgkbfgy">compilable project</a> does not contain the package, but otherwise identical <a href="https://www.overleaf.com/read/xrqdvtbrksds">uncompilable project</a> contains the package.</li>
<li>In this <a href="https://www.overleaf.com/read/vjnnqxjwtnvy">incorrectly compiled project</a> some of the text is duplicated whereas in this <a href="https://www.overleaf.com/read/grpjgthrpcvq">correctly compiled project</a> no duplication occurs.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p>Tags can be added to a PDF once it’s been created by a few different services, namely Adobe Acrobat Pro DC, Microsoft Word, and PDFix. Since Acrobat Pro isn’t free to use and Word seems to often ruin the format, I found PDFix’s <a href="https://pdfix.io/make-pdf-accessible/">‘Make PDF Accessible’ tool</a> to be the best solution. This also allows metadata to be changed. The company appear reputable with the <a href="https://pdfix.net/privacy-policy/">PDFix privacy policy</a> stating they delete all provided files for 30 days and pass data to third parties “only within the extent necessary to meet its obligations”.</p>
<p>The only problem I found with this service was its inability to render a <code>.pdf</code> vector image. This format is unusual, and was easily fixed by converting the image to a <code>.png</code> file.</p>
<h2>Maths</h2>
<p>Making maths accessible in LaTeX does appear to be possible but is a little complex. Most sources seem to recommend converting LaTeX documents to HTML5 documents via a semi-automated process using various tools. This aforementioned <a href="https://asarantsev.github.io/WebArchive/access.pdf" class="mtli_attachment mtli_pdf">Massie and Sarantsev paper</a> provides a good overview of the topic.</p>
<p>I found <a href="https://pandoc.org/index.html">Pandoc</a> to be the easiest tool to do this conversion. To convert maths it uses <a href="https://www.mathjax.org/">MathJax</a> – a JavaScript engine which creates “beautiful and accessible math in all browsers”. HTML documents are accessible by default since they are tagged, and contain conventions for setting alt text and metadata. See this <a href="https://docs.mathjax.org/en/v2.7-latest/misc/accessibility-features.html#screenreader-support">MathJax documentation page</a> for information on screen readers for maths it helps display.</p>
<p>Once installing Pandoc, LaTeX documents can be converted on Windows as follows:</p>
<ol>
<li>Open command prompt (press <code>Win+R</code>, type cmd, press enter).</li>
<li>Copy the location of the folder containing the <code>.tex</code> file you wish to convert. The <code>.bib</code> file should be in the same directory.</li>
<li>In command prompt, enter:
<ul>
<li><code>cd "the folder location you copied"</code></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Enter the following command, replacing <code>myTex.tex</code> and <code>myBib.bib</code> with your filenames.
<ul>
<li><code>pandoc myTex.tex -f latex -t html -s -o output.html --bibliography myTex.bib --citeproc --mathjax</code></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Move the new file <code>output.html</code> up one folder level. For example, from <code>C:/folder1/folder2/folder3/output.html</code> to <code>C:/folder1/folder2/output.html</code>. This is so images’ paths are correct.</li>
<li>Open <code>output.html</code>.</li>
</ol>
<p>You might find Pandoc is <span class="NormalTextRun SCXW204967602 BCX0">less forgiving with syntax errors than your usual </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW204967602 BCX0">compiler when it comes to your bibliography</span>. A verifier such as <a href="https://flamingtempura.github.io/bibtex-tidy/">BibTeX Tidy</a> can be used to identify and correct errors.</p>
<h2>The Future</h2>
<p>Decreasing the steps authors have to take to make their LaTeX documents accessible is an area of active development, as outlined in <a href="https://www.latex-project.org/publications/indexbytopic/pdf/">The LaTex Project’s accessibility publications</a>. The most recent update I’ve seen comes from this <a href="https://www.latex-project.org/news/2023/05/27/latex-dev-2/">LaTeX news article</a> introducing the final pre-release of the June 2023 version of LaTeX.</p>
<p>This pre-releases produced viable, tagged documents for simple files, but cannot format some complex files, as shown in the image below. For documents with tables it produced well-compiled PDFs, but they were untagged. This means the pre-release is currently no better than the tagging methods mentioned above.</p>
<figure id="attachment_2203" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2203" style="width: 967px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-2203 size-full" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2023/08/image-3.png" alt="A screenshot of a unreadable document, containing text which overflows to off of the page and displayed commands." width="967" height="559" srcset="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2023/08/image-3.png 967w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2023/08/image-3-300x173.png 300w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2023/08/image-3-768x444.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 967px) 100vw, 967px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-2203" class="wp-caption-text">A poorly formatted document produced by the final June pre-release of LaTeX.</figcaption></figure>
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<time datetime="2023-08-15" itemprop="dateModified">Aug 15, 2023</time>
</span>
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<title>Ioana-Sabina Susanu – My Digital Learning Internship, in a nutshell.</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2023/06/07/ioana-sabina-susanu-my-digital-learning-internship-in-a-nutshell/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2023/06/07/ioana-sabina-susanu-my-digital-learning-internship-in-a-nutshell/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[lforbes3]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 07 Jun 2023 14:48:11 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Digital Learning Intern]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/?p=1905</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 2</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>Programme of Study and Year: 3rd year Astrophysics Hobbies: Reading, music, karate Intern Position: Digital Learning Intern Describe your role in 4 words: interesting, challenging (at times), rewarding I wanted to take the time to do a blog post on how my internship has been for the past year. I have worked full-time during the […]]]></description>
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<p><strong>Programme of Study and Year: </strong>3rd year Astrophysics</p>
<p><strong>Hobbies: </strong>Reading, music, karate</p>
<p><strong>Intern Position: </strong>Digital Learning Intern</p>
<p><strong>Describe your role in 4 words: </strong>interesting, challenging (at times), rewarding</p>
<hr />
<p>I wanted to take the time to do a blog post on how my internship has been for the past year. I have worked full-time during the summer in the DLAM TEL team (Digital Learning Applications and Media, Technology Enhanced Learning – so many acronyms!), and part-time during the academic year.</p>
<p>I have done mostly Accessibility testing on various applications, including Turnitin, Moodle, Echo360, Collaborate and Ally, but also other tasks like caption verification or blog editing. I have had a lot to learn about all of the different software types and environments used within the University, and how important each piece of technology is.</p>
<p>Wrapping up my time in DLAM, I wanted to share once again how important the topic of Accessibility is, since it is what the vast majority of my work consisted of. Even though it seems that most of the regulations and adaptive software is concentrated on visual impairment (and too few regulations cover physical impairment – but this is a discussion for another time), it is certain that every little element that is made accessible on a page/application/platform makes a huge difference. Every colour combination, every button, every description and every message matters and can make the navigation better for users if accessibility is taken into consideration.</p>
<p>That being said, my work has been varied, and I never got a chance to get ‘bored’ as every thing I had to do was different from the previous one. I had the opportunity of working with a lot of different people, and I had a lot to learn from everyone I’ve met during my internship. The fact that the team has been welcoming and helpful made a great difference for me and my work – being relaxed and confident in my actions made me more productive, efficient and attentive to details</p>
<h2>Make the most of Learning Technology!</h2>
<p>I would like to end this blog post with a big ‘Thank you’ to the DLAM TEL team, and the wider Learning, Teaching and Web community for the continued support throughout the year.</p>
<p>I certainly recommend giving Learning Technology a chance, regardless of your degree – in the end, it is used by everyone at University, and it’s a very diverse field that will never make you bored.</p>
<p>And lastly, make the most of the resources available – there is a wide variety of them (books, software, databases, videos, courses, trainings), all available at a few clicks’ distance.</p>
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<time datetime="2023-06-07" itemprop="dateModified">Jun 7, 2023</time>
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<title>Eva Spanachi – The journey of being a Digital Learning Intern</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2022/08/04/__trashed/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2022/08/04/__trashed/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[espanach]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 04 Aug 2022 14:15:15 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Digital Learning Intern]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/?p=1629</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 4</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>Programme of Study and Year: 4th Year Chemistry Hobbies: Art, reading, yoga, baking Intern Position: Digital learning Intern Describe your role in 4 words: Write a blog guys! “Known as” at the office: That annoying person who wouldn’t stop sending emails about the ISG Student Employee blog The opportunity to be part of the ISG […]]]></description>
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<p><strong>Programme of Study and Year:</strong> 4<sup>th</sup> Year Chemistry</p>
<p><strong>Hobbies:</strong> Art, reading, yoga, baking</p>
<p><strong>Intern Position:</strong> Digital learning Intern</p>
<p><strong>Describe your role in 4 words:</strong> Write a blog guys!</p>
<p><strong>“Known as” at the office:</strong> That annoying person who wouldn’t stop sending emails about the ISG Student Employee blog</p>
<hr />
<h2>The opportunity to be part of the ISG team</h2>
<p>In mid-April, having the usual mid-semester crisis I started thinking of what I would be doing over the summer! So I started a search to find an internship and I came across the various roles offered by ISG on MyCareerHub and everything looked very interesting (and not chemistry related, which would allow my brain to have a break from all the science). Having my interview with some of the Digital Learning Applications and Media (DLAM) members, I immediately realized that I really wanted to become part of that lovely team and was therefore really happy to receive an offer for the digital learning role.</p>
<h2>The internship so far…</h2>
<p>Part of my internship consists of general testing, as well as accessibility testing on University platforms. After undergoing some training on accessibility, I was so surprised to realize how unfamiliar I was with the whole concept and I definitely learned a lot about how to make things more accessible by considering things like using a correct colour contrast, alternative text when using images, captions in videos and the general structure of a site to make it easy to navigate when someone is not using a mouse or using a speech navigator for example. The general lesson I learned however, was to actually keep in mind the various audiences and not just assume that we all use computers and technology in the same way, but we definitely all deserve to be able to access and navigate through all online environments.</p>
<p>Another part of my role has been to create screencasts using MediaHopper to provide instructions on how to navigate around some teaching and learning sites such as Learn. I now know the struggle of having to record your own voice, and the need to have approximately a hundred takes before you decide to give up and use whatever you have recorded by convincing yourself that it is good enough! The first video I had to script and record was 1.5 mins long and it took me a day to perfect, caption and finally post so I can only imagine how difficult it must be to record an hour long lecture!</p>
<p>I was also recently able to observe how the Unidesk side of the team works and see how they keep the Learning Technology of the University working, and ensure that any issue that occurs is resolved. So I had the opportunity to follow through the process of how an issue, that a staff member or student may be dealing with on different university platforms, such as Turnitin and Learn, is handled and eventually resolved. In the next few weeks I will also be able to go through a few issues and try to propose a way to resolve the problem, and become familiar with the different stages of coming up with a solution.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-1805 " src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2022/07/IMG20220328150556-scaled-e1659605487903-300x241.jpg" alt="" width="467" height="375" srcset="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2022/07/IMG20220328150556-scaled-e1659605487903-300x241.jpg 300w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2022/07/IMG20220328150556-scaled-e1659605487903-1024x822.jpg 1024w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2022/07/IMG20220328150556-scaled-e1659605487903-768x617.jpg 768w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2022/07/IMG20220328150556-scaled-e1659605487903-1536x1233.jpg 1536w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2022/07/IMG20220328150556-scaled-e1659605487903.jpg 1919w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 467px) 100vw, 467px" /></p>
<p> </p>
<h2>Getting familiar with Blogs.ed!</h2>
<p>The general and accessibility testing I did was on Blogs.ed which was really useful because it helped me get familiar with the website as I had to use it daily as part of having the role of the student intern blog editor. My first task with this role was to come up with a template for the blog posts (a challenging task considering I had never written a single blog post or anything similar before). So I had to come up with a plan!</p>
<p>-> <strong>Plan A:</strong> Read all the previous blogs written by interns and get inspired. Well, I discovered that there were too many previous interns and hence too many previous blogs and too little time! -> <strong>Plan B:</strong> Read <em>a few</em> blogs from each past summer to get inspired and create a template. That actually worked and I managed to structure a template. Step 1 done! <strong>Step 2-</strong> Get the template approved and come up with a strategy on how to approach the other interns. I knew immediately that I had to find a way to make my fellow interns want to write blog posts without being too annoying. <strong> Step 3-</strong> After annoying the interns I then had to edit and proofread their blogs and finally post them on <a href="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/">the Information Services Group: Student Employee Blog</a>. It has been great to see that the plan actually worked and interns did offer to write a blog, and I definitely enjoyed reading them all!</p>
<h2>A few weeks left…</h2>
<p>Only a few weeks left for the end of my internship and I am thankful that I had the opportunity to be part of such a lovely team, where everyone was very welcoming and supportive throughout the internship. Also very grateful that Covid managed to calm down and allow us to go to the office now and then and enjoy each other’s company in person, and got to meet other interns during the great Unitemps social events!</p>
<p><strong>I hope all the interns had a great time during their internships and enjoyed their summers as well! Hopefully the rest of the staff in ISG enjoyed having us around and I am sure all of us appreciate their work and effort a lot more now that we got to see what is happening behind ‘the scenes’.</strong></p>
<p> </p>
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<time datetime="2022-08-04" itemprop="dateModified">Aug 4, 2022</time>
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<title>Ioana -Uncovering the depths of accessibility testing in the Digital Learning Internship</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2022/07/25/ioana-uncovering-the-depths-of-accessibility-testing-in-the-digital-learning-internship/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2022/07/25/ioana-uncovering-the-depths-of-accessibility-testing-in-the-digital-learning-internship/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[espanach]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 25 Jul 2022 13:10:59 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Digital Learning Intern]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/?p=1727</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 3</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>Programme of Study and Year: Astrophysics (MPhys), going into 3rd year Hobbies: Reading, listening to music, taking walks, watching TV series Intern Position: Digital Learning Intern within Learning, Teaching and Web (LTW) Fun fact about your internship: I have become knowledgeable in Accessibility testing, even though this was not the plan initially Describe your role […]]]></description>
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<p><strong>Programme of Study and Year:</strong> Astrophysics (MPhys), going into 3<sup>rd</sup> year</p>
<p><strong>Hobbies:</strong> Reading, listening to music, taking walks, watching TV series</p>
<p><strong>Intern Position:</strong> Digital Learning Intern within Learning, Teaching and Web (LTW)</p>
<p><strong>Fun fact about your internship:</strong> I have become knowledgeable in Accessibility testing, even though this was not the plan initially</p>
<p><strong>Describe your role in 4 words: </strong> Challenging, rewarding, technical, awesome</p>
<hr />
<h2>The internship experience in a nutshell</h2>
<p>I have found out about these internships from the Unitemps website. I kept checking it in March, as I knew that was the time when the summer roles would be advertised. I have also received notifications over e-mail regarding the roles and how to apply. My role requires me to become familiar with a variety of learning technology applications, and do the accessibility testing based on a specific script and using assistive software. The most enjoyable part is that I get to see, learn, experience and test a lot of the University’s platforms, applications and integrations, and I have the chance to see these from a developer point of view. Additionally, it is just enjoyable to collaborate with my team members and socialise with other interns when we are in the office. Speaking of socialising, the Unitemps social events for interns are the best – the food is great and I always get to meet and talk to lots of interesting people with various experiences.</p>
<h2>Highlights of Digital Learning – Creating documentation and conducting accessibility testing</h2>
<p>I find the 9-5 life surprisingly relaxing, especially when I work from home. Office days can be a bit more tiring, but they are the most fun as almost everyone is there on certain days. My team is welcoming and friendly, even in busy and stressful times – for which I admire them greatly. I really enjoy that communication is very efficient within the team, both when we are in the office and when we are working remotely.</p>
<p>My role so far has helped me overcome certain ‘fears’, for example listening to my own voice. I had to create some videos with instructions on how to use one of the applications within the University. I already had the script, I just had to record my screen while navigating the application. Even though it seems like a simple task, the idea of recording my own voice felt strange. After talking to my manager and some of the members of my team about this, I found that my feeling was quite common – no-one likes to record and listen to their own voice! Therefore I was a bit more confident that nothing could go wrong and I recorded the videos. Listening to my own voice while doing the captioning was not that bad – especially since I was focused on the quality of the sound and the content itself. The feedback I received for the videos was good, which boosted my confidence for this type of task.</p>
<p>As my work requires me to do accessibility testing, I had the opportunity to discover how complex this field is, and how many regulations need to be taken into account for a webpage/application/platform to be considered accessible. As an example, I was aware of captioning being needed for videos, but I wasn’t aware of the exact ratios needed for colour contrasts within a page. In addition, I could see how certain types of assistive software interact with the University platforms and applications, and which issues are encountered. While I still have some training sessions to do, I have developed an awareness for accessibility and I feel that this subject should be promoted more.</p>
<p>The internship has been a great experience so far. I feel lucky that I am a part of a lovely team (DLAM TEL – Digital Learning Applications and Media, Tech Enhanced Learning) where everyone is friendly and willing to help. I have a lot to learn from all of the team members, and also the other interns. The working environment is very good and inspiring, and it allows me to develop valuable skills that will certainly be beneficial in future assignments.</p>
<p><strong>Through this blog post, I would like to wish all the other interns the best of luck in their internships and projects, and to thank all the staff members for being welcoming and supportive in every matter. And last but not least, I encourage every student to apply for a summer internship within the Information Services Group – it’s definitely a fantastic experience!</strong></p>
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<time datetime="2022-07-25" itemprop="dateModified">Jul 25, 2022</time>
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<title>How I develop skills as a continuing App Developer Intern – Martin Lewis</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2022/04/20/how-i-develop-skills-as-a-continuing-app-developer-intern-martin-lewis/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2022/04/20/how-i-develop-skills-as-a-continuing-app-developer-intern-martin-lewis/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[awilso35]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 20 Apr 2022 11:59:17 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Learn Foundations Learning Applications Developer]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/?p=1581</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 2</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>Martin Lewis is a final year student in BSc (Hons) Computer Science, and started working as a Summer Intern in ISG in 2020, as one of our interns auditing Learn. Martin really impressed the Learn team with his initiative in finding a chance to automate some work, so since summer 2021 he has since been […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 2</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span><p><em>Martin Lewis is a final year student in BSc (Hons) Computer Science, and started working as a Summer Intern in ISG in 2020, as one of our interns auditing Learn. Martin really impressed the Learn team with his initiative in finding a chance to automate some work, so since summer 2021 he has since been working with the Learn team in a more technical role, doing programming.</em></p>
<p>I started work in Information Services Group (ISG) at the University as a <strong>Summer Intern</strong> in 2020 and 2021, and <strong>since then I’ve been working for ISG doing technical bits and pieces</strong>. In this blog post I’ll be discussing <strong>what I’ve been doing as a part of my work for ISG and what skills this has helped me develop.</strong></p>
<p>Initially I was doing rather non-technical work as part of the Learn Foundations project getting the University’s Learn courses prepared for the new academic year. This was adding things like the course outline and organiser details into these fresh courses. <strong>However, I managed to find a way to automate parts of the workflow I was assigned to and from there began to do technical work for the ISG.</strong><br />
I now have the very long winded title of ‘Learn Foundations Applications Developer Intern’ in which I do development work, making applications that are usually, sometime tangentially, related to the Learn Foundations Project.</p>
<p>For those more technically minded, I’m working in the PHP programming language doing full stack (front and backend) work using the Laravel framework. An excellent opportunity to learn a new language and framework. <strong>There is also the chance to work on real world projects that contain issues and experiences that cannot be found in the classroom or in a coursework assignment.</strong> With real team members (big thanks to Andrew and his team who I have been working with) and <strong>projects that have a real outcome (not just a grade).</strong></p>
<p>Now this is not only a good opportunity to hone skills but it also looks very good on a CV. Already having practical software development experience is fantastic and it also is a great source of discussion <strong>during interviews being able to bring up situations and decisions you made outside of a classroom is great.</strong></p>
<p>Now let’s look at the day to day practicalities (this is just my experience your mileage may vary with role and when you might work). The work is remote, as you could probably guess, which fits well alongside my majority remote learning these past few years. Over the summers I’ve worked full time, 35 hours a week, being treated as a standard member of university staff. Then over the semesters only 7 hours a week which I find easy to fit around my studies and personal life but it does often mean rather slow progress in the projects you work on.</p>
<p><strong>Both of the line managers I’ve had have been wonderful and very understanding about the need to change work patterns last minute or take time off around major deadlines and exams.</strong> The pay isn’t too bad and goes a long way towards covering my rent.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if I’ll be continuing to work for the University after May as I am finally graduating. I will however apologise in advance to any potential future intern who has to work with my code! But the last two years have gone a long way to making me a much more employable graduate.</p>
<p>So do consider applying for an ISG internship,<strong> I’ve personally gotten a lot out of it and I think any proactive student can benefit greatly from such a role.</strong></p>
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<time datetime="2022-04-20" itemprop="dateModified">Apr 20, 2022</time>
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<title>Top Five Things I Like About my Internship</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2021/08/11/top-five-things-i-like-about-my-internship/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2021/08/11/top-five-things-i-like-about-my-internship/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[rcormac3]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 11 Aug 2021 11:07:16 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Digital Media Assistant]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/?p=1543</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 3</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>Hazel is the Digital Media Assistant Intern and is responsible for making promotional videos for some of the Ed Web Services and self-enroll courses that are available for staff with the aim of explaining the system and services better to encourage higher usage. She enjoys her job because it allows for creativity and also loves […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 3</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span><p><em>Hazel is the Digital Media Assistant Intern and is responsible for making promotional videos for some of the Ed Web Services and self-enroll courses that are available for staff with the aim of explaining the system and services better to encourage higher usage. She enjoys her job because it allows for creativity and also loves singing, dancing, cooking and has just recently starting learning the ukulele!</em></p>
<hr />
<p>“It’s summer again!” This was what I thinking as I finished my semester. Then what? What should I do this summer? I wanted to make myself useful and gain some experience, which led me to browse for internship opportunities, and fortunately, I was accepted as a Digital Media Assistant Intern under Learning, Teaching and Web services (LTW)!</p>
<p>Impacted by COVID-19, the ways in which we learn and work have changed drastically. As a student, I’m not really a big fan of online learning but to my surprise, I have enjoyed my remote-working internship experience. Here are the top five things I like about my internship experience, and I hope some of that resonate with yours too <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/16.0.1/72x72/1f642.png" alt="🙂" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /></p>
<h3>1) Have my own input and make things happen!</h3>
<p>I’d never really had any internship experience before I joined. From my what my friends said, they described it as more of a rigid form of working, which means managers tell them exactly what they need to do and manage all the tasks with frequent reporting. It seems like it curbs much of their own creative input into the work as they are only following what they are asked to do.</p>
<p>However, my internship experience is totally different! To my surprise, I am given a plethora of opportunities to have my own input in creative tasks. For example, I initiated ideas of the video storyboards and the design of them. The fact that most of them were accepted truly makes me feel empowered as my manager and colleagues trust my skills in making the videos happen.<em><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-1545 aligncenter" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2021/08/andrew-neel-cckf4TsHAuw-unsplash-300x200.jpg" alt="Table with laptop, mug, pen and paper and a mobile phone." width="411" height="274" srcset="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2021/08/andrew-neel-cckf4TsHAuw-unsplash-300x200.jpg 300w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2021/08/andrew-neel-cckf4TsHAuw-unsplash-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2021/08/andrew-neel-cckf4TsHAuw-unsplash-768x512.jpg 768w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2021/08/andrew-neel-cckf4TsHAuw-unsplash-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2021/08/andrew-neel-cckf4TsHAuw-unsplash-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 411px) 100vw, 411px" /></em></p>
<h3>2) Effective communication</h3>
<p>Since the internship is entirely remote, we have used different methods of communication. Making use of Microsoft Teams and Outlook Email functions facilitates effective communication and avoids long-winded boring meetings (which usually happens in a physical setting). With all the technology available, it makes Working from Home possible and seemingly more effective, saving travelling time and speeding up work productivity. Therefore, although we cannot see each other physically, I am still able to communicate with my line manager and other team members easily on a weekly basis and get things going.</p>
<h3>3) High flexibility (time management skills are required!)</h3>
<p>My internship experience is very flexible with the whole project timeline. I can take on the role to plan when things should be delivered and manage when I should sort out the ideas, video storyboards and drafts, etc. This has certainly strengthened my time management skills, as I have to ensure that I am not falling behind the schedule and the project can progress swiftly.</p>
<p>The high flexibility also enables me to schedule other commitments around it. This allows me to achieve a good work-life balance during this period. I know that having an unexpected flexibility with time might seem to be a bit too good to be true, but to be honest, it does require a lot of self-control and time management skills!</p>
<h3>4) Gaining diverse skills</h3>
<p>It is a pleasant surprise to be able to gain other skills outside of what I’ve already learned! My project requires collaboration with other team members in the project and that has enabled me to learn so much more in other aspects, such as content writing, visual design, persona creation etc. These are all valuable opportunities and relevant skillsets that will be very helpful in a workplace. The fact that I can gain all these diverse skills makes the whole experience much more fulfilling!</p>
<h3>5) Supportive environment</h3>
<p>Last but not least, I’ve got to say I’m so grateful to have a really supportive manager that has kindly guided me all along. My colleagues have been really welcoming and encouraging with what I have done. Also, other team members in LTW have helped me so much with their constructive feedback! This whole working environment is surely a great add-on to this internship experience as who wouldn’t love to be surrounded by smart and friendly people?</p>
<hr />
<p>I’m certain that some of you may have a similar/ different internship experience according to your own department/ projects. Feel free to comment down below and share yours too! <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/16.0.1/72x72/1f642.png" alt="🙂" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /></p>
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<time datetime="2021-08-11" itemprop="dateModified">Aug 11, 2021</time>
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<title>Digital Learning Applications and Media – Information Services Group: Student Employee Blog</title>
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<title>Data Visualization: The Intersection between Science and Art</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/dlam/2025/08/15/data-visualization-the-intersection-between-science-and-art/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[tli4]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 08:48:10 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[data]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Digital Learning Applications and Media]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[DLAM Feed]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Projects]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[internship]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/dlam/?p=5766</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 4</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span> Hi, I’m Hera, the Data Visualization Intern working on the Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) Data Dashboards. Before getting into this internship, data had already been a fundamental part of my life. As an undergraduate student studying Psychology and Linguistics, statistics is part of the core of what we do. We’ve been taught how […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p> </p>
<div id="attachment_5767" style="width: 1811px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-5767" class="wp-image-5767 size-full" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/dlam/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-15-092443.png" alt="Image of the TEL Data Dashboard SharePoint" width="1801" height="780" srcset="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/dlam/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-15-092443.png 1801w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/dlam/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-15-092443-300x130.png 300w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/dlam/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-15-092443-1024x443.png 1024w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/dlam/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-15-092443-768x333.png 768w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/dlam/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-15-092443-1536x665.png 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 1801px) 100vw, 1801px" /><p id="caption-attachment-5767" class="wp-caption-text">The TEL Data Dashboard SharePoint</p></div>
<p> </p>
<p>Hi, I’m Hera, the Data Visualization Intern working on the Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) Data Dashboards. Before getting into this internship, data had already been a fundamental part of my life.</p>
<p>As an undergraduate student studying Psychology and Linguistics, statistics is part of the core of what we do. We’ve been taught how to approach data, clean it, visualize it, and analyze it. We’ve been taught how to run countless tests on it to figure out numbers like p-values and Cohen’s d.</p>
<p>Data and statistics are the shield behind what we do, the numbers that say “yeah, we’re 95% confident that what we found was not just an outcome of chance”.</p>
<p>It is the “sciencey” part.</p>
<p>But the visualization was small. It was more about getting the numbers to fit certain significance levels, just cold numbers and letters on a report. Visuals were required to have a better understanding of distributions. Although they were important and did tell a story, they weren’t exactly pretty and exciting standing by themselves. The excitement mainly comes when significant values are put into the context of suggesting that some scientific discoveries are “real”.</p>
<p>So when I got the opportunity to look at the data of LTW services when creating the dashboards, it was like a whole new world of fantasies and stories.</p>
<p>You start with the same old things that you do with any data.</p>
<p>You explore it, get yourself familiarized with it. Make sure you know what each data point means, how they each interlink with another. Meet with the data providers, service managers, and ask clarifying questions: What data points are relevant? What do you want to see on the dashboards? What would users want to see?</p>
<p>You clean the data, make sure everything is consistent, check for errors, and decide what measures to exclude and what measures to keep. You filter the data, merge stuff together when needed, and transform it into formats that PowerBI won’t give you errors working with.</p>
<p>And then the fundamental part of this internship, and the most exciting part – you paint visuals with numbers.</p>
<p>Bar charts, line graphs, area graphs, and pie charts.</p>
<p>Name cards, funnels, slicers, and filters.</p>
<p>Numbers are no longer just numbers. They are grouped together in bars or lines or arcs, illuminated with vibrant colours, and interactive with everything else that you click on.</p>
<p>PowerBI is my paintbrush.</p>
<p>An annoying one at certain times, trying to get it to do what I want, but a very useful one too indeed. You can play around with it in so many different ways: filter, slice, cross-highlight, drill down…</p>
<p>It was a constant problem-solving process to organize the data in certain ways and to customize the visualizations, trying to figure out relationships between models, and edit interactions between visuals so that related data move together. As there are ten services that I create dashboards for, and each of them is unique, the whole process starts again brand new with every dashboard that I make.</p>
<p>I also got to play around with the colours, the blank spaces, the shapes and lines – just like an artist would with his or her pieces of work.</p>
<p>But it was not only art in terms of the visuals. It was also art in terms of storytelling.</p>
<p>When data forms more than tables and numbers, you start to see the pictures more directly. Visualizations help to filter down the data to the most important bits, which makes the difficult communication of huge datasets much easier.</p>
<p>You can tell the story through different perspectives and dimensions. You can see the trend through time and years, a story of rises or fluctuations that make you wonder why there are certain peaks or troughs. You can see the categorizations by departments or user roles, which reveal how similar or different things are with students versus staff.</p>
<p>And as a product, the dashboards go through iterations of feedback with the data providers, service managers, and LTW representatives from the different schools. I was constantly having meetings to display my dashboards and to ask for feedback.</p>
<p>In fact, meeting with the services was one of the best parts. With both the initial walk-through of the datasets and the later feedback for the completed dashboards, collaboration with the different teams gave me a short glimpse of all of their work and inputs over the years. All the hidden work and immense effort behind the scenes, where I would not have known if I didn’t have the chance to work with LTW as an intern. The most inspiring part, though, was seeing their incredible expertise and familiarity with the services that they manage, and that was what brought the sparks into their eyes when they saw the dashboards.</p>
<p>So the dashboards tell way more than what someone can imagine, because people have different perspectives when they look at the same visualizations.</p>
<p>For the management teams of the different schools, the visualizations tell a story that reveals the preferences of their students and staff. For the data providers and service managers, the dashboards provide a snapshot of all their efforts and inputs into their services over the past few years.</p>
<p>For me, the whole project was a journey of exploration, discovery, and growth.</p>
<p>A journey of exploring the intersection between science and art.</p>
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<title>Elia Müller – Initial thoughts on doing Accessibility Checks</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2024/07/05/elia-muller-initial-thoughts-on-doing-accessibility-checks/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2024/07/05/elia-muller-initial-thoughts-on-doing-accessibility-checks/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[emuller2]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 05 Jul 2024 10:23:36 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[EDE]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Educational Design and Engagement]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Learn Foundations Intern]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Learn Foundations Learning Applications Developer]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[summer]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorised]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[university of edinburgh]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/?p=2455</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 2</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>Year of study & degree: 2nd year Psychology and Linguistics Internship: Learn Foundations Intern Meal deal of choice: Least offensive looking sandwich + Bakery item + Smoothie Favourite floor in Argyle House: Definitely K The title of your preferred work playlist: tasteless bops Subpar Slides As a Learn Foundations Intern, I’m involved in conducting a […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 2</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span><hr />
<p><b><span data-contrast="auto">Year of study & degree: </span></b><span data-contrast="auto">2</span><span data-contrast="auto">nd</span><span data-contrast="auto"> year Psychology and Linguistics</span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></p>
<p><b><span data-contrast="auto">Internship:</span></b><span data-contrast="auto"> Learn Foundations Intern</span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></p>
<p><b><span data-contrast="auto">Meal deal of choice:</span></b><span data-contrast="auto"> Least offensive looking sandwich + Bakery item + Smoothie</span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></p>
<p><b><span data-contrast="auto">Favourite floor in Argyle House:</span></b><span data-contrast="auto"> Definitely K</span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></p>
<p><b><span data-contrast="auto">The title of your preferred work playlist:</span></b><span data-contrast="auto"> tasteless bops</span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></p>
<hr />
<h2><span data-contrast="none">Subpar Slides</span><span data-ccp-props="{"134245418":true,"134245529":true,"201341983":0,"335559738":160,"335559739":80,"335559740":279}"> </span></h2>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">As a Learn Foundations Intern, I’m involved in conducting a number of checks on the university’s Virtual Learning Environment, Learn. We are tasked with verifying the presence of a school-dependent template and making sure that the correct variables are present, among other things (think LOTS of Excel spreadsheets filled with Ys and Ns).</span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">But the part of my internship that has intrigued me the most so far is the accessibility checks that I’ve had to fill out for a random sample of courses from each school. More specifically, I thoroughly enjoyed scrolling through the PowerPoint slides of various courses and imagining the lectures that had accompanied them (a personal favourite so far were the slides of a female filmmakers course from which I got great movie recommendations). </span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">But what about the accessibility of these slides? </span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">It leaves much to be desired, unfortunately. Aside from scans of documents, PowerPoints seem to be the documents that consistently have the most accessibility issues, ranging from insufficient contrast between text and slide backgrounds to images that didn’t include alternative text. </span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">I was stumped, as there is guidance on how to make PowerPoint presentations accessible to all, as well as </span><a href="https://uoe.sharepoint.com/:p:/r/sites/Anintroductiontoaccessibilityinlearningtechnology/Shared%20Documents/PowerPoint%20Accessible%20Template%201.pptx?d=w0026da0da47d4bc08995b30bfe529ecb&csf=1&web=1&e=7RS9cA"><span data-contrast="none">a</span><span data-contrast="none"> template</span></a><span data-contrast="auto"> provided by the university. Why weren’t people using that template?</span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></p>
<h2><span data-contrast="none">Both beautiful and accessible</span><span data-ccp-props="{"134233117":false,"134233118":false,"134245418":true,"134245529":true,"201341983":0,"335551550":1,"335551620":1,"335559685":0,"335559737":0,"335559738":160,"335559739":80,"335559740":279}"> </span></h2>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">Whilst I was staring incredulously at the university template that was getting so little use, I came to the realisation that a possible explanation for its invariable rejection was that it was a little </span><i><span data-contrast="auto">too </span></i><span data-contrast="auto">template-like. Its background is a neutral navy blue, and its font is Arial. What it has in accessibility, it lacks in flair. I believe that one reason the template may not be used is that course organisers want to add personality to the slides.</span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">But surely both are possible? This got me thinking about the way in which I design my own PowerPoint presentations. I frequently make use of online databases of PowerPoint templates, where I can choose between a myriad of different layouts and designs. </span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">How could we blend the world of accessibility and the world of design freedom?</span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></p>
<h2><span data-contrast="none">A possible route forward</span><span data-ccp-props="{"134245418":true,"134245529":true,"201341983":0,"335559738":160,"335559739":80,"335559740":279}"> </span></h2>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">One of the aspects I appreciate most about having an internship within ISG is that my line manager and supervisors are very keen on hearing our feedback and potential suggestions for improvements. This allowed me to suggest a database of accessible PowerPoint templates, to expand on the single template that currently exists and to enable course organisers to opt for an accessible template without sacrificing their aesthetic desires. If time permits, I would like to work on this project in the later stages of my internship.</span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":279}"> </span></p>
<h6>– your new Blog Editor</h6>
<span class="uoe-published-time uoe-seo-hidden-area">
<time datetime="2024-07-05" itemprop="dateModified">Jul 5, 2024</time>
</span>
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<wfw:commentRss>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2024/07/05/elia-muller-initial-thoughts-on-doing-accessibility-checks/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
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<title>Tallulah Thompson – What I have learnt from the Media and Podcasting Internship</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2024/05/27/tallulah-thompson-what-i-have-learnt-from-the-media-and-podcasting-internship/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2024/05/27/tallulah-thompson-what-i-have-learnt-from-the-media-and-podcasting-internship/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[tthompso]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 27 May 2024 08:14:32 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Digital Learning Applications and Media]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Internships]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/?p=2426</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 3</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>Programme of Study and Year: 1st year Informatics (MInf) Intern Position: Media and Podcasting Intern I have now been working with the Digital Learning Applications and Media (DLAM) group as the Media and Podcasting Intern since February. It’s been an amazing experience – I’ve had the opportunity to get involved in so many interesting things and […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 3</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span><p><strong>Programme of Study and Year: </strong>1st year Informatics (MInf)<br />
<strong>Intern Position: </strong>Media and Podcasting Intern</p>
<hr />
<p>I have now been working with the Digital Learning Applications and Media (DLAM) group as the Media and Podcasting Intern since February. It’s been an amazing experience – I’ve had the opportunity to get involved in so many interesting things and to work with a brilliant team led by Karen Howie. I’m really grateful to Karen and my colleagues for stretching me and supporting me in equal measure. As my internship comes to an end soon, I have decided to share my reflections and what I have learnt.</p>
<p><!-- notionvc: 0025adfe-330e-429b-a7a2-3092aef75b03 --></p>
<h3>Why I applied for this internship</h3>
<p>At the end of my first semester, I decided I wanted to find a job for the following semester that would allow me to interact with more people across the university, and that ideally would involve a project that would benefit others. After looking through many Computer Science related jobs, I found that most were exclusive to penultimate/final year students, and I realised I would have to broaden my search. I started looking for jobs, that despite being less directly related to my field of study, would still be relevant to my interests and help me gain professional experience and valuable skills. That was when I came across the Media and Podcasting Intern job opportunity on MyCareerHub; when I read the job description, I knew I had to apply! It was so appealing because it would allow me to bridge two of my main interests: technology and data, and content creation.</p>
<h3>What I have been doing</h3>
<p>My job has mainly entailed looking through videos uploaded to Media Hopper Create, and analysing their metadata to see how it can be improved, coming up with a metadata guidance document and checklist, collating videos to display on the front page that correspond to monthly themes, collaborating with content owners to improve the accessibility of their media, and, most excitingly, helping design the layout of the front page of the new Media Hopper Create website.</p>
<h3>What I have learnt</h3>
<p>This experience has taught me so much about metadata (<a href="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2024/03/20/2398/">see my previous blogpost</a>) and really highlighted the importance of having good metadata when it comes to improving the accessibility and findability of media. A small yet surprising fact I have learnt is that podcasts do not have to be audio only, and in order for media to be classed as a podcast on Media Hopper Create, it needs to be designed to be consumed in an episodic format, although, majority of the time, a podcast is audio only. I had used Media Hopper Create prior to my internship, however, this was mainly for watching lecture recordings, I hadn’t appreciated the range in content on the website and will continue to use it even after my internship ends. Another thing I hadn’t realised was how useful my ability to code is. I was asked to look through 2 data files and identify the entries that were in one and not the other; and being the Computer Science student that I am, rather than doing this manually/through Excel, I wrote a Python program to do this, which meant that I could complete this task in a much faster and more accurate way. I also used my Python skills to analyse metadata, identify trends and representing them as graphs. I so happy to discover how laterally applicable my skillset is!<!-- notionvc: 1730fcf1-c979-4f30-a932-ddc83022c226 --></p>
<h3>My thoughts</h3>
<p>Overall, this internship has not only expanded my understanding of metadata and media management but also reinforced the value of my technical skills in real-world applications. I’m excited to carry forward these lessons and continue exploring the intersection of technology and media in my future endeavours. I would like to thank Karen, Liam and the rest of the wonderful DLAM team for this amazing experience.</p>
<span class="uoe-published-time uoe-seo-hidden-area">
<time datetime="2024-05-27" itemprop="dateModified">May 27, 2024</time>
</span>
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<wfw:commentRss>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2024/05/27/tallulah-thompson-what-i-have-learnt-from-the-media-and-podcasting-internship/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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<title>Tallulah Thompson – Reflections on metadata</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2024/03/20/2398/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2024/03/20/2398/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[tthompso]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 20 Mar 2024 14:10:54 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Digital Asset Management System Metadata Intern]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Digital Learning Applications and Media]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Digital Media Assistant]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Internships]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/?p=2398</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 4</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>Programme of Study and Year: 1st year Informatics (MInf) Intern Position: Media and Podcasting Intern Introduction Hi! I’m Tallulah and I’m in my 4th week as the Media and Podcasting Intern with Media Hopper Create. So far, I’ve been looking through videos uploaded to Media Hopper Create to analyse their metadata and see how it could […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 4</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span><p><strong>Programme of Study and Year: </strong>1st year Informatics (MInf)</p>
<p><strong>Intern Position: </strong>Media and Podcasting Intern</p>
<hr />
<h3>Introduction</h3>
<p>Hi! I’m Tallulah and I’m in my 4th week as the Media and Podcasting Intern with Media Hopper Create. So far, I’ve been looking through videos uploaded to Media Hopper Create to analyse their metadata and see how it could be improved, coming up with a metadata guidance sheet, and I’ve collated videos to display on the front page that correspond to monthly themes.</p>
<h3>Metadata</h3>
<p>Most of my internship so far has involved looking at metadata. Metadata essentially is data about data. In the context of Media Hopper Create, it is the information associated with the different videos that have been uploaded, for example, title, video description, tags, captions, publisher, etc. Having good metadata will make it easier for users of Media Hopper Create to find videos. Unfortunately, the quality in the metadata across the videos is quite inconsistent, which is why one of my jobs is to write guidance to help improve the quality and to make the media easier to find.</p>
<h3>What is good metadata?</h3>
<p>Good metadata will help organise, find and understand data. It should serve as the bridge between content and users. When it comes to videos uploaded to Media Hopper Create, this is what good metadata should look like for media:</p>
<p><strong>Title:</strong> should be clear and give context, for example, if it is a lecture., a good format would be: [Course Name] [Video Subject], rather than just naming a video “Overview” or “Summary”, e.g., “Object Oriented Programming, Lecture 2: Conditionals and Loops”. The users should be able to have a good idea what the video is about based on the title.</p>
<p><strong>Description:</strong> brief description of what the video is about. It should not just be the title repeated, and it should be detailed enough so that users should not have to watch the whole video to see if it is going to be useful to them</p>
<p><strong>Tags:</strong> should be relevant and specific to the video and should not be too general, for example having the tag “acts” on a video about climate change is not specific enough to the video. If the video is a podcast, adding the tag “podcast” will help users who are specifically finding a podcast, and/or if the video is only audio, adding the tag “audio only” will help users who are specifically finding audio only videos . It is better to have fewer tags that are specific and relevant to the video that will help the users find what they are looking for rather than having many tags that are not specific enough. Tags are added from frequently used words in the auto-generated captions, but sometimes these are not the most relevant, so after captioning is complete, it would be good to go through the tags and remove the irrelevant ones. Having a consistent format for tags will make it easier to organise videos, for example, a video with the tag “#artificialintelligence” will be considered different to a video with the tag “artificial intelligence”. A good format for tags is having them completely lowercase.</p>
<p><strong>Captions:</strong> key accessibility feature for many, including but not limited to: people who are deaf or hard of hearing, people who have difficulty processing auditory information, and people whose native language is not English. At the very least, auto-generated captions should be requested for videos uploaded to Media Hopper Create, although at times they can be inaccurate, it is still better than nothing. These captions can either be corrected by the uploader or a request can be put in to have them reviewed and corrected by the captioning team, to make them as accurate as possible.</p>
<p><strong>Attachments:</strong> The transcript, which is created from the auto-generated captions should be uploaded automatically. It is useful to not remove the transcript as it will allow users to search through it to see if the video is relevant. If a presentation is included in the video, uploading the slides will make it more convenient for the user.</p>
<p><strong>Chapters:</strong> divides the video into different sections based on what it is about. Adding in chapters is very useful especially when the video is longer than 30 mins, because it will allow the user to find what they are looking for in a video without having to watch the whole video.</p>
<h3>What is “bad” metadata?</h3>
<p>When videos uploaded to Media Hopper Create have “bad” metadata, it can lead to poor content sorting, making it harder for users to find videos that they are looking for. For instance, when the title for a lecture video is just “0.0”, rather than having the course the lecture is from and more information about the video, it makes it very difficult for users to find this video unless they specifically have the link/know exactly where to find it. It also means that users are less likely to watch the video as they will not know if it is relevant to them. If a video has too many tags that aren’t specific or relevant to the video, when users try searching based on tags, many less relevant videos might come up, making it harder for the user to find what they are looking for.</p>
<h3>My thoughts</h3>
<p>In my opinion, the main issue with the metadata associated with videos uploaded to Media Hopper Create is that it is inconsistent. Having inconsistent metadata makes it much harder for videos to be organised, which will then make it harder for users to find what they are looking for. As part of my internship, I have been tasked with writing a metadata guidance sheet for video uploaders, which I hope will increase the consistency in quality of metadata of videos uploaded. Although this guidance won’t necessarily be able to change the metadata of the already uploaded videos, by hopefully improving the metadata for future videos, it will mean that users can access the most up to date and relevant videos to them much more easily.</p>
<h3>What I have learned so far</h3>
<p>Before I started this internship, I thought I had quite a good idea of what metadata was and its importance. Although I have only been interning with Media Hopper Create for 3 weeks, I realised, I have already learned a lot. I’ve learned a lot about Media Hopper Create and how useful it is as a service for the University, and I didn’t realise how such small details in metadata could make such a big difference in the user experience. I’m looking forward to the rest of my internship and learning even more about metadata.</p>
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<title>Lewis Forbes – LaTeX and Accessibility</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2023/08/15/lewis-forbes-latex-and-accessibility/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2023/08/15/lewis-forbes-latex-and-accessibility/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[lforbes3]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 15 Aug 2023 14:46:31 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Digital Learning Applications and Media]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Digital Learning Intern]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/?p=2152</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 5</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>Programme of Study and Year: Informatics (MInf), going into final year. Intern Position: Digital Learning Intern As a former Computer Science and Maths student (now just a Computer Science student), LaTeX has brought me much grief over my time at university. Writing my 30+ page dissertation using the software definitely increased my confidence in using […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 5</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span><hr />
<p><strong>Programme of Study and Year: </strong>Informatics (MInf), going into final year.</p>
<p><strong>Intern Position: </strong>Digital Learning Intern</p>
<hr />
<p>As a former Computer Science and Maths student (now just a Computer Science student), LaTeX has brought me much grief over my time at university. Writing my 30+ page dissertation using the software definitely increased my confidence in using it, but to be honest I still don’t really understand how it works and frequently rely on StackOverflow.</p>
<p>As such, it was saddening but somewhat validating to learn that the problem of accessibility in LaTeX is one which has been plaguing the community for years – it’s maintained by a team of volunteers who have struggled to implement features which are becoming standard in electronic documents. In this post I’ll share my attempts at creating the most accessible LaTeX documents possible and conclude with steps you can take to achieve this. The speed at which LaTeX seems to advance (and break) led to a lot of trial and error in this process, and it’s possible that things which worked for me might not work for you.</p>
<p>I used the <a href="http://edin.ac/ally">accessibility evaluation software Ally</a> to determine what makes documents accessible, which gives documents an accessibility percentage and suggests where improvements can be made. Ally gave the initial PDF I provided a score of 5%, but guided me to create a document with a score of 96%. It did not comment on maths however, which is not accessible by default in LaTeX as explained in this <a href="https://asarantsev.github.io/WebArchive/access.pdf" class="mtli_attachment mtli_pdf">report by Massie and Sarantsev</a>.</p>
<figure id="attachment_2238" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2238" style="width: 277px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-2238" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2023/08/image-218x300.png" alt="" width="277" height="382" srcset="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2023/08/image-218x300.png 218w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2023/08/image.png 569w" sizes="(max-width: 277px) 100vw, 277px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-2238" class="wp-caption-text">Ally’s initial rating and comments for an unchanged LaTeX document.</figcaption></figure>
<p>Based on Ally’s guidance and the information in the report mentioned, the inaccessible aspects of default LaTeX documents are their lack of tagging and headers, lack of alt text, lack of metadata, and maths which cannot be meaningfully read by screen readers.</p>
<h2>LaTeX Accessibility Summary</h2>
<p>If your document contains a lot of maths, I recommend creating an HTML5 file using <a href="https://pandoc.org/index.html">Pandoc</a>. See the checklist in the ‘Maths’ section below for information on this.</p>
<p>If your document has no maths, follow these steps:</p>
<ol>
<li>Add alt text as explained in the first two bullet points in the ‘Alt Text’ section below.</li>
<li>Add metadata as explained in the ‘Metadata’ section below.</li>
<li>Add tags/headings using the using <a href="https://pdfix.io/make-pdf-accessible/">this PDFix tool</a>.</li>
</ol>
<p>As mentioned, following these steps produced <a href="https://www.overleaf.com/read/wnfhnwdpbfmy">96% accessible LaTeX project</a>, based on Ally’s score of its PDF after tagging.</p>
<hr />
<p>I will now go into more detail about each of the different inaccessible areas mentioned.</p>
<h2>Alt Text</h2>
<p>Alternative text is often included for those <a href="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/website-communications/improving-alt-text-at-the-university/">using screen readers</a>, but thanks to the <a href="https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/the-curb-cut-effect-8a6b68d6485">curb cut effect</a> has uses for many people – both visually impaired and sighted. Different sources recommend different ways of including this:</p>
<p>I successfully added alt text using the following methods:</p>
<ul>
<li>Using a parameter on caption <code>\caption[alt text]{caption text}</code>, as recommended by ChatGPT. This should be used when <code>\includegraphics{}</code> is used within a <code>\figure{}</code> environment.</li>
<li>Using <code>\pdftooltip{}</code> from the <a href="https://ctan.org/pkg/pdfcomment?lang=en">pdfcomment interface</a> successfully added tooltips with user-specified text to the document, which Ally recognized as alt text. This should be used when <code>\includegraphics{}</code> is being used with no <code>\caption{}</code>. For example, I used it in a <code>\subfloat{}</code> environment. This was advised in this <a href="https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/75102/need-alt-text-for-images-in-pdf-for-screen-readers?answertab=modifieddesc#tab-top">StackExchange forum</a>.</li>
</ul>
<p>The following methods were recommended by various sources, but did not allow me to successfully add alt text to images:</p>
<ul>
<li>Using <code>\Description{}</code> as recommended in this <a href="https://authors.acm.org/journals/how-to-write-alt-text-and-why">Association for Computing Machinery article</a>. This command was not recognized by the compiler, and no packages to include were mentioned.</li>
<li>Using <code>\nextalt{}</code> as recommended in this <a href="https://people.bath.ac.uk/cspehj/maths-access/latex-instructions/sect0049.html">webpage by Emma Cliffe at Bath University</a>. This command was not recognized by the compiler even with the inclusion of the graphicsx package as mentioned.</li>
<li>Using the accessibility package and the <code>\alt{}</code> comment as recommended in this <a href="https://libguides.lib.msu.edu/c.php?g=995742&p=8207771">Michigan State University Library guide</a>. This also didn’t work.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Metadata</h2>
<p>Ally highlights the need for the inclusion of a PDF’s title and language. This allows screen readers to introduce the document, which can be included with the following lines in the document preamble:</p>
<p><code>\usepackage{hyperref}<br />
\hypersetup{pdftitle={Document Name}, pdflang={en-GB}}</code></p>
<h2>PDF Tagging & Headings</h2>
<p>There does not appear to be a way of reliably generating tagged PDFs using LaTeX. The unsuitability of two potential solutions I came across follows:</p>
<ul>
<li>As outlined in the <a href="https://ctan.math.illinois.edu/macros/latex/contrib/tagpdf/tagpdf.pdf" class="mtli_attachment mtli_pdf">tagpdf documentation</a>, the tagpdf package is not meant for normal document production. As such, the syntax required to use it is complicated and the package likely contains bugs.</li>
<li>As outlined on the <a href="https://github.com/AndyClifton/accessibility"><!--StartFragment --><span class="cf0">Accessibility package GitHub page</span></a>, the accessibility package is also not suitable for production and is no longer maintained. Although it does produces tagged PDFs according to Ally, it sometimes leads to documents not compiling, and sometimes causes unexpected behaviour. As an example:
<ul>
<li>This <a href="https://www.overleaf.com/read/jhnbjpgkbfgy">compilable project</a> does not contain the package, but otherwise identical <a href="https://www.overleaf.com/read/xrqdvtbrksds">uncompilable project</a> contains the package.</li>
<li>In this <a href="https://www.overleaf.com/read/vjnnqxjwtnvy">incorrectly compiled project</a> some of the text is duplicated whereas in this <a href="https://www.overleaf.com/read/grpjgthrpcvq">correctly compiled project</a> no duplication occurs.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p>Tags can be added to a PDF once it’s been created by a few different services, namely Adobe Acrobat Pro DC, Microsoft Word, and PDFix. Since Acrobat Pro isn’t free to use and Word seems to often ruin the format, I found PDFix’s <a href="https://pdfix.io/make-pdf-accessible/">‘Make PDF Accessible’ tool</a> to be the best solution. This also allows metadata to be changed. The company appear reputable with the <a href="https://pdfix.net/privacy-policy/">PDFix privacy policy</a> stating they delete all provided files for 30 days and pass data to third parties “only within the extent necessary to meet its obligations”.</p>
<p>The only problem I found with this service was its inability to render a <code>.pdf</code> vector image. This format is unusual, and was easily fixed by converting the image to a <code>.png</code> file.</p>
<h2>Maths</h2>
<p>Making maths accessible in LaTeX does appear to be possible but is a little complex. Most sources seem to recommend converting LaTeX documents to HTML5 documents via a semi-automated process using various tools. This aforementioned <a href="https://asarantsev.github.io/WebArchive/access.pdf" class="mtli_attachment mtli_pdf">Massie and Sarantsev paper</a> provides a good overview of the topic.</p>
<p>I found <a href="https://pandoc.org/index.html">Pandoc</a> to be the easiest tool to do this conversion. To convert maths it uses <a href="https://www.mathjax.org/">MathJax</a> – a JavaScript engine which creates “beautiful and accessible math in all browsers”. HTML documents are accessible by default since they are tagged, and contain conventions for setting alt text and metadata. See this <a href="https://docs.mathjax.org/en/v2.7-latest/misc/accessibility-features.html#screenreader-support">MathJax documentation page</a> for information on screen readers for maths it helps display.</p>
<p>Once installing Pandoc, LaTeX documents can be converted on Windows as follows:</p>
<ol>
<li>Open command prompt (press <code>Win+R</code>, type cmd, press enter).</li>
<li>Copy the location of the folder containing the <code>.tex</code> file you wish to convert. The <code>.bib</code> file should be in the same directory.</li>
<li>In command prompt, enter:
<ul>
<li><code>cd "the folder location you copied"</code></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Enter the following command, replacing <code>myTex.tex</code> and <code>myBib.bib</code> with your filenames.
<ul>
<li><code>pandoc myTex.tex -f latex -t html -s -o output.html --bibliography myTex.bib --citeproc --mathjax</code></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Move the new file <code>output.html</code> up one folder level. For example, from <code>C:/folder1/folder2/folder3/output.html</code> to <code>C:/folder1/folder2/output.html</code>. This is so images’ paths are correct.</li>
<li>Open <code>output.html</code>.</li>
</ol>
<p>You might find Pandoc is <span class="NormalTextRun SCXW204967602 BCX0">less forgiving with syntax errors than your usual </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW204967602 BCX0">compiler when it comes to your bibliography</span>. A verifier such as <a href="https://flamingtempura.github.io/bibtex-tidy/">BibTeX Tidy</a> can be used to identify and correct errors.</p>
<h2>The Future</h2>
<p>Decreasing the steps authors have to take to make their LaTeX documents accessible is an area of active development, as outlined in <a href="https://www.latex-project.org/publications/indexbytopic/pdf/">The LaTex Project’s accessibility publications</a>. The most recent update I’ve seen comes from this <a href="https://www.latex-project.org/news/2023/05/27/latex-dev-2/">LaTeX news article</a> introducing the final pre-release of the June 2023 version of LaTeX.</p>
<p>This pre-releases produced viable, tagged documents for simple files, but cannot format some complex files, as shown in the image below. For documents with tables it produced well-compiled PDFs, but they were untagged. This means the pre-release is currently no better than the tagging methods mentioned above.</p>
<figure id="attachment_2203" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2203" style="width: 967px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-2203 size-full" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2023/08/image-3.png" alt="A screenshot of a unreadable document, containing text which overflows to off of the page and displayed commands." width="967" height="559" srcset="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2023/08/image-3.png 967w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2023/08/image-3-300x173.png 300w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2023/08/image-3-768x444.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 967px) 100vw, 967px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-2203" class="wp-caption-text">A poorly formatted document produced by the final June pre-release of LaTeX.</figcaption></figure>
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<title>Ioana-Sabina Susanu – My Digital Learning Internship, in a nutshell.</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2023/06/07/ioana-sabina-susanu-my-digital-learning-internship-in-a-nutshell/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2023/06/07/ioana-sabina-susanu-my-digital-learning-internship-in-a-nutshell/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[lforbes3]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 07 Jun 2023 14:48:11 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Digital Learning Intern]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/?p=1905</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 2</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>Programme of Study and Year: 3rd year Astrophysics Hobbies: Reading, music, karate Intern Position: Digital Learning Intern Describe your role in 4 words: interesting, challenging (at times), rewarding I wanted to take the time to do a blog post on how my internship has been for the past year. I have worked full-time during the […]]]></description>
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<p><strong>Programme of Study and Year: </strong>3rd year Astrophysics</p>
<p><strong>Hobbies: </strong>Reading, music, karate</p>
<p><strong>Intern Position: </strong>Digital Learning Intern</p>
<p><strong>Describe your role in 4 words: </strong>interesting, challenging (at times), rewarding</p>
<hr />
<p>I wanted to take the time to do a blog post on how my internship has been for the past year. I have worked full-time during the summer in the DLAM TEL team (Digital Learning Applications and Media, Technology Enhanced Learning – so many acronyms!), and part-time during the academic year.</p>
<p>I have done mostly Accessibility testing on various applications, including Turnitin, Moodle, Echo360, Collaborate and Ally, but also other tasks like caption verification or blog editing. I have had a lot to learn about all of the different software types and environments used within the University, and how important each piece of technology is.</p>
<p>Wrapping up my time in DLAM, I wanted to share once again how important the topic of Accessibility is, since it is what the vast majority of my work consisted of. Even though it seems that most of the regulations and adaptive software is concentrated on visual impairment (and too few regulations cover physical impairment – but this is a discussion for another time), it is certain that every little element that is made accessible on a page/application/platform makes a huge difference. Every colour combination, every button, every description and every message matters and can make the navigation better for users if accessibility is taken into consideration.</p>
<p>That being said, my work has been varied, and I never got a chance to get ‘bored’ as every thing I had to do was different from the previous one. I had the opportunity of working with a lot of different people, and I had a lot to learn from everyone I’ve met during my internship. The fact that the team has been welcoming and helpful made a great difference for me and my work – being relaxed and confident in my actions made me more productive, efficient and attentive to details</p>
<h2>Make the most of Learning Technology!</h2>
<p>I would like to end this blog post with a big ‘Thank you’ to the DLAM TEL team, and the wider Learning, Teaching and Web community for the continued support throughout the year.</p>
<p>I certainly recommend giving Learning Technology a chance, regardless of your degree – in the end, it is used by everyone at University, and it’s a very diverse field that will never make you bored.</p>
<p>And lastly, make the most of the resources available – there is a wide variety of them (books, software, databases, videos, courses, trainings), all available at a few clicks’ distance.</p>
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<time datetime="2023-06-07" itemprop="dateModified">Jun 7, 2023</time>
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<title>Eva Spanachi – The journey of being a Digital Learning Intern</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2022/08/04/__trashed/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2022/08/04/__trashed/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[espanach]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 04 Aug 2022 14:15:15 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Digital Learning Intern]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/?p=1629</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 4</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>Programme of Study and Year: 4th Year Chemistry Hobbies: Art, reading, yoga, baking Intern Position: Digital learning Intern Describe your role in 4 words: Write a blog guys! “Known as” at the office: That annoying person who wouldn’t stop sending emails about the ISG Student Employee blog The opportunity to be part of the ISG […]]]></description>
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<hr />
<p><strong>Programme of Study and Year:</strong> 4<sup>th</sup> Year Chemistry</p>
<p><strong>Hobbies:</strong> Art, reading, yoga, baking</p>
<p><strong>Intern Position:</strong> Digital learning Intern</p>
<p><strong>Describe your role in 4 words:</strong> Write a blog guys!</p>
<p><strong>“Known as” at the office:</strong> That annoying person who wouldn’t stop sending emails about the ISG Student Employee blog</p>
<hr />
<h2>The opportunity to be part of the ISG team</h2>
<p>In mid-April, having the usual mid-semester crisis I started thinking of what I would be doing over the summer! So I started a search to find an internship and I came across the various roles offered by ISG on MyCareerHub and everything looked very interesting (and not chemistry related, which would allow my brain to have a break from all the science). Having my interview with some of the Digital Learning Applications and Media (DLAM) members, I immediately realized that I really wanted to become part of that lovely team and was therefore really happy to receive an offer for the digital learning role.</p>
<h2>The internship so far…</h2>
<p>Part of my internship consists of general testing, as well as accessibility testing on University platforms. After undergoing some training on accessibility, I was so surprised to realize how unfamiliar I was with the whole concept and I definitely learned a lot about how to make things more accessible by considering things like using a correct colour contrast, alternative text when using images, captions in videos and the general structure of a site to make it easy to navigate when someone is not using a mouse or using a speech navigator for example. The general lesson I learned however, was to actually keep in mind the various audiences and not just assume that we all use computers and technology in the same way, but we definitely all deserve to be able to access and navigate through all online environments.</p>
<p>Another part of my role has been to create screencasts using MediaHopper to provide instructions on how to navigate around some teaching and learning sites such as Learn. I now know the struggle of having to record your own voice, and the need to have approximately a hundred takes before you decide to give up and use whatever you have recorded by convincing yourself that it is good enough! The first video I had to script and record was 1.5 mins long and it took me a day to perfect, caption and finally post so I can only imagine how difficult it must be to record an hour long lecture!</p>
<p>I was also recently able to observe how the Unidesk side of the team works and see how they keep the Learning Technology of the University working, and ensure that any issue that occurs is resolved. So I had the opportunity to follow through the process of how an issue, that a staff member or student may be dealing with on different university platforms, such as Turnitin and Learn, is handled and eventually resolved. In the next few weeks I will also be able to go through a few issues and try to propose a way to resolve the problem, and become familiar with the different stages of coming up with a solution.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-1805 " src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2022/07/IMG20220328150556-scaled-e1659605487903-300x241.jpg" alt="" width="467" height="375" srcset="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2022/07/IMG20220328150556-scaled-e1659605487903-300x241.jpg 300w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2022/07/IMG20220328150556-scaled-e1659605487903-1024x822.jpg 1024w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2022/07/IMG20220328150556-scaled-e1659605487903-768x617.jpg 768w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2022/07/IMG20220328150556-scaled-e1659605487903-1536x1233.jpg 1536w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2022/07/IMG20220328150556-scaled-e1659605487903.jpg 1919w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 467px) 100vw, 467px" /></p>
<p> </p>
<h2>Getting familiar with Blogs.ed!</h2>
<p>The general and accessibility testing I did was on Blogs.ed which was really useful because it helped me get familiar with the website as I had to use it daily as part of having the role of the student intern blog editor. My first task with this role was to come up with a template for the blog posts (a challenging task considering I had never written a single blog post or anything similar before). So I had to come up with a plan!</p>
<p>-> <strong>Plan A:</strong> Read all the previous blogs written by interns and get inspired. Well, I discovered that there were too many previous interns and hence too many previous blogs and too little time! -> <strong>Plan B:</strong> Read <em>a few</em> blogs from each past summer to get inspired and create a template. That actually worked and I managed to structure a template. Step 1 done! <strong>Step 2-</strong> Get the template approved and come up with a strategy on how to approach the other interns. I knew immediately that I had to find a way to make my fellow interns want to write blog posts without being too annoying. <strong> Step 3-</strong> After annoying the interns I then had to edit and proofread their blogs and finally post them on <a href="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/">the Information Services Group: Student Employee Blog</a>. It has been great to see that the plan actually worked and interns did offer to write a blog, and I definitely enjoyed reading them all!</p>
<h2>A few weeks left…</h2>
<p>Only a few weeks left for the end of my internship and I am thankful that I had the opportunity to be part of such a lovely team, where everyone was very welcoming and supportive throughout the internship. Also very grateful that Covid managed to calm down and allow us to go to the office now and then and enjoy each other’s company in person, and got to meet other interns during the great Unitemps social events!</p>
<p><strong>I hope all the interns had a great time during their internships and enjoyed their summers as well! Hopefully the rest of the staff in ISG enjoyed having us around and I am sure all of us appreciate their work and effort a lot more now that we got to see what is happening behind ‘the scenes’.</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<span class="uoe-published-time uoe-seo-hidden-area">
<time datetime="2022-08-04" itemprop="dateModified">Aug 4, 2022</time>
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<title>Ioana -Uncovering the depths of accessibility testing in the Digital Learning Internship</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2022/07/25/ioana-uncovering-the-depths-of-accessibility-testing-in-the-digital-learning-internship/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2022/07/25/ioana-uncovering-the-depths-of-accessibility-testing-in-the-digital-learning-internship/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[espanach]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 25 Jul 2022 13:10:59 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Digital Learning Intern]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/?p=1727</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 3</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>Programme of Study and Year: Astrophysics (MPhys), going into 3rd year Hobbies: Reading, listening to music, taking walks, watching TV series Intern Position: Digital Learning Intern within Learning, Teaching and Web (LTW) Fun fact about your internship: I have become knowledgeable in Accessibility testing, even though this was not the plan initially Describe your role […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 3</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span><hr />
<p><strong>Programme of Study and Year:</strong> Astrophysics (MPhys), going into 3<sup>rd</sup> year</p>
<p><strong>Hobbies:</strong> Reading, listening to music, taking walks, watching TV series</p>
<p><strong>Intern Position:</strong> Digital Learning Intern within Learning, Teaching and Web (LTW)</p>
<p><strong>Fun fact about your internship:</strong> I have become knowledgeable in Accessibility testing, even though this was not the plan initially</p>
<p><strong>Describe your role in 4 words: </strong> Challenging, rewarding, technical, awesome</p>
<hr />
<h2>The internship experience in a nutshell</h2>
<p>I have found out about these internships from the Unitemps website. I kept checking it in March, as I knew that was the time when the summer roles would be advertised. I have also received notifications over e-mail regarding the roles and how to apply. My role requires me to become familiar with a variety of learning technology applications, and do the accessibility testing based on a specific script and using assistive software. The most enjoyable part is that I get to see, learn, experience and test a lot of the University’s platforms, applications and integrations, and I have the chance to see these from a developer point of view. Additionally, it is just enjoyable to collaborate with my team members and socialise with other interns when we are in the office. Speaking of socialising, the Unitemps social events for interns are the best – the food is great and I always get to meet and talk to lots of interesting people with various experiences.</p>
<h2>Highlights of Digital Learning – Creating documentation and conducting accessibility testing</h2>
<p>I find the 9-5 life surprisingly relaxing, especially when I work from home. Office days can be a bit more tiring, but they are the most fun as almost everyone is there on certain days. My team is welcoming and friendly, even in busy and stressful times – for which I admire them greatly. I really enjoy that communication is very efficient within the team, both when we are in the office and when we are working remotely.</p>
<p>My role so far has helped me overcome certain ‘fears’, for example listening to my own voice. I had to create some videos with instructions on how to use one of the applications within the University. I already had the script, I just had to record my screen while navigating the application. Even though it seems like a simple task, the idea of recording my own voice felt strange. After talking to my manager and some of the members of my team about this, I found that my feeling was quite common – no-one likes to record and listen to their own voice! Therefore I was a bit more confident that nothing could go wrong and I recorded the videos. Listening to my own voice while doing the captioning was not that bad – especially since I was focused on the quality of the sound and the content itself. The feedback I received for the videos was good, which boosted my confidence for this type of task.</p>
<p>As my work requires me to do accessibility testing, I had the opportunity to discover how complex this field is, and how many regulations need to be taken into account for a webpage/application/platform to be considered accessible. As an example, I was aware of captioning being needed for videos, but I wasn’t aware of the exact ratios needed for colour contrasts within a page. In addition, I could see how certain types of assistive software interact with the University platforms and applications, and which issues are encountered. While I still have some training sessions to do, I have developed an awareness for accessibility and I feel that this subject should be promoted more.</p>
<p>The internship has been a great experience so far. I feel lucky that I am a part of a lovely team (DLAM TEL – Digital Learning Applications and Media, Tech Enhanced Learning) where everyone is friendly and willing to help. I have a lot to learn from all of the team members, and also the other interns. The working environment is very good and inspiring, and it allows me to develop valuable skills that will certainly be beneficial in future assignments.</p>
<p><strong>Through this blog post, I would like to wish all the other interns the best of luck in their internships and projects, and to thank all the staff members for being welcoming and supportive in every matter. And last but not least, I encourage every student to apply for a summer internship within the Information Services Group – it’s definitely a fantastic experience!</strong></p>
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<time datetime="2022-07-25" itemprop="dateModified">Jul 25, 2022</time>
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<title>How I develop skills as a continuing App Developer Intern – Martin Lewis</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2022/04/20/how-i-develop-skills-as-a-continuing-app-developer-intern-martin-lewis/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2022/04/20/how-i-develop-skills-as-a-continuing-app-developer-intern-martin-lewis/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[awilso35]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 20 Apr 2022 11:59:17 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Learn Foundations Learning Applications Developer]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/?p=1581</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 2</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>Martin Lewis is a final year student in BSc (Hons) Computer Science, and started working as a Summer Intern in ISG in 2020, as one of our interns auditing Learn. Martin really impressed the Learn team with his initiative in finding a chance to automate some work, so since summer 2021 he has since been […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 2</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span><p><em>Martin Lewis is a final year student in BSc (Hons) Computer Science, and started working as a Summer Intern in ISG in 2020, as one of our interns auditing Learn. Martin really impressed the Learn team with his initiative in finding a chance to automate some work, so since summer 2021 he has since been working with the Learn team in a more technical role, doing programming.</em></p>
<p>I started work in Information Services Group (ISG) at the University as a <strong>Summer Intern</strong> in 2020 and 2021, and <strong>since then I’ve been working for ISG doing technical bits and pieces</strong>. In this blog post I’ll be discussing <strong>what I’ve been doing as a part of my work for ISG and what skills this has helped me develop.</strong></p>
<p>Initially I was doing rather non-technical work as part of the Learn Foundations project getting the University’s Learn courses prepared for the new academic year. This was adding things like the course outline and organiser details into these fresh courses. <strong>However, I managed to find a way to automate parts of the workflow I was assigned to and from there began to do technical work for the ISG.</strong><br />
I now have the very long winded title of ‘Learn Foundations Applications Developer Intern’ in which I do development work, making applications that are usually, sometime tangentially, related to the Learn Foundations Project.</p>
<p>For those more technically minded, I’m working in the PHP programming language doing full stack (front and backend) work using the Laravel framework. An excellent opportunity to learn a new language and framework. <strong>There is also the chance to work on real world projects that contain issues and experiences that cannot be found in the classroom or in a coursework assignment.</strong> With real team members (big thanks to Andrew and his team who I have been working with) and <strong>projects that have a real outcome (not just a grade).</strong></p>
<p>Now this is not only a good opportunity to hone skills but it also looks very good on a CV. Already having practical software development experience is fantastic and it also is a great source of discussion <strong>during interviews being able to bring up situations and decisions you made outside of a classroom is great.</strong></p>
<p>Now let’s look at the day to day practicalities (this is just my experience your mileage may vary with role and when you might work). The work is remote, as you could probably guess, which fits well alongside my majority remote learning these past few years. Over the summers I’ve worked full time, 35 hours a week, being treated as a standard member of university staff. Then over the semesters only 7 hours a week which I find easy to fit around my studies and personal life but it does often mean rather slow progress in the projects you work on.</p>
<p><strong>Both of the line managers I’ve had have been wonderful and very understanding about the need to change work patterns last minute or take time off around major deadlines and exams.</strong> The pay isn’t too bad and goes a long way towards covering my rent.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if I’ll be continuing to work for the University after May as I am finally graduating. I will however apologise in advance to any potential future intern who has to work with my code! But the last two years have gone a long way to making me a much more employable graduate.</p>
<p>So do consider applying for an ISG internship,<strong> I’ve personally gotten a lot out of it and I think any proactive student can benefit greatly from such a role.</strong></p>
<span class="uoe-published-time uoe-seo-hidden-area">
<time datetime="2022-04-20" itemprop="dateModified">Apr 20, 2022</time>
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<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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<title>Top Five Things I Like About my Internship</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2021/08/11/top-five-things-i-like-about-my-internship/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2021/08/11/top-five-things-i-like-about-my-internship/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[rcormac3]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 11 Aug 2021 11:07:16 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Digital Media Assistant]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/?p=1543</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 3</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>Hazel is the Digital Media Assistant Intern and is responsible for making promotional videos for some of the Ed Web Services and self-enroll courses that are available for staff with the aim of explaining the system and services better to encourage higher usage. She enjoys her job because it allows for creativity and also loves […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 3</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span><p><em>Hazel is the Digital Media Assistant Intern and is responsible for making promotional videos for some of the Ed Web Services and self-enroll courses that are available for staff with the aim of explaining the system and services better to encourage higher usage. She enjoys her job because it allows for creativity and also loves singing, dancing, cooking and has just recently starting learning the ukulele!</em></p>
<hr />
<p>“It’s summer again!” This was what I thinking as I finished my semester. Then what? What should I do this summer? I wanted to make myself useful and gain some experience, which led me to browse for internship opportunities, and fortunately, I was accepted as a Digital Media Assistant Intern under Learning, Teaching and Web services (LTW)!</p>
<p>Impacted by COVID-19, the ways in which we learn and work have changed drastically. As a student, I’m not really a big fan of online learning but to my surprise, I have enjoyed my remote-working internship experience. Here are the top five things I like about my internship experience, and I hope some of that resonate with yours too <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/16.0.1/72x72/1f642.png" alt="🙂" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /></p>
<h3>1) Have my own input and make things happen!</h3>
<p>I’d never really had any internship experience before I joined. From my what my friends said, they described it as more of a rigid form of working, which means managers tell them exactly what they need to do and manage all the tasks with frequent reporting. It seems like it curbs much of their own creative input into the work as they are only following what they are asked to do.</p>
<p>However, my internship experience is totally different! To my surprise, I am given a plethora of opportunities to have my own input in creative tasks. For example, I initiated ideas of the video storyboards and the design of them. The fact that most of them were accepted truly makes me feel empowered as my manager and colleagues trust my skills in making the videos happen.<em><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-1545 aligncenter" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2021/08/andrew-neel-cckf4TsHAuw-unsplash-300x200.jpg" alt="Table with laptop, mug, pen and paper and a mobile phone." width="411" height="274" srcset="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2021/08/andrew-neel-cckf4TsHAuw-unsplash-300x200.jpg 300w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2021/08/andrew-neel-cckf4TsHAuw-unsplash-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2021/08/andrew-neel-cckf4TsHAuw-unsplash-768x512.jpg 768w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2021/08/andrew-neel-cckf4TsHAuw-unsplash-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/wp-content/uploads/sites/197/2021/08/andrew-neel-cckf4TsHAuw-unsplash-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 411px) 100vw, 411px" /></em></p>
<h3>2) Effective communication</h3>
<p>Since the internship is entirely remote, we have used different methods of communication. Making use of Microsoft Teams and Outlook Email functions facilitates effective communication and avoids long-winded boring meetings (which usually happens in a physical setting). With all the technology available, it makes Working from Home possible and seemingly more effective, saving travelling time and speeding up work productivity. Therefore, although we cannot see each other physically, I am still able to communicate with my line manager and other team members easily on a weekly basis and get things going.</p>
<h3>3) High flexibility (time management skills are required!)</h3>
<p>My internship experience is very flexible with the whole project timeline. I can take on the role to plan when things should be delivered and manage when I should sort out the ideas, video storyboards and drafts, etc. This has certainly strengthened my time management skills, as I have to ensure that I am not falling behind the schedule and the project can progress swiftly.</p>
<p>The high flexibility also enables me to schedule other commitments around it. This allows me to achieve a good work-life balance during this period. I know that having an unexpected flexibility with time might seem to be a bit too good to be true, but to be honest, it does require a lot of self-control and time management skills!</p>
<h3>4) Gaining diverse skills</h3>
<p>It is a pleasant surprise to be able to gain other skills outside of what I’ve already learned! My project requires collaboration with other team members in the project and that has enabled me to learn so much more in other aspects, such as content writing, visual design, persona creation etc. These are all valuable opportunities and relevant skillsets that will be very helpful in a workplace. The fact that I can gain all these diverse skills makes the whole experience much more fulfilling!</p>
<h3>5) Supportive environment</h3>
<p>Last but not least, I’ve got to say I’m so grateful to have a really supportive manager that has kindly guided me all along. My colleagues have been really welcoming and encouraging with what I have done. Also, other team members in LTW have helped me so much with their constructive feedback! This whole working environment is surely a great add-on to this internship experience as who wouldn’t love to be surrounded by smart and friendly people?</p>
<hr />
<p>I’m certain that some of you may have a similar/ different internship experience according to your own department/ projects. Feel free to comment down below and share yours too! <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/16.0.1/72x72/1f642.png" alt="🙂" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /></p>
<span class="uoe-published-time uoe-seo-hidden-area">
<time datetime="2021-08-11" itemprop="dateModified">Aug 11, 2021</time>
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Diag| Considering item [https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/dlam/?p=5766] "Data Visualization: The Intersection between Science and Art"
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Diag| Considering item [https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/?p=1727] "Ioana -Uncovering the depths of accessibility testing in the Digital Learning Internship"
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Diag| Considering item [https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/?p=1581] "How I develop skills as a continuing App Developer Intern – Martin Lewis"
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<title>It depends!</title>
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<dc:creator><![CDATA[lramutsa]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 27 Mar 2026 09:01:25 +0000</pubDate>
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<description><![CDATA[I had the pleasure of attending the PHP UK Conference in London this year. It was my second time, and it was even more exciting than the last! We had three simultaneous sessions, with 19 carefully chosen speakers and a new venue to welcome over 200 attendees. We got to connect with experienced developers, newcomers […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I had the pleasure of attending the PHP UK Conference in London this year. It was my second time, and it was even more exciting than the last! We had three simultaneous sessions, with 19 carefully chosen speakers and a new venue to welcome over 200 attendees.</p>
<p>We got to connect with experienced developers, newcomers and speakers, sharing ideas, concerns and developments across the developer community. This year, the speakers covered a wide range of technical topics, from seasoned open-source contributors like Sebastian Bergmann (the creator of PHPUnit), new product launches like Simon Hamp (the creator of NativePhp), performance enthusiasts like Volker Dusch (PHP 8.5 Release Manager) and long-time PHP contributors like Sara Golemon (PHP release manager at the PHP Foundation).</p>
<p>With so many fascinating and insightful talks, Gary Hockin’s talk on technical trade-offs really stood out to me. His talk, ‘It Depends’, aimed to explain why tech experts rarely give a straightforward ‘yes or no’ answer. It showed that every choice involves a trade-off – a ‘slider’ where getting one benefit often means giving up something else. I have had conversations with colleagues who are exploring tools to make their daily tasks easier, from visualising data within Learn, optimising queries to the database or setting up an application to try out a new AI tool – the question always is, which tool is the best?</p>
<p>Hockin’s main point is that there are no set answers when it comes to technology. Knowing that ‘it depends’ isn’t just a way out, but rather the first step towards making better, more thoughtful choices. It often means realising that every decision we make usually doesn’t have a single ‘right’ answer, rather well-considered compromises. Instead of looking for a one-size-fits-all ‘best’ solution, successful teams learn to ask more specific questions. Picking a programming language, database or framework can sometimes feel like choosing the ‘best’ car. A car that’s perfect for a racetrack won’t work for a snowy driveway and probably won’t be good for a school run with four kids. The same idea applies to our everyday jobs and decisions that come with it. The ‘best’ choice depends entirely on the situation, like the team’s experience, how much money and time we have and what the project needs to achieve.</p>
<p>From picking the best room to book for your non-anchor day at FH to deciding what lunch to have at the ISG Spring event, we need to ask the right questions and have the complete view of the slider before making the right choice. As i retreat to my everyday tasks and the decisions I must make, I am more conscious to seek the full picture, assess the slider in its entirety to ensure I have a good understanding of all the negatives and positives and ask the right questions. It is not as easy as it sounds, but with practice and constant refinement, “it depends” becomes a part of every decision we need to make.</p>
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<title>Lights, Camera, Learn!</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/lramutsa/2025/03/02/lights-camera-learn/</link>
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<pubDate>Sun, 02 Mar 2025 19:56:58 +0000</pubDate>
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<description><![CDATA[I had the pleasure of attending the 2025 PHP UK Conference in London on 19th of February. The speakers were amazing, and each session gave us practical tips on the challenges we face as software developers and the cutting-edge tech being developed by other developers. The conference had two tracks concurrently running most of the […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-35 alignleft" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/lramutsa/wp-content/uploads/sites/9865/2025/02/PHP-UK-Conference-300x100.jpeg" alt="PHP UK Conference 2025" width="300" height="100" srcset="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/lramutsa/wp-content/uploads/sites/9865/2025/02/PHP-UK-Conference-300x100.jpeg 300w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/lramutsa/wp-content/uploads/sites/9865/2025/02/PHP-UK-Conference-1024x341.jpeg 1024w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/lramutsa/wp-content/uploads/sites/9865/2025/02/PHP-UK-Conference-768x256.jpeg 768w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/lramutsa/wp-content/uploads/sites/9865/2025/02/PHP-UK-Conference-1440x480.jpeg 1440w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/lramutsa/wp-content/uploads/sites/9865/2025/02/PHP-UK-Conference.jpeg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></p>
<p class="p1">I had the pleasure of attending the 2025 PHP UK Conference in London on 19th of February. The speakers were amazing, and each session gave us practical tips on the challenges we face as software developers and the cutting-edge tech being developed by other developers.</p>
<p class="p1">The conference had two tracks concurrently running most of the day, so you could choose which talks were most interesting. Luckily, I was there with a work colleague, so we were able to cover both tracks and not miss out on any talks. I have highlighted some of the talks that really inspired me to think differently and unlock a toolkit of ideas to level up my developer skills.</p>
<p class="p1">Craig Francis talked about “Ending Injection Vulnerabilities,” a topic that every developer should know about. Even though PHP has improved, SQL injection attacks still happen a lot. Craig showed us real-world examples that were used in production which left many reviewing their code bases. He stressed that languages make it easy to add vulnerable code with just one line of code (which works), but it’s harder to make secure code with several lines of code – something that should change by making secure code just as easy to write as insecure one. He also said that escaping inputs or using Object-Relational Mapping (ORM like Eloquent) isn’t enough. Instead, we should take a “zero-trust” approach to any data that users send and make sure that security principles like using prepared statements and validating every user input are followed. On top of that, we should make sure that we actually use the functions provided by these ORMs as they’re meant to be used, so we don’t open backdoors on otherwise secure code.</p>
<p class="p1">Liam Hammett’s session, “Beyond Requests: Supercharging API Monitoring with Guzzle Middleware,” was a real eye-opener for me. I have used Guzzle before, but Liam showed me how to use middleware to log requests, view traces, and observe metrics. This way, I can easily monitor my application’s performance. He also showed us how to use Graphana, Tempo, Prometheus, and Loki to monitor different log levels and API telemetry from our application. We have a few apps that could really benefit from this kind of logging and monitoring, like our Class Group Builder, Bulk unenrol tool or our infrastructure servers that currently host the Short Courses Platform.</p>
<p class="p1">Ivo Lukac’s shared “Learn to Appreciate Legacy,” a heartwarming story about a fictional developer named Zed, was also really moving. Through Zed’s struggles with a messy and old codebase, Ivo showed us how legacy code often contains important business logic and institutional knowledge. It hit home for me because I have often complained about “legacy code” that we have running on some of our old apps, instead of seeing its value. Ivo’s positive outlook has me rethinking how I approach maintenance work. He shared some strategies for maintaining and refactoring such code without breaking everything and leaving every file that you’ve worked on better than you found it. The lesson? Legacy code is just code that’s been pushed to production!</p>
<p class="p1">Finally, Kevin Dunglas closed off the talks with “Give Your PHP Apps Superpowers with FrankenPHP”. This modern PHP server, built on Caddy, handles concurrency easily and supports real-time features out of the box. It also boosts performance by preloading classes. The “worker mode” was the coolest part for me, as it lets you run persistent processes for tasks like queued jobs without external services. I can’t wait to try it on a side project, maybe a chat app, and see how it simplifies my workflow. As far as I could tell, for developers, it’s a game-changer, combining PHP’s simplicity with the enterprise-grade power of Go.</p>
<p class="p1">With so many exciting talks happening at the same time on two tracks, it’s easy to miss out on others. It would be awesome if the organisers could split the talks over two days so everyone can hear everything. On the bright side, this conference made me realise that PHP is still evolving and there’s always something new and exciting coming from the community.</p>
<p class="p1">As I get back to my projects, I’m inspired to pay closer attention to every input, monitor APIs smartly, respect legacy code, and use tools that push PHP to its limits. Conferences aren’t just about learning new tricks—they remind us why we love this craft. We have the chance to build a better world, one line of code at a time!</p>
<span class="uoe-published-time uoe-seo-hidden-area">
<time datetime="2025-03-02" itemprop="dateModified">Mar 2, 2025</time>
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<title>A day in the life of an eLearning Systems Developer</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/lramutsa/2024/01/26/a-day-in-the-life-of-an-elearning-systems-developer/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/lramutsa/2024/01/26/a-day-in-the-life-of-an-elearning-systems-developer/#respond</comments>
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<pubDate>Fri, 26 Jan 2024 14:10:31 +0000</pubDate>
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<description><![CDATA[As an eLearning Systems Developer in a dynamic small team, my role revolves around creating custom web applications, university-wide platforms, and extensions for the central virtual learning environment, Blackboard Learn. With over 20 applications under our belt, each presenting unique challenges and varying complexities, my days are a blend of technical expertise, collaboration, and continuous […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: left"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-28 alignleft" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/lramutsa/wp-content/uploads/sites/9865/2024/01/Leopold-Photo-300x300.jpg" alt="Leopold Ramutsamaya Photo" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/lramutsa/wp-content/uploads/sites/9865/2024/01/Leopold-Photo-300x300.jpg 300w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/lramutsa/wp-content/uploads/sites/9865/2024/01/Leopold-Photo-150x150.jpg 150w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/lramutsa/wp-content/uploads/sites/9865/2024/01/Leopold-Photo-768x768.jpg 768w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/lramutsa/wp-content/uploads/sites/9865/2024/01/Leopold-Photo.jpg 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />As an eLearning Systems Developer in a dynamic small team, my role revolves around creating custom web applications, university-wide platforms, and extensions for the central virtual learning environment, Blackboard Learn. With over 20 applications under our belt, each presenting unique challenges and varying complexities, my days are a blend of technical expertise, collaboration, and continuous learning.</p>
<p style="text-align: left">The day kicks off with catching up on both personal and team support emails. This ensures I am aware of any potential challenges or issues that may shape my workday. Whether it’s a student seeking support or a system alert for an application running out of storage, addressing these promptly ensures a smooth workflow. Following this, our daily team scrum meetings provide a platform for brief but vital discussion on completed tasks, ongoing work, and potential roadblocks. These meetings help the team keep on tabs on all the work at hand and the progress being made, as well as offer help on any issues you are facing – more often than not, someone else may have faced similar issue and already have a solution or a way to handle the issue.</p>
<p style="text-align: left">With the morning meetings concluded, the day unfolds into a solo venture of coding and project planning for the rest of the day – the ability to manage and prioritise your own work becomes very crucial. Working with sprint tickets, our team follows a meticulous process that includes peer code review and writing of automated tests. This not only enhances code quality by minimizing errors but also provides a unique opportunity for professional growth as different viewpoints and solutions emerge during code reviews, creating a fertile ground for the exchange of ideas. Writing automated tests ensures that new features align with specifications without disrupting existing logic.</p>
<p style="text-align: left">Reflection becomes a crucial part of the daily routine, providing insights into lessons learned, challenges faced, and opportunities for improvement. In the ever-evolving realm of software development, challenges serve as stepping stones for professional growth. Crucially, the supportive ecosystem within the team and the section at large is the cornerstone of our success. Knowing that assistance is just an inquiry away fosters a collaborative spirit, making the complex web of software development more manageable.</p>
<p style="text-align: left">One of the most rewarding aspects of my job is the opportunity to work on a multitude of applications, employing various technologies and catering to different stakeholders across the university. This diversity exposes me to processes beyond my immediate scope, allowing me to contribute to the resolution of challenges faced by staff and students throughout their daily routines. Each day is a unique opportunity to shape the digital future of education, one line of code at a time.</p>
<span class="uoe-published-time uoe-seo-hidden-area">
<time datetime="2024-01-26" itemprop="dateModified">Jan 26, 2024</time>
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<title>It depends!</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/lramutsa/2026/03/27/it-depends/</link>
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<pubDate>Fri, 27 Mar 2026 09:01:25 +0000</pubDate>
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<description><![CDATA[I had the pleasure of attending the PHP UK Conference in London this year. It was my second time, and it was even more exciting than the last! We had three simultaneous sessions, with 19 carefully chosen speakers and a new venue to welcome over 200 attendees. We got to connect with experienced developers, newcomers […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I had the pleasure of attending the PHP UK Conference in London this year. It was my second time, and it was even more exciting than the last! We had three simultaneous sessions, with 19 carefully chosen speakers and a new venue to welcome over 200 attendees.</p>
<p>We got to connect with experienced developers, newcomers and speakers, sharing ideas, concerns and developments across the developer community. This year, the speakers covered a wide range of technical topics, from seasoned open-source contributors like Sebastian Bergmann (the creator of PHPUnit), new product launches like Simon Hamp (the creator of NativePhp), performance enthusiasts like Volker Dusch (PHP 8.5 Release Manager) and long-time PHP contributors like Sara Golemon (PHP release manager at the PHP Foundation).</p>
<p>With so many fascinating and insightful talks, Gary Hockin’s talk on technical trade-offs really stood out to me. His talk, ‘It Depends’, aimed to explain why tech experts rarely give a straightforward ‘yes or no’ answer. It showed that every choice involves a trade-off – a ‘slider’ where getting one benefit often means giving up something else. I have had conversations with colleagues who are exploring tools to make their daily tasks easier, from visualising data within Learn, optimising queries to the database or setting up an application to try out a new AI tool – the question always is, which tool is the best?</p>
<p>Hockin’s main point is that there are no set answers when it comes to technology. Knowing that ‘it depends’ isn’t just a way out, but rather the first step towards making better, more thoughtful choices. It often means realising that every decision we make usually doesn’t have a single ‘right’ answer, rather well-considered compromises. Instead of looking for a one-size-fits-all ‘best’ solution, successful teams learn to ask more specific questions. Picking a programming language, database or framework can sometimes feel like choosing the ‘best’ car. A car that’s perfect for a racetrack won’t work for a snowy driveway and probably won’t be good for a school run with four kids. The same idea applies to our everyday jobs and decisions that come with it. The ‘best’ choice depends entirely on the situation, like the team’s experience, how much money and time we have and what the project needs to achieve.</p>
<p>From picking the best room to book for your non-anchor day at FH to deciding what lunch to have at the ISG Spring event, we need to ask the right questions and have the complete view of the slider before making the right choice. As i retreat to my everyday tasks and the decisions I must make, I am more conscious to seek the full picture, assess the slider in its entirety to ensure I have a good understanding of all the negatives and positives and ask the right questions. It is not as easy as it sounds, but with practice and constant refinement, “it depends” becomes a part of every decision we need to make.</p>
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<time datetime="2026-03-27" itemprop="dateModified">Mar 27, 2026</time>
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<title>Lights, Camera, Learn!</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/lramutsa/2025/03/02/lights-camera-learn/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/lramutsa/2025/03/02/lights-camera-learn/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[lramutsa]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Sun, 02 Mar 2025 19:56:58 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Conference]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Php]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[conferences]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[php]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[php-conference]]></category>
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<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/lramutsa/?p=32</guid>
<description><![CDATA[I had the pleasure of attending the 2025 PHP UK Conference in London on 19th of February. The speakers were amazing, and each session gave us practical tips on the challenges we face as software developers and the cutting-edge tech being developed by other developers. The conference had two tracks concurrently running most of the […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-35 alignleft" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/lramutsa/wp-content/uploads/sites/9865/2025/02/PHP-UK-Conference-300x100.jpeg" alt="PHP UK Conference 2025" width="300" height="100" srcset="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/lramutsa/wp-content/uploads/sites/9865/2025/02/PHP-UK-Conference-300x100.jpeg 300w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/lramutsa/wp-content/uploads/sites/9865/2025/02/PHP-UK-Conference-1024x341.jpeg 1024w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/lramutsa/wp-content/uploads/sites/9865/2025/02/PHP-UK-Conference-768x256.jpeg 768w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/lramutsa/wp-content/uploads/sites/9865/2025/02/PHP-UK-Conference-1440x480.jpeg 1440w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/lramutsa/wp-content/uploads/sites/9865/2025/02/PHP-UK-Conference.jpeg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></p>
<p class="p1">I had the pleasure of attending the 2025 PHP UK Conference in London on 19th of February. The speakers were amazing, and each session gave us practical tips on the challenges we face as software developers and the cutting-edge tech being developed by other developers.</p>
<p class="p1">The conference had two tracks concurrently running most of the day, so you could choose which talks were most interesting. Luckily, I was there with a work colleague, so we were able to cover both tracks and not miss out on any talks. I have highlighted some of the talks that really inspired me to think differently and unlock a toolkit of ideas to level up my developer skills.</p>
<p class="p1">Craig Francis talked about “Ending Injection Vulnerabilities,” a topic that every developer should know about. Even though PHP has improved, SQL injection attacks still happen a lot. Craig showed us real-world examples that were used in production which left many reviewing their code bases. He stressed that languages make it easy to add vulnerable code with just one line of code (which works), but it’s harder to make secure code with several lines of code – something that should change by making secure code just as easy to write as insecure one. He also said that escaping inputs or using Object-Relational Mapping (ORM like Eloquent) isn’t enough. Instead, we should take a “zero-trust” approach to any data that users send and make sure that security principles like using prepared statements and validating every user input are followed. On top of that, we should make sure that we actually use the functions provided by these ORMs as they’re meant to be used, so we don’t open backdoors on otherwise secure code.</p>
<p class="p1">Liam Hammett’s session, “Beyond Requests: Supercharging API Monitoring with Guzzle Middleware,” was a real eye-opener for me. I have used Guzzle before, but Liam showed me how to use middleware to log requests, view traces, and observe metrics. This way, I can easily monitor my application’s performance. He also showed us how to use Graphana, Tempo, Prometheus, and Loki to monitor different log levels and API telemetry from our application. We have a few apps that could really benefit from this kind of logging and monitoring, like our Class Group Builder, Bulk unenrol tool or our infrastructure servers that currently host the Short Courses Platform.</p>
<p class="p1">Ivo Lukac’s shared “Learn to Appreciate Legacy,” a heartwarming story about a fictional developer named Zed, was also really moving. Through Zed’s struggles with a messy and old codebase, Ivo showed us how legacy code often contains important business logic and institutional knowledge. It hit home for me because I have often complained about “legacy code” that we have running on some of our old apps, instead of seeing its value. Ivo’s positive outlook has me rethinking how I approach maintenance work. He shared some strategies for maintaining and refactoring such code without breaking everything and leaving every file that you’ve worked on better than you found it. The lesson? Legacy code is just code that’s been pushed to production!</p>
<p class="p1">Finally, Kevin Dunglas closed off the talks with “Give Your PHP Apps Superpowers with FrankenPHP”. This modern PHP server, built on Caddy, handles concurrency easily and supports real-time features out of the box. It also boosts performance by preloading classes. The “worker mode” was the coolest part for me, as it lets you run persistent processes for tasks like queued jobs without external services. I can’t wait to try it on a side project, maybe a chat app, and see how it simplifies my workflow. As far as I could tell, for developers, it’s a game-changer, combining PHP’s simplicity with the enterprise-grade power of Go.</p>
<p class="p1">With so many exciting talks happening at the same time on two tracks, it’s easy to miss out on others. It would be awesome if the organisers could split the talks over two days so everyone can hear everything. On the bright side, this conference made me realise that PHP is still evolving and there’s always something new and exciting coming from the community.</p>
<p class="p1">As I get back to my projects, I’m inspired to pay closer attention to every input, monitor APIs smartly, respect legacy code, and use tools that push PHP to its limits. Conferences aren’t just about learning new tricks—they remind us why we love this craft. We have the chance to build a better world, one line of code at a time!</p>
<span class="uoe-published-time uoe-seo-hidden-area">
<time datetime="2025-03-02" itemprop="dateModified">Mar 2, 2025</time>
</span>
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<title>A day in the life of an eLearning Systems Developer</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/lramutsa/2024/01/26/a-day-in-the-life-of-an-elearning-systems-developer/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/lramutsa/2024/01/26/a-day-in-the-life-of-an-elearning-systems-developer/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[lramutsa]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 26 Jan 2024 14:10:31 +0000</pubDate>
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<category><![CDATA[leopold ramutsamaya]]></category>
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<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/lramutsa/?p=9</guid>
<description><![CDATA[As an eLearning Systems Developer in a dynamic small team, my role revolves around creating custom web applications, university-wide platforms, and extensions for the central virtual learning environment, Blackboard Learn. With over 20 applications under our belt, each presenting unique challenges and varying complexities, my days are a blend of technical expertise, collaboration, and continuous […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: left"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-28 alignleft" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/lramutsa/wp-content/uploads/sites/9865/2024/01/Leopold-Photo-300x300.jpg" alt="Leopold Ramutsamaya Photo" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/lramutsa/wp-content/uploads/sites/9865/2024/01/Leopold-Photo-300x300.jpg 300w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/lramutsa/wp-content/uploads/sites/9865/2024/01/Leopold-Photo-150x150.jpg 150w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/lramutsa/wp-content/uploads/sites/9865/2024/01/Leopold-Photo-768x768.jpg 768w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/lramutsa/wp-content/uploads/sites/9865/2024/01/Leopold-Photo.jpg 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />As an eLearning Systems Developer in a dynamic small team, my role revolves around creating custom web applications, university-wide platforms, and extensions for the central virtual learning environment, Blackboard Learn. With over 20 applications under our belt, each presenting unique challenges and varying complexities, my days are a blend of technical expertise, collaboration, and continuous learning.</p>
<p style="text-align: left">The day kicks off with catching up on both personal and team support emails. This ensures I am aware of any potential challenges or issues that may shape my workday. Whether it’s a student seeking support or a system alert for an application running out of storage, addressing these promptly ensures a smooth workflow. Following this, our daily team scrum meetings provide a platform for brief but vital discussion on completed tasks, ongoing work, and potential roadblocks. These meetings help the team keep on tabs on all the work at hand and the progress being made, as well as offer help on any issues you are facing – more often than not, someone else may have faced similar issue and already have a solution or a way to handle the issue.</p>
<p style="text-align: left">With the morning meetings concluded, the day unfolds into a solo venture of coding and project planning for the rest of the day – the ability to manage and prioritise your own work becomes very crucial. Working with sprint tickets, our team follows a meticulous process that includes peer code review and writing of automated tests. This not only enhances code quality by minimizing errors but also provides a unique opportunity for professional growth as different viewpoints and solutions emerge during code reviews, creating a fertile ground for the exchange of ideas. Writing automated tests ensures that new features align with specifications without disrupting existing logic.</p>
<p style="text-align: left">Reflection becomes a crucial part of the daily routine, providing insights into lessons learned, challenges faced, and opportunities for improvement. In the ever-evolving realm of software development, challenges serve as stepping stones for professional growth. Crucially, the supportive ecosystem within the team and the section at large is the cornerstone of our success. Knowing that assistance is just an inquiry away fosters a collaborative spirit, making the complex web of software development more manageable.</p>
<p style="text-align: left">One of the most rewarding aspects of my job is the opportunity to work on a multitude of applications, employing various technologies and catering to different stakeholders across the university. This diversity exposes me to processes beyond my immediate scope, allowing me to contribute to the resolution of challenges faced by staff and students throughout their daily routines. Each day is a unique opportunity to shape the digital future of education, one line of code at a time.</p>
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<description><![CDATA[I had the pleasure of attending the PHP UK Conference in London this year. It was my second time, and it was even more exciting than the last! We had three simultaneous sessions, with 19 carefully chosen speakers and a new venue to welcome over 200 attendees. We got to connect with experienced developers, newcomers […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I had the pleasure of attending the PHP UK Conference in London this year. It was my second time, and it was even more exciting than the last! We had three simultaneous sessions, with 19 carefully chosen speakers and a new venue to welcome over 200 attendees.</p>
<p>We got to connect with experienced developers, newcomers and speakers, sharing ideas, concerns and developments across the developer community. This year, the speakers covered a wide range of technical topics, from seasoned open-source contributors like Sebastian Bergmann (the creator of PHPUnit), new product launches like Simon Hamp (the creator of NativePhp), performance enthusiasts like Volker Dusch (PHP 8.5 Release Manager) and long-time PHP contributors like Sara Golemon (PHP release manager at the PHP Foundation).</p>
<p>With so many fascinating and insightful talks, Gary Hockin’s talk on technical trade-offs really stood out to me. His talk, ‘It Depends’, aimed to explain why tech experts rarely give a straightforward ‘yes or no’ answer. It showed that every choice involves a trade-off – a ‘slider’ where getting one benefit often means giving up something else. I have had conversations with colleagues who are exploring tools to make their daily tasks easier, from visualising data within Learn, optimising queries to the database or setting up an application to try out a new AI tool – the question always is, which tool is the best?</p>
<p>Hockin’s main point is that there are no set answers when it comes to technology. Knowing that ‘it depends’ isn’t just a way out, but rather the first step towards making better, more thoughtful choices. It often means realising that every decision we make usually doesn’t have a single ‘right’ answer, rather well-considered compromises. Instead of looking for a one-size-fits-all ‘best’ solution, successful teams learn to ask more specific questions. Picking a programming language, database or framework can sometimes feel like choosing the ‘best’ car. A car that’s perfect for a racetrack won’t work for a snowy driveway and probably won’t be good for a school run with four kids. The same idea applies to our everyday jobs and decisions that come with it. The ‘best’ choice depends entirely on the situation, like the team’s experience, how much money and time we have and what the project needs to achieve.</p>
<p>From picking the best room to book for your non-anchor day at FH to deciding what lunch to have at the ISG Spring event, we need to ask the right questions and have the complete view of the slider before making the right choice. As i retreat to my everyday tasks and the decisions I must make, I am more conscious to seek the full picture, assess the slider in its entirety to ensure I have a good understanding of all the negatives and positives and ask the right questions. It is not as easy as it sounds, but with practice and constant refinement, “it depends” becomes a part of every decision we need to make.</p>
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<title>Lights, Camera, Learn!</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/lramutsa/2025/03/02/lights-camera-learn/</link>
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<dc:creator><![CDATA[lramutsa]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Sun, 02 Mar 2025 19:56:58 +0000</pubDate>
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<description><![CDATA[I had the pleasure of attending the 2025 PHP UK Conference in London on 19th of February. The speakers were amazing, and each session gave us practical tips on the challenges we face as software developers and the cutting-edge tech being developed by other developers. The conference had two tracks concurrently running most of the […]]]></description>
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<p class="p1">I had the pleasure of attending the 2025 PHP UK Conference in London on 19th of February. The speakers were amazing, and each session gave us practical tips on the challenges we face as software developers and the cutting-edge tech being developed by other developers.</p>
<p class="p1">The conference had two tracks concurrently running most of the day, so you could choose which talks were most interesting. Luckily, I was there with a work colleague, so we were able to cover both tracks and not miss out on any talks. I have highlighted some of the talks that really inspired me to think differently and unlock a toolkit of ideas to level up my developer skills.</p>
<p class="p1">Craig Francis talked about “Ending Injection Vulnerabilities,” a topic that every developer should know about. Even though PHP has improved, SQL injection attacks still happen a lot. Craig showed us real-world examples that were used in production which left many reviewing their code bases. He stressed that languages make it easy to add vulnerable code with just one line of code (which works), but it’s harder to make secure code with several lines of code – something that should change by making secure code just as easy to write as insecure one. He also said that escaping inputs or using Object-Relational Mapping (ORM like Eloquent) isn’t enough. Instead, we should take a “zero-trust” approach to any data that users send and make sure that security principles like using prepared statements and validating every user input are followed. On top of that, we should make sure that we actually use the functions provided by these ORMs as they’re meant to be used, so we don’t open backdoors on otherwise secure code.</p>
<p class="p1">Liam Hammett’s session, “Beyond Requests: Supercharging API Monitoring with Guzzle Middleware,” was a real eye-opener for me. I have used Guzzle before, but Liam showed me how to use middleware to log requests, view traces, and observe metrics. This way, I can easily monitor my application’s performance. He also showed us how to use Graphana, Tempo, Prometheus, and Loki to monitor different log levels and API telemetry from our application. We have a few apps that could really benefit from this kind of logging and monitoring, like our Class Group Builder, Bulk unenrol tool or our infrastructure servers that currently host the Short Courses Platform.</p>
<p class="p1">Ivo Lukac’s shared “Learn to Appreciate Legacy,” a heartwarming story about a fictional developer named Zed, was also really moving. Through Zed’s struggles with a messy and old codebase, Ivo showed us how legacy code often contains important business logic and institutional knowledge. It hit home for me because I have often complained about “legacy code” that we have running on some of our old apps, instead of seeing its value. Ivo’s positive outlook has me rethinking how I approach maintenance work. He shared some strategies for maintaining and refactoring such code without breaking everything and leaving every file that you’ve worked on better than you found it. The lesson? Legacy code is just code that’s been pushed to production!</p>
<p class="p1">Finally, Kevin Dunglas closed off the talks with “Give Your PHP Apps Superpowers with FrankenPHP”. This modern PHP server, built on Caddy, handles concurrency easily and supports real-time features out of the box. It also boosts performance by preloading classes. The “worker mode” was the coolest part for me, as it lets you run persistent processes for tasks like queued jobs without external services. I can’t wait to try it on a side project, maybe a chat app, and see how it simplifies my workflow. As far as I could tell, for developers, it’s a game-changer, combining PHP’s simplicity with the enterprise-grade power of Go.</p>
<p class="p1">With so many exciting talks happening at the same time on two tracks, it’s easy to miss out on others. It would be awesome if the organisers could split the talks over two days so everyone can hear everything. On the bright side, this conference made me realise that PHP is still evolving and there’s always something new and exciting coming from the community.</p>
<p class="p1">As I get back to my projects, I’m inspired to pay closer attention to every input, monitor APIs smartly, respect legacy code, and use tools that push PHP to its limits. Conferences aren’t just about learning new tricks—they remind us why we love this craft. We have the chance to build a better world, one line of code at a time!</p>
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<description><![CDATA[As an eLearning Systems Developer in a dynamic small team, my role revolves around creating custom web applications, university-wide platforms, and extensions for the central virtual learning environment, Blackboard Learn. With over 20 applications under our belt, each presenting unique challenges and varying complexities, my days are a blend of technical expertise, collaboration, and continuous […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: left"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-28 alignleft" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/lramutsa/wp-content/uploads/sites/9865/2024/01/Leopold-Photo-300x300.jpg" alt="Leopold Ramutsamaya Photo" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/lramutsa/wp-content/uploads/sites/9865/2024/01/Leopold-Photo-300x300.jpg 300w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/lramutsa/wp-content/uploads/sites/9865/2024/01/Leopold-Photo-150x150.jpg 150w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/lramutsa/wp-content/uploads/sites/9865/2024/01/Leopold-Photo-768x768.jpg 768w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/lramutsa/wp-content/uploads/sites/9865/2024/01/Leopold-Photo.jpg 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />As an eLearning Systems Developer in a dynamic small team, my role revolves around creating custom web applications, university-wide platforms, and extensions for the central virtual learning environment, Blackboard Learn. With over 20 applications under our belt, each presenting unique challenges and varying complexities, my days are a blend of technical expertise, collaboration, and continuous learning.</p>
<p style="text-align: left">The day kicks off with catching up on both personal and team support emails. This ensures I am aware of any potential challenges or issues that may shape my workday. Whether it’s a student seeking support or a system alert for an application running out of storage, addressing these promptly ensures a smooth workflow. Following this, our daily team scrum meetings provide a platform for brief but vital discussion on completed tasks, ongoing work, and potential roadblocks. These meetings help the team keep on tabs on all the work at hand and the progress being made, as well as offer help on any issues you are facing – more often than not, someone else may have faced similar issue and already have a solution or a way to handle the issue.</p>
<p style="text-align: left">With the morning meetings concluded, the day unfolds into a solo venture of coding and project planning for the rest of the day – the ability to manage and prioritise your own work becomes very crucial. Working with sprint tickets, our team follows a meticulous process that includes peer code review and writing of automated tests. This not only enhances code quality by minimizing errors but also provides a unique opportunity for professional growth as different viewpoints and solutions emerge during code reviews, creating a fertile ground for the exchange of ideas. Writing automated tests ensures that new features align with specifications without disrupting existing logic.</p>
<p style="text-align: left">Reflection becomes a crucial part of the daily routine, providing insights into lessons learned, challenges faced, and opportunities for improvement. In the ever-evolving realm of software development, challenges serve as stepping stones for professional growth. Crucially, the supportive ecosystem within the team and the section at large is the cornerstone of our success. Knowing that assistance is just an inquiry away fosters a collaborative spirit, making the complex web of software development more manageable.</p>
<p style="text-align: left">One of the most rewarding aspects of my job is the opportunity to work on a multitude of applications, employing various technologies and catering to different stakeholders across the university. This diversity exposes me to processes beyond my immediate scope, allowing me to contribute to the resolution of challenges faced by staff and students throughout their daily routines. Each day is a unique opportunity to shape the digital future of education, one line of code at a time.</p>
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<title>Working hand in hand</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/2025/12/10/working-hand-in-hand/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/2025/12/10/working-hand-in-hand/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Kat]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 10 Dec 2025 10:10:05 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[general]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam-feed]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/?p=126</guid>
<description><![CDATA[A lot of the time IT services are supporting users – that is, students and teaching staff – or work quietly in the background to assure systems and infrastructure are in good shape and fit for purpose. In my own role I rarely have an opportunity to see what happens “on the ground”, in the […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>A lot of the time IT services are supporting users – that is, students and teaching staff – or work quietly in the background to assure systems and infrastructure are in good shape and fit for purpose. In my own role I rarely have an opportunity to see what happens “on the ground”, in the physical teaching environments. However, recently I was attending a staff training event for Data Protection Champions, and it ended up being an exciting little showcase of how our services work together to make learning and teaching happen. Not just for students <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/16.0.1/72x72/1f642.png" alt="🙂" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /></p>
<p>What are Data Protection Champions? These are a group of staff members who commit to staying up to date on current developments across the university on matters intersecting with Data Protection and to help keep information otherwise available on the web current in discussions and work locally. The Community Meetings help to exchange knowledge and ask questions to understand in better detail what processes and procedures are designed to do and to disambiguate the legalese that necessarily accompanies legal and compliance rules and regulations.</p>
<p>In other words, understanding the details is important, and summarising this “second hand” is not always easy. This prompted some champions to reach out to the organiser asking if the event could be recorded.</p>
<p>This was not a Teams meeting. But, it was set at a lecture theatre with Lecture recording facilities. So after a little consideration of alternatives (recording in segments on a mobile phone? recording via Kaltura video recorder from a laptop?) we set to work out what might need to happen to make use of the lecture recording equipment.</p>
<ul>
<li>Sound check – oh my. Somehow feedback reverberating in stereo through the theatre makes for a great alarm clock, but it transpired quite quickly that we were in need of support. A colleague from Digital Spaces Tech attended within minutes – and some troubleshooting later had all the microphones operating normally. Sigh of relief – we can all hear and know this will be captured in the recording.</li>
<li>Recording – typically recordings are linked to course delivery in our VLE, Learn. And timetabling allows for lectures to be added to the courses automatically. When requesting an ad-hoc recording, this is available to instructors; or can be supported from the Media Service team with a little notice. In our case, notice was very limited, and the support from the service team was invaluable. The lights of the recording equipment turned red – on time for the meeting to start.</li>
<li>Processing – with the event being a full morning, including a break for coffee and networking, the recording took some time to process on the system. With help from the service team, this time duly recorded using our ticketing system Unidesk, the recording was modified to exclude the break to make this more convenient for champions to review once shared.</li>
</ul>
<p>Since the event was not associated with a course or programme, and the default of our lecture recordings setup via the VLE did not apply, sharing recordings is not automatic. The system is designed to safeguard teaching activities and keep permissions for processing and sharing details in line with the terms and conditions of service. Data Protection compliance at its best. Staff training, still falls within the remit of teaching, but staff training is not hosted on our VLE Learn, again, in order to comply with the terms and conditions of service for the VLE. On guidance from the Media Service team we requested for the migration of the video to our other media channel, Media Hopper Create. With this being the first interaction on the service the help and support with this process was incredibly appreciated by the organiser and all involved in the event.</p>
<ul>
<li>Migrating – as part of this whole process, I discovered a whole new set of environments that can be logged into, alas, because my account is linked to a playground account, and I was not the owner of the video recording, we took up the kind offer of support from the Media Service team who brought the video into Media Hopper Create, which offers captioning and wider sharing permissions.</li>
<li>Sharing – as with many of our services, the ability to secure content is shared with the appropriate user groups is really important. Materials can be set to only exist for the video owner (private), made accessible only to users who have been given the link (unlisted) or be made public to all users. In addition, licensing selections assure that users are informed of what is permissible with regards to use of the content and copyright.</li>
</ul>
<p>The support and efforts across the different teams was a really good reminder of why working in ISG / LTW / DLAM is such a rewarding experience. Sometimes we end up being in the role of our own users, and colleagues come to our rescue and support to make the most of the teaching and training that keeps our service provisions compliant and up to date.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<span class="uoe-published-time uoe-seo-hidden-area">
<time datetime="2025-12-10" itemprop="dateModified">Dec 10, 2025</time>
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<title>What’s in a measure? Considerations on Anthology Ally</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/2023/12/04/whats-in-a-measure-considerations-on-anthology-ally/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/2023/12/04/whats-in-a-measure-considerations-on-anthology-ally/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Kat]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 04 Dec 2023 11:09:51 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorised]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[accessibility]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam-feed]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/?p=85</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Let me take a moment to share my thoughts around one of our newer services with Learning, Teaching and Web: Anthology Ally. Accessibility is fast becoming one of my favourite topics working within DLAM. A Humanities graduate myself, maybe the link between Hermeneutics (Interpretation theory) and digital transformations in accessible design play a part. Whilst […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Let me take a moment to share my thoughts around one of our newer services with Learning, Teaching and Web: Anthology Ally. Accessibility is fast becoming one of my favourite topics working within DLAM. A Humanities graduate myself, maybe the link between Hermeneutics (Interpretation theory) and digital transformations in accessible design play a part. Whilst I used to be primarily concerned about the meaning behind the words, I now find myself deeply fascinated by the (digital) transactions that take place to transmit and present information, and the tools it takes to make this happen!</p>
<p><span class="TextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB" data-contrast="auto"><span class="NormalTextRun CommentStart CommentHighlightPipeRest CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">Digital accessibility refers to </span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">digital content </span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">that has been reviewed and tested to be </span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">accessible to the widest possible audience and be free from any avoidable access restrictions when using assisti</span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">ve technologies. </span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">In the broad landscape of software, programmes and platforms, readability and interoperability </span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">are crucial if we are to enable our users to interact with out content in an output format suited to th</span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">eir needs. Thus, for accessibility to </span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">translate to digital media </span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">educational design (content focussed), interoperability, and user navigation and software availability</span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8"> all play a part</span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">. </span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">To achieve this, </span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">the ability </span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">to review and revise </span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightPipeRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">core information – such as</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8"> file properties,</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8"> logical </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8">input</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8"> and design </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8">elements</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8"> – </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8">this data </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8">must be clearly readable to </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8">a variety of </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8">software </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8">before the </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8">output</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8"> can be guaranteed</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8">. Who else remembers the wonders of opening a foreign file extension with Word and being faced with code </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8">rendered</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8"> in Webdings?</span></span><span class="EOP SCXW170933220 BCX8" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}"> </span></p>
<p><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW185165916 BCX8">Our ability to alter and edit our content and </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW185165916 BCX8">render</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW185165916 BCX8"> it accessible at all levels, is critical. </span>Anthology Ally offers us a window into the system level dialogue of our digital learning environment and the digital media we populate our classrooms with. Ally is a software integration on our primary VLE that scans contents for digital accessibility, its meta text, settings and requirements hidden behind the on-the-face output. It allows the users to identify accessibility issues at software level and supports some measures of fixing these; as well as enabling the conversion of files into alternative formats. Alternative formats can make teaching resources more adaptable to the diverse needs and wants of our students. Changing file type may help in presenting a file more adaptive to screen size; opting for a different display modus can support reading; access to audio can allow you to listen back on materials whilst working out, running chores or on the commute… with a diverse student body, we have the opportunity to fit all our teaching courses into a more flexible learning style. An improved digital experience supports all our learners, and having a chance to gauge better what poses a hindrance to assistive technology will make an impact to our users!</p>
<figure id="attachment_87" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-87" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-87" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/wp-content/uploads/sites/8190/2023/11/accessibility-formats-300x224.png" alt="Image title: Know your options. Chose a format that's right for you. List of alternative formats and their advantages shows 8 items. Item 1 Format: OCRed PDF for automatically extracted text. Advantage: Improved scanned documents for better reading and text search. Item 2 Format: Tagged PDF for a structured PDF for assistive technology. Advantage: Improved structure for navigation, essential for screen readers. Item 3 Format: HTML for browser and mobile. Advantage: Customize your text with a file that adapts text to mobile screen sizes. Item 4 Format: ePub for reading on tablets and e-book readers. Advantage: usable for ebooks on tablets to annotate and highlight. Item 5 Format: Electronic braille in BRF file format. Advantage: supports tactile reading and offers relief from screenreaders. Item 6 Format: Audio as MP3 recording of text. Advantage: Listen and learn on the go by engaging different modalities. Item 7 Format: BeeLine Reader. This creates a machine translated version of the document. Advantage: Improved on-screen reading to read faster and with greater focus. Item 8 Format: Translated version (this is an opt-in product) offering a machine translated version of the document. Advantage: Translates text to one of 50 different languages. Speak to Information Services if you are interested in this version." width="300" height="224" srcset="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/wp-content/uploads/sites/8190/2023/11/accessibility-formats-300x224.png 300w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/wp-content/uploads/sites/8190/2023/11/accessibility-formats.png 343w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-87" class="wp-caption-text">Table of available alternative formats</figcaption></figure>
<p>Here at DLAM testing out our service solutions to assure that they work as intended and integrate seamlessly (we can but try!) into our existing service environment is a wonderful part of the job. The <a href="https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG21/">Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1</a> (version 2.2 has been launched in October) offer a detailed list of criteria when reviewing all our websites and applications for legal compliance <span class="TextRun SCXW56190171 BCX8" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB" data-contrast="auto"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW56190171 BCX8"> under the </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW56190171 BCX8" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB" data-contrast="auto"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW56190171 BCX8">Equality Act (2010)</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW56190171 BCX8" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB" data-contrast="auto"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW56190171 BCX8"> and </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW56190171 BCX8" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB" data-contrast="auto"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW56190171 BCX8">The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) (Scotland) Regulations 2012 (<a href="https://www.ed.ac.uk/about/website/accessibility/guidelines-policy-legislation">https://www.ed.ac.uk/about/website/accessibility/guidelines-policy-legislation</a>)</span></span>. One of the core efforts in the standard is that organisations have to lay bare how they identified and thought about accessibility for their products and services, and where possible, mitigated any avoidable shortcomings. In broad terms, our applications are challenged on three aspects: audio, visual and navigation / workflow; the touch points of our digital environment. It is a “dimension of interoperability” to assess whether “assistive technologies [are] working predictably with different combinations of browsers, mobile operating systems, and devices“ (<a href="https://link-springer-com.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4842-7948-9_7">The Next Frontier – Expanding the Definition of Accessibility | SpringerLink</a>). When testing for Ally, a core challenge for me was using assistive technology, often for the first time, and to interpret the behaviour. Whilst I was reasonably familiar with Ease of Access settings for my PC and browser, other more specialist tools I found hard to judge. What if my lack of familiarity with assistive technology in the test makes for a poor result due to difficulties with the assistive tool rather than the target interface? It is the hard to judge places that lead us to use tools to scan and evaluate what meets compliance criteria and helps us to correlate our own experience with the data we interact with.</p>
<p>To guide instructors about digital accessibility, Ally produces a score. It is meant as a guide to how clean a file is in digital terms, i.e. how successful it will be in converting to an alternative file format or being negotiated by any common assistive technology tool. So taking a moment to demystify the scoring for a moment should clear our view to how Ally supports our wider mission to produce accessible learning and teaching materials.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-86" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/wp-content/uploads/sites/8190/2023/11/Low-gauge.png" alt="Fuel gauge symbol pictured in red pointing to low level to denote 0-33% success rate" width="22" height="19" /> <strong>Low </strong>(0-33%): Needs help! There are severe accessibility issues.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-89" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/wp-content/uploads/sites/8190/2023/11/Medium-gauge.png" alt="Fuel gauge symbol pictured in amber pointing to mid-level to denote 34-66% success rate" width="22" height="19" /> <strong>Medium </strong>(34-66%): A little better. The file is somewhat accessible and needs improvement.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-88" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/wp-content/uploads/sites/8190/2023/11/high-gauge.png" alt="Fuel gauge symbol pictured in light green pointing to high level to denote 67-99% success rate" width="22" height="19" /> <strong>High </strong>(67-99%): Almost there. The file is accessible but more improvements are possible.</p>
<p><strong><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-90" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/wp-content/uploads/sites/8190/2023/11/Perfect-gauge.png" alt="Fuel gauge symbol pictured in dark green pointing to full tank level to denote 100% success rate" width="22" height="19" /> Perfect </strong>(100%): Perfect! Ally didn’t identify any accessibility issues but further improvements may still be possible.</p>
<p>Now, a scan for alternative text, in spite of the potential for AI to play a part here in future, cannot infer the context for the teaching resource and the focus the image might have in the lesson plan in the assessment of the appropriateness of ALT text. Ally is first and foremost an editing tool for the instructor, and a convenient conversion tool for the students. Accessibility needs remain to be assessed at the human level. So what do we do to assure we keep the service on track?</p>
<ul>
<li>Training; we must foster a keen awareness of what constitute accessible design in our digital service landscape</li>
<li>Testing; we must test out applications and websites to identify and mitigate challenges in accessibility</li>
<li>Research; we must continue to learn about digital trends, possible new solutions and developments in assistive technology, and accessible design</li>
<li>Feedback; we must actively listen to user feedback to satisfy ourselves that we are not merely offering a legally compliant but a practical and usable service solution and that users understand the benefits and limits of the tools we provide; evaluating our service data can support this conversation (and I hope to go into more detail about this in my next blog).</li>
</ul>
<p>What I have found in the course of the launch of Ally is that users, academics and technologists alike, need to know not only what the barriers of student users may be, and what assistive technologies might be employed, but how to make the leap between the informational content, the educational experience or activities, and the digital needs of the programmes to make it operate for other software. Whilst it is important to point out that accessibility needs are as diverse as the subjects we offer in teaching, focused on honing different skills and abilities, the same goes for assistive technologies. There will never be a one-size-fits-all. And that is a positive thing. It curtails our tendency to reduce accessibility to a tick box exercise. Checking for accessibility remains at all times an iterative process. With Ally, we have one more tool to help us orientate ourselves amidst this ever evolving digital landscape.</p>
<p> </p>
<span class="uoe-published-time uoe-seo-hidden-area">
<time datetime="2023-12-04" itemprop="dateModified">Dec 4, 2023</time>
</span>
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<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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<item>
<title>Accessible by design</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/2023/07/25/accessible-by-design/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/2023/07/25/accessible-by-design/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Kat]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 25 Jul 2023 07:20:48 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[general]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[#digitalaccessibility]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/?p=59</guid>
<description><![CDATA[For many years I have worked as a proof-reader and editor on an assignment basis. It seemed a suitable outlet to my fastidious nature and relentless drive for detail (attributes that I have only marginally been able to tamper for polite society since). What it has given me, however, is a deep appreciation of the […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p>For many years I have worked as a proof-reader and editor on an assignment basis. It seemed a suitable outlet to my fastidious nature and relentless drive for detail (attributes that I have only marginally been able to tamper for polite society since). What it has given me, however, is a deep appreciation of the intricacies of good type setting, clean style guides and accurate referencing.</p>
<p>Fast forward to the present day, I am starting to learn more about the digital footprint all these choices and settings create and which of them support interoperability with assistive technologies. What used to be, to my untrained eye, just a flat surface, a 2-dimensional choice of matching the style to the words for the benefit of the reader, suddenly had 3 dimensions: making the text comprehensible to technology to assist in its easy transformation across media by means of tags and codes and alt text… and with it opening up to a more agile interaction with that all-important source material that was being communicated.</p>
<p>So I have set myself two goals: to collate reference material in support of accessibility that may help in designing documents at the outset with accessibility in mind; and to work on some style sheets that can meaningfully integrate what characteristics might be required for different materials to make them meaningfully accessible in their own context and user groups. </p>
<p>What does it take to annotate an art textbook in digital print? What software best integrates disciplinary challenges like specialist symbols and characters? What etiquette rules should be followed in the landscape of gifs and emoji? How can good editing eliminate additional workflows and processes to create differently accessible materials? Is there really ever going to be a “golden copy”?</p>
<p>Let the journey begin <img decoding="async" src="https://statics.teams.cdn.office.net/evergreen-assets/personal-expressions/v2/assets/emoticons/mmm/default/50_f.png?v=v17" alt="Mmmmm…" width="20px" height="20px" aria-label="Mmmmm…" /></p>
<h4>Accessibility Resources </h4>
<p>Government Digital Service – <a href="https://accessibility.blog.gov.uk/2017/10/23/an-accessibility-reading-list/">An accessibility reading list – Accessibility in government (blog.gov.uk)</a></p>
<p>TextBox Digital – Designing Accessibly – <a href="https://www.textboxdigital.com/aspiredatabase-education/university-of-kent">University of Kent (textboxdigital.com)</a></p>
<p>Universal Design for Learning Guidelines <a href="https://udlguidelines.cast.org/">UDL: The UDL Guidelines (cast.org)</a></p>
<p>Ally Accessibility Formats <a href="https://sites.reading.ac.uk/tel-support-for-students/2018/09/21/blackboard-ally-getting-started-with-alternative-accessible-formats/">Blackboard Ally: Getting started with alternative accessible formats – Blackboard Help for Students – University of Reading</a></p>
<p>Guidelines for Assessment Descriptions <a href="https://www.nwea.org/uploads/2022/11/Image-Description-Guidelines-for-Assessments_NWEA_2021.pdf" class="mtli_attachment mtli_pdf">NWEA Image Description Guidelines for Assessments</a></p>
<p>Guide to writing ALT text <a href="https://matthewdeeprose.github.io/alt-text-images-charts-graphs.html">What is alternative text? How do I write it for images, charts, and graphs? (matthewdeeprose.github.io)</a></p>
<p>Accessibility Resources Portfolio <a href="https://inclusiveinstructionaldesign.com/favorite-resources/#STEM_Accessibility">Favorite Resources – Inclusive Instructional Design</a></p>
<h4>Visuals and Graphics around Accessibility</h4>
<p>Designing for Accessibility Dos and Dont’s – https://accessibility.blog.gov.uk/2016/09/02/dos-and-donts-on-designing-for-accessibility/</p>
<h4>Accessibility standards, compliance legislation and tools</h4>
<p><a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2018/952/contents/made">The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (legislation.gov.uk)</a></p>
<p><a href="https://aha.elliance.com/2017/12/30/ada-accessibility-compliance-for-college-and-university-websites/">ADA Accessibility Compliance for College and University Websites | Aha! :: Elliance Blog</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG-EM/">Website Accessibility Conformance Evaluation Methodology (WCAG-EM) 1.0 (w3.org)</a><br /><a href="https://www.w3.org/WAI/test-evaluate/#conformance">Evaluating Web Accessibility Overview | Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) | W3C</a></p>
<p>Maintaining Accessibility <a href="https://www.w3.org/WAI/planning-and-managing/sustain/">Sustain | Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) | W3C</a></p>
<p>Contrast Checker <a href="https://webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker/">WebAIM: Contrast Checker</a></p>
<p>MS Office Accessibility Inspector <a href="https://matthewdeeprose.github.io/inspector_for_all">Accessibility Inspector for Everyone (matthewdeeprose.github.io)</a></p>
<p>Nvda Screen Reader <a href="https://www.nvaccess.org/download/">NV Access | Download NVDA</a></p>
<h4>Reporting around Accessibility</h4>
<p>University of Edinburgh – <a href="https://www.ed.ac.uk/equality-diversity/about/reports">Monitoring and Data | The University of Edinburgh</a></p>
<h4>Community</h4>
<p>Anthology Accessibility Discussion Board <a href="https://community.anthology.com/discuss/viewcategory/91">Accessibility – The Anthology Community</a></p>
<p>Anthology Ally User Group <a href="https://usergroup.ally.ac/dashboard">Dashboard – Ally User Group</a></p>
<p>Digital Accessibility at the University of Reading <a href="https://www.reading.ac.uk/digital-accessibility/digital-accessibility-section/user-stories">User stories (reading.ac.uk)</a></p>
<p>AbilityNet <a href="https://abilitynet.org.uk/accessibility-services/what-digital-accessibility">What is Digital Accessibility? | AbilityNet</a></p>
<p>Champians of Accessibility Network <a href="https://www.skyscanner.net/company-news/introducing-the-champions-of-accessibility-network">Introducing the Champions of Accessibility Network | Skyscanner’s Travel Blog</a></p>
<p>UoE Intern view of LaTeX <a href="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2023/08/15/lewis-forbes-latex-and-accessibility/">Lewis Forbes – LaTeX and Accessibility – Information Services Group: Student Employee Blog (ed.ac.uk)</a></p>
<h4>Self-help and training materials</h4>
<p>Discovering Learning styles <a href="https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/learner/front-matter/introduction/">Enter The Learning – Liberated Learners (pressbooks.pub)</a></p>
<p>ABC Teaching toolkit <a href="https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/learning-technology/learning-design/abc/toolkit-for-facilitators">Toolkit for facilitators | The University of Edinburgh</a></p>
<p><a href="https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/make-your-powerpoint-presentations-accessible-to-people-with-disabilities-6f7772b2-2f33-4bd2-8ca7-dae3b2b3ef25">Make your PowerPoint presentations accessible to people with disabilities – Microsoft Support</a></p>
<h4>University of Edinburgh Resources</h4>
<p><a href="https://media.ed.ac.uk/playlist/details/1_qd3s9zbx">Playlist Details – Global Accessibility Awareness Day – 18 May 2023 – Media Hopper Create</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/help-consultancy/accessibility/creating-materials">Creating accessible materials | The University of Edinburgh</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/learning-technology/accessibility">Learning Technology and Accessibility | The University of Edinburgh</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<span class="uoe-published-time uoe-seo-hidden-area">
<time datetime="2023-07-25" itemprop="dateModified">Jul 25, 2023</time>
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<title>Welcome!</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/2018/08/08/hello-world/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/2018/08/08/hello-world/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Blog administrator]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 08 Aug 2018 14:05:17 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[#general]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/?p=1</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Welcome to Digital Sojourns! Thanks for stopping by. I hope you will find my content interesting, and if, like me, you get excited over IT drop me a comment if you think there are things out there I haven’t seen and maybe should! Together we can make this into a diverting and educational space. I’m […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h1>Welcome to Digital Sojourns!</h1>
<p>Thanks for stopping by.</p>
<p>I hope you will find my content interesting, and if, like me, you get excited over IT drop me a comment if you think there are things out there I haven’t seen and maybe should! Together we can make this into a diverting and educational space.</p>
<p>I’m leaving the little guidance notes underneath for reference until I made a bit of progress on the content for this blog… hopefully you will see development along the way.</p>
<blockquote><p>For help and advice on getting started with a WordPress blog, see the <a href="https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/learning-technology/blogging">Academic Blogging help pages</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Your blog is private by default</strong></p>
<p>You can open your blog up to as many or as few people as you like in <strong>Dashboard > Settings > Reading > Site Visibility</strong>:</p>
<ul>
<li>You can open your blog up to specific University members by adding them as users to your blog.</li>
<li>You can open your blog up to all University members who have an EASE login.</li>
<li>You can make you blog open to the world.</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<p>The featured image on this post comes from the University Collections. If you want to use more images in your blog posts, or perhaps use your own choice of image in your blog header, you can:<strong><br />
</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/crcedinburgh/albums/with/72157651943511750">Browse a selection of images on Flickr</a> from the Collections that are available for you to use on open licenses.</li>
<li><a href="https://images.is.ed.ac.uk/">Search the full online image collections</a>.</li>
<li><a href="http://open.ed.ac.uk/how-to-guides/">Find more information about searching for and using openly licensed images</a> on the Open.ed site.</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<p>You should read the <a href="https://www.ed.ac.uk/is/blogging/terms">Terms of Use</a> if you haven’t already.</p></blockquote>
<p> <span class="uoe-published-time uoe-seo-hidden-area"><br />
<time datetime="2018-08-08" itemprop="dateModified">Aug 8, 2018</time><br />
</span></p>
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<title>Working hand in hand</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/2025/12/10/working-hand-in-hand/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/2025/12/10/working-hand-in-hand/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Kat]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 10 Dec 2025 10:10:05 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[general]]></category>
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<description><![CDATA[A lot of the time IT services are supporting users – that is, students and teaching staff – or work quietly in the background to assure systems and infrastructure are in good shape and fit for purpose. In my own role I rarely have an opportunity to see what happens “on the ground”, in the […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>A lot of the time IT services are supporting users – that is, students and teaching staff – or work quietly in the background to assure systems and infrastructure are in good shape and fit for purpose. In my own role I rarely have an opportunity to see what happens “on the ground”, in the physical teaching environments. However, recently I was attending a staff training event for Data Protection Champions, and it ended up being an exciting little showcase of how our services work together to make learning and teaching happen. Not just for students <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/16.0.1/72x72/1f642.png" alt="🙂" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /></p>
<p>What are Data Protection Champions? These are a group of staff members who commit to staying up to date on current developments across the university on matters intersecting with Data Protection and to help keep information otherwise available on the web current in discussions and work locally. The Community Meetings help to exchange knowledge and ask questions to understand in better detail what processes and procedures are designed to do and to disambiguate the legalese that necessarily accompanies legal and compliance rules and regulations.</p>
<p>In other words, understanding the details is important, and summarising this “second hand” is not always easy. This prompted some champions to reach out to the organiser asking if the event could be recorded.</p>
<p>This was not a Teams meeting. But, it was set at a lecture theatre with Lecture recording facilities. So after a little consideration of alternatives (recording in segments on a mobile phone? recording via Kaltura video recorder from a laptop?) we set to work out what might need to happen to make use of the lecture recording equipment.</p>
<ul>
<li>Sound check – oh my. Somehow feedback reverberating in stereo through the theatre makes for a great alarm clock, but it transpired quite quickly that we were in need of support. A colleague from Digital Spaces Tech attended within minutes – and some troubleshooting later had all the microphones operating normally. Sigh of relief – we can all hear and know this will be captured in the recording.</li>
<li>Recording – typically recordings are linked to course delivery in our VLE, Learn. And timetabling allows for lectures to be added to the courses automatically. When requesting an ad-hoc recording, this is available to instructors; or can be supported from the Media Service team with a little notice. In our case, notice was very limited, and the support from the service team was invaluable. The lights of the recording equipment turned red – on time for the meeting to start.</li>
<li>Processing – with the event being a full morning, including a break for coffee and networking, the recording took some time to process on the system. With help from the service team, this time duly recorded using our ticketing system Unidesk, the recording was modified to exclude the break to make this more convenient for champions to review once shared.</li>
</ul>
<p>Since the event was not associated with a course or programme, and the default of our lecture recordings setup via the VLE did not apply, sharing recordings is not automatic. The system is designed to safeguard teaching activities and keep permissions for processing and sharing details in line with the terms and conditions of service. Data Protection compliance at its best. Staff training, still falls within the remit of teaching, but staff training is not hosted on our VLE Learn, again, in order to comply with the terms and conditions of service for the VLE. On guidance from the Media Service team we requested for the migration of the video to our other media channel, Media Hopper Create. With this being the first interaction on the service the help and support with this process was incredibly appreciated by the organiser and all involved in the event.</p>
<ul>
<li>Migrating – as part of this whole process, I discovered a whole new set of environments that can be logged into, alas, because my account is linked to a playground account, and I was not the owner of the video recording, we took up the kind offer of support from the Media Service team who brought the video into Media Hopper Create, which offers captioning and wider sharing permissions.</li>
<li>Sharing – as with many of our services, the ability to secure content is shared with the appropriate user groups is really important. Materials can be set to only exist for the video owner (private), made accessible only to users who have been given the link (unlisted) or be made public to all users. In addition, licensing selections assure that users are informed of what is permissible with regards to use of the content and copyright.</li>
</ul>
<p>The support and efforts across the different teams was a really good reminder of why working in ISG / LTW / DLAM is such a rewarding experience. Sometimes we end up being in the role of our own users, and colleagues come to our rescue and support to make the most of the teaching and training that keeps our service provisions compliant and up to date.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<span class="uoe-published-time uoe-seo-hidden-area">
<time datetime="2025-12-10" itemprop="dateModified">Dec 10, 2025</time>
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<title>What’s in a measure? Considerations on Anthology Ally</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/2023/12/04/whats-in-a-measure-considerations-on-anthology-ally/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/2023/12/04/whats-in-a-measure-considerations-on-anthology-ally/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Kat]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 04 Dec 2023 11:09:51 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorised]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[accessibility]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam-feed]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/?p=85</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Let me take a moment to share my thoughts around one of our newer services with Learning, Teaching and Web: Anthology Ally. Accessibility is fast becoming one of my favourite topics working within DLAM. A Humanities graduate myself, maybe the link between Hermeneutics (Interpretation theory) and digital transformations in accessible design play a part. Whilst […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Let me take a moment to share my thoughts around one of our newer services with Learning, Teaching and Web: Anthology Ally. Accessibility is fast becoming one of my favourite topics working within DLAM. A Humanities graduate myself, maybe the link between Hermeneutics (Interpretation theory) and digital transformations in accessible design play a part. Whilst I used to be primarily concerned about the meaning behind the words, I now find myself deeply fascinated by the (digital) transactions that take place to transmit and present information, and the tools it takes to make this happen!</p>
<p><span class="TextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB" data-contrast="auto"><span class="NormalTextRun CommentStart CommentHighlightPipeRest CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">Digital accessibility refers to </span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">digital content </span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">that has been reviewed and tested to be </span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">accessible to the widest possible audience and be free from any avoidable access restrictions when using assisti</span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">ve technologies. </span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">In the broad landscape of software, programmes and platforms, readability and interoperability </span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">are crucial if we are to enable our users to interact with out content in an output format suited to th</span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">eir needs. Thus, for accessibility to </span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">translate to digital media </span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">educational design (content focussed), interoperability, and user navigation and software availability</span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8"> all play a part</span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">. </span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">To achieve this, </span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">the ability </span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">to review and revise </span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightPipeRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">core information – such as</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8"> file properties,</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8"> logical </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8">input</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8"> and design </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8">elements</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8"> – </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8">this data </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8">must be clearly readable to </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8">a variety of </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8">software </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8">before the </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8">output</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8"> can be guaranteed</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8">. Who else remembers the wonders of opening a foreign file extension with Word and being faced with code </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8">rendered</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8"> in Webdings?</span></span><span class="EOP SCXW170933220 BCX8" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}"> </span></p>
<p><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW185165916 BCX8">Our ability to alter and edit our content and </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW185165916 BCX8">render</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW185165916 BCX8"> it accessible at all levels, is critical. </span>Anthology Ally offers us a window into the system level dialogue of our digital learning environment and the digital media we populate our classrooms with. Ally is a software integration on our primary VLE that scans contents for digital accessibility, its meta text, settings and requirements hidden behind the on-the-face output. It allows the users to identify accessibility issues at software level and supports some measures of fixing these; as well as enabling the conversion of files into alternative formats. Alternative formats can make teaching resources more adaptable to the diverse needs and wants of our students. Changing file type may help in presenting a file more adaptive to screen size; opting for a different display modus can support reading; access to audio can allow you to listen back on materials whilst working out, running chores or on the commute… with a diverse student body, we have the opportunity to fit all our teaching courses into a more flexible learning style. An improved digital experience supports all our learners, and having a chance to gauge better what poses a hindrance to assistive technology will make an impact to our users!</p>
<figure id="attachment_87" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-87" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-87" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/wp-content/uploads/sites/8190/2023/11/accessibility-formats-300x224.png" alt="Image title: Know your options. Chose a format that's right for you. List of alternative formats and their advantages shows 8 items. Item 1 Format: OCRed PDF for automatically extracted text. Advantage: Improved scanned documents for better reading and text search. Item 2 Format: Tagged PDF for a structured PDF for assistive technology. Advantage: Improved structure for navigation, essential for screen readers. Item 3 Format: HTML for browser and mobile. Advantage: Customize your text with a file that adapts text to mobile screen sizes. Item 4 Format: ePub for reading on tablets and e-book readers. Advantage: usable for ebooks on tablets to annotate and highlight. Item 5 Format: Electronic braille in BRF file format. Advantage: supports tactile reading and offers relief from screenreaders. Item 6 Format: Audio as MP3 recording of text. Advantage: Listen and learn on the go by engaging different modalities. Item 7 Format: BeeLine Reader. This creates a machine translated version of the document. Advantage: Improved on-screen reading to read faster and with greater focus. Item 8 Format: Translated version (this is an opt-in product) offering a machine translated version of the document. Advantage: Translates text to one of 50 different languages. Speak to Information Services if you are interested in this version." width="300" height="224" srcset="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/wp-content/uploads/sites/8190/2023/11/accessibility-formats-300x224.png 300w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/wp-content/uploads/sites/8190/2023/11/accessibility-formats.png 343w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-87" class="wp-caption-text">Table of available alternative formats</figcaption></figure>
<p>Here at DLAM testing out our service solutions to assure that they work as intended and integrate seamlessly (we can but try!) into our existing service environment is a wonderful part of the job. The <a href="https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG21/">Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1</a> (version 2.2 has been launched in October) offer a detailed list of criteria when reviewing all our websites and applications for legal compliance <span class="TextRun SCXW56190171 BCX8" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB" data-contrast="auto"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW56190171 BCX8"> under the </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW56190171 BCX8" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB" data-contrast="auto"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW56190171 BCX8">Equality Act (2010)</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW56190171 BCX8" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB" data-contrast="auto"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW56190171 BCX8"> and </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW56190171 BCX8" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB" data-contrast="auto"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW56190171 BCX8">The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) (Scotland) Regulations 2012 (<a href="https://www.ed.ac.uk/about/website/accessibility/guidelines-policy-legislation">https://www.ed.ac.uk/about/website/accessibility/guidelines-policy-legislation</a>)</span></span>. One of the core efforts in the standard is that organisations have to lay bare how they identified and thought about accessibility for their products and services, and where possible, mitigated any avoidable shortcomings. In broad terms, our applications are challenged on three aspects: audio, visual and navigation / workflow; the touch points of our digital environment. It is a “dimension of interoperability” to assess whether “assistive technologies [are] working predictably with different combinations of browsers, mobile operating systems, and devices“ (<a href="https://link-springer-com.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4842-7948-9_7">The Next Frontier – Expanding the Definition of Accessibility | SpringerLink</a>). When testing for Ally, a core challenge for me was using assistive technology, often for the first time, and to interpret the behaviour. Whilst I was reasonably familiar with Ease of Access settings for my PC and browser, other more specialist tools I found hard to judge. What if my lack of familiarity with assistive technology in the test makes for a poor result due to difficulties with the assistive tool rather than the target interface? It is the hard to judge places that lead us to use tools to scan and evaluate what meets compliance criteria and helps us to correlate our own experience with the data we interact with.</p>
<p>To guide instructors about digital accessibility, Ally produces a score. It is meant as a guide to how clean a file is in digital terms, i.e. how successful it will be in converting to an alternative file format or being negotiated by any common assistive technology tool. So taking a moment to demystify the scoring for a moment should clear our view to how Ally supports our wider mission to produce accessible learning and teaching materials.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-86" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/wp-content/uploads/sites/8190/2023/11/Low-gauge.png" alt="Fuel gauge symbol pictured in red pointing to low level to denote 0-33% success rate" width="22" height="19" /> <strong>Low </strong>(0-33%): Needs help! There are severe accessibility issues.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-89" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/wp-content/uploads/sites/8190/2023/11/Medium-gauge.png" alt="Fuel gauge symbol pictured in amber pointing to mid-level to denote 34-66% success rate" width="22" height="19" /> <strong>Medium </strong>(34-66%): A little better. The file is somewhat accessible and needs improvement.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-88" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/wp-content/uploads/sites/8190/2023/11/high-gauge.png" alt="Fuel gauge symbol pictured in light green pointing to high level to denote 67-99% success rate" width="22" height="19" /> <strong>High </strong>(67-99%): Almost there. The file is accessible but more improvements are possible.</p>
<p><strong><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-90" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/wp-content/uploads/sites/8190/2023/11/Perfect-gauge.png" alt="Fuel gauge symbol pictured in dark green pointing to full tank level to denote 100% success rate" width="22" height="19" /> Perfect </strong>(100%): Perfect! Ally didn’t identify any accessibility issues but further improvements may still be possible.</p>
<p>Now, a scan for alternative text, in spite of the potential for AI to play a part here in future, cannot infer the context for the teaching resource and the focus the image might have in the lesson plan in the assessment of the appropriateness of ALT text. Ally is first and foremost an editing tool for the instructor, and a convenient conversion tool for the students. Accessibility needs remain to be assessed at the human level. So what do we do to assure we keep the service on track?</p>
<ul>
<li>Training; we must foster a keen awareness of what constitute accessible design in our digital service landscape</li>
<li>Testing; we must test out applications and websites to identify and mitigate challenges in accessibility</li>
<li>Research; we must continue to learn about digital trends, possible new solutions and developments in assistive technology, and accessible design</li>
<li>Feedback; we must actively listen to user feedback to satisfy ourselves that we are not merely offering a legally compliant but a practical and usable service solution and that users understand the benefits and limits of the tools we provide; evaluating our service data can support this conversation (and I hope to go into more detail about this in my next blog).</li>
</ul>
<p>What I have found in the course of the launch of Ally is that users, academics and technologists alike, need to know not only what the barriers of student users may be, and what assistive technologies might be employed, but how to make the leap between the informational content, the educational experience or activities, and the digital needs of the programmes to make it operate for other software. Whilst it is important to point out that accessibility needs are as diverse as the subjects we offer in teaching, focused on honing different skills and abilities, the same goes for assistive technologies. There will never be a one-size-fits-all. And that is a positive thing. It curtails our tendency to reduce accessibility to a tick box exercise. Checking for accessibility remains at all times an iterative process. With Ally, we have one more tool to help us orientate ourselves amidst this ever evolving digital landscape.</p>
<p> </p>
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<title>Accessible by design</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/2023/07/25/accessible-by-design/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/2023/07/25/accessible-by-design/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Kat]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 25 Jul 2023 07:20:48 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[general]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[#digitalaccessibility]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/?p=59</guid>
<description><![CDATA[For many years I have worked as a proof-reader and editor on an assignment basis. It seemed a suitable outlet to my fastidious nature and relentless drive for detail (attributes that I have only marginally been able to tamper for polite society since). What it has given me, however, is a deep appreciation of the […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p>For many years I have worked as a proof-reader and editor on an assignment basis. It seemed a suitable outlet to my fastidious nature and relentless drive for detail (attributes that I have only marginally been able to tamper for polite society since). What it has given me, however, is a deep appreciation of the intricacies of good type setting, clean style guides and accurate referencing.</p>
<p>Fast forward to the present day, I am starting to learn more about the digital footprint all these choices and settings create and which of them support interoperability with assistive technologies. What used to be, to my untrained eye, just a flat surface, a 2-dimensional choice of matching the style to the words for the benefit of the reader, suddenly had 3 dimensions: making the text comprehensible to technology to assist in its easy transformation across media by means of tags and codes and alt text… and with it opening up to a more agile interaction with that all-important source material that was being communicated.</p>
<p>So I have set myself two goals: to collate reference material in support of accessibility that may help in designing documents at the outset with accessibility in mind; and to work on some style sheets that can meaningfully integrate what characteristics might be required for different materials to make them meaningfully accessible in their own context and user groups. </p>
<p>What does it take to annotate an art textbook in digital print? What software best integrates disciplinary challenges like specialist symbols and characters? What etiquette rules should be followed in the landscape of gifs and emoji? How can good editing eliminate additional workflows and processes to create differently accessible materials? Is there really ever going to be a “golden copy”?</p>
<p>Let the journey begin <img decoding="async" src="https://statics.teams.cdn.office.net/evergreen-assets/personal-expressions/v2/assets/emoticons/mmm/default/50_f.png?v=v17" alt="Mmmmm…" width="20px" height="20px" aria-label="Mmmmm…" /></p>
<h4>Accessibility Resources </h4>
<p>Government Digital Service – <a href="https://accessibility.blog.gov.uk/2017/10/23/an-accessibility-reading-list/">An accessibility reading list – Accessibility in government (blog.gov.uk)</a></p>
<p>TextBox Digital – Designing Accessibly – <a href="https://www.textboxdigital.com/aspiredatabase-education/university-of-kent">University of Kent (textboxdigital.com)</a></p>
<p>Universal Design for Learning Guidelines <a href="https://udlguidelines.cast.org/">UDL: The UDL Guidelines (cast.org)</a></p>
<p>Ally Accessibility Formats <a href="https://sites.reading.ac.uk/tel-support-for-students/2018/09/21/blackboard-ally-getting-started-with-alternative-accessible-formats/">Blackboard Ally: Getting started with alternative accessible formats – Blackboard Help for Students – University of Reading</a></p>
<p>Guidelines for Assessment Descriptions <a href="https://www.nwea.org/uploads/2022/11/Image-Description-Guidelines-for-Assessments_NWEA_2021.pdf" class="mtli_attachment mtli_pdf">NWEA Image Description Guidelines for Assessments</a></p>
<p>Guide to writing ALT text <a href="https://matthewdeeprose.github.io/alt-text-images-charts-graphs.html">What is alternative text? How do I write it for images, charts, and graphs? (matthewdeeprose.github.io)</a></p>
<p>Accessibility Resources Portfolio <a href="https://inclusiveinstructionaldesign.com/favorite-resources/#STEM_Accessibility">Favorite Resources – Inclusive Instructional Design</a></p>
<h4>Visuals and Graphics around Accessibility</h4>
<p>Designing for Accessibility Dos and Dont’s – https://accessibility.blog.gov.uk/2016/09/02/dos-and-donts-on-designing-for-accessibility/</p>
<h4>Accessibility standards, compliance legislation and tools</h4>
<p><a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2018/952/contents/made">The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (legislation.gov.uk)</a></p>
<p><a href="https://aha.elliance.com/2017/12/30/ada-accessibility-compliance-for-college-and-university-websites/">ADA Accessibility Compliance for College and University Websites | Aha! :: Elliance Blog</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG-EM/">Website Accessibility Conformance Evaluation Methodology (WCAG-EM) 1.0 (w3.org)</a><br /><a href="https://www.w3.org/WAI/test-evaluate/#conformance">Evaluating Web Accessibility Overview | Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) | W3C</a></p>
<p>Maintaining Accessibility <a href="https://www.w3.org/WAI/planning-and-managing/sustain/">Sustain | Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) | W3C</a></p>
<p>Contrast Checker <a href="https://webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker/">WebAIM: Contrast Checker</a></p>
<p>MS Office Accessibility Inspector <a href="https://matthewdeeprose.github.io/inspector_for_all">Accessibility Inspector for Everyone (matthewdeeprose.github.io)</a></p>
<p>Nvda Screen Reader <a href="https://www.nvaccess.org/download/">NV Access | Download NVDA</a></p>
<h4>Reporting around Accessibility</h4>
<p>University of Edinburgh – <a href="https://www.ed.ac.uk/equality-diversity/about/reports">Monitoring and Data | The University of Edinburgh</a></p>
<h4>Community</h4>
<p>Anthology Accessibility Discussion Board <a href="https://community.anthology.com/discuss/viewcategory/91">Accessibility – The Anthology Community</a></p>
<p>Anthology Ally User Group <a href="https://usergroup.ally.ac/dashboard">Dashboard – Ally User Group</a></p>
<p>Digital Accessibility at the University of Reading <a href="https://www.reading.ac.uk/digital-accessibility/digital-accessibility-section/user-stories">User stories (reading.ac.uk)</a></p>
<p>AbilityNet <a href="https://abilitynet.org.uk/accessibility-services/what-digital-accessibility">What is Digital Accessibility? | AbilityNet</a></p>
<p>Champians of Accessibility Network <a href="https://www.skyscanner.net/company-news/introducing-the-champions-of-accessibility-network">Introducing the Champions of Accessibility Network | Skyscanner’s Travel Blog</a></p>
<p>UoE Intern view of LaTeX <a href="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2023/08/15/lewis-forbes-latex-and-accessibility/">Lewis Forbes – LaTeX and Accessibility – Information Services Group: Student Employee Blog (ed.ac.uk)</a></p>
<h4>Self-help and training materials</h4>
<p>Discovering Learning styles <a href="https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/learner/front-matter/introduction/">Enter The Learning – Liberated Learners (pressbooks.pub)</a></p>
<p>ABC Teaching toolkit <a href="https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/learning-technology/learning-design/abc/toolkit-for-facilitators">Toolkit for facilitators | The University of Edinburgh</a></p>
<p><a href="https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/make-your-powerpoint-presentations-accessible-to-people-with-disabilities-6f7772b2-2f33-4bd2-8ca7-dae3b2b3ef25">Make your PowerPoint presentations accessible to people with disabilities – Microsoft Support</a></p>
<h4>University of Edinburgh Resources</h4>
<p><a href="https://media.ed.ac.uk/playlist/details/1_qd3s9zbx">Playlist Details – Global Accessibility Awareness Day – 18 May 2023 – Media Hopper Create</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/help-consultancy/accessibility/creating-materials">Creating accessible materials | The University of Edinburgh</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/learning-technology/accessibility">Learning Technology and Accessibility | The University of Edinburgh</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
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<time datetime="2023-07-25" itemprop="dateModified">Jul 25, 2023</time>
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<title>Welcome!</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/2018/08/08/hello-world/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/2018/08/08/hello-world/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Blog administrator]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 08 Aug 2018 14:05:17 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[#general]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/?p=1</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Welcome to Digital Sojourns! Thanks for stopping by. I hope you will find my content interesting, and if, like me, you get excited over IT drop me a comment if you think there are things out there I haven’t seen and maybe should! Together we can make this into a diverting and educational space. I’m […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h1>Welcome to Digital Sojourns!</h1>
<p>Thanks for stopping by.</p>
<p>I hope you will find my content interesting, and if, like me, you get excited over IT drop me a comment if you think there are things out there I haven’t seen and maybe should! Together we can make this into a diverting and educational space.</p>
<p>I’m leaving the little guidance notes underneath for reference until I made a bit of progress on the content for this blog… hopefully you will see development along the way.</p>
<blockquote><p>For help and advice on getting started with a WordPress blog, see the <a href="https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/learning-technology/blogging">Academic Blogging help pages</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Your blog is private by default</strong></p>
<p>You can open your blog up to as many or as few people as you like in <strong>Dashboard > Settings > Reading > Site Visibility</strong>:</p>
<ul>
<li>You can open your blog up to specific University members by adding them as users to your blog.</li>
<li>You can open your blog up to all University members who have an EASE login.</li>
<li>You can make you blog open to the world.</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<p>The featured image on this post comes from the University Collections. If you want to use more images in your blog posts, or perhaps use your own choice of image in your blog header, you can:<strong><br />
</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/crcedinburgh/albums/with/72157651943511750">Browse a selection of images on Flickr</a> from the Collections that are available for you to use on open licenses.</li>
<li><a href="https://images.is.ed.ac.uk/">Search the full online image collections</a>.</li>
<li><a href="http://open.ed.ac.uk/how-to-guides/">Find more information about searching for and using openly licensed images</a> on the Open.ed site.</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<p>You should read the <a href="https://www.ed.ac.uk/is/blogging/terms">Terms of Use</a> if you haven’t already.</p></blockquote>
<p> <span class="uoe-published-time uoe-seo-hidden-area"><br />
<time datetime="2018-08-08" itemprop="dateModified">Aug 8, 2018</time><br />
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<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/2025/12/10/working-hand-in-hand/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Kat]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 10 Dec 2025 10:10:05 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[general]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam-feed]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/?p=126</guid>
<description><![CDATA[A lot of the time IT services are supporting users – that is, students and teaching staff – or work quietly in the background to assure systems and infrastructure are in good shape and fit for purpose. In my own role I rarely have an opportunity to see what happens “on the ground”, in the […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>A lot of the time IT services are supporting users – that is, students and teaching staff – or work quietly in the background to assure systems and infrastructure are in good shape and fit for purpose. In my own role I rarely have an opportunity to see what happens “on the ground”, in the physical teaching environments. However, recently I was attending a staff training event for Data Protection Champions, and it ended up being an exciting little showcase of how our services work together to make learning and teaching happen. Not just for students <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/16.0.1/72x72/1f642.png" alt="🙂" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /></p>
<p>What are Data Protection Champions? These are a group of staff members who commit to staying up to date on current developments across the university on matters intersecting with Data Protection and to help keep information otherwise available on the web current in discussions and work locally. The Community Meetings help to exchange knowledge and ask questions to understand in better detail what processes and procedures are designed to do and to disambiguate the legalese that necessarily accompanies legal and compliance rules and regulations.</p>
<p>In other words, understanding the details is important, and summarising this “second hand” is not always easy. This prompted some champions to reach out to the organiser asking if the event could be recorded.</p>
<p>This was not a Teams meeting. But, it was set at a lecture theatre with Lecture recording facilities. So after a little consideration of alternatives (recording in segments on a mobile phone? recording via Kaltura video recorder from a laptop?) we set to work out what might need to happen to make use of the lecture recording equipment.</p>
<ul>
<li>Sound check – oh my. Somehow feedback reverberating in stereo through the theatre makes for a great alarm clock, but it transpired quite quickly that we were in need of support. A colleague from Digital Spaces Tech attended within minutes – and some troubleshooting later had all the microphones operating normally. Sigh of relief – we can all hear and know this will be captured in the recording.</li>
<li>Recording – typically recordings are linked to course delivery in our VLE, Learn. And timetabling allows for lectures to be added to the courses automatically. When requesting an ad-hoc recording, this is available to instructors; or can be supported from the Media Service team with a little notice. In our case, notice was very limited, and the support from the service team was invaluable. The lights of the recording equipment turned red – on time for the meeting to start.</li>
<li>Processing – with the event being a full morning, including a break for coffee and networking, the recording took some time to process on the system. With help from the service team, this time duly recorded using our ticketing system Unidesk, the recording was modified to exclude the break to make this more convenient for champions to review once shared.</li>
</ul>
<p>Since the event was not associated with a course or programme, and the default of our lecture recordings setup via the VLE did not apply, sharing recordings is not automatic. The system is designed to safeguard teaching activities and keep permissions for processing and sharing details in line with the terms and conditions of service. Data Protection compliance at its best. Staff training, still falls within the remit of teaching, but staff training is not hosted on our VLE Learn, again, in order to comply with the terms and conditions of service for the VLE. On guidance from the Media Service team we requested for the migration of the video to our other media channel, Media Hopper Create. With this being the first interaction on the service the help and support with this process was incredibly appreciated by the organiser and all involved in the event.</p>
<ul>
<li>Migrating – as part of this whole process, I discovered a whole new set of environments that can be logged into, alas, because my account is linked to a playground account, and I was not the owner of the video recording, we took up the kind offer of support from the Media Service team who brought the video into Media Hopper Create, which offers captioning and wider sharing permissions.</li>
<li>Sharing – as with many of our services, the ability to secure content is shared with the appropriate user groups is really important. Materials can be set to only exist for the video owner (private), made accessible only to users who have been given the link (unlisted) or be made public to all users. In addition, licensing selections assure that users are informed of what is permissible with regards to use of the content and copyright.</li>
</ul>
<p>The support and efforts across the different teams was a really good reminder of why working in ISG / LTW / DLAM is such a rewarding experience. Sometimes we end up being in the role of our own users, and colleagues come to our rescue and support to make the most of the teaching and training that keeps our service provisions compliant and up to date.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
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<time datetime="2025-12-10" itemprop="dateModified">Dec 10, 2025</time>
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<title>What’s in a measure? Considerations on Anthology Ally</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/2023/12/04/whats-in-a-measure-considerations-on-anthology-ally/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/2023/12/04/whats-in-a-measure-considerations-on-anthology-ally/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Kat]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 04 Dec 2023 11:09:51 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorised]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[accessibility]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam-feed]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/?p=85</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Let me take a moment to share my thoughts around one of our newer services with Learning, Teaching and Web: Anthology Ally. Accessibility is fast becoming one of my favourite topics working within DLAM. A Humanities graduate myself, maybe the link between Hermeneutics (Interpretation theory) and digital transformations in accessible design play a part. Whilst […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Let me take a moment to share my thoughts around one of our newer services with Learning, Teaching and Web: Anthology Ally. Accessibility is fast becoming one of my favourite topics working within DLAM. A Humanities graduate myself, maybe the link between Hermeneutics (Interpretation theory) and digital transformations in accessible design play a part. Whilst I used to be primarily concerned about the meaning behind the words, I now find myself deeply fascinated by the (digital) transactions that take place to transmit and present information, and the tools it takes to make this happen!</p>
<p><span class="TextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB" data-contrast="auto"><span class="NormalTextRun CommentStart CommentHighlightPipeRest CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">Digital accessibility refers to </span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">digital content </span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">that has been reviewed and tested to be </span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">accessible to the widest possible audience and be free from any avoidable access restrictions when using assisti</span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">ve technologies. </span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">In the broad landscape of software, programmes and platforms, readability and interoperability </span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">are crucial if we are to enable our users to interact with out content in an output format suited to th</span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">eir needs. Thus, for accessibility to </span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">translate to digital media </span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">educational design (content focussed), interoperability, and user navigation and software availability</span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8"> all play a part</span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">. </span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">To achieve this, </span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">the ability </span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">to review and revise </span><span class="NormalTextRun CommentHighlightPipeRest SCXW170933220 BCX8">core information – such as</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8"> file properties,</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8"> logical </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8">input</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8"> and design </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8">elements</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8"> – </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8">this data </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8">must be clearly readable to </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8">a variety of </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8">software </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8">before the </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8">output</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8"> can be guaranteed</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8">. Who else remembers the wonders of opening a foreign file extension with Word and being faced with code </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8">rendered</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW170933220 BCX8"> in Webdings?</span></span><span class="EOP SCXW170933220 BCX8" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}"> </span></p>
<p><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW185165916 BCX8">Our ability to alter and edit our content and </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW185165916 BCX8">render</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW185165916 BCX8"> it accessible at all levels, is critical. </span>Anthology Ally offers us a window into the system level dialogue of our digital learning environment and the digital media we populate our classrooms with. Ally is a software integration on our primary VLE that scans contents for digital accessibility, its meta text, settings and requirements hidden behind the on-the-face output. It allows the users to identify accessibility issues at software level and supports some measures of fixing these; as well as enabling the conversion of files into alternative formats. Alternative formats can make teaching resources more adaptable to the diverse needs and wants of our students. Changing file type may help in presenting a file more adaptive to screen size; opting for a different display modus can support reading; access to audio can allow you to listen back on materials whilst working out, running chores or on the commute… with a diverse student body, we have the opportunity to fit all our teaching courses into a more flexible learning style. An improved digital experience supports all our learners, and having a chance to gauge better what poses a hindrance to assistive technology will make an impact to our users!</p>
<figure id="attachment_87" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-87" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-87" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/wp-content/uploads/sites/8190/2023/11/accessibility-formats-300x224.png" alt="Image title: Know your options. Chose a format that's right for you. List of alternative formats and their advantages shows 8 items. Item 1 Format: OCRed PDF for automatically extracted text. Advantage: Improved scanned documents for better reading and text search. Item 2 Format: Tagged PDF for a structured PDF for assistive technology. Advantage: Improved structure for navigation, essential for screen readers. Item 3 Format: HTML for browser and mobile. Advantage: Customize your text with a file that adapts text to mobile screen sizes. Item 4 Format: ePub for reading on tablets and e-book readers. Advantage: usable for ebooks on tablets to annotate and highlight. Item 5 Format: Electronic braille in BRF file format. Advantage: supports tactile reading and offers relief from screenreaders. Item 6 Format: Audio as MP3 recording of text. Advantage: Listen and learn on the go by engaging different modalities. Item 7 Format: BeeLine Reader. This creates a machine translated version of the document. Advantage: Improved on-screen reading to read faster and with greater focus. Item 8 Format: Translated version (this is an opt-in product) offering a machine translated version of the document. Advantage: Translates text to one of 50 different languages. Speak to Information Services if you are interested in this version." width="300" height="224" srcset="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/wp-content/uploads/sites/8190/2023/11/accessibility-formats-300x224.png 300w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/wp-content/uploads/sites/8190/2023/11/accessibility-formats.png 343w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-87" class="wp-caption-text">Table of available alternative formats</figcaption></figure>
<p>Here at DLAM testing out our service solutions to assure that they work as intended and integrate seamlessly (we can but try!) into our existing service environment is a wonderful part of the job. The <a href="https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG21/">Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1</a> (version 2.2 has been launched in October) offer a detailed list of criteria when reviewing all our websites and applications for legal compliance <span class="TextRun SCXW56190171 BCX8" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB" data-contrast="auto"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW56190171 BCX8"> under the </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW56190171 BCX8" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB" data-contrast="auto"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW56190171 BCX8">Equality Act (2010)</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW56190171 BCX8" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB" data-contrast="auto"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW56190171 BCX8"> and </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW56190171 BCX8" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB" data-contrast="auto"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW56190171 BCX8">The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) (Scotland) Regulations 2012 (<a href="https://www.ed.ac.uk/about/website/accessibility/guidelines-policy-legislation">https://www.ed.ac.uk/about/website/accessibility/guidelines-policy-legislation</a>)</span></span>. One of the core efforts in the standard is that organisations have to lay bare how they identified and thought about accessibility for their products and services, and where possible, mitigated any avoidable shortcomings. In broad terms, our applications are challenged on three aspects: audio, visual and navigation / workflow; the touch points of our digital environment. It is a “dimension of interoperability” to assess whether “assistive technologies [are] working predictably with different combinations of browsers, mobile operating systems, and devices“ (<a href="https://link-springer-com.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4842-7948-9_7">The Next Frontier – Expanding the Definition of Accessibility | SpringerLink</a>). When testing for Ally, a core challenge for me was using assistive technology, often for the first time, and to interpret the behaviour. Whilst I was reasonably familiar with Ease of Access settings for my PC and browser, other more specialist tools I found hard to judge. What if my lack of familiarity with assistive technology in the test makes for a poor result due to difficulties with the assistive tool rather than the target interface? It is the hard to judge places that lead us to use tools to scan and evaluate what meets compliance criteria and helps us to correlate our own experience with the data we interact with.</p>
<p>To guide instructors about digital accessibility, Ally produces a score. It is meant as a guide to how clean a file is in digital terms, i.e. how successful it will be in converting to an alternative file format or being negotiated by any common assistive technology tool. So taking a moment to demystify the scoring for a moment should clear our view to how Ally supports our wider mission to produce accessible learning and teaching materials.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-86" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/wp-content/uploads/sites/8190/2023/11/Low-gauge.png" alt="Fuel gauge symbol pictured in red pointing to low level to denote 0-33% success rate" width="22" height="19" /> <strong>Low </strong>(0-33%): Needs help! There are severe accessibility issues.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-89" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/wp-content/uploads/sites/8190/2023/11/Medium-gauge.png" alt="Fuel gauge symbol pictured in amber pointing to mid-level to denote 34-66% success rate" width="22" height="19" /> <strong>Medium </strong>(34-66%): A little better. The file is somewhat accessible and needs improvement.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-88" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/wp-content/uploads/sites/8190/2023/11/high-gauge.png" alt="Fuel gauge symbol pictured in light green pointing to high level to denote 67-99% success rate" width="22" height="19" /> <strong>High </strong>(67-99%): Almost there. The file is accessible but more improvements are possible.</p>
<p><strong><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-90" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/wp-content/uploads/sites/8190/2023/11/Perfect-gauge.png" alt="Fuel gauge symbol pictured in dark green pointing to full tank level to denote 100% success rate" width="22" height="19" /> Perfect </strong>(100%): Perfect! Ally didn’t identify any accessibility issues but further improvements may still be possible.</p>
<p>Now, a scan for alternative text, in spite of the potential for AI to play a part here in future, cannot infer the context for the teaching resource and the focus the image might have in the lesson plan in the assessment of the appropriateness of ALT text. Ally is first and foremost an editing tool for the instructor, and a convenient conversion tool for the students. Accessibility needs remain to be assessed at the human level. So what do we do to assure we keep the service on track?</p>
<ul>
<li>Training; we must foster a keen awareness of what constitute accessible design in our digital service landscape</li>
<li>Testing; we must test out applications and websites to identify and mitigate challenges in accessibility</li>
<li>Research; we must continue to learn about digital trends, possible new solutions and developments in assistive technology, and accessible design</li>
<li>Feedback; we must actively listen to user feedback to satisfy ourselves that we are not merely offering a legally compliant but a practical and usable service solution and that users understand the benefits and limits of the tools we provide; evaluating our service data can support this conversation (and I hope to go into more detail about this in my next blog).</li>
</ul>
<p>What I have found in the course of the launch of Ally is that users, academics and technologists alike, need to know not only what the barriers of student users may be, and what assistive technologies might be employed, but how to make the leap between the informational content, the educational experience or activities, and the digital needs of the programmes to make it operate for other software. Whilst it is important to point out that accessibility needs are as diverse as the subjects we offer in teaching, focused on honing different skills and abilities, the same goes for assistive technologies. There will never be a one-size-fits-all. And that is a positive thing. It curtails our tendency to reduce accessibility to a tick box exercise. Checking for accessibility remains at all times an iterative process. With Ally, we have one more tool to help us orientate ourselves amidst this ever evolving digital landscape.</p>
<p> </p>
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<time datetime="2023-12-04" itemprop="dateModified">Dec 4, 2023</time>
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<title>Accessible by design</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/2023/07/25/accessible-by-design/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/2023/07/25/accessible-by-design/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Kat]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 25 Jul 2023 07:20:48 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[general]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[#digitalaccessibility]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/?p=59</guid>
<description><![CDATA[For many years I have worked as a proof-reader and editor on an assignment basis. It seemed a suitable outlet to my fastidious nature and relentless drive for detail (attributes that I have only marginally been able to tamper for polite society since). What it has given me, however, is a deep appreciation of the […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p>For many years I have worked as a proof-reader and editor on an assignment basis. It seemed a suitable outlet to my fastidious nature and relentless drive for detail (attributes that I have only marginally been able to tamper for polite society since). What it has given me, however, is a deep appreciation of the intricacies of good type setting, clean style guides and accurate referencing.</p>
<p>Fast forward to the present day, I am starting to learn more about the digital footprint all these choices and settings create and which of them support interoperability with assistive technologies. What used to be, to my untrained eye, just a flat surface, a 2-dimensional choice of matching the style to the words for the benefit of the reader, suddenly had 3 dimensions: making the text comprehensible to technology to assist in its easy transformation across media by means of tags and codes and alt text… and with it opening up to a more agile interaction with that all-important source material that was being communicated.</p>
<p>So I have set myself two goals: to collate reference material in support of accessibility that may help in designing documents at the outset with accessibility in mind; and to work on some style sheets that can meaningfully integrate what characteristics might be required for different materials to make them meaningfully accessible in their own context and user groups. </p>
<p>What does it take to annotate an art textbook in digital print? What software best integrates disciplinary challenges like specialist symbols and characters? What etiquette rules should be followed in the landscape of gifs and emoji? How can good editing eliminate additional workflows and processes to create differently accessible materials? Is there really ever going to be a “golden copy”?</p>
<p>Let the journey begin <img decoding="async" src="https://statics.teams.cdn.office.net/evergreen-assets/personal-expressions/v2/assets/emoticons/mmm/default/50_f.png?v=v17" alt="Mmmmm…" width="20px" height="20px" aria-label="Mmmmm…" /></p>
<h4>Accessibility Resources </h4>
<p>Government Digital Service – <a href="https://accessibility.blog.gov.uk/2017/10/23/an-accessibility-reading-list/">An accessibility reading list – Accessibility in government (blog.gov.uk)</a></p>
<p>TextBox Digital – Designing Accessibly – <a href="https://www.textboxdigital.com/aspiredatabase-education/university-of-kent">University of Kent (textboxdigital.com)</a></p>
<p>Universal Design for Learning Guidelines <a href="https://udlguidelines.cast.org/">UDL: The UDL Guidelines (cast.org)</a></p>
<p>Ally Accessibility Formats <a href="https://sites.reading.ac.uk/tel-support-for-students/2018/09/21/blackboard-ally-getting-started-with-alternative-accessible-formats/">Blackboard Ally: Getting started with alternative accessible formats – Blackboard Help for Students – University of Reading</a></p>
<p>Guidelines for Assessment Descriptions <a href="https://www.nwea.org/uploads/2022/11/Image-Description-Guidelines-for-Assessments_NWEA_2021.pdf" class="mtli_attachment mtli_pdf">NWEA Image Description Guidelines for Assessments</a></p>
<p>Guide to writing ALT text <a href="https://matthewdeeprose.github.io/alt-text-images-charts-graphs.html">What is alternative text? How do I write it for images, charts, and graphs? (matthewdeeprose.github.io)</a></p>
<p>Accessibility Resources Portfolio <a href="https://inclusiveinstructionaldesign.com/favorite-resources/#STEM_Accessibility">Favorite Resources – Inclusive Instructional Design</a></p>
<h4>Visuals and Graphics around Accessibility</h4>
<p>Designing for Accessibility Dos and Dont’s – https://accessibility.blog.gov.uk/2016/09/02/dos-and-donts-on-designing-for-accessibility/</p>
<h4>Accessibility standards, compliance legislation and tools</h4>
<p><a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2018/952/contents/made">The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (legislation.gov.uk)</a></p>
<p><a href="https://aha.elliance.com/2017/12/30/ada-accessibility-compliance-for-college-and-university-websites/">ADA Accessibility Compliance for College and University Websites | Aha! :: Elliance Blog</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG-EM/">Website Accessibility Conformance Evaluation Methodology (WCAG-EM) 1.0 (w3.org)</a><br /><a href="https://www.w3.org/WAI/test-evaluate/#conformance">Evaluating Web Accessibility Overview | Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) | W3C</a></p>
<p>Maintaining Accessibility <a href="https://www.w3.org/WAI/planning-and-managing/sustain/">Sustain | Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) | W3C</a></p>
<p>Contrast Checker <a href="https://webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker/">WebAIM: Contrast Checker</a></p>
<p>MS Office Accessibility Inspector <a href="https://matthewdeeprose.github.io/inspector_for_all">Accessibility Inspector for Everyone (matthewdeeprose.github.io)</a></p>
<p>Nvda Screen Reader <a href="https://www.nvaccess.org/download/">NV Access | Download NVDA</a></p>
<h4>Reporting around Accessibility</h4>
<p>University of Edinburgh – <a href="https://www.ed.ac.uk/equality-diversity/about/reports">Monitoring and Data | The University of Edinburgh</a></p>
<h4>Community</h4>
<p>Anthology Accessibility Discussion Board <a href="https://community.anthology.com/discuss/viewcategory/91">Accessibility – The Anthology Community</a></p>
<p>Anthology Ally User Group <a href="https://usergroup.ally.ac/dashboard">Dashboard – Ally User Group</a></p>
<p>Digital Accessibility at the University of Reading <a href="https://www.reading.ac.uk/digital-accessibility/digital-accessibility-section/user-stories">User stories (reading.ac.uk)</a></p>
<p>AbilityNet <a href="https://abilitynet.org.uk/accessibility-services/what-digital-accessibility">What is Digital Accessibility? | AbilityNet</a></p>
<p>Champians of Accessibility Network <a href="https://www.skyscanner.net/company-news/introducing-the-champions-of-accessibility-network">Introducing the Champions of Accessibility Network | Skyscanner’s Travel Blog</a></p>
<p>UoE Intern view of LaTeX <a href="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/isintern/2023/08/15/lewis-forbes-latex-and-accessibility/">Lewis Forbes – LaTeX and Accessibility – Information Services Group: Student Employee Blog (ed.ac.uk)</a></p>
<h4>Self-help and training materials</h4>
<p>Discovering Learning styles <a href="https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/learner/front-matter/introduction/">Enter The Learning – Liberated Learners (pressbooks.pub)</a></p>
<p>ABC Teaching toolkit <a href="https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/learning-technology/learning-design/abc/toolkit-for-facilitators">Toolkit for facilitators | The University of Edinburgh</a></p>
<p><a href="https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/make-your-powerpoint-presentations-accessible-to-people-with-disabilities-6f7772b2-2f33-4bd2-8ca7-dae3b2b3ef25">Make your PowerPoint presentations accessible to people with disabilities – Microsoft Support</a></p>
<h4>University of Edinburgh Resources</h4>
<p><a href="https://media.ed.ac.uk/playlist/details/1_qd3s9zbx">Playlist Details – Global Accessibility Awareness Day – 18 May 2023 – Media Hopper Create</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/help-consultancy/accessibility/creating-materials">Creating accessible materials | The University of Edinburgh</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/learning-technology/accessibility">Learning Technology and Accessibility | The University of Edinburgh</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<span class="uoe-published-time uoe-seo-hidden-area">
<time datetime="2023-07-25" itemprop="dateModified">Jul 25, 2023</time>
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<title>Welcome!</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/2018/08/08/hello-world/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/2018/08/08/hello-world/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Blog administrator]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 08 Aug 2018 14:05:17 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[#general]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/kneuman2/?p=1</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Welcome to Digital Sojourns! Thanks for stopping by. I hope you will find my content interesting, and if, like me, you get excited over IT drop me a comment if you think there are things out there I haven’t seen and maybe should! Together we can make this into a diverting and educational space. I’m […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h1>Welcome to Digital Sojourns!</h1>
<p>Thanks for stopping by.</p>
<p>I hope you will find my content interesting, and if, like me, you get excited over IT drop me a comment if you think there are things out there I haven’t seen and maybe should! Together we can make this into a diverting and educational space.</p>
<p>I’m leaving the little guidance notes underneath for reference until I made a bit of progress on the content for this blog… hopefully you will see development along the way.</p>
<blockquote><p>For help and advice on getting started with a WordPress blog, see the <a href="https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/learning-technology/blogging">Academic Blogging help pages</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Your blog is private by default</strong></p>
<p>You can open your blog up to as many or as few people as you like in <strong>Dashboard > Settings > Reading > Site Visibility</strong>:</p>
<ul>
<li>You can open your blog up to specific University members by adding them as users to your blog.</li>
<li>You can open your blog up to all University members who have an EASE login.</li>
<li>You can make you blog open to the world.</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<p>The featured image on this post comes from the University Collections. If you want to use more images in your blog posts, or perhaps use your own choice of image in your blog header, you can:<strong><br />
</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/crcedinburgh/albums/with/72157651943511750">Browse a selection of images on Flickr</a> from the Collections that are available for you to use on open licenses.</li>
<li><a href="https://images.is.ed.ac.uk/">Search the full online image collections</a>.</li>
<li><a href="http://open.ed.ac.uk/how-to-guides/">Find more information about searching for and using openly licensed images</a> on the Open.ed site.</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<p>You should read the <a href="https://www.ed.ac.uk/is/blogging/terms">Terms of Use</a> if you haven’t already.</p></blockquote>
<p> <span class="uoe-published-time uoe-seo-hidden-area"><br />
<time datetime="2018-08-08" itemprop="dateModified">Aug 8, 2018</time><br />
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<title>Lessons from the Aspiring Manager Programme: Beyond Managing</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/lessons-from-aspiring-manager-programme/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/lessons-from-aspiring-manager-programme/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[JGblog]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 15 Apr 2026 13:18:11 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[CPD]]></category>
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<description><![CDATA[As part of my career development I started the Aspiring Manager Programme this past January with support from my line manager. The programme provides a framework to develop core management skills and behaviours to set aspiring managers up for success in future management roles. This post is a reflection of the programme following the core […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>As part of my career development I started the Aspiring Manager Programme this past January with support from my line manager. The programme provides a framework to develop core management skills and behaviours to set aspiring managers up for success in future management roles. This post is a reflection of the programme following the core workshops.</p>
<h2>The Aspiring Manager Programme</h2>
<p>It runs 2 cohort intakes per academic year beginning in October and January and requires a nominating manager to support your application (usually your line manager). If interested, you can find further details through the <a href="https://human-resources.ed.ac.uk/learning-development/leadership-programmes/aspiring-manager">Aspiring Manager Programme dedicated web page.</a></p>
<p>The first phase of the programme involves attending an onboarding session, starting working on weekly prompts and attending the first of two main workshops. The weekly prompts feel like school home work but I have to admit that they are helpful to reflect on key topics about becoming a manager and successfully supporting a team.</p>
<p>During Workshop 1 we explored our motivations and management styles whereas Workshop 2 was dedicated to team development, constructive feedback and managing challenging conversations through real-world scenarios and role-playing activities. Not being a big fan of group activities I found them more interesting than I initially envisaged. The break up rooms had the right timing and length to avoid making them boring or annoying.</p>
<h2>Workshops Reflection: What is important as a good manager</h2>
<p>While reflecting about our management styles and what we consider important as a manager, some of the most cited ingredients were the ability to empower and support , fairness, creating a safe environment, clear communication and leading by example. The latter was clearly something important for most if not all the participants as future managers-leaders.</p>
<p>Workshop 2 addressed these core “ingredients” and was actually really good. One of the concepts that I liked as it matches my personal views about how I like to work although I did not know it had a name is “Psychological Safety”, a concept developed by Harvard professor Amy Edmondson. It refers to creating an open, safe and trusting environment for the staff, where they are allowed to speak up, admit mistakes, ask questions, and propose new ideas without fear of punishment or humiliation. The other element that I found of great importance is communication, not only to provide clear instructions but also when it comes down to having difficult conversations, coaching or supporting a team member. No matter how much you may know, it is never that easy, requiring constant practice to keep honing these skills. I think that getting this right is probably one of the most challenging parts of being a good manager and building high-performance teams.</p>
<p>On the other hand, while reflecting on the concept of leading by example, my attention was drawn to Japan as it has some of the most impressive examples of great leadership and leading by example, in particular, in the face of adversity. Some well known examples during periods of financial downturn are Nintendo´s President who chose to halve his salary to avoid laying off employees and preserve talent for future success and Japan Airlines CEO Haruka Nishimatsu who slashed his own salary and gave up executive perks during 2007 and 2009 while the airline faced severe changes to recover from financial debt. He famously stated that if a leader doesn’t share the pain, they cannot expect the followers to endure it which sets a quite high benchmark for leadership solidarity. I would say this is key as a leader and/or manager to avoid an organizational disconnect that may likely impact performance and long term results.</p>
<h2>Final Thoughts</h2>
<p>We are used to think about management or being a manager as being responsible for the operational activity of the team, work planning, setting priorities, dealing with a wide range of issues, supporting team members and dealing with People & Money for multiple administrative tasks (which may likely include screaming time to time). <span style="font-size: 1rem;">At some point during the activities, I defined a team as a living organism, where every member has its particularities, and hence requiring constant adjustment or fine tuning aka management from a manager in order to achieve a suitable balance. Like a garden with different plants, each one displaying different qualities, requiring different nutrients, water intake and sun in order to thrive. </span>Through the different conversations with other participants and my peer group, it unfolds that, as a manager you manage tasks, but you also lead people and the best way to lead is by showing (leading by example). It turns out that one of the most important things a manager can do isn’t “managing” at all—it’s leading by example, otherwise, none of the other elements involving being a manager may have the expected results.</p>
<p>As we progress into the final part of this adventure, it is time to reflect about the most important lessons I have learned as this is that last activity for us before being able to complete the course.</p>
<p>If you are considering joining the programme, go for it. I get bored quite easily and thought it may be just another boring set of activities and now I have to admit that it is actually a really good experience plus the facilitator is brilliant so I strongly recommend it.</p>
<p>What does good management look like to you?</p>
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<item>
<title>How to survive and pass the ITIL 4 Foundation exam</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/itil-foundation-exam-tips/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/itil-foundation-exam-tips/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[JGblog]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 12 Mar 2025 11:31:48 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[ITIL]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam]]></category>
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<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/?p=40</guid>
<description><![CDATA[I recently attended the ITIL 4 Foundation training course organised by ISG and successfully passed the exam. Here’s some thoughts about my experience and some tips that I learned while studying for the exam. This is a 3 days in-person course that prepares attendees for the ITIL exam. It was delivered by a training partner […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I recently attended the ITIL 4 Foundation training course organised by ISG and successfully passed the exam. Here’s some thoughts about my experience and some tips that I learned while studying for the exam.</p>
<p>This is a 3 days in-person course that prepares attendees for the ITIL exam. It was delivered by a training partner of Axelos who managed to turn a usually dry content into a set of engaging sessions with the help of timely coffee breaks.</p>
<p>As part of my role in DLAM, we currently implement ITIL practices and I was eager to learn more about ITIL so that I could better support the different services using best practices.</p>
<h4>My experience in 30 seconds</h4>
<p>I found the course really useful to have a better understanding of ITIL framework and key concepts. ITIL also helps to understand why UniDesk works the way it does here at the University. Another positive from the course was to meet and interact with other staff involved in ITIL practices.</p>
<p>The main downside is that by the end of each day everyone’s brain is saturated with information and no matter how much I like processes and workflows…it is a lot of to take in. On the other hand, the quizzes and mock exams that are introduced throughout the training sessions are really good to review, reflect on the concepts and refresh the brain.</p>
<h4>Main Tips and Takeaways</h4>
<p><strong>Before the course</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Consider checking some ITIL courses available on Linkedin Learning to get a grasp of the basic concepts if you are not familiar with the ITIL framework.</li>
<li>Consider buying a revision guide. I bought the ITIL Foundation Essentials by Claire Agutter (there are different guides so check and decide which one you like it better) and found it very useful before the course and specially once completed to easily review the concepts (ie on the bus) instead of login into the course content platform.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>During the course</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Ask questions</li>
<li>Add notes (the course platform allows to easily add notes)</li>
<li>Get proper sleep (if possible)</li>
<li>Bring your own coffee in the morning in case catering is delayed</li>
<li>Bring layers as you never know how cold or warm you may feel the room</li>
</ul>
<p><strong> </strong><strong>After the course (Exam prep)</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Learn the terminology. There are multiple questions in the exam about key concepts definitions.</li>
<li>Understand the relationships between ITIL concepts.</li>
<li>Review the Mock Exams (you can find additional mock exams online) and practice until you are able to consistently achieve the desired mark.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Tips for the online exam</strong></p>
<p>The ITIL® Foundation exam consists of 40 multiple-choice questions that must be completed within 60 minutes.</p>
<p>The online exam is an online proctored exam. It felt weird having someone “overseeing” you but without actually seeing them. However, once I started the exam I was fully focused on the questions and this was not an issue.</p>
<ul>
<li>Make sure that you take the exam in a suitable room (ie: the room should only have one door and your camera needs to show that door, my understanding is that if you have two doors, they have to be in view)</li>
<li>Wherever you are taking the exam, ensure no one open the doors while you take the exam</li>
<li>You will need to keep a clean desk and cover any extra monitors (you need to show it with your webcam)</li>
<li>The proctor will gently review that all the requirements are met for the room, reading the requirements feels worst than it its (ie: I had to cover my two monitors while using just the laptop to take the exam)</li>
<li>Read carefully the questions, don’t rush.</li>
<li>If you get stuck on a test question, move on and come back later</li>
<li>Keep an eye on the clock however, I can assure you that you will have plenty of time.</li>
<li>Learn the key definitions and watch out for certain keywords (this would help you connect the wording to the right concept)</li>
<li>Book your exam (important thing to remember!)</li>
</ul>
<h4>Conclusion</h4>
<p>Do I recommend the course if you are interested in ITIL, IT or Service Management? Yes!</p>
<p>I took the exam on Monday after completing the course the previous Friday.</p>
<p>We were advised to let the content sink during the weekend and schedule the exam from Sunday on wards and not more than 1 week after completing the course so that we still have the concepts fresh in the mind. I practiced the mock exams a few times until being consistent at getting at least 30 out of 40 and…I got more than 30 in the exam <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/16.0.1/72x72/1f642.png" alt="🙂" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /></p>
<p> </p>
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<title>AI, Instructional Design and Midjourney</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/ai-instructional-design-midjourney/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/ai-instructional-design-midjourney/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[JGblog]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 12 Apr 2024 15:06:38 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[AI]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[artificial intelligence]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam-feed]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/2024/04/12/welcome/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[One of the tools that got my attention a while ago is Midjourney as a result of noticing astonishing images made by an artist I know. I only started using it recently and I have been surprised by the potential it has and at the same time it has forced me to think about the […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>One of the tools that got my attention a while ago is Midjourney as a result of noticing astonishing images made by an artist I know.</p>
<p>I only started using it recently and I have been surprised by the potential it has and at the same time it has forced me to think about the pros and cons of AI.</p>
<p>It is described by its creators as by its creators as “text-to-image AI where your imagination is the only limit”. One of the things I was curious about is the possibility to use Midjourney to create specific images that could be use in online courses or as feature images in posts as I sometimes struggle to find the right image.</p>
<p>I got myself a basic account to do some tests and I have selected some of the Midjourney generated images below to illustrate this post and the featured image.</p>
<p>As an instructional designer, part of the job may involve creating or editing certain creative assets. Most of the Authoring eLearning tools would nowadays provide access to a library of images, yet sometimes you may need something very specific. Same applies for blogs, there are a good number of bank photos but you may not always find what you want or you may spend too much time scrolling through a content library.</p>
<h3>Creating an image for an online course</h3>
<p>Let’s say that I need an angry dinosaur having a discussion to illustrate a conflict management slide for a course…</p>
<p><strong>Prompt:</strong> angry customer with a dinosaur face discussing with a customer assistant, v 5.1 –style raw</p>
<p>If you look at the woman’s character, do you notice some strange things? The pen seems to be floating, the elbow and the hand are a bit odd.</p>
<p>And…the dinosaur body is…well…interesting.</p>
<p>This was the first attempt at this prompt which shows some of the AI limitations at the moment. Usually, by iteration and clarifying the instructions within the prompt, the image can get closer to the idea I had in mind although there is a high chance that it may still require some manual editing. On the positive side, if there is no similar image via the image bank, this can be very helpful.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-10" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_angry_customer_with_a_dinosaur_face_discussing_with__693c87f4-6ee4-4d49-8993-22e400cf358d_0-300x300.png" alt="angry_customer_with_a_dinosaur_face" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_angry_customer_with_a_dinosaur_face_discussing_with__693c87f4-6ee4-4d49-8993-22e400cf358d_0-300x300.png 300w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_angry_customer_with_a_dinosaur_face_discussing_with__693c87f4-6ee4-4d49-8993-22e400cf358d_0-150x150.png 150w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_angry_customer_with_a_dinosaur_face_discussing_with__693c87f4-6ee4-4d49-8993-22e400cf358d_0-768x768.png 768w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_angry_customer_with_a_dinosaur_face_discussing_with__693c87f4-6ee4-4d49-8993-22e400cf358d_0.png 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Created with Midjourney</span></p>
<h3>Creating a flat illustration</h3>
<p>Now, using a more elaborated prompt to create a flat illustration, the result was not bad although it took a few iterations to get something that I was satisfied with. Still, the right arm looks like a bit strange to me.</p>
<p><strong>Prompt:</strong> Discover the world of scientific exploration with this flat illustration featuring a chemist wearing glasses, with a smile and happy eyes, diligently working in a research laboratory. Engaged in experiments, she skillfully handles a [object that is used]. This minimalist UI illustration, perfect for GUI applications, boasts a clean white background and a bright color scheme that highlights the focus and determination of the scientist. Immerse yourself in the pursuit of knowledge and celebrate the passion for discovery in this vibrant and engaging visual representation.–ar 1:1 –v 5 –s 100</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-21" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_Discover_the_world_of_scientific_exploration_with_th_3e40d1d4-b449-436c-ac7a-a03fc5b90a92_2-300x300.png" alt="chemist_in_laboratory_flat_illustration" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_Discover_the_world_of_scientific_exploration_with_th_3e40d1d4-b449-436c-ac7a-a03fc5b90a92_2-300x300.png 300w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_Discover_the_world_of_scientific_exploration_with_th_3e40d1d4-b449-436c-ac7a-a03fc5b90a92_2-150x150.png 150w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_Discover_the_world_of_scientific_exploration_with_th_3e40d1d4-b449-436c-ac7a-a03fc5b90a92_2-768x768.png 768w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_Discover_the_world_of_scientific_exploration_with_th_3e40d1d4-b449-436c-ac7a-a03fc5b90a92_2.png 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Created with Midjourney</span></p>
<p> </p>
<h3>The fun side of AI</h3>
<p>So far, I have found being able to communicate with AI fascinating. It can be exciting when you manage to create a prompt that returns what you expected or frustrating when you get just the opposite and even funny when you look at some of the results based on not good enough prompts or the AI not quite understanding what you meant in your prompt (as you may note looking at the image below!).</p>
<p><strong>Prompt</strong>: funny t-rex dinosaur, working as it support with headphones sitting in a chair in front of a computer, cartoon style, happy face, with scottish kilt ,v 5.1 –style raw –</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-20" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_funny_t_rex_dinosaur_with_a_happy_face_wearing_a_sco_7a10e2a8-157e-4fdb-a78a-fa28ac0cb4a0_3-300x300.png" alt="funny_t_rex_dinosaur_with_a_happy_face_wearing_scottish_kilt" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_funny_t_rex_dinosaur_with_a_happy_face_wearing_a_sco_7a10e2a8-157e-4fdb-a78a-fa28ac0cb4a0_3-300x300.png 300w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_funny_t_rex_dinosaur_with_a_happy_face_wearing_a_sco_7a10e2a8-157e-4fdb-a78a-fa28ac0cb4a0_3-150x150.png 150w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_funny_t_rex_dinosaur_with_a_happy_face_wearing_a_sco_7a10e2a8-157e-4fdb-a78a-fa28ac0cb4a0_3-768x768.png 768w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_funny_t_rex_dinosaur_with_a_happy_face_wearing_a_sco_7a10e2a8-157e-4fdb-a78a-fa28ac0cb4a0_3.png 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Created with Midjourney</span></p>
<p>Like many radical innovations, the fear is for a potentially good tool to end up being used in a harmful way. It feels like a tsunami and either you sink or you ride the wave. I believe that, a good starting point, is to have a better understanding of its advantages and limitations, so that we can work towards and ethical and safe use of AI.</p>
<h3>Thoughts about AI and Midjourney</h3>
<p>Some quick thoughts based on my initial experience (note that I am not an AI expert or a designer)</p>
<p><strong>Pros</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>You can create almost anything that you can conceive in your mind</li>
<li>It enhances your creativity by exposing you to creative options you may have not considered</li>
<li>It can speed up the creative process using AI as a starting point and then adding manual input to create the final artwork.</li>
<li>It can be used as inspiration, as creative prompts.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Cons</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Achieving a perfect image out of a prompt is not always possible, it requires iteration and often some final human touch.</li>
<li>Complexity of copyright ownership/infringement (in theory, there is no copyright in the “raw” outcome as there is no creative human input unless it is modified, there are risks based on regulations in different countries, changes in terms of service, existing images…)</li>
<li>Current controversy with copyright (it is worth reading <a href="http://docs.midjourney.com/hc/en-us/articles/32083055291277-Terms-of-Service" class="broken_link">Midjourney Terms of Service </a> and to check or seek advice depending on the intended usage of the images, especially for commercial use)</li>
<li>Devaluation of manually created artwork</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Opportunities</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Learning how to communicate to AI and train it to help us</li>
<li>A powerful additional brain that can be used for good</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Challenges</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Data usage</li>
<li>Data waste as a result of the crazy amount of both good and awful content being generated.</li>
<li>Concerns about Midjourney stealing work .</li>
<li>Ensuring that we are able to establish ethical boundaries so that we do not end up fighting against Skynet like in Terminator!</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Lessons learnt</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Talking to AI is not so different than talking to humans (bear with me…). If you want AI or a human to understand you, you need to communicate the right way. Also, even if you use the right words, AI may not get what you ask for!</li>
<li>There is a learning curve, it can be frustrating and also good fun.</li>
<li>To achieve the best results, i would say that, at least at the moment, human input is required to edit what AI presents.</li>
<li>The key to create successful prompts is to use a positive language! If I want a “clear background”, the trick is adding “clear background” in the prompt rather than requesting “no dark background”. In essence, anything we may not want in the image, has to be changed into a positive keyword for Midjourney to better understand what we want.</li>
<li>It requires a good conversation regarding copyrights and commercial use of creative work produced in collaboration with AI tools.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Final thoughts</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Although this AI tool is pretty amazing from a creative perspective, I have found that it can be time consuming to design or adapt certain prompts (hence the rise of prompt designers). Therefore, I may have spent more time trying to achieve a decent image with the prompts than finding a good enough image through the image bank or image library. It is also likely that a prompt designer may be able to achieve better results in less time.</li>
<li>With the right knowledge and experience, it allows creating fascinating art and creative assets that otherwise, unless being an artist or a creative, may be near impossible to achieve.</li>
<li>It can be a complementary tool to create certain digital assets that may be difficult to find and may be used as a first draft before editing the image through human input.</li>
<li>There are some Midjourney users creating fascinating pieces of work however I don’t feel it is a tool that anyone can use to create a great creative asset in five minutes. Even knowing about prompt design, it seems that it requires some good skills to achieve really good outcomes.</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<p>If you feel like giving it a try you will need a Discord and Midjourney account. There are several good tutorials online in case you may want to give it a go.</p>
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<title>Lessons from the Aspiring Manager Programme: Beyond Managing</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/lessons-from-aspiring-manager-programme/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/lessons-from-aspiring-manager-programme/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[JGblog]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 15 Apr 2026 13:18:11 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[CPD]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam-feed]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/?p=80</guid>
<description><![CDATA[As part of my career development I started the Aspiring Manager Programme this past January with support from my line manager. The programme provides a framework to develop core management skills and behaviours to set aspiring managers up for success in future management roles. This post is a reflection of the programme following the core […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>As part of my career development I started the Aspiring Manager Programme this past January with support from my line manager. The programme provides a framework to develop core management skills and behaviours to set aspiring managers up for success in future management roles. This post is a reflection of the programme following the core workshops.</p>
<h2>The Aspiring Manager Programme</h2>
<p>It runs 2 cohort intakes per academic year beginning in October and January and requires a nominating manager to support your application (usually your line manager). If interested, you can find further details through the <a href="https://human-resources.ed.ac.uk/learning-development/leadership-programmes/aspiring-manager">Aspiring Manager Programme dedicated web page.</a></p>
<p>The first phase of the programme involves attending an onboarding session, starting working on weekly prompts and attending the first of two main workshops. The weekly prompts feel like school home work but I have to admit that they are helpful to reflect on key topics about becoming a manager and successfully supporting a team.</p>
<p>During Workshop 1 we explored our motivations and management styles whereas Workshop 2 was dedicated to team development, constructive feedback and managing challenging conversations through real-world scenarios and role-playing activities. Not being a big fan of group activities I found them more interesting than I initially envisaged. The break up rooms had the right timing and length to avoid making them boring or annoying.</p>
<h2>Workshops Reflection: What is important as a good manager</h2>
<p>While reflecting about our management styles and what we consider important as a manager, some of the most cited ingredients were the ability to empower and support , fairness, creating a safe environment, clear communication and leading by example. The latter was clearly something important for most if not all the participants as future managers-leaders.</p>
<p>Workshop 2 addressed these core “ingredients” and was actually really good. One of the concepts that I liked as it matches my personal views about how I like to work although I did not know it had a name is “Psychological Safety”, a concept developed by Harvard professor Amy Edmondson. It refers to creating an open, safe and trusting environment for the staff, where they are allowed to speak up, admit mistakes, ask questions, and propose new ideas without fear of punishment or humiliation. The other element that I found of great importance is communication, not only to provide clear instructions but also when it comes down to having difficult conversations, coaching or supporting a team member. No matter how much you may know, it is never that easy, requiring constant practice to keep honing these skills. I think that getting this right is probably one of the most challenging parts of being a good manager and building high-performance teams.</p>
<p>On the other hand, while reflecting on the concept of leading by example, my attention was drawn to Japan as it has some of the most impressive examples of great leadership and leading by example, in particular, in the face of adversity. Some well known examples during periods of financial downturn are Nintendo´s President who chose to halve his salary to avoid laying off employees and preserve talent for future success and Japan Airlines CEO Haruka Nishimatsu who slashed his own salary and gave up executive perks during 2007 and 2009 while the airline faced severe changes to recover from financial debt. He famously stated that if a leader doesn’t share the pain, they cannot expect the followers to endure it which sets a quite high benchmark for leadership solidarity. I would say this is key as a leader and/or manager to avoid an organizational disconnect that may likely impact performance and long term results.</p>
<h2>Final Thoughts</h2>
<p>We are used to think about management or being a manager as being responsible for the operational activity of the team, work planning, setting priorities, dealing with a wide range of issues, supporting team members and dealing with People & Money for multiple administrative tasks (which may likely include screaming time to time). <span style="font-size: 1rem;">At some point during the activities, I defined a team as a living organism, where every member has its particularities, and hence requiring constant adjustment or fine tuning aka management from a manager in order to achieve a suitable balance. Like a garden with different plants, each one displaying different qualities, requiring different nutrients, water intake and sun in order to thrive. </span>Through the different conversations with other participants and my peer group, it unfolds that, as a manager you manage tasks, but you also lead people and the best way to lead is by showing (leading by example). It turns out that one of the most important things a manager can do isn’t “managing” at all—it’s leading by example, otherwise, none of the other elements involving being a manager may have the expected results.</p>
<p>As we progress into the final part of this adventure, it is time to reflect about the most important lessons I have learned as this is that last activity for us before being able to complete the course.</p>
<p>If you are considering joining the programme, go for it. I get bored quite easily and thought it may be just another boring set of activities and now I have to admit that it is actually a really good experience plus the facilitator is brilliant so I strongly recommend it.</p>
<p>What does good management look like to you?</p>
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<title>How to survive and pass the ITIL 4 Foundation exam</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/itil-foundation-exam-tips/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/itil-foundation-exam-tips/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[JGblog]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 12 Mar 2025 11:31:48 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[ITIL]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam-feed]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/?p=40</guid>
<description><![CDATA[I recently attended the ITIL 4 Foundation training course organised by ISG and successfully passed the exam. Here’s some thoughts about my experience and some tips that I learned while studying for the exam. This is a 3 days in-person course that prepares attendees for the ITIL exam. It was delivered by a training partner […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I recently attended the ITIL 4 Foundation training course organised by ISG and successfully passed the exam. Here’s some thoughts about my experience and some tips that I learned while studying for the exam.</p>
<p>This is a 3 days in-person course that prepares attendees for the ITIL exam. It was delivered by a training partner of Axelos who managed to turn a usually dry content into a set of engaging sessions with the help of timely coffee breaks.</p>
<p>As part of my role in DLAM, we currently implement ITIL practices and I was eager to learn more about ITIL so that I could better support the different services using best practices.</p>
<h4>My experience in 30 seconds</h4>
<p>I found the course really useful to have a better understanding of ITIL framework and key concepts. ITIL also helps to understand why UniDesk works the way it does here at the University. Another positive from the course was to meet and interact with other staff involved in ITIL practices.</p>
<p>The main downside is that by the end of each day everyone’s brain is saturated with information and no matter how much I like processes and workflows…it is a lot of to take in. On the other hand, the quizzes and mock exams that are introduced throughout the training sessions are really good to review, reflect on the concepts and refresh the brain.</p>
<h4>Main Tips and Takeaways</h4>
<p><strong>Before the course</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Consider checking some ITIL courses available on Linkedin Learning to get a grasp of the basic concepts if you are not familiar with the ITIL framework.</li>
<li>Consider buying a revision guide. I bought the ITIL Foundation Essentials by Claire Agutter (there are different guides so check and decide which one you like it better) and found it very useful before the course and specially once completed to easily review the concepts (ie on the bus) instead of login into the course content platform.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>During the course</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Ask questions</li>
<li>Add notes (the course platform allows to easily add notes)</li>
<li>Get proper sleep (if possible)</li>
<li>Bring your own coffee in the morning in case catering is delayed</li>
<li>Bring layers as you never know how cold or warm you may feel the room</li>
</ul>
<p><strong> </strong><strong>After the course (Exam prep)</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Learn the terminology. There are multiple questions in the exam about key concepts definitions.</li>
<li>Understand the relationships between ITIL concepts.</li>
<li>Review the Mock Exams (you can find additional mock exams online) and practice until you are able to consistently achieve the desired mark.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Tips for the online exam</strong></p>
<p>The ITIL® Foundation exam consists of 40 multiple-choice questions that must be completed within 60 minutes.</p>
<p>The online exam is an online proctored exam. It felt weird having someone “overseeing” you but without actually seeing them. However, once I started the exam I was fully focused on the questions and this was not an issue.</p>
<ul>
<li>Make sure that you take the exam in a suitable room (ie: the room should only have one door and your camera needs to show that door, my understanding is that if you have two doors, they have to be in view)</li>
<li>Wherever you are taking the exam, ensure no one open the doors while you take the exam</li>
<li>You will need to keep a clean desk and cover any extra monitors (you need to show it with your webcam)</li>
<li>The proctor will gently review that all the requirements are met for the room, reading the requirements feels worst than it its (ie: I had to cover my two monitors while using just the laptop to take the exam)</li>
<li>Read carefully the questions, don’t rush.</li>
<li>If you get stuck on a test question, move on and come back later</li>
<li>Keep an eye on the clock however, I can assure you that you will have plenty of time.</li>
<li>Learn the key definitions and watch out for certain keywords (this would help you connect the wording to the right concept)</li>
<li>Book your exam (important thing to remember!)</li>
</ul>
<h4>Conclusion</h4>
<p>Do I recommend the course if you are interested in ITIL, IT or Service Management? Yes!</p>
<p>I took the exam on Monday after completing the course the previous Friday.</p>
<p>We were advised to let the content sink during the weekend and schedule the exam from Sunday on wards and not more than 1 week after completing the course so that we still have the concepts fresh in the mind. I practiced the mock exams a few times until being consistent at getting at least 30 out of 40 and…I got more than 30 in the exam <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/16.0.1/72x72/1f642.png" alt="🙂" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /></p>
<p> </p>
]]></content:encoded>
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<title>AI, Instructional Design and Midjourney</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/ai-instructional-design-midjourney/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/ai-instructional-design-midjourney/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[JGblog]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 12 Apr 2024 15:06:38 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[AI]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[artificial intelligence]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam-feed]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/2024/04/12/welcome/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[One of the tools that got my attention a while ago is Midjourney as a result of noticing astonishing images made by an artist I know. I only started using it recently and I have been surprised by the potential it has and at the same time it has forced me to think about the […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>One of the tools that got my attention a while ago is Midjourney as a result of noticing astonishing images made by an artist I know.</p>
<p>I only started using it recently and I have been surprised by the potential it has and at the same time it has forced me to think about the pros and cons of AI.</p>
<p>It is described by its creators as by its creators as “text-to-image AI where your imagination is the only limit”. One of the things I was curious about is the possibility to use Midjourney to create specific images that could be use in online courses or as feature images in posts as I sometimes struggle to find the right image.</p>
<p>I got myself a basic account to do some tests and I have selected some of the Midjourney generated images below to illustrate this post and the featured image.</p>
<p>As an instructional designer, part of the job may involve creating or editing certain creative assets. Most of the Authoring eLearning tools would nowadays provide access to a library of images, yet sometimes you may need something very specific. Same applies for blogs, there are a good number of bank photos but you may not always find what you want or you may spend too much time scrolling through a content library.</p>
<h3>Creating an image for an online course</h3>
<p>Let’s say that I need an angry dinosaur having a discussion to illustrate a conflict management slide for a course…</p>
<p><strong>Prompt:</strong> angry customer with a dinosaur face discussing with a customer assistant, v 5.1 –style raw</p>
<p>If you look at the woman’s character, do you notice some strange things? The pen seems to be floating, the elbow and the hand are a bit odd.</p>
<p>And…the dinosaur body is…well…interesting.</p>
<p>This was the first attempt at this prompt which shows some of the AI limitations at the moment. Usually, by iteration and clarifying the instructions within the prompt, the image can get closer to the idea I had in mind although there is a high chance that it may still require some manual editing. On the positive side, if there is no similar image via the image bank, this can be very helpful.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-10" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_angry_customer_with_a_dinosaur_face_discussing_with__693c87f4-6ee4-4d49-8993-22e400cf358d_0-300x300.png" alt="angry_customer_with_a_dinosaur_face" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_angry_customer_with_a_dinosaur_face_discussing_with__693c87f4-6ee4-4d49-8993-22e400cf358d_0-300x300.png 300w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_angry_customer_with_a_dinosaur_face_discussing_with__693c87f4-6ee4-4d49-8993-22e400cf358d_0-150x150.png 150w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_angry_customer_with_a_dinosaur_face_discussing_with__693c87f4-6ee4-4d49-8993-22e400cf358d_0-768x768.png 768w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_angry_customer_with_a_dinosaur_face_discussing_with__693c87f4-6ee4-4d49-8993-22e400cf358d_0.png 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Created with Midjourney</span></p>
<h3>Creating a flat illustration</h3>
<p>Now, using a more elaborated prompt to create a flat illustration, the result was not bad although it took a few iterations to get something that I was satisfied with. Still, the right arm looks like a bit strange to me.</p>
<p><strong>Prompt:</strong> Discover the world of scientific exploration with this flat illustration featuring a chemist wearing glasses, with a smile and happy eyes, diligently working in a research laboratory. Engaged in experiments, she skillfully handles a [object that is used]. This minimalist UI illustration, perfect for GUI applications, boasts a clean white background and a bright color scheme that highlights the focus and determination of the scientist. Immerse yourself in the pursuit of knowledge and celebrate the passion for discovery in this vibrant and engaging visual representation.–ar 1:1 –v 5 –s 100</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-21" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_Discover_the_world_of_scientific_exploration_with_th_3e40d1d4-b449-436c-ac7a-a03fc5b90a92_2-300x300.png" alt="chemist_in_laboratory_flat_illustration" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_Discover_the_world_of_scientific_exploration_with_th_3e40d1d4-b449-436c-ac7a-a03fc5b90a92_2-300x300.png 300w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_Discover_the_world_of_scientific_exploration_with_th_3e40d1d4-b449-436c-ac7a-a03fc5b90a92_2-150x150.png 150w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_Discover_the_world_of_scientific_exploration_with_th_3e40d1d4-b449-436c-ac7a-a03fc5b90a92_2-768x768.png 768w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_Discover_the_world_of_scientific_exploration_with_th_3e40d1d4-b449-436c-ac7a-a03fc5b90a92_2.png 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Created with Midjourney</span></p>
<p> </p>
<h3>The fun side of AI</h3>
<p>So far, I have found being able to communicate with AI fascinating. It can be exciting when you manage to create a prompt that returns what you expected or frustrating when you get just the opposite and even funny when you look at some of the results based on not good enough prompts or the AI not quite understanding what you meant in your prompt (as you may note looking at the image below!).</p>
<p><strong>Prompt</strong>: funny t-rex dinosaur, working as it support with headphones sitting in a chair in front of a computer, cartoon style, happy face, with scottish kilt ,v 5.1 –style raw –</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-20" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_funny_t_rex_dinosaur_with_a_happy_face_wearing_a_sco_7a10e2a8-157e-4fdb-a78a-fa28ac0cb4a0_3-300x300.png" alt="funny_t_rex_dinosaur_with_a_happy_face_wearing_scottish_kilt" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_funny_t_rex_dinosaur_with_a_happy_face_wearing_a_sco_7a10e2a8-157e-4fdb-a78a-fa28ac0cb4a0_3-300x300.png 300w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_funny_t_rex_dinosaur_with_a_happy_face_wearing_a_sco_7a10e2a8-157e-4fdb-a78a-fa28ac0cb4a0_3-150x150.png 150w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_funny_t_rex_dinosaur_with_a_happy_face_wearing_a_sco_7a10e2a8-157e-4fdb-a78a-fa28ac0cb4a0_3-768x768.png 768w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_funny_t_rex_dinosaur_with_a_happy_face_wearing_a_sco_7a10e2a8-157e-4fdb-a78a-fa28ac0cb4a0_3.png 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Created with Midjourney</span></p>
<p>Like many radical innovations, the fear is for a potentially good tool to end up being used in a harmful way. It feels like a tsunami and either you sink or you ride the wave. I believe that, a good starting point, is to have a better understanding of its advantages and limitations, so that we can work towards and ethical and safe use of AI.</p>
<h3>Thoughts about AI and Midjourney</h3>
<p>Some quick thoughts based on my initial experience (note that I am not an AI expert or a designer)</p>
<p><strong>Pros</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>You can create almost anything that you can conceive in your mind</li>
<li>It enhances your creativity by exposing you to creative options you may have not considered</li>
<li>It can speed up the creative process using AI as a starting point and then adding manual input to create the final artwork.</li>
<li>It can be used as inspiration, as creative prompts.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Cons</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Achieving a perfect image out of a prompt is not always possible, it requires iteration and often some final human touch.</li>
<li>Complexity of copyright ownership/infringement (in theory, there is no copyright in the “raw” outcome as there is no creative human input unless it is modified, there are risks based on regulations in different countries, changes in terms of service, existing images…)</li>
<li>Current controversy with copyright (it is worth reading <a href="http://docs.midjourney.com/hc/en-us/articles/32083055291277-Terms-of-Service" class="broken_link">Midjourney Terms of Service </a> and to check or seek advice depending on the intended usage of the images, especially for commercial use)</li>
<li>Devaluation of manually created artwork</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Opportunities</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Learning how to communicate to AI and train it to help us</li>
<li>A powerful additional brain that can be used for good</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Challenges</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Data usage</li>
<li>Data waste as a result of the crazy amount of both good and awful content being generated.</li>
<li>Concerns about Midjourney stealing work .</li>
<li>Ensuring that we are able to establish ethical boundaries so that we do not end up fighting against Skynet like in Terminator!</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Lessons learnt</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Talking to AI is not so different than talking to humans (bear with me…). If you want AI or a human to understand you, you need to communicate the right way. Also, even if you use the right words, AI may not get what you ask for!</li>
<li>There is a learning curve, it can be frustrating and also good fun.</li>
<li>To achieve the best results, i would say that, at least at the moment, human input is required to edit what AI presents.</li>
<li>The key to create successful prompts is to use a positive language! If I want a “clear background”, the trick is adding “clear background” in the prompt rather than requesting “no dark background”. In essence, anything we may not want in the image, has to be changed into a positive keyword for Midjourney to better understand what we want.</li>
<li>It requires a good conversation regarding copyrights and commercial use of creative work produced in collaboration with AI tools.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Final thoughts</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Although this AI tool is pretty amazing from a creative perspective, I have found that it can be time consuming to design or adapt certain prompts (hence the rise of prompt designers). Therefore, I may have spent more time trying to achieve a decent image with the prompts than finding a good enough image through the image bank or image library. It is also likely that a prompt designer may be able to achieve better results in less time.</li>
<li>With the right knowledge and experience, it allows creating fascinating art and creative assets that otherwise, unless being an artist or a creative, may be near impossible to achieve.</li>
<li>It can be a complementary tool to create certain digital assets that may be difficult to find and may be used as a first draft before editing the image through human input.</li>
<li>There are some Midjourney users creating fascinating pieces of work however I don’t feel it is a tool that anyone can use to create a great creative asset in five minutes. Even knowing about prompt design, it seems that it requires some good skills to achieve really good outcomes.</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<p>If you feel like giving it a try you will need a Discord and Midjourney account. There are several good tutorials online in case you may want to give it a go.</p>
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<title>Lessons from the Aspiring Manager Programme: Beyond Managing</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/lessons-from-aspiring-manager-programme/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/lessons-from-aspiring-manager-programme/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[JGblog]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 15 Apr 2026 13:18:11 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[CPD]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam-feed]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/?p=80</guid>
<description><![CDATA[As part of my career development I started the Aspiring Manager Programme this past January with support from my line manager. The programme provides a framework to develop core management skills and behaviours to set aspiring managers up for success in future management roles. This post is a reflection of the programme following the core […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>As part of my career development I started the Aspiring Manager Programme this past January with support from my line manager. The programme provides a framework to develop core management skills and behaviours to set aspiring managers up for success in future management roles. This post is a reflection of the programme following the core workshops.</p>
<h2>The Aspiring Manager Programme</h2>
<p>It runs 2 cohort intakes per academic year beginning in October and January and requires a nominating manager to support your application (usually your line manager). If interested, you can find further details through the <a href="https://human-resources.ed.ac.uk/learning-development/leadership-programmes/aspiring-manager">Aspiring Manager Programme dedicated web page.</a></p>
<p>The first phase of the programme involves attending an onboarding session, starting working on weekly prompts and attending the first of two main workshops. The weekly prompts feel like school home work but I have to admit that they are helpful to reflect on key topics about becoming a manager and successfully supporting a team.</p>
<p>During Workshop 1 we explored our motivations and management styles whereas Workshop 2 was dedicated to team development, constructive feedback and managing challenging conversations through real-world scenarios and role-playing activities. Not being a big fan of group activities I found them more interesting than I initially envisaged. The break up rooms had the right timing and length to avoid making them boring or annoying.</p>
<h2>Workshops Reflection: What is important as a good manager</h2>
<p>While reflecting about our management styles and what we consider important as a manager, some of the most cited ingredients were the ability to empower and support , fairness, creating a safe environment, clear communication and leading by example. The latter was clearly something important for most if not all the participants as future managers-leaders.</p>
<p>Workshop 2 addressed these core “ingredients” and was actually really good. One of the concepts that I liked as it matches my personal views about how I like to work although I did not know it had a name is “Psychological Safety”, a concept developed by Harvard professor Amy Edmondson. It refers to creating an open, safe and trusting environment for the staff, where they are allowed to speak up, admit mistakes, ask questions, and propose new ideas without fear of punishment or humiliation. The other element that I found of great importance is communication, not only to provide clear instructions but also when it comes down to having difficult conversations, coaching or supporting a team member. No matter how much you may know, it is never that easy, requiring constant practice to keep honing these skills. I think that getting this right is probably one of the most challenging parts of being a good manager and building high-performance teams.</p>
<p>On the other hand, while reflecting on the concept of leading by example, my attention was drawn to Japan as it has some of the most impressive examples of great leadership and leading by example, in particular, in the face of adversity. Some well known examples during periods of financial downturn are Nintendo´s President who chose to halve his salary to avoid laying off employees and preserve talent for future success and Japan Airlines CEO Haruka Nishimatsu who slashed his own salary and gave up executive perks during 2007 and 2009 while the airline faced severe changes to recover from financial debt. He famously stated that if a leader doesn’t share the pain, they cannot expect the followers to endure it which sets a quite high benchmark for leadership solidarity. I would say this is key as a leader and/or manager to avoid an organizational disconnect that may likely impact performance and long term results.</p>
<h2>Final Thoughts</h2>
<p>We are used to think about management or being a manager as being responsible for the operational activity of the team, work planning, setting priorities, dealing with a wide range of issues, supporting team members and dealing with People & Money for multiple administrative tasks (which may likely include screaming time to time). <span style="font-size: 1rem;">At some point during the activities, I defined a team as a living organism, where every member has its particularities, and hence requiring constant adjustment or fine tuning aka management from a manager in order to achieve a suitable balance. Like a garden with different plants, each one displaying different qualities, requiring different nutrients, water intake and sun in order to thrive. </span>Through the different conversations with other participants and my peer group, it unfolds that, as a manager you manage tasks, but you also lead people and the best way to lead is by showing (leading by example). It turns out that one of the most important things a manager can do isn’t “managing” at all—it’s leading by example, otherwise, none of the other elements involving being a manager may have the expected results.</p>
<p>As we progress into the final part of this adventure, it is time to reflect about the most important lessons I have learned as this is that last activity for us before being able to complete the course.</p>
<p>If you are considering joining the programme, go for it. I get bored quite easily and thought it may be just another boring set of activities and now I have to admit that it is actually a really good experience plus the facilitator is brilliant so I strongly recommend it.</p>
<p>What does good management look like to you?</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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<item>
<title>How to survive and pass the ITIL 4 Foundation exam</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/itil-foundation-exam-tips/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/itil-foundation-exam-tips/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[JGblog]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 12 Mar 2025 11:31:48 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[ITIL]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam-feed]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/?p=40</guid>
<description><![CDATA[I recently attended the ITIL 4 Foundation training course organised by ISG and successfully passed the exam. Here’s some thoughts about my experience and some tips that I learned while studying for the exam. This is a 3 days in-person course that prepares attendees for the ITIL exam. It was delivered by a training partner […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I recently attended the ITIL 4 Foundation training course organised by ISG and successfully passed the exam. Here’s some thoughts about my experience and some tips that I learned while studying for the exam.</p>
<p>This is a 3 days in-person course that prepares attendees for the ITIL exam. It was delivered by a training partner of Axelos who managed to turn a usually dry content into a set of engaging sessions with the help of timely coffee breaks.</p>
<p>As part of my role in DLAM, we currently implement ITIL practices and I was eager to learn more about ITIL so that I could better support the different services using best practices.</p>
<h4>My experience in 30 seconds</h4>
<p>I found the course really useful to have a better understanding of ITIL framework and key concepts. ITIL also helps to understand why UniDesk works the way it does here at the University. Another positive from the course was to meet and interact with other staff involved in ITIL practices.</p>
<p>The main downside is that by the end of each day everyone’s brain is saturated with information and no matter how much I like processes and workflows…it is a lot of to take in. On the other hand, the quizzes and mock exams that are introduced throughout the training sessions are really good to review, reflect on the concepts and refresh the brain.</p>
<h4>Main Tips and Takeaways</h4>
<p><strong>Before the course</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Consider checking some ITIL courses available on Linkedin Learning to get a grasp of the basic concepts if you are not familiar with the ITIL framework.</li>
<li>Consider buying a revision guide. I bought the ITIL Foundation Essentials by Claire Agutter (there are different guides so check and decide which one you like it better) and found it very useful before the course and specially once completed to easily review the concepts (ie on the bus) instead of login into the course content platform.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>During the course</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Ask questions</li>
<li>Add notes (the course platform allows to easily add notes)</li>
<li>Get proper sleep (if possible)</li>
<li>Bring your own coffee in the morning in case catering is delayed</li>
<li>Bring layers as you never know how cold or warm you may feel the room</li>
</ul>
<p><strong> </strong><strong>After the course (Exam prep)</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Learn the terminology. There are multiple questions in the exam about key concepts definitions.</li>
<li>Understand the relationships between ITIL concepts.</li>
<li>Review the Mock Exams (you can find additional mock exams online) and practice until you are able to consistently achieve the desired mark.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Tips for the online exam</strong></p>
<p>The ITIL® Foundation exam consists of 40 multiple-choice questions that must be completed within 60 minutes.</p>
<p>The online exam is an online proctored exam. It felt weird having someone “overseeing” you but without actually seeing them. However, once I started the exam I was fully focused on the questions and this was not an issue.</p>
<ul>
<li>Make sure that you take the exam in a suitable room (ie: the room should only have one door and your camera needs to show that door, my understanding is that if you have two doors, they have to be in view)</li>
<li>Wherever you are taking the exam, ensure no one open the doors while you take the exam</li>
<li>You will need to keep a clean desk and cover any extra monitors (you need to show it with your webcam)</li>
<li>The proctor will gently review that all the requirements are met for the room, reading the requirements feels worst than it its (ie: I had to cover my two monitors while using just the laptop to take the exam)</li>
<li>Read carefully the questions, don’t rush.</li>
<li>If you get stuck on a test question, move on and come back later</li>
<li>Keep an eye on the clock however, I can assure you that you will have plenty of time.</li>
<li>Learn the key definitions and watch out for certain keywords (this would help you connect the wording to the right concept)</li>
<li>Book your exam (important thing to remember!)</li>
</ul>
<h4>Conclusion</h4>
<p>Do I recommend the course if you are interested in ITIL, IT or Service Management? Yes!</p>
<p>I took the exam on Monday after completing the course the previous Friday.</p>
<p>We were advised to let the content sink during the weekend and schedule the exam from Sunday on wards and not more than 1 week after completing the course so that we still have the concepts fresh in the mind. I practiced the mock exams a few times until being consistent at getting at least 30 out of 40 and…I got more than 30 in the exam <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/16.0.1/72x72/1f642.png" alt="🙂" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /></p>
<p> </p>
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<title>AI, Instructional Design and Midjourney</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/ai-instructional-design-midjourney/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/ai-instructional-design-midjourney/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[JGblog]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 12 Apr 2024 15:06:38 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[AI]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[artificial intelligence]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam-feed]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/2024/04/12/welcome/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[One of the tools that got my attention a while ago is Midjourney as a result of noticing astonishing images made by an artist I know. I only started using it recently and I have been surprised by the potential it has and at the same time it has forced me to think about the […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>One of the tools that got my attention a while ago is Midjourney as a result of noticing astonishing images made by an artist I know.</p>
<p>I only started using it recently and I have been surprised by the potential it has and at the same time it has forced me to think about the pros and cons of AI.</p>
<p>It is described by its creators as by its creators as “text-to-image AI where your imagination is the only limit”. One of the things I was curious about is the possibility to use Midjourney to create specific images that could be use in online courses or as feature images in posts as I sometimes struggle to find the right image.</p>
<p>I got myself a basic account to do some tests and I have selected some of the Midjourney generated images below to illustrate this post and the featured image.</p>
<p>As an instructional designer, part of the job may involve creating or editing certain creative assets. Most of the Authoring eLearning tools would nowadays provide access to a library of images, yet sometimes you may need something very specific. Same applies for blogs, there are a good number of bank photos but you may not always find what you want or you may spend too much time scrolling through a content library.</p>
<h3>Creating an image for an online course</h3>
<p>Let’s say that I need an angry dinosaur having a discussion to illustrate a conflict management slide for a course…</p>
<p><strong>Prompt:</strong> angry customer with a dinosaur face discussing with a customer assistant, v 5.1 –style raw</p>
<p>If you look at the woman’s character, do you notice some strange things? The pen seems to be floating, the elbow and the hand are a bit odd.</p>
<p>And…the dinosaur body is…well…interesting.</p>
<p>This was the first attempt at this prompt which shows some of the AI limitations at the moment. Usually, by iteration and clarifying the instructions within the prompt, the image can get closer to the idea I had in mind although there is a high chance that it may still require some manual editing. On the positive side, if there is no similar image via the image bank, this can be very helpful.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-10" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_angry_customer_with_a_dinosaur_face_discussing_with__693c87f4-6ee4-4d49-8993-22e400cf358d_0-300x300.png" alt="angry_customer_with_a_dinosaur_face" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_angry_customer_with_a_dinosaur_face_discussing_with__693c87f4-6ee4-4d49-8993-22e400cf358d_0-300x300.png 300w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_angry_customer_with_a_dinosaur_face_discussing_with__693c87f4-6ee4-4d49-8993-22e400cf358d_0-150x150.png 150w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_angry_customer_with_a_dinosaur_face_discussing_with__693c87f4-6ee4-4d49-8993-22e400cf358d_0-768x768.png 768w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_angry_customer_with_a_dinosaur_face_discussing_with__693c87f4-6ee4-4d49-8993-22e400cf358d_0.png 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Created with Midjourney</span></p>
<h3>Creating a flat illustration</h3>
<p>Now, using a more elaborated prompt to create a flat illustration, the result was not bad although it took a few iterations to get something that I was satisfied with. Still, the right arm looks like a bit strange to me.</p>
<p><strong>Prompt:</strong> Discover the world of scientific exploration with this flat illustration featuring a chemist wearing glasses, with a smile and happy eyes, diligently working in a research laboratory. Engaged in experiments, she skillfully handles a [object that is used]. This minimalist UI illustration, perfect for GUI applications, boasts a clean white background and a bright color scheme that highlights the focus and determination of the scientist. Immerse yourself in the pursuit of knowledge and celebrate the passion for discovery in this vibrant and engaging visual representation.–ar 1:1 –v 5 –s 100</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-21" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_Discover_the_world_of_scientific_exploration_with_th_3e40d1d4-b449-436c-ac7a-a03fc5b90a92_2-300x300.png" alt="chemist_in_laboratory_flat_illustration" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_Discover_the_world_of_scientific_exploration_with_th_3e40d1d4-b449-436c-ac7a-a03fc5b90a92_2-300x300.png 300w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_Discover_the_world_of_scientific_exploration_with_th_3e40d1d4-b449-436c-ac7a-a03fc5b90a92_2-150x150.png 150w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_Discover_the_world_of_scientific_exploration_with_th_3e40d1d4-b449-436c-ac7a-a03fc5b90a92_2-768x768.png 768w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_Discover_the_world_of_scientific_exploration_with_th_3e40d1d4-b449-436c-ac7a-a03fc5b90a92_2.png 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Created with Midjourney</span></p>
<p> </p>
<h3>The fun side of AI</h3>
<p>So far, I have found being able to communicate with AI fascinating. It can be exciting when you manage to create a prompt that returns what you expected or frustrating when you get just the opposite and even funny when you look at some of the results based on not good enough prompts or the AI not quite understanding what you meant in your prompt (as you may note looking at the image below!).</p>
<p><strong>Prompt</strong>: funny t-rex dinosaur, working as it support with headphones sitting in a chair in front of a computer, cartoon style, happy face, with scottish kilt ,v 5.1 –style raw –</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-20" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_funny_t_rex_dinosaur_with_a_happy_face_wearing_a_sco_7a10e2a8-157e-4fdb-a78a-fa28ac0cb4a0_3-300x300.png" alt="funny_t_rex_dinosaur_with_a_happy_face_wearing_scottish_kilt" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_funny_t_rex_dinosaur_with_a_happy_face_wearing_a_sco_7a10e2a8-157e-4fdb-a78a-fa28ac0cb4a0_3-300x300.png 300w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_funny_t_rex_dinosaur_with_a_happy_face_wearing_a_sco_7a10e2a8-157e-4fdb-a78a-fa28ac0cb4a0_3-150x150.png 150w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_funny_t_rex_dinosaur_with_a_happy_face_wearing_a_sco_7a10e2a8-157e-4fdb-a78a-fa28ac0cb4a0_3-768x768.png 768w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/edtechunchained/wp-content/uploads/sites/10112/2024/04/josmedia_funny_t_rex_dinosaur_with_a_happy_face_wearing_a_sco_7a10e2a8-157e-4fdb-a78a-fa28ac0cb4a0_3.png 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Created with Midjourney</span></p>
<p>Like many radical innovations, the fear is for a potentially good tool to end up being used in a harmful way. It feels like a tsunami and either you sink or you ride the wave. I believe that, a good starting point, is to have a better understanding of its advantages and limitations, so that we can work towards and ethical and safe use of AI.</p>
<h3>Thoughts about AI and Midjourney</h3>
<p>Some quick thoughts based on my initial experience (note that I am not an AI expert or a designer)</p>
<p><strong>Pros</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>You can create almost anything that you can conceive in your mind</li>
<li>It enhances your creativity by exposing you to creative options you may have not considered</li>
<li>It can speed up the creative process using AI as a starting point and then adding manual input to create the final artwork.</li>
<li>It can be used as inspiration, as creative prompts.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Cons</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Achieving a perfect image out of a prompt is not always possible, it requires iteration and often some final human touch.</li>
<li>Complexity of copyright ownership/infringement (in theory, there is no copyright in the “raw” outcome as there is no creative human input unless it is modified, there are risks based on regulations in different countries, changes in terms of service, existing images…)</li>
<li>Current controversy with copyright (it is worth reading <a href="http://docs.midjourney.com/hc/en-us/articles/32083055291277-Terms-of-Service" class="broken_link">Midjourney Terms of Service </a> and to check or seek advice depending on the intended usage of the images, especially for commercial use)</li>
<li>Devaluation of manually created artwork</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Opportunities</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Learning how to communicate to AI and train it to help us</li>
<li>A powerful additional brain that can be used for good</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Challenges</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Data usage</li>
<li>Data waste as a result of the crazy amount of both good and awful content being generated.</li>
<li>Concerns about Midjourney stealing work .</li>
<li>Ensuring that we are able to establish ethical boundaries so that we do not end up fighting against Skynet like in Terminator!</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Lessons learnt</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Talking to AI is not so different than talking to humans (bear with me…). If you want AI or a human to understand you, you need to communicate the right way. Also, even if you use the right words, AI may not get what you ask for!</li>
<li>There is a learning curve, it can be frustrating and also good fun.</li>
<li>To achieve the best results, i would say that, at least at the moment, human input is required to edit what AI presents.</li>
<li>The key to create successful prompts is to use a positive language! If I want a “clear background”, the trick is adding “clear background” in the prompt rather than requesting “no dark background”. In essence, anything we may not want in the image, has to be changed into a positive keyword for Midjourney to better understand what we want.</li>
<li>It requires a good conversation regarding copyrights and commercial use of creative work produced in collaboration with AI tools.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Final thoughts</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Although this AI tool is pretty amazing from a creative perspective, I have found that it can be time consuming to design or adapt certain prompts (hence the rise of prompt designers). Therefore, I may have spent more time trying to achieve a decent image with the prompts than finding a good enough image through the image bank or image library. It is also likely that a prompt designer may be able to achieve better results in less time.</li>
<li>With the right knowledge and experience, it allows creating fascinating art and creative assets that otherwise, unless being an artist or a creative, may be near impossible to achieve.</li>
<li>It can be a complementary tool to create certain digital assets that may be difficult to find and may be used as a first draft before editing the image through human input.</li>
<li>There are some Midjourney users creating fascinating pieces of work however I don’t feel it is a tool that anyone can use to create a great creative asset in five minutes. Even knowing about prompt design, it seems that it requires some good skills to achieve really good outcomes.</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<p>If you feel like giving it a try you will need a Discord and Midjourney account. There are several good tutorials online in case you may want to give it a go.</p>
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<dc:creator><![CDATA[cromans]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 03 Oct 2024 14:29:47 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[ALD24]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[ALD]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Women in STEM]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://thinking.is.ed.ac.uk/ada-lovelace-day/?p=600</guid>
<description><![CDATA[If you’re looking forward to next week’s Ada Lovelace Day 2024 events, here’s an appetiser for you. The Edinburgh Women in STEM Trail created for the University’s Ada Lovelace Day 2023 event has a new home on Curious Edinburgh, which offers mobile walking tours on Edinburgh’s scientific and community heritage. Visit the Curious Edinburgh webpage …]]></description>
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<p>If you’re looking forward to next week’s Ada Lovelace Day 2024 events, here’s an appetiser for you. </p>
<p>The Edinburgh Women in STEM Trail created for the University’s Ada Lovelace Day 2023 event has a new home on Curious Edinburgh, which offers mobile walking tours on Edinburgh’s scientific and community heritage. </p>
<p>Visit the <a href="http://curiousedinburgh.org/women-in-stem-trail/" data-type="link" data-id="http://curiousedinburgh.org/women-in-stem-trail/">Curious Edinburgh</a> webpage or get the app to see the tour in its new home.</p>
</div><figure class="wp-block-media-text__media"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="1024" height="875" src="https://thinking.is.ed.ac.uk/ada-lovelace-day/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2024/10/Curious-Edinburgh-Women-in-STEM-ALD24-1024x875.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-601 size-full" srcset="https://thinking.is.ed.ac.uk/ada-lovelace-day/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2024/10/Curious-Edinburgh-Women-in-STEM-ALD24-1024x875.jpg 1024w, https://thinking.is.ed.ac.uk/ada-lovelace-day/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2024/10/Curious-Edinburgh-Women-in-STEM-ALD24-300x256.jpg 300w, https://thinking.is.ed.ac.uk/ada-lovelace-day/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2024/10/Curious-Edinburgh-Women-in-STEM-ALD24-768x656.jpg 768w, https://thinking.is.ed.ac.uk/ada-lovelace-day/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2024/10/Curious-Edinburgh-Women-in-STEM-ALD24.jpg 1219w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure></div>
<p> What do a riot-causing medical student, a famous entomologist, a best-selling author-astronomer, an adventurous botanist and a pioneer of genetic engineering have in common? They are all women you can find out about in this tour, which features locations in Edinburgh connected to amazing women in STEM. Celebrate equality, diversity and inclusion in STEM by taking a look at Edinburgh-connected women who have made an impact in a wide range of STEM fields.</p>
<div class="wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex">
<div class="wp-block-button is-style-fill"><a class="wp-block-button__link has-black-color has-pale-cyan-blue-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-element-button" href="http://curiousedinburgh.org/women-in-stem-trail/"><strong>See the Edinburgh Women in STEM trail</strong></a></div>
</div>
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<title>Ada Lovelace on BBC Countryfile</title>
<link>https://thinking.is.ed.ac.uk/ada-lovelace-day/ada-lovelace-on-bbc-countryfile/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Stewart Lamb Cromar]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 09 Sep 2024 10:23:41 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[ALD24]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[BBC]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Countryfile]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Culbone Wood]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Exmoor]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[woodland]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://thinking.is.ed.ac.uk/ada-lovelace-day/?p=574</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The BBC Countryfile programme recently visited Culbone Woods on the north coast of Exmoor. Culbone Wood is part of the estate of Ashley Combe House, which Ada moved to after she married William King, who later becomes Lord Lovelace. BoB video clip (7m 7s) Box of Broadcasts (BoB) is an off-air recording and broadcast media …]]></description>
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<p><strong>The BBC Countryfile programme recently visited Culbone Woods on the north coast of Exmoor. Culbone Wood is part of the estate of Ashley Combe House, which Ada moved to after she married William King, who later becomes Lord Lovelace.</strong></p>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">BoB video clip (7m 7s)</h2>
<iframe src="https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/embed/clip/255747" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen="" style="width:640px;height:360px"></iframe>
<p>Box of Broadcasts (BoB) is an off-air recording and broadcast media archive service. BoB is available to all members of the University of Edinburgh.</p>
<p><a href="https://library.ed.ac.uk/ucreate/multimediafacilities/box-of-broadcasts/entitlement">How to access the service</a> (within UK only)</p>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Video summary</h3>
<p>Lucy Shipley, a Historic Environment Record Officer at Exmoor National Park tells us that all this woodland used to be owned by Ada Lovelace, and they are now trying to recreate the vision Ada had for this woodland.</p>
<p>This includes reinstating and restoring five one-mile long footpaths, stone walls and viewpoints.</p>
<p>Woodland officer Graeme McVittie details conservation work of the rare whitebeam tree and their attempts to propagate (Sorbus Margaretae) one particular mature specimen located at a focal point overlooking the Bristol Channel.</p>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Alternative viewing options</h3>
<p><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0022v6f/">View Countryfile on BBC iPlayer</a></p>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Image and video credits</h2>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">BBC Countryfile</h3>
<p>‘Clip from Countryfile: West Exmoor (Ada Lovelace)’, Countryfile, West Exmoor, 19:00 08/09/2024, BBC1 London, 60 mins. 00:38:56-00:46:03. <a href="https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/clip/255747?bcast=141716161">https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/clip/255747?bcast=141716161</a> (Accessed 09 Sep 2024)</p>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">View towards Foreland Point from Selworthy.jpg</h3>
<p>Nilfanion, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.</p>
<p><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:View_towards_Foreland_Point_from_Selworthy.jpg">Wikimedia Commons file (download, summary, licensing)</a></p>
<p><a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0">CC BY-SA 3.0 licence description</a></p>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Thank you</h2>
<p>Many thanks to my friend Fiona MacPhee who kindly brought this feature to my attention.</p>
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<item>
<title>Ada Lovelace Day 2024</title>
<link>https://thinking.is.ed.ac.uk/ada-lovelace-day/ada-lovelace-day-2024/</link>
<comments>https://thinking.is.ed.ac.uk/ada-lovelace-day/ada-lovelace-day-2024/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Ewan McAndrew]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 10 Jul 2024 09:15:43 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[ALD24]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[booking]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[event]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://thinking.is.ed.ac.uk/ada-lovelace-day/?p=561</guid>
<description><![CDATA[On Tuesday 8th October 2024, the University’s Information Services team are celebrating Ada Lovelace Day 2024 which is an international celebration day of the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). All based in the Main Library, details will be confirmed when you book. As usual, we will have an afternoon of …]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>On Tuesday 8th October 2024, the University’s Information Services team are celebrating Ada Lovelace Day 2024 which is an <a href="https://findingada.com">international celebration day</a> of the achieveme</strong><strong>nts of women in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science,_technology,_engineering,_and_mathematics">science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM)</a>. All based in the Main Library, details will be confirmed when you book.</strong></p>
<p>As usual, we will have an afternoon of talks, activities and training planned for Ada Lovelace Day. Confirmed speakers:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.edinburgh-robotics.org/academics/helen-hastie">Professor Helen Hastie</a> – Professor of Human-Robot Interaction, University of Edinburgh</li>
<li><a href="https://www.ph.ed.ac.uk/people/victoria-martin">Professor Victoria Martin</a> – Professor in Particle Physics, University of Edinburgh</li>
<li><a href="https://informatics.ed.ac.uk/news-events/news/2024/student-inspired-by-tragedy-begins-robot-trial">Ebtehal Alotaibi</a> – Artificial Intelligence and Robotics PhD student, University of Edinburgh</li>
<li><a href="https://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/jeh/">Professor Jane Hillston</a> – Professor of Quantitative Modelling, University of Edinburgh</li>
</ul>
<p>Activities will include:</p>
<ul>
<li>Women in STEM colouring in</li>
<li>Badge and sticker making</li>
<li>Program your own robot in uCreate</li>
<li>uCreate MakerSpace induction (<a href="https://www.events.ed.ac.uk/index.cfm?event=book&scheduleId=74431">Book your place – separate to overall booking</a>)</li>
</ul>
<p>We’ll also have a Robotics themed Wikimedia Editathon after the talks in the afternoon.</p>
<p>Activities will start at 11, lunch at 12, talks at 12.30 and the editathon will start at 2.30.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.events.ed.ac.uk/index.cfm?eventssearch=Ada+Lovelace+Day&event=search&eventStart=0&eventProviderId=&cw_inChannelLink=1&cw_passThrough=marked">Book your place now!</a></p>
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<title>Edinburgh Women in STEM Trail</title>
<link>https://thinking.is.ed.ac.uk/ada-lovelace-day/edinburgh-women-in-stem-trail/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[cromans]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 03 Oct 2024 14:29:47 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[ALD24]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[ALD]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Women in STEM]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://thinking.is.ed.ac.uk/ada-lovelace-day/?p=600</guid>
<description><![CDATA[If you’re looking forward to next week’s Ada Lovelace Day 2024 events, here’s an appetiser for you. The Edinburgh Women in STEM Trail created for the University’s Ada Lovelace Day 2023 event has a new home on Curious Edinburgh, which offers mobile walking tours on Edinburgh’s scientific and community heritage. Visit the Curious Edinburgh webpage …]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<div class="wp-block-media-text has-media-on-the-right is-stacked-on-mobile"><div class="wp-block-media-text__content">
<p>If you’re looking forward to next week’s Ada Lovelace Day 2024 events, here’s an appetiser for you. </p>
<p>The Edinburgh Women in STEM Trail created for the University’s Ada Lovelace Day 2023 event has a new home on Curious Edinburgh, which offers mobile walking tours on Edinburgh’s scientific and community heritage. </p>
<p>Visit the <a href="http://curiousedinburgh.org/women-in-stem-trail/" data-type="link" data-id="http://curiousedinburgh.org/women-in-stem-trail/">Curious Edinburgh</a> webpage or get the app to see the tour in its new home.</p>
</div><figure class="wp-block-media-text__media"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="1024" height="875" src="https://thinking.is.ed.ac.uk/ada-lovelace-day/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2024/10/Curious-Edinburgh-Women-in-STEM-ALD24-1024x875.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-601 size-full" srcset="https://thinking.is.ed.ac.uk/ada-lovelace-day/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2024/10/Curious-Edinburgh-Women-in-STEM-ALD24-1024x875.jpg 1024w, https://thinking.is.ed.ac.uk/ada-lovelace-day/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2024/10/Curious-Edinburgh-Women-in-STEM-ALD24-300x256.jpg 300w, https://thinking.is.ed.ac.uk/ada-lovelace-day/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2024/10/Curious-Edinburgh-Women-in-STEM-ALD24-768x656.jpg 768w, https://thinking.is.ed.ac.uk/ada-lovelace-day/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2024/10/Curious-Edinburgh-Women-in-STEM-ALD24.jpg 1219w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure></div>
<p> What do a riot-causing medical student, a famous entomologist, a best-selling author-astronomer, an adventurous botanist and a pioneer of genetic engineering have in common? They are all women you can find out about in this tour, which features locations in Edinburgh connected to amazing women in STEM. Celebrate equality, diversity and inclusion in STEM by taking a look at Edinburgh-connected women who have made an impact in a wide range of STEM fields.</p>
<div class="wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex">
<div class="wp-block-button is-style-fill"><a class="wp-block-button__link has-black-color has-pale-cyan-blue-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-element-button" href="http://curiousedinburgh.org/women-in-stem-trail/"><strong>See the Edinburgh Women in STEM trail</strong></a></div>
</div>
]]></content:encoded>
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<item>
<title>Ada Lovelace on BBC Countryfile</title>
<link>https://thinking.is.ed.ac.uk/ada-lovelace-day/ada-lovelace-on-bbc-countryfile/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Stewart Lamb Cromar]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 09 Sep 2024 10:23:41 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[ALD24]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[BBC]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Countryfile]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Culbone Wood]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Exmoor]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[woodland]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://thinking.is.ed.ac.uk/ada-lovelace-day/?p=574</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The BBC Countryfile programme recently visited Culbone Woods on the north coast of Exmoor. Culbone Wood is part of the estate of Ashley Combe House, which Ada moved to after she married William King, who later becomes Lord Lovelace. BoB video clip (7m 7s) Box of Broadcasts (BoB) is an off-air recording and broadcast media …]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p><strong>The BBC Countryfile programme recently visited Culbone Woods on the north coast of Exmoor. Culbone Wood is part of the estate of Ashley Combe House, which Ada moved to after she married William King, who later becomes Lord Lovelace.</strong></p>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">BoB video clip (7m 7s)</h2>
<iframe src="https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/embed/clip/255747" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen="" style="width:640px;height:360px"></iframe>
<p>Box of Broadcasts (BoB) is an off-air recording and broadcast media archive service. BoB is available to all members of the University of Edinburgh.</p>
<p><a href="https://library.ed.ac.uk/ucreate/multimediafacilities/box-of-broadcasts/entitlement">How to access the service</a> (within UK only)</p>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Video summary</h3>
<p>Lucy Shipley, a Historic Environment Record Officer at Exmoor National Park tells us that all this woodland used to be owned by Ada Lovelace, and they are now trying to recreate the vision Ada had for this woodland.</p>
<p>This includes reinstating and restoring five one-mile long footpaths, stone walls and viewpoints.</p>
<p>Woodland officer Graeme McVittie details conservation work of the rare whitebeam tree and their attempts to propagate (Sorbus Margaretae) one particular mature specimen located at a focal point overlooking the Bristol Channel.</p>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Alternative viewing options</h3>
<p><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0022v6f/">View Countryfile on BBC iPlayer</a></p>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Image and video credits</h2>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">BBC Countryfile</h3>
<p>‘Clip from Countryfile: West Exmoor (Ada Lovelace)’, Countryfile, West Exmoor, 19:00 08/09/2024, BBC1 London, 60 mins. 00:38:56-00:46:03. <a href="https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/clip/255747?bcast=141716161">https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/clip/255747?bcast=141716161</a> (Accessed 09 Sep 2024)</p>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">View towards Foreland Point from Selworthy.jpg</h3>
<p>Nilfanion, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.</p>
<p><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:View_towards_Foreland_Point_from_Selworthy.jpg">Wikimedia Commons file (download, summary, licensing)</a></p>
<p><a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0">CC BY-SA 3.0 licence description</a></p>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Thank you</h2>
<p>Many thanks to my friend Fiona MacPhee who kindly brought this feature to my attention.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
</item>
<item>
<title>Ada Lovelace Day 2024</title>
<link>https://thinking.is.ed.ac.uk/ada-lovelace-day/ada-lovelace-day-2024/</link>
<comments>https://thinking.is.ed.ac.uk/ada-lovelace-day/ada-lovelace-day-2024/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Ewan McAndrew]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 10 Jul 2024 09:15:43 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[ALD24]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
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<category><![CDATA[event]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://thinking.is.ed.ac.uk/ada-lovelace-day/?p=561</guid>
<description><![CDATA[On Tuesday 8th October 2024, the University’s Information Services team are celebrating Ada Lovelace Day 2024 which is an international celebration day of the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). All based in the Main Library, details will be confirmed when you book. As usual, we will have an afternoon of …]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>On Tuesday 8th October 2024, the University’s Information Services team are celebrating Ada Lovelace Day 2024 which is an <a href="https://findingada.com">international celebration day</a> of the achieveme</strong><strong>nts of women in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science,_technology,_engineering,_and_mathematics">science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM)</a>. All based in the Main Library, details will be confirmed when you book.</strong></p>
<p>As usual, we will have an afternoon of talks, activities and training planned for Ada Lovelace Day. Confirmed speakers:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.edinburgh-robotics.org/academics/helen-hastie">Professor Helen Hastie</a> – Professor of Human-Robot Interaction, University of Edinburgh</li>
<li><a href="https://www.ph.ed.ac.uk/people/victoria-martin">Professor Victoria Martin</a> – Professor in Particle Physics, University of Edinburgh</li>
<li><a href="https://informatics.ed.ac.uk/news-events/news/2024/student-inspired-by-tragedy-begins-robot-trial">Ebtehal Alotaibi</a> – Artificial Intelligence and Robotics PhD student, University of Edinburgh</li>
<li><a href="https://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/jeh/">Professor Jane Hillston</a> – Professor of Quantitative Modelling, University of Edinburgh</li>
</ul>
<p>Activities will include:</p>
<ul>
<li>Women in STEM colouring in</li>
<li>Badge and sticker making</li>
<li>Program your own robot in uCreate</li>
<li>uCreate MakerSpace induction (<a href="https://www.events.ed.ac.uk/index.cfm?event=book&scheduleId=74431">Book your place – separate to overall booking</a>)</li>
</ul>
<p>We’ll also have a Robotics themed Wikimedia Editathon after the talks in the afternoon.</p>
<p>Activities will start at 11, lunch at 12, talks at 12.30 and the editathon will start at 2.30.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.events.ed.ac.uk/index.cfm?eventssearch=Ada+Lovelace+Day&event=search&eventStart=0&eventProviderId=&cw_inChannelLink=1&cw_passThrough=marked">Book your place now!</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
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<title>Edinburgh Women in STEM Trail</title>
<link>https://thinking.is.ed.ac.uk/ada-lovelace-day/edinburgh-women-in-stem-trail/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[cromans]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 03 Oct 2024 14:29:47 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[ALD24]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[ALD]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Women in STEM]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://thinking.is.ed.ac.uk/ada-lovelace-day/?p=600</guid>
<description><![CDATA[If you’re looking forward to next week’s Ada Lovelace Day 2024 events, here’s an appetiser for you. The Edinburgh Women in STEM Trail created for the University’s Ada Lovelace Day 2023 event has a new home on Curious Edinburgh, which offers mobile walking tours on Edinburgh’s scientific and community heritage. Visit the Curious Edinburgh webpage …]]></description>
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<p>If you’re looking forward to next week’s Ada Lovelace Day 2024 events, here’s an appetiser for you. </p>
<p>The Edinburgh Women in STEM Trail created for the University’s Ada Lovelace Day 2023 event has a new home on Curious Edinburgh, which offers mobile walking tours on Edinburgh’s scientific and community heritage. </p>
<p>Visit the <a href="http://curiousedinburgh.org/women-in-stem-trail/" data-type="link" data-id="http://curiousedinburgh.org/women-in-stem-trail/">Curious Edinburgh</a> webpage or get the app to see the tour in its new home.</p>
</div><figure class="wp-block-media-text__media"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="1024" height="875" src="https://thinking.is.ed.ac.uk/ada-lovelace-day/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2024/10/Curious-Edinburgh-Women-in-STEM-ALD24-1024x875.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-601 size-full" srcset="https://thinking.is.ed.ac.uk/ada-lovelace-day/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2024/10/Curious-Edinburgh-Women-in-STEM-ALD24-1024x875.jpg 1024w, https://thinking.is.ed.ac.uk/ada-lovelace-day/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2024/10/Curious-Edinburgh-Women-in-STEM-ALD24-300x256.jpg 300w, https://thinking.is.ed.ac.uk/ada-lovelace-day/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2024/10/Curious-Edinburgh-Women-in-STEM-ALD24-768x656.jpg 768w, https://thinking.is.ed.ac.uk/ada-lovelace-day/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2024/10/Curious-Edinburgh-Women-in-STEM-ALD24.jpg 1219w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure></div>
<p> What do a riot-causing medical student, a famous entomologist, a best-selling author-astronomer, an adventurous botanist and a pioneer of genetic engineering have in common? They are all women you can find out about in this tour, which features locations in Edinburgh connected to amazing women in STEM. Celebrate equality, diversity and inclusion in STEM by taking a look at Edinburgh-connected women who have made an impact in a wide range of STEM fields.</p>
<div class="wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex">
<div class="wp-block-button is-style-fill"><a class="wp-block-button__link has-black-color has-pale-cyan-blue-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-element-button" href="http://curiousedinburgh.org/women-in-stem-trail/"><strong>See the Edinburgh Women in STEM trail</strong></a></div>
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<title>Ada Lovelace on BBC Countryfile</title>
<link>https://thinking.is.ed.ac.uk/ada-lovelace-day/ada-lovelace-on-bbc-countryfile/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Stewart Lamb Cromar]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 09 Sep 2024 10:23:41 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[ALD24]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[BBC]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Countryfile]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Culbone Wood]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Exmoor]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[woodland]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://thinking.is.ed.ac.uk/ada-lovelace-day/?p=574</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The BBC Countryfile programme recently visited Culbone Woods on the north coast of Exmoor. Culbone Wood is part of the estate of Ashley Combe House, which Ada moved to after she married William King, who later becomes Lord Lovelace. BoB video clip (7m 7s) Box of Broadcasts (BoB) is an off-air recording and broadcast media …]]></description>
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<p><strong>The BBC Countryfile programme recently visited Culbone Woods on the north coast of Exmoor. Culbone Wood is part of the estate of Ashley Combe House, which Ada moved to after she married William King, who later becomes Lord Lovelace.</strong></p>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">BoB video clip (7m 7s)</h2>
<iframe src="https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/embed/clip/255747" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen="" style="width:640px;height:360px"></iframe>
<p>Box of Broadcasts (BoB) is an off-air recording and broadcast media archive service. BoB is available to all members of the University of Edinburgh.</p>
<p><a href="https://library.ed.ac.uk/ucreate/multimediafacilities/box-of-broadcasts/entitlement">How to access the service</a> (within UK only)</p>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Video summary</h3>
<p>Lucy Shipley, a Historic Environment Record Officer at Exmoor National Park tells us that all this woodland used to be owned by Ada Lovelace, and they are now trying to recreate the vision Ada had for this woodland.</p>
<p>This includes reinstating and restoring five one-mile long footpaths, stone walls and viewpoints.</p>
<p>Woodland officer Graeme McVittie details conservation work of the rare whitebeam tree and their attempts to propagate (Sorbus Margaretae) one particular mature specimen located at a focal point overlooking the Bristol Channel.</p>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Alternative viewing options</h3>
<p><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0022v6f/">View Countryfile on BBC iPlayer</a></p>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Image and video credits</h2>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">BBC Countryfile</h3>
<p>‘Clip from Countryfile: West Exmoor (Ada Lovelace)’, Countryfile, West Exmoor, 19:00 08/09/2024, BBC1 London, 60 mins. 00:38:56-00:46:03. <a href="https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/clip/255747?bcast=141716161">https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/clip/255747?bcast=141716161</a> (Accessed 09 Sep 2024)</p>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">View towards Foreland Point from Selworthy.jpg</h3>
<p>Nilfanion, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.</p>
<p><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:View_towards_Foreland_Point_from_Selworthy.jpg">Wikimedia Commons file (download, summary, licensing)</a></p>
<p><a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0">CC BY-SA 3.0 licence description</a></p>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Thank you</h2>
<p>Many thanks to my friend Fiona MacPhee who kindly brought this feature to my attention.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
</item>
<item>
<title>Ada Lovelace Day 2024</title>
<link>https://thinking.is.ed.ac.uk/ada-lovelace-day/ada-lovelace-day-2024/</link>
<comments>https://thinking.is.ed.ac.uk/ada-lovelace-day/ada-lovelace-day-2024/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Ewan McAndrew]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 10 Jul 2024 09:15:43 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[ALD24]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[booking]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[event]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://thinking.is.ed.ac.uk/ada-lovelace-day/?p=561</guid>
<description><![CDATA[On Tuesday 8th October 2024, the University’s Information Services team are celebrating Ada Lovelace Day 2024 which is an international celebration day of the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). All based in the Main Library, details will be confirmed when you book. As usual, we will have an afternoon of …]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>On Tuesday 8th October 2024, the University’s Information Services team are celebrating Ada Lovelace Day 2024 which is an <a href="https://findingada.com">international celebration day</a> of the achieveme</strong><strong>nts of women in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science,_technology,_engineering,_and_mathematics">science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM)</a>. All based in the Main Library, details will be confirmed when you book.</strong></p>
<p>As usual, we will have an afternoon of talks, activities and training planned for Ada Lovelace Day. Confirmed speakers:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.edinburgh-robotics.org/academics/helen-hastie">Professor Helen Hastie</a> – Professor of Human-Robot Interaction, University of Edinburgh</li>
<li><a href="https://www.ph.ed.ac.uk/people/victoria-martin">Professor Victoria Martin</a> – Professor in Particle Physics, University of Edinburgh</li>
<li><a href="https://informatics.ed.ac.uk/news-events/news/2024/student-inspired-by-tragedy-begins-robot-trial">Ebtehal Alotaibi</a> – Artificial Intelligence and Robotics PhD student, University of Edinburgh</li>
<li><a href="https://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/jeh/">Professor Jane Hillston</a> – Professor of Quantitative Modelling, University of Edinburgh</li>
</ul>
<p>Activities will include:</p>
<ul>
<li>Women in STEM colouring in</li>
<li>Badge and sticker making</li>
<li>Program your own robot in uCreate</li>
<li>uCreate MakerSpace induction (<a href="https://www.events.ed.ac.uk/index.cfm?event=book&scheduleId=74431">Book your place – separate to overall booking</a>)</li>
</ul>
<p>We’ll also have a Robotics themed Wikimedia Editathon after the talks in the afternoon.</p>
<p>Activities will start at 11, lunch at 12, talks at 12.30 and the editathon will start at 2.30.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.events.ed.ac.uk/index.cfm?eventssearch=Ada+Lovelace+Day&event=search&eventStart=0&eventProviderId=&cw_inChannelLink=1&cw_passThrough=marked">Book your place now!</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
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<title>Who needs awards anyway!</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/who-needs-awards-anyway/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/who-needs-awards-anyway/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[mblaney]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 17 Feb 2026 08:59:32 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorised]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam-feed]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[short course platform]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=663</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 2</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>The Short Course Platform project team were nominated for 2 awards at the 2026 IS Staff Recognition Awards. The team of the year award and contribution to the community award and unfortunately we didn’t win! Firstly, congratulations to all the winners. It’s nice to see teams and individuals get recognition for the work they do […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 2</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>
<p>The Short Course Platform project team were nominated for 2 awards at the 2026 IS Staff Recognition Awards. The team of the year award and contribution to the community award and unfortunately we didn’t win! Firstly, congratulations to all the winners. It’s nice to see teams and individuals get recognition for the work they do above and beyond to accomplish some amazing tasks. Secondly. we were robbed<br /><br />We had drafted a speech (after all the wild celebrations, kissing the badge, knee slides and general mocking and aggressive finger pointing at the opposition) and whilst we didn’t get the opportunity to read it out I still think it’s worth sharing as a last thank you for those involved in delivering the short course platform. It’s the end of a programme but the beginning of a new service.<br /><br /><br />The Speech:<br /><br />The short course platform was a programme that started just under 4 years ago. It was after the closure of the distance learning at scale programme which may not have been the burning success we wanted however it had taught us valuable lessons which ultimately led us to the successful launch of the short course platform.<br /><br />I think what I want to flag, is that sometimes things don’t work out the way you wanted or expected , but that’s ok, learning and evolving is part of our roles and the sweet doesn’t taste as sweet without the sour.<br /><br />We would like to acknowledge all the support and time provided by stakeholders across the institution who attended numerous, steering groups, boards, demo sessions and various meetings. Their patience and time have ultimately steered and supported us to deliver a successful programme and sets of services used by over 7k learners accessing over 1k courses so far.<br /><br />We would not be accepting this award without the hard work and down right determination of some key folk who have worked collaboratively across LTW and Apps. On behalf of the team we need to thank section heads Stuart and Karen for their invaluable support. Andrews team for delivering a snazzy shopfront, Lauren and Fiona’s team for all their hard work in designing course, websites, an amazing spoint hub and training just to name a few things. Legal for doing legal stuff and Neil for helping us understand it. Viki Galts team for everything accessibility. All the PMs that have organised us over the last few years and Ellen who got us over the line. Cassie for organising groups, boards, papers and making sense of are wittering’s in meetings. Adam Scott and Gordon Forbes for guiding us through the madness of finance. My team for delivering 5 technical services and all the related compliance and process fun that all involve. Lastly, I want to thank Nikki Stuart for the drive and support for the delivery of the platform. <br /><br />The short course programme felt like a family, dysfunctional at times but aren’t all families/projects.</p>
<span class="uoe-published-time uoe-seo-hidden-area">
<time datetime="2026-02-17" itemprop="dateModified">Feb 17, 2026</time>
</span>
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<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
</item>
<item>
<title>2025: The year SCP took off</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/2025-the-year-scp-took-off/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/2025-the-year-scp-took-off/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[mblaney]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 22 Dec 2025 16:15:55 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Short Courses Platform]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam-feed]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=573</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 3</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>That time of year again when I need to pause, breathe and look back at 2025 and remind myself to reflect but this year feels a bit different. First thing, launching the new short course platform, which includes 5 services (not 6 or 7……that one is for all the parents), numerous integrations (one being online […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 3</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>That time of year again when I need to pause, breathe and look back at 2025 and remind myself to reflect but this year feels a bit different.</p>
<p>First thing, launching the new short course platform, which includes 5 services (not 6 or 7……that one is for all the parents), numerous integrations (one being online payment platform so everyone panics about financial transactions), compliance (privacy policies, terms and conditions for a new service), processes (we have the tech but how do we use it, support it, manage it, update it, access it, review it, communicate it, approve it etc) has been challenging.</p>
<p>I love a challenge but 2025 has been a tough one hence my reflection feeling different if not slightly weird. The pressure and expectation to have all the answers to various elements of a new platform (technical and non-technical) at stages throughout this year has been difficult to manage.</p>
<p>Part of this is my own expectation to have the answers or simply know everything. Part of this was my own disappointment and frustration when I didn’t. Part of this is the pressure cooker of delivering a new platform across the institution during a period of financial instability. It’s a lot of parts (some I haven’t included) but in reality, the only part I can fully control is me. Turning off a bit more sounds like an easy solution but it felt impossible. I honestly look back and am thankful for my colleagues who have supported me in 2025. SCP took a chunk of me and getting it out the door nearly broke me.</p>
<p>Friday emails (I don’t work Fridays) and teams conversations kept me in cycle of checking in when I should have been checking out. Don’t get me wrong, my role is to deliver and support services so it’s part of the JD and its with great joy the teams have delivered but the paranoid version of me questions “what did I do”. I know the answer but when things start to go wrong it leads to darker place. Am I mansplaining, are the right people included, what did that person mean, we agreed this but its changed, why?, why am I not invited to that meeting? Constant thoughts swirling through my head when in reality as the project grew you need to let go as it’s impossible to do it all. Placing trust in others but more importantly practising what you preach, sharing the load (like Samwise Gangee wanted to help Frodo by carrying the one ring into the fires of mount doom……), be transparent and listen.</p>
<p>I enjoy the challenge, I love pushing myself but I don’t have all the answers, I get stuff wrong and I am only 1 person. Being comfortable with being uncomfortable has been a big mentality change. It helps when your surrounded by supportive people.<br />
Practically, I also installed an app blocker on my phone which makes accessing Teams and checking emails on a Friday a living nightmare as my phone makes me jump through multiple hurdles to even login to Teams (which is a kinda great!).</p>
<p>Learning and playing more with APIs, agile methodologies, Power BI, headless CMS, resource planning, release planning, power apps, power flow, Canvas, virtual meetings, communications, working groups, BAU are things that have all of a sudden merged into my vocabulary over the past 12 months. Lessons learnt is a term I am looking forward to using less over 2026…..although it’s part of however they are key to the of reflecting and being honest (as much as you can be).</p>
<p>SCP launched in June and so far we have over 450 courses which have ran just under 1000 times, 7k learners and over 11,500 enrolments which have either been via online card transactions or backend fun orders. The platform was a massive task with contributions from various teams in IS and across the institution. Listening and adapting the platform or the requirements has been pivotal to launching a platform that is starting to gain traction amongst schools.</p>
<p>Sadly, it will be the last year in Argyle House or as some may recognise the building as the police station in Dept Q (Netflix). Looking at a castle every day, having easy access to meeting rooms, seemingly always being on or close to a film set (T2, Frankenstein, Avengers) will be things I will miss. Listening to the jazz folk jam under the bridge at castle terrace will definitely not be something I will miss. We move in March and I wil miss the eye sore.</p>
<p>Overall, 2025 will always be the year we launched and I am proud of what we achieved. 2026 already has private courses, programmes, website enhancements and more on the agenda with less access to Teams and a bit more confidence in myself to get things wrong and the odd time right. Anyway, this is for me not you but if you feel the same sometimes, talk to someone. It does help.</p>
<p> <br />
<span class="uoe-published-time uoe-seo-hidden-area"><br />
<time datetime="2025-12-22" itemprop="dateModified">Dec 22, 2025</time><br />
</span></p>
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<wfw:commentRss>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/2025-the-year-scp-took-off/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
</item>
<item>
<title>Short Courses Platform Implementation and Me</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/short-courseplatform-implementation-and-me/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/short-courseplatform-implementation-and-me/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[mblaney]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 07 Aug 2025 14:07:26 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Short Courses Platform]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorised]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam-feed]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[short course platform]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=555</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 4</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>The new short course platform is alive! First thing you might ask is ‘What is a short course?’. Well, these are courses that enable learners around the world to gain a new skills, expand their interests in a topic, or fulfil professional development needs. Secondly, go have a look at the shiny new UoE developed […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 4</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>The new short course platform is alive!</p>
<p>First thing you might ask is ‘What is a short course?’. Well, these are courses that enable learners around the world to gain a new skills, expand their interests in a topic, or fulfil professional development needs.</p>
<p>Secondly, go have a look at the shiny new <a href="https://shortcourses.ed.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">UoE developed short courses website</a> that allows you to browse, view details on a course, register, pay (if costed), sign up to mailing lists, receive automated comms on the course and access course material via a dedicated VLE/LMS or whatever letters you like to call an online learning platform (it can do more but I don’t want to spoil the fun).</p>
<p>3 years of my life have been dedicated to launching this set of services and its been a roller coaster. but for today lets briefly talk about the set of service that make up the short course platform. This blog won’t cover all the amazing work done by colleagues for course design, branding, marketing etc but will discuss the services (platforms) that make up the short course platform.</p>
<p><strong>The background (always important to tell the back story)</strong></p>
<p>Short courses are offered by various schools across the institution and have been managed and taught via numerous platforms and usually involved a lot of disjointed workflows for learners, teacher and administrators. Short courses didn’t have a dedicated service, we had a gap in the digital eco-system and learners were managed in silo via over complicated workflows and taught on platforms that maybe shouldn’t have been used or weren’t the best for delivering or supporting learning.</p>
<p>Quite a conundrum but not a new one to many of us. Start the business analysis, market analysis, funding applications, procurement and contract sign off (I skipped a lot of steps but that’s another blog) and we get to the fun stuff, implementation.</p>
<p><strong><br />
The services (get ready for learning technology bingo)</strong></p>
<p>The obvious ones are a <strong>Virtual learning environment</strong> so we can facilitate online, hybrid, and in person teaching and learning. The university loves collecting VLEs and at one point I think we had completed the sticker album and had a few swaps available (mostly Moodles). An early decision was to consider a standalone VLE that would separate learners and students and for an institution that has spent years consolidating VLEs this was the first big decision.</p>
<p>It was clear looking at the options this would be more beneficial technically and practically. Technically VLEs all share very similar elements and for short courses we would being use a subset of the tools available but we needed a reliable and stable platform that could support us as the service grew.</p>
<p>Practically we wanted learners to create and manage their own accounts which also reduces the admin burden on courses who may have been managing users manually. Splitting the audience allowed us more flexibility to offer a tailored learning experience to learners but (and its a biggie) we were very wary that we would be introducing a new platform which teachers and administrators would need to learn. This comes back to my initial point VLEs under the hood do have similarities and we understood the risk. We implemented Canvas by Instructure.</p>
<p>We also needed a shopfront which would be a multifaceted tool (the swiz army knife of the overall service) that included (deep breathe):</p>
<ul>
<li>an online tool to advertise the courses</li>
<li>a payment integration</li>
<li>course management tool</li>
<li>order management</li>
<li>user management</li>
<li>access to all the data</li>
<li>all had to be accessible and compliant</li>
</ul>
<p>I won’t list anymore but you hopefully get the gist and understand it was an very important part of the jigsaw. Internally we have referred to this platform as the <strong>user, course, order content management system</strong> (it rolls of the tongue). Looking around we didn’t have anything in house that could do the above so we again did the business analysis, market analysis, spoke to some great institutions to understand products available. We implemented a Eduframe by Drieam which is used by a few other UK Universities.</p>
<p>Eduframe did come with a WordPress based website however my development colleagues flagged concerns (they have been burned by WordPress a few times). We then looked at Drupal (which is used for the University website) however again it didn’t meet are long list of requirements. So we plonked for developing a<strong> bespoke website using the next,js framework</strong>. That will be its own blog like all the other services discussed in this post but a big thank you to Andrew Millington for all his support and advise to get the website off the ground.</p>
<p><strong>What about data!</strong> We love data so needed to ensure we could access all the data to allow for pretty visuals to be created and large numbers to be shared on professional media channels. Eduframe has as set of APIs that have allowed us to a Power BI App (they have their own app but we love developing stuff), Canvas has in product analytics and Canvas Data 2 and we use GA4 for web analytics. Its alot of data.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><figure id="attachment_560" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-560" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-560" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/wp-content/uploads/sites/65/2025/08/PXL_20250205_172952694-300x226.jpg" alt="whiteboard with my brain" width="300" height="226" srcset="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/wp-content/uploads/sites/65/2025/08/PXL_20250205_172952694-300x226.jpg 300w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/wp-content/uploads/sites/65/2025/08/PXL_20250205_172952694-1024x771.jpg 1024w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/wp-content/uploads/sites/65/2025/08/PXL_20250205_172952694-768x578.jpg 768w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/wp-content/uploads/sites/65/2025/08/PXL_20250205_172952694-1536x1157.jpg 1536w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/wp-content/uploads/sites/65/2025/08/PXL_20250205_172952694-2048x1542.jpg 2048w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/wp-content/uploads/sites/65/2025/08/PXL_20250205_172952694-1275x960.jpg 1275w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-560" class="wp-caption-text">Data Data Data brain dump on a whiteboard</figcaption></figure></p>
<p>So how do staff access the platform without needing a separate login or going through a long and convoluted process to get access to the platform? We created a <strong>teacher admin app</strong> using the Eduframe APIs that syncs with the central user management system. This allows admins to enable access to the short course platform with the assurance that when staff leave accounts are updated. Staff login using their UoE account so don’t need to find that bit of paper with a password (I am joking…).</p>
<p>So, to summarise the below are the key services that make up the short course platform.</p>
<ul>
<li>Virtual learning environment</li>
<li>User, course, order content management system</li>
<li>Bespoke website using the next,js framework</li>
<li>Data reporting tools</li>
<li>Teacher admin app</li>
</ul>
<p>This list does not cover the payment integrations, the numerous integrations we have with tools in canvas and the numerous workflows required to support courses (book, apply, private, waiting lists etc) but hopefully it provides an overview of the services we have implemented that allow us to successfully support and manage the short course platform at scale.</p>
<p>So on reflection 3 years ago I was blissfully paddle boarding on Loch Ness not knowing what was lurking beneath, bit like the implementation of any new service.<br />
<span class="uoe-published-time uoe-seo-hidden-area"><br />
<time datetime="2025-08-07" itemprop="dateModified">Aug 7, 2025</time><br />
</span></p>
]]></content:encoded>
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<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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<item>
<title>Failure and me</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/failure-and-me/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/failure-and-me/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[mblaney]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 13 Mar 2025 08:43:30 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorised]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam-feed]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[service]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=544</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 2</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>The past few weeks have reminded me that failure is a part of everything we do. Whether it’s in our professional lives or personal pursuits, from breaking an application to playing a game incorrectly and not winning, failure happens. The term ‘failure’ sounds harsh, but for me, it is about becoming comfortable with it and […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 2</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>
<p>The past few weeks have reminded me that failure is a part of everything we do. Whether it’s in our professional lives or personal pursuits, from breaking an application to playing a game incorrectly and not winning, failure happens. The term ‘failure’ sounds harsh, but for me, it is about becoming comfortable with it and ensuring we mitigate its effects.</p>
<p>As we approach the launch of a new platform at the university, it is difficult not to reflect on missed opportunities or things we could have done differently. I need to remind myself that when we started, we didn’t have the wealth of knowledge that we have now, gained over the last 18 months. It’s challenging for me not to get caught up in a “failure spiral,” which can have negative consequences both professionally and personally.</p>
<p>I listen to a few sports podcasts, and a quote by Samuel Beckett came up:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better – Samuel Beckett</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I love this quote! Failure, when rolling out not just one, but five new applications, along with brand new processes, creating a new service, introducing new technology, new workflows, training, understanding the present, planning for the future, onboarding, involvement in boards and steering groups, and dealing with compliance—how can we not fail? Therefore, we need to get comfortable with failure, but try to “fail better” by:</p>
<ol>
<li>Accepting that it has happened, and for me, it’s part of the job. Get comfortable.</li>
<li>Reviewing what happened by getting the facts.</li>
<li>Understanding why it happened, which sometimes involves digging deeper than the facts.</li>
<li>Developing new strategies so we do not fail in the same way again or so we can fail better.</li>
<li>Implementing a process or workflow to help us, which is documented.</li>
<li>Communicating consistently in all the above steps. It’s not easy, but it’s key.</li>
</ol>
<p>Obviously, we want to deliver a service that is perfect, but in my 20 years of working in the tech center, I have yet to find an application that hasn’t changed, that hasn’t been rebranded, or that hasn’t required UI changes, that still is exactly the same as it was when it launched. Look at Apple; they love to tell us it’s perfect, but what they define as “flawed perfection” means it’s constantly changing.</p>
<p>Accepting failure doesn’t mean we sit back with popcorn and watch the “wheels fall off.” Failing better, for me, involves a lot of work to ensure we minimize failure (if possible) and are prepared when it happens (again, sometimes we aren’t, as it could be a new workflow, patch, cyber attack, user requirement, or edge case scenario).</p>
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<time datetime="2025-03-13" itemprop="dateModified">Mar 13, 2025</time>
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<title>2024: the year of short courses & the edge!</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/2024-the-year-of-short-courses-the-edge/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/2024-the-year-of-short-courses-the-edge/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[mblaney]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:18:56 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorised]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam-feed]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[short course platform]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=529</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 4</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>This is my reflection on my 2024. It’s for me but you can come along for a few minutes. First reflection, why have I not blogged more this year! Simple answer its been hectic but I feel like I could have reflected on a more regular basis the 12 month journey. Second reflection, what a […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 4</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>This is my reflection on my 2024. It’s for me but you can come along for a few minutes.</p>
<p>First reflection, why have I not blogged more this year! Simple answer its been hectic but I feel like I could have reflected on a more regular basis the 12 month journey.</p>
<p>Second reflection, what a year!</p>
<p>By the end of 2023 we signed the contract with Drieam (who support the learner, course and order management platform called <a href="https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Feduframe.com%2F&data=05%7C02%7C%7Cc57c79c049f74fc4222608dd3536802c%7C2e9f06b016694589878910a06934dc61%7C0%7C0%7C638725230381480477%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=qiL39YC%2B0JyNdVLoKhQQo%2FHuTFRPszgLbUrHKTbRDpQ%3D&reserved=0">eduframe.com</a>) and Instructure (who host the learning platform called Canvas <a href="https://www.instructure.com">https://www.instructure.com</a>) to help us deliver the new Short Course Platform. It had taken 6 months of procurement and legal wrangling to get the contract sorted but in December 2023 it was finally signed. The short course platform will allow the public to browse courses via a web site, create an account, pay (if costed), enrol, learn, maybe get a digital badge and hopefully come back and repeat the process.</p>
<p>The platform aims to emulate a lot of the learnings from the core VLE projects including a consistent user experience, replacing laborious and admin heavy workarounds and having a clear purpose/strategy/vision. It has been a gap in the learning eco-system for a while and we have seen schools/depts bend tools and policies to meet their needs.</p>
<p>Interestingly with the current issues in HE we are starting to see a few other institutions spin up similar platforms. When we started this journey 2 years ago only a few examples existed but with institutions keen to explore additional revenue tracks we have seen similar platforms come online but that’s a different blog.</p>
<p>Like any new service we are starting fresh, which is great! But as soon as we started to update stakeholders and share the news more widely that we had signed a contract then comes the big questions…..when will it be available? Can we use it? How do I use it? Is it compliant? Will the learners like it? What is a learner? Can I show it to my friends? What is a short course?</p>
<p>It can feel like a landslide but I am lucky to work with people who are very supportive, open to ideas and like me love a plan(ner).The service isn’t just one new service, its 4 new platforms, training, guidance, marketing, communication, stakeholder engagement (one off and ongoing), terms of use, legal, compliant handling, data protection, accessibility, reporting (another new service so make that 5), terminology and the list goes on and on.</p>
<p>Spinning up a new service involves working with colleagues inside the department and making sure we are all confident or if not approachable to ask questions. Sounds easy but it’s probably the toughest part, the people who are the face of change need to speak the same language or stakeholders will lose confidence pretty quickly and that can cause tension in teams (who said what, why, when, did they not read the 1000 page memo).</p>
<p>Change agents also need to change. The ability to listen and change what we have thought about, developed or delivered is also key but with the caveat it must be based on facts. I listen to sports podcasts and was really intrigued by a football manager saying the team needed to focus on the team’s core goals (playing good football) and not be driven by the edge (bad passes and mistakes). That edge in service delivery can sometimes be a blocker to progress especially when creating a new service. Evaluating the use case and categorising it is key to understanding impact and priority especially when deadline is involved.</p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong use cases generated by stakeholders need to be listened to and evaluated but it’s the teams requirement to review and categories. Sometimes its not popular with stakeholders however I am a firm believer that services are never perfect. They evolve as does the requirements, the users (all of them) and the underlying technology. Services deliver to the masses and aim to meet all requirements however I have struggled to work on a service that doesn’t have a wish list or a product development roadmap.</p>
<p>The quicker you get comfortable with the edge the better.</p>
<p>My role in the project is technical lead but I feel more like a troubleshooter and negotiator. I have had to get to grips with 4 new bit of tech (content management system, payment portal, new VLE, a website developed on Next.js, a user provisioning tools) and help design a 5<sup>th</sup> (data reporting tool), negotiate with others use of the tools, design, onboarding for early adopter, project timelines and I am mentally knackered. Thankfully (again) a good team and me being very open about forgetting stuff and asking for reminders or checking my notes (which have merged into teams chats) has helped keep me on track. A technical lead sounds like someone who knows it all and I don’t but that’s ok. My role is offering workflows and options to a problem whilst speaking to the experts to help me map it out. Last Monday I had no clue on GA4 and now we have a plan to debug tags. Last Jan I started to play with APIs of the new platforms and now not a day goes by when I don’t have postman open and I am trying to figure out something.</p>
<p>2024 has been a blast but it’s been difficult. The projects have been challenging and that’s not just the tech. My confidence has taken a bit of a bashing along the way but its not personal. I will look back when we finally go live in May 2025 and think 2024 is the year we made a lot of decisions, I learned a little bit more about me and I am sharing some with you as it may help and remembe0 for any service its not the destination as there is never a destination, its just one big journey.<br />
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<time datetime="2024-12-23" itemprop="dateModified">Dec 23, 2024</time><br />
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<title>Canvas UK & Ireland User Group December 2024</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/canvas-uk-ireland-user-group-december-2024/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/canvas-uk-ireland-user-group-december-2024/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[mblaney]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 09 Dec 2024 17:01:56 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorised]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[ai]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[canvas]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam-feed]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[sd]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=521</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 2</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>A user group is a great way to get the latest product gossip from the supplier and more importantly other institutions. They are great ways to network, get inspiration from peers and generally gauge where we are in the current implementation compared to others (plus free pastries).The Canvas UK & Ireland user group was hosted […]]]></description>
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<p>A user group is a great way to get the latest product gossip from the supplier and more importantly other institutions. They are great ways to network, get inspiration from peers and generally gauge where we are in the current implementation compared to others (plus free pastries).<br />The Canvas UK & Ireland user group was hosted by Manchester University. The day covered the Canvas roadmap, rubric adoption at medical schools, institutions migrating to canvas from another suppliers, break out sessions on analytics and administration of a VLE and more however there seemed to be one theme that was ever present in sessions, AI.</p>
<p>The first presenter represented FE and discussed how they had developed AI tools based on the Azure Framework (Microsoft) to create assessment feedback for students, assessment feedback summaries for staff and AI assistants to support students. The session highlighted how coding light tools can be developed using existing frameworks, APIs and a lot of engagement with users. The session generated a lot of questions including environmental impact, opt-in/out, academic integrity, quality and assurance of feedback etc. These questions aren’t new but I feel like we have moved from a space where we questioned AI and how it would be included in education to a new space where institutions themselves are developing tools.</p>
<p>With Open AI and the rapid evolution of LLMs suppliers are rushing to squeeze AI into their applications but at what risk? And why? I feel like we are partly to blame as we like new stuff but also want to improve the staff and student experience. It feels like AI might be the new thing that will solve all our problems (did someone saying Learning Analytics…). Like any new tech and especially with LLMs we also need to factor that these cohorts may have a certain level of expectation that AI is integrated into their professional, academic or learning journey. My fear is where should it be integrated and why?</p>
<p><br />New stuff is always fun for me but as someone who works with technology, I also need to consider the why? What is this bringing to the user’s experience? Do we have a gap? Does it improve the users experience? Any repercussions we need to consider? Speaking to design colleagues and stakeholders should drive the change and with AI I don’t know how much of a conversation is happening with users. Don’t get me wrong we need to start somewhere, and basic support bots being used to support users (like <a href="https://information-services.ed.ac.uk/computing/comms-and-collab/elm">ELM</a> or <a href="https://edhelp.ed.ac.uk/">EDHelp</a>) help us grow knowledge and at the same time they practically allow end-users to interact and maybe think about additional functionality they would like to see included in these tools or where they can envision these tools supporting them.</p>
<p>Instructure will be releasing more AI functionality and already have tools like Insights which utilises aspects of AI so:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>‘buckle your seat Dorothy, cause Kanvas is going bye-bye!’ – Cypher, The Matrix.<br /><br /></p>
</blockquote>
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<time datetime="2024-12-09" itemprop="dateModified">Dec 9, 2024</time>
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<title>2023 Reflection</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/2023-reflection/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/2023-reflection/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[mblaney]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 21 Dec 2023 09:46:14 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorised]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[digital badges]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam-feed]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[short course platform]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=497</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 3</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>It has been a while since I sat down with my thoughts. I have been talking about making time to blog and reflect and today is the day! If you’re new here, hello! This will not be an ideological masterpiece or reference books I read related to the role but more a personal reflection for […]]]></description>
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<p>It has been a while since I sat down with my thoughts. I have been talking about making time to blog and reflect and today is the day! If you’re new here, hello! This will not be an ideological masterpiece or reference books I read related to the role but more a personal reflection for me on me, but you can read it (just don’t tell anyone!).</p>
<p>My 2023 will be the year of procurement, digital badges, and supporting the team (bored reading about AI so omitting it until Jan 2024).<br /><br />I have previously blogged about digital badges and how they have emerged from the pit of edu-tech doom and evolved into something that has value for issuers, earners and anyone else who is interested in the recognition of skills, achievements or competencies. I have also talked about replacing standalone credit that equates to nothing in the real world and longer term how institutions will need to offer digital versions of credit as the death of paper accelerates. I get it that people will still want to frame awards etc I just think that may be a minority.<br /><br />The team has done a fantastic job completing a procurement and establishing a service to support a 3-year pilot which we hope will extend with the pending new fun aka the short course platform. In just over 6 months we have issued over 1.5k badges, created and supported a badge governance process, created numerous guides and snazzy webpages, and planned to experiment with badge pathways in 2024. If you are interested have a peek at the webpage: <a href="https://edin.ac/3Waglnj">https://edin.ac/3Waglnj</a> and yes that is a badger wearing a jacket with badges (they are called Bo the badger).</p>
<p><br />I can only see badge popularity and use cases growing however I have concerns regarding the quality of products in the market, cost (platform prices vary vastly) and openness of underlying badge frameworks and portability. With Instructure hoovering up Badgr and now Parchment a big player is making an early move and the wider impact will be interesting to watch.</p>
<p>Procurements are always interesting and when the outcome is a brand new service it’s even more ‘exciting’. At this point I am going to read your mind, are you thinking something along the lines of…</p>
<p>‘Wow Wow, Myles is that a typo!, has the eggnog gone to your head!’ </p>
<p>The answer is no, in a weird and slightly concerning way it’s been fascinating to work with the project team to collaborate, collate, refine and produce a vision with key stakeholders for a new centrally supported platform that will allow the public to view CPD, PPD and any other short courses. pay (if required) and access a dedicated learning platform or be sent any relevant course information. </p>
<p>Ok, in reality, the devil is in the details and creating clear and concise questions that suppliers need to answer is a challenge. Interpreting those answers and scoring them is a bigger challenge especially then the question set is over 100 questions! Then agreeing to scores and feedback is a bigger challenge! It’s like Mortal Combat but without the combat as that would involve HR (however sometimes I think it would have been quicker to just have the combat).</p>
<p>So why did we need to go into the combat ring of procurement? Currently, these types of courses are delivered via numerous platforms, can be an admin burden to support staff, provide an inconsistent and sometimes poor learner experience and may be breaching software licenses (moving on swiftly). To summarise it’s very Edinburgh. everyone is doing something different. So, we proposed a change as we saw a clear gap and after lots of conversations, papers, presentations, and acronym searching we secured support from senior management and a budget from the institution. Instructure and Drieam won the procurement, and I look forward to working with them in 2024.</p>
<p>I manage a small team and also deputize for the section head. I enjoy both and am fortunate to be surrounded by people I respect and enjoy working with each day but this year has taught me to be a human first and a manager second. Work-life balance has always been important to me, especially with a family and growing up in a family where that balance did not exist and witnessing the impact on people’s mental and physical health has always been a valuable lesson to me.</p>
<p>I work hard as Myles Blaney team manager, technical lead, senior service manager, internal consultant, HR rep for the team, information security rep for the section, procurement mediator, badge specialist, and everything else in between. So, I need time to be Myles Blaney gym enthusiast, bike rider, Newcastle United fan, MMA fan, gamer, husband, dad, son, brother, dad taxi, family event planner, and spectator to name a few. I am lucky to have control of my balance due to my supportive manager but I also need to take control of it when I have it and not to quickly check or reply to a ping in teams.</p>
<p>Lastly, AI! It’s here to stay and we are only at the base of the hype curve. I have dabbled this year with Karen into what other institutions are doing and it’s another blog I will post in Jan 2024. Exciting and terrifying at the same time but not new just quicker, faster and better.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
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<time datetime="2023-12-21" itemprop="dateModified">Dec 21, 2023</time>
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<title>Canvas Credentials: the new open digital badge platform</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/canvas-credentials-the-new-open-digital-badge-platform/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/canvas-credentials-the-new-open-digital-badge-platform/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[mblaney]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 30 Mar 2023 08:32:31 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorised]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[digital badges]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam-feed]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[instructure]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=482</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 2</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>Finally after months of scoring procurement questions, analysing costs and negotiation I am pleased to announce that we will be providing open digital badges via Canvas Credentials (formally called Badgr).This is the start of a 3 year pilot to understand the value of digital badges for all stakeholders. Obviously for the earners aka the people […]]]></description>
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<p>Finally after months of scoring procurement questions, analysing costs and negotiation I am pleased to announce that we will be providing open digital badges via Canvas Credentials (formally called Badgr).<br /><br />This is the start of a 3 year pilot to understand the value of digital badges for all stakeholders. Obviously for the earners aka the people awarded a badge(s), will it help motivate them? will they share it on digital CVs or social media? will they even click on the email and accept the badge? what about employability? how do they value a digital badge?<br /><br />How about issuers aka the schools that award the badge, is the platform easy to use? does it allow them the flexibility to develop and deliver standalone and badges which are interlinked (like a pathway)? what about resource for managing all things badges? and why bother with badges?<br /><br />Hang on, what about IS (we are people too), how does it affect us as issuer, earners and support? So all of the above plus is the platform robust? does it provide what the issuers and earners need? how will the service grow? will be see a badge bonanza or the butchering of badges?<br /><br />Whatever will happen the next few years will allow us to pilot and review the premium version of canvas credentials. For clarification when I say premium I mean paid for aka we get extra bits and bobs like:</p>
<ul>
<li>Lots of Analytics: data, data, data</li>
<li>Organisation Management: aka one admin to rule them all! </li>
<li>Ability to add skills to a badge: I got skills their multiplying!</li>
<li>Ability to add custom fields to a badge: starting to panic about how this could be used!</li>
<li>Pathways: interlinked badges journeys</li>
</ul>
<p>Sounds pretty cool! Pathways are probably the ‘funnest’ (not a word but you know what I mean) premium tool which will allow schools or departments to create open stackable badges or paths (basic, intermediate, high ) to a higher level of achievement (Expert). These can include internal or external open badges so in theory could involve external bodies (e.g. companies, other institutions) and users can track their own progress! (take a breathe!).</p>
<p>And what have we decided to call the new open digital badge pilot/service……(drum roll)……BadgEd! (we got the word badge, we are the University of Edinburgh and we love incorporating Ed into stuff). </p>
<p>Sounds like a busy few years? You interested in finding out some more information? Ain’t you lucky we created this website where you can find out some more information on the <a href="https://edin.ac/40QRuX3">BadgEd webpages.</a></p>
<p><br />Finally this wouldn’t be possible without all the hard work of colleagues who have been exceptional (as usual) to help get from an idea to a live pilot (so thanks goes to Delia, Tracey, Nikki, Karen, Fiona and Ellen). Let the hard (fun) work begin….<br /><br /></p>
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<time datetime="2023-03-30" itemprop="dateModified">Mar 30, 2023</time>
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<title>Digital Badges, not just a pretty picture</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/digital-badges-not-just-a-pretty-picture/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/digital-badges-not-just-a-pretty-picture/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[mblaney]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 09 Aug 2022 15:48:03 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorised]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[digital badges]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam-feed]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=455</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 4</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>Digital badges are back! They never went away I hear you say and yes? Of course not but we did enter an odd phase were badges were being issued for anything or everything (I like to refer to this era as the ‘Oprah Winfrey’ era). So we all got badges and the value of a […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 4</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>Digital badges are back! They never went away I hear you say and yes? Of course not but we did enter an odd phase were badges were being issued for anything or everything (I like to refer to this era as the ‘Oprah Winfrey’ era).</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium aligncenter" src="https://media.giphy.com/media/3o7ZeQBhbVGnELP4bK/giphy.gif" alt="you get a gif" width="480" height="326" /></p>
<p>So we all got badges and the value of a badge declined plus how could we validate the badge, where do we put the badges to promote ourselves? So the badge hype slowly dwindled to some hardcore fans who issued badges sporadically. Badge strategies were forgotten and images of badges were added to email signatures with no ability to validate someones claim to be an Google Cloud wizard. I should also state that the frustration with badges also may be related to lack of platforms to develop and issue plus the limited options for styling, metadata and a space for an earner to host (yes Mozilla backpack was available however if you used it then you would understand it had issues).</p>
<p>I personally worked with badges via Blackboard learn a few years ago and we had some great use cases but the value of badges was not recognized by external institutions or private companies.</p>
<p>Fast forward a few years and the digital badge ecosystem has evolved. IMS open badge standards have been widely adopted by numerous suppliers, the options for badge creation & management is also diverse with open, free and paid for services available and most importantly the understanding that to maintain value for digital badges institution needs to have a strategy for badge creation.</p>
<p>The value aspect is key, speaking to other institutions in the UK and US they have stressed how value can only be maintained by guidance and governance. Guidance ensures standardization of the visual, the metadata and criteria for awarding. The visual is key and in most cases badge consumers (someone who sees a badge on a host platform aka linkedin, personal web page, email signature) will only see a small thumbnail of the image so keeping it clean and not going full Picasso is key. To get around the visual issue the creation of a style guide and a badge template helps subdue any hidden artistic desires.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium aligncenter" src="https://media.giphy.com/media/l4tV5VQbNScIikY4o/giphy.gif" alt="picasso art" width="480" height="480" /></p>
<p>Metadata is key, its the data/information that provides the context for the badge and includes fields like description, competencies, achievements, award criteria, expiration and the ability for consumers to check validation! Yes, if you have shared a badge I can check if your a world of war craft level 6 orc from the dune sea by clicking on the validate button.</p>
<p>Governance allows users to request a badge and for it to be reviewed by badge champions to ensure we do not create 100 badges for the same thing, ensure badge value is maintained (aka we don’t hurtle back to the Oprah era, PS you get a badge for reading this far!) and badge visuals are maintained (we want the University of Edinburgh badge experience to follow established design guidelines and best practices) . I would stress that governance is a mix of academic and service staff all with a vested interest in the success of digital badges.</p>
<p>So we have a process and some standards so what do we issue badges for? As highlighted earlier they have been issued for everything and we are keen to avoid those dark days. Badges have a place for recognition of extra curricula or non-curricula skills, competencies or achievements that may not be recognized via other awards or even at all. Badges can be used to level up the softer skills that are core to user development or simply recognize the skills, competencies or achievements a user has gained. Badges spans the digital ecosystem and user base and could be issued on a MOOC platform to a user completing the book MOOC or to a member of staff for competing the Information security training.</p>
<p>So I gained a badge what next? How about recommendations for associated badges which can build upon your skills, achievements or competencies gained via a previous badge. Or the ability to share on a host platform (go on be that LinkedIn boaster who announces everything they are doing to the world) or it can be kept private. Even better imagine having a space that is yours for life and doesn’t need you to be registered at the university, your account, your personal email address your in control. Or don’t claim the badge its all up to the earner (They have the power!)</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-medium" src="https://media.giphy.com/media/yhK4PWI9WJ0c/giphy.gif" alt="i have the power" width="320" height="240" /></p>
<p>The good news is that this service will be launching in the academic year 2022-23 and the team will share more thoughts once we pick a platform. The last thing I wanted to share is that whilst we are focusing on non-credit extra/non-curricula skills, achievements and competencies we are starting to hear institution considering issuing badges for UG and PG degree awards which kinda makes sense. Question if you have a degree what do you have to show your awesome achievement? and more importantly where is it? Personally I got a paper certificate and it sits in a cupboard with all my life admin things. Its not visible, its not verifiable and its on a bit of paper which isn’t great for the environment. A digital badge is verifiable and can be shared on numerous professional and/or personal platforms plus no trees were cut down to produce it. Sure the award ceremony might be slightly different however I have a feeling that the digital badge will be more useful to graduates.</p>
<p> <br />
<span class="uoe-published-time uoe-seo-hidden-area"><br />
<time datetime="2022-08-09" itemprop="dateModified">Aug 9, 2022</time><br />
</span></p>
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<title>My Hybrid Reflections (not yours!)</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/my-hybrid-reflections-not-yours/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/my-hybrid-reflections-not-yours/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[mblaney]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 16 Nov 2021 09:52:18 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorised]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam-feed]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[hybrid]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=421</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 4</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>19 months ago the thought of me staying at home for 23hrs for months would have terrified me, however we got out routine sorted which helped a lot, this included Joe Wicks 0900, BoJo presser at 1700 (do this but don’t do this), becoming at P2 teacher 1330-1600 (elbow pads in the post), family walk […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 4</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>
<p>19 months ago the thought of me staying at home for 23hrs for months would have terrified me, however we got out routine sorted which helped a lot, this included Joe Wicks 0900, BoJo presser at 1700 (do this but don’t do this), becoming at P2 teacher 1330-1600 (elbow pads in the post), family walk on the golf course 1600-1700. Throughout that period my working arrangements shifted from room to room as my setup evolved into a desk in my spare bedroom with a large screen and laptop. I have also blogged about the transitions if your interested in the detail but now I am now a hybrid worker.</p>
<p>Hybrid, what’s that? Well it’s kinda like a bit of office working and a bit of home working and for my working situation it makes a lot of common sense. Why does it work for me? The flexibility is something I have craved for years. I worked at home 1 day a week for 13 years, it allowed me to focus on documentation (if you have had the pleasure of working with me you know I love a good process document and making things transparent for anyone involved, who wouldn’t, share the fun), building servers remotely and other individual tasks with maybe the odd phone call to ask people to press a button on campus. Over the 13 years technology has evolved from email, messenger, skype for business (once you got it working) and now teams or Zoom. </p>
<p>Technology evolves and whilst we adapt it seamlessly into our non-working lives, with some of us actively promoting it for work, are 9-5 environment has stagnated due to numerous factors that include open spaces and noise, users unfamiliarity with the technology (e.g. can you hear me, I have poor Wi-Fi. Cat face – to name a few common issues), the technology being regarded as secondary, peoples personal or meeting room hardware setups (some people have vanity lights some people have 3 laptops perched on encyclopaedias). With the tech evolving we can now do remote tasks which now include group work (ability to host or join online meetings), group text chat, drop-ins to chat, share a screen and work through shared documents or issues. </p>
<p>So the technology has evolved (braw!) however the office space hasn’t however what is the office meant to be? I have blogged that people are the campus and they! This has been clearly shown over the numerous lockdowns but as a red brick university the campus is the shop floor for the bulk of roles. IS touch numerous points of campus life (on and remote) and we have shown we can work in extreme circumstances however personally for me I prefer a hybrid work space, which is ultimately a flexible work space.</p>
<p>Home working is great, no trains, no flesh market close steps, no expensive sandwich or coffee shops, work in leisure clothes (bought my first pair of tracksuit bottoms 6 months ago….), no running to meetings basically a lot of good points,. I love my house however I like coming back to it (bit like when you walk in the door post-holiday after sharing a confined space with the hobbits) and I am a strong believer in work life balance. Now for me what work life balance means is ‘give and take’ aka flexibility, managing time/resource, honestly. It may sound preachy but having a young family has taught me to enjoy the time and separate work (like the LTW no comms after 6 policy). I know people who find this impossible and to be honest it freaks me out but it’s their decision. </p>
<p>Working in the office 2 days gives me a bit of separation and allows me to plan 2 different days however I don’t plan them any different and for the foreseeable wont. I come in and work, catch up with folks, meet online or in-person and go home. Currently 2 days is enough and not due to COVID concerns but due to the change in routine (which I am over) and the office feeling different. The space feels subdued and when I come in it’s like a Saturday. It’s quiet for a time however co-ordinating days when others (usually Karen or Nikki) are in helps prioritise tasks for those days, allows us to bounce ideas around (scheduling collaboration and spontaneity on Teams is difficult) and lets me see other people J which I miss. Some of the people I get to work with or share an office with are worth the train fare alone to cheer me up. The human side of work and the office has been something I have blogged about before and it’s one of the reasons why I enjoy my job.</p>
<p>So let’s be honest about the office, desk layout isn’t the best for online meetings and mics pick up other conversations pretty quickly. Meeting rooms are quiet but rely heavily on tech working and the building not being full (booking a room prior to COVID was like a playing a game in Squid Games – somebody would die!). If we are to adopt hybrid shared desk arrangements, thinning of the space would help. The creation of more social sitting and printer booth breakout spaces would help the space however my big thing is the noise. We probably need to admit that for a truly hybrid space the open spaces will need to be a bit more nosier due to online meetings held at desk, more collaboration spaces in teams local environments (again noisy) and the acceptance that the office should be a collaboration space and not just a undefined space with a desk with your stuff on it. Making it a collaboration friendly space helps hybrid workers however like we have all gone through over the past months it would require a change and physical office space changes are probably the most difficult to accept.</p>
<p>So hybrid for me works, the tech now allows us the flexibility, management now understand having being entrenched in it during lockdowns but (always a but) the office isn’t configured to support it…yet. My experience of coming into the office isn’t negative however it could be better which I will be feeding back.</p>
<span class="uoe-published-time uoe-seo-hidden-area">
<time datetime="2021-11-16" itemprop="dateModified">Nov 16, 2021</time>
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<title>Who needs awards anyway!</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/who-needs-awards-anyway/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/who-needs-awards-anyway/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[mblaney]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 17 Feb 2026 08:59:32 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorised]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam-feed]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[short course platform]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=663</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 2</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>The Short Course Platform project team were nominated for 2 awards at the 2026 IS Staff Recognition Awards. The team of the year award and contribution to the community award and unfortunately we didn’t win! Firstly, congratulations to all the winners. It’s nice to see teams and individuals get recognition for the work they do […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 2</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>
<p>The Short Course Platform project team were nominated for 2 awards at the 2026 IS Staff Recognition Awards. The team of the year award and contribution to the community award and unfortunately we didn’t win! Firstly, congratulations to all the winners. It’s nice to see teams and individuals get recognition for the work they do above and beyond to accomplish some amazing tasks. Secondly. we were robbed<br /><br />We had drafted a speech (after all the wild celebrations, kissing the badge, knee slides and general mocking and aggressive finger pointing at the opposition) and whilst we didn’t get the opportunity to read it out I still think it’s worth sharing as a last thank you for those involved in delivering the short course platform. It’s the end of a programme but the beginning of a new service.<br /><br /><br />The Speech:<br /><br />The short course platform was a programme that started just under 4 years ago. It was after the closure of the distance learning at scale programme which may not have been the burning success we wanted however it had taught us valuable lessons which ultimately led us to the successful launch of the short course platform.<br /><br />I think what I want to flag, is that sometimes things don’t work out the way you wanted or expected , but that’s ok, learning and evolving is part of our roles and the sweet doesn’t taste as sweet without the sour.<br /><br />We would like to acknowledge all the support and time provided by stakeholders across the institution who attended numerous, steering groups, boards, demo sessions and various meetings. Their patience and time have ultimately steered and supported us to deliver a successful programme and sets of services used by over 7k learners accessing over 1k courses so far.<br /><br />We would not be accepting this award without the hard work and down right determination of some key folk who have worked collaboratively across LTW and Apps. On behalf of the team we need to thank section heads Stuart and Karen for their invaluable support. Andrews team for delivering a snazzy shopfront, Lauren and Fiona’s team for all their hard work in designing course, websites, an amazing spoint hub and training just to name a few things. Legal for doing legal stuff and Neil for helping us understand it. Viki Galts team for everything accessibility. All the PMs that have organised us over the last few years and Ellen who got us over the line. Cassie for organising groups, boards, papers and making sense of are wittering’s in meetings. Adam Scott and Gordon Forbes for guiding us through the madness of finance. My team for delivering 5 technical services and all the related compliance and process fun that all involve. Lastly, I want to thank Nikki Stuart for the drive and support for the delivery of the platform. <br /><br />The short course programme felt like a family, dysfunctional at times but aren’t all families/projects.</p>
<span class="uoe-published-time uoe-seo-hidden-area">
<time datetime="2026-02-17" itemprop="dateModified">Feb 17, 2026</time>
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<title>2025: The year SCP took off</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/2025-the-year-scp-took-off/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/2025-the-year-scp-took-off/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[mblaney]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 22 Dec 2025 16:15:55 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Short Courses Platform]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam-feed]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=573</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 3</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>That time of year again when I need to pause, breathe and look back at 2025 and remind myself to reflect but this year feels a bit different. First thing, launching the new short course platform, which includes 5 services (not 6 or 7……that one is for all the parents), numerous integrations (one being online […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 3</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>That time of year again when I need to pause, breathe and look back at 2025 and remind myself to reflect but this year feels a bit different.</p>
<p>First thing, launching the new short course platform, which includes 5 services (not 6 or 7……that one is for all the parents), numerous integrations (one being online payment platform so everyone panics about financial transactions), compliance (privacy policies, terms and conditions for a new service), processes (we have the tech but how do we use it, support it, manage it, update it, access it, review it, communicate it, approve it etc) has been challenging.</p>
<p>I love a challenge but 2025 has been a tough one hence my reflection feeling different if not slightly weird. The pressure and expectation to have all the answers to various elements of a new platform (technical and non-technical) at stages throughout this year has been difficult to manage.</p>
<p>Part of this is my own expectation to have the answers or simply know everything. Part of this was my own disappointment and frustration when I didn’t. Part of this is the pressure cooker of delivering a new platform across the institution during a period of financial instability. It’s a lot of parts (some I haven’t included) but in reality, the only part I can fully control is me. Turning off a bit more sounds like an easy solution but it felt impossible. I honestly look back and am thankful for my colleagues who have supported me in 2025. SCP took a chunk of me and getting it out the door nearly broke me.</p>
<p>Friday emails (I don’t work Fridays) and teams conversations kept me in cycle of checking in when I should have been checking out. Don’t get me wrong, my role is to deliver and support services so it’s part of the JD and its with great joy the teams have delivered but the paranoid version of me questions “what did I do”. I know the answer but when things start to go wrong it leads to darker place. Am I mansplaining, are the right people included, what did that person mean, we agreed this but its changed, why?, why am I not invited to that meeting? Constant thoughts swirling through my head when in reality as the project grew you need to let go as it’s impossible to do it all. Placing trust in others but more importantly practising what you preach, sharing the load (like Samwise Gangee wanted to help Frodo by carrying the one ring into the fires of mount doom……), be transparent and listen.</p>
<p>I enjoy the challenge, I love pushing myself but I don’t have all the answers, I get stuff wrong and I am only 1 person. Being comfortable with being uncomfortable has been a big mentality change. It helps when your surrounded by supportive people.<br />
Practically, I also installed an app blocker on my phone which makes accessing Teams and checking emails on a Friday a living nightmare as my phone makes me jump through multiple hurdles to even login to Teams (which is a kinda great!).</p>
<p>Learning and playing more with APIs, agile methodologies, Power BI, headless CMS, resource planning, release planning, power apps, power flow, Canvas, virtual meetings, communications, working groups, BAU are things that have all of a sudden merged into my vocabulary over the past 12 months. Lessons learnt is a term I am looking forward to using less over 2026…..although it’s part of however they are key to the of reflecting and being honest (as much as you can be).</p>
<p>SCP launched in June and so far we have over 450 courses which have ran just under 1000 times, 7k learners and over 11,500 enrolments which have either been via online card transactions or backend fun orders. The platform was a massive task with contributions from various teams in IS and across the institution. Listening and adapting the platform or the requirements has been pivotal to launching a platform that is starting to gain traction amongst schools.</p>
<p>Sadly, it will be the last year in Argyle House or as some may recognise the building as the police station in Dept Q (Netflix). Looking at a castle every day, having easy access to meeting rooms, seemingly always being on or close to a film set (T2, Frankenstein, Avengers) will be things I will miss. Listening to the jazz folk jam under the bridge at castle terrace will definitely not be something I will miss. We move in March and I wil miss the eye sore.</p>
<p>Overall, 2025 will always be the year we launched and I am proud of what we achieved. 2026 already has private courses, programmes, website enhancements and more on the agenda with less access to Teams and a bit more confidence in myself to get things wrong and the odd time right. Anyway, this is for me not you but if you feel the same sometimes, talk to someone. It does help.</p>
<p> <br />
<span class="uoe-published-time uoe-seo-hidden-area"><br />
<time datetime="2025-12-22" itemprop="dateModified">Dec 22, 2025</time><br />
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<title>Short Courses Platform Implementation and Me</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/short-courseplatform-implementation-and-me/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/short-courseplatform-implementation-and-me/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[mblaney]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 07 Aug 2025 14:07:26 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Short Courses Platform]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorised]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam-feed]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[short course platform]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=555</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 4</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>The new short course platform is alive! First thing you might ask is ‘What is a short course?’. Well, these are courses that enable learners around the world to gain a new skills, expand their interests in a topic, or fulfil professional development needs. Secondly, go have a look at the shiny new UoE developed […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 4</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>The new short course platform is alive!</p>
<p>First thing you might ask is ‘What is a short course?’. Well, these are courses that enable learners around the world to gain a new skills, expand their interests in a topic, or fulfil professional development needs.</p>
<p>Secondly, go have a look at the shiny new <a href="https://shortcourses.ed.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">UoE developed short courses website</a> that allows you to browse, view details on a course, register, pay (if costed), sign up to mailing lists, receive automated comms on the course and access course material via a dedicated VLE/LMS or whatever letters you like to call an online learning platform (it can do more but I don’t want to spoil the fun).</p>
<p>3 years of my life have been dedicated to launching this set of services and its been a roller coaster. but for today lets briefly talk about the set of service that make up the short course platform. This blog won’t cover all the amazing work done by colleagues for course design, branding, marketing etc but will discuss the services (platforms) that make up the short course platform.</p>
<p><strong>The background (always important to tell the back story)</strong></p>
<p>Short courses are offered by various schools across the institution and have been managed and taught via numerous platforms and usually involved a lot of disjointed workflows for learners, teacher and administrators. Short courses didn’t have a dedicated service, we had a gap in the digital eco-system and learners were managed in silo via over complicated workflows and taught on platforms that maybe shouldn’t have been used or weren’t the best for delivering or supporting learning.</p>
<p>Quite a conundrum but not a new one to many of us. Start the business analysis, market analysis, funding applications, procurement and contract sign off (I skipped a lot of steps but that’s another blog) and we get to the fun stuff, implementation.</p>
<p><strong><br />
The services (get ready for learning technology bingo)</strong></p>
<p>The obvious ones are a <strong>Virtual learning environment</strong> so we can facilitate online, hybrid, and in person teaching and learning. The university loves collecting VLEs and at one point I think we had completed the sticker album and had a few swaps available (mostly Moodles). An early decision was to consider a standalone VLE that would separate learners and students and for an institution that has spent years consolidating VLEs this was the first big decision.</p>
<p>It was clear looking at the options this would be more beneficial technically and practically. Technically VLEs all share very similar elements and for short courses we would being use a subset of the tools available but we needed a reliable and stable platform that could support us as the service grew.</p>
<p>Practically we wanted learners to create and manage their own accounts which also reduces the admin burden on courses who may have been managing users manually. Splitting the audience allowed us more flexibility to offer a tailored learning experience to learners but (and its a biggie) we were very wary that we would be introducing a new platform which teachers and administrators would need to learn. This comes back to my initial point VLEs under the hood do have similarities and we understood the risk. We implemented Canvas by Instructure.</p>
<p>We also needed a shopfront which would be a multifaceted tool (the swiz army knife of the overall service) that included (deep breathe):</p>
<ul>
<li>an online tool to advertise the courses</li>
<li>a payment integration</li>
<li>course management tool</li>
<li>order management</li>
<li>user management</li>
<li>access to all the data</li>
<li>all had to be accessible and compliant</li>
</ul>
<p>I won’t list anymore but you hopefully get the gist and understand it was an very important part of the jigsaw. Internally we have referred to this platform as the <strong>user, course, order content management system</strong> (it rolls of the tongue). Looking around we didn’t have anything in house that could do the above so we again did the business analysis, market analysis, spoke to some great institutions to understand products available. We implemented a Eduframe by Drieam which is used by a few other UK Universities.</p>
<p>Eduframe did come with a WordPress based website however my development colleagues flagged concerns (they have been burned by WordPress a few times). We then looked at Drupal (which is used for the University website) however again it didn’t meet are long list of requirements. So we plonked for developing a<strong> bespoke website using the next,js framework</strong>. That will be its own blog like all the other services discussed in this post but a big thank you to Andrew Millington for all his support and advise to get the website off the ground.</p>
<p><strong>What about data!</strong> We love data so needed to ensure we could access all the data to allow for pretty visuals to be created and large numbers to be shared on professional media channels. Eduframe has as set of APIs that have allowed us to a Power BI App (they have their own app but we love developing stuff), Canvas has in product analytics and Canvas Data 2 and we use GA4 for web analytics. Its alot of data.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><figure id="attachment_560" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-560" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-560" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/wp-content/uploads/sites/65/2025/08/PXL_20250205_172952694-300x226.jpg" alt="whiteboard with my brain" width="300" height="226" srcset="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/wp-content/uploads/sites/65/2025/08/PXL_20250205_172952694-300x226.jpg 300w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/wp-content/uploads/sites/65/2025/08/PXL_20250205_172952694-1024x771.jpg 1024w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/wp-content/uploads/sites/65/2025/08/PXL_20250205_172952694-768x578.jpg 768w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/wp-content/uploads/sites/65/2025/08/PXL_20250205_172952694-1536x1157.jpg 1536w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/wp-content/uploads/sites/65/2025/08/PXL_20250205_172952694-2048x1542.jpg 2048w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/wp-content/uploads/sites/65/2025/08/PXL_20250205_172952694-1275x960.jpg 1275w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-560" class="wp-caption-text">Data Data Data brain dump on a whiteboard</figcaption></figure></p>
<p>So how do staff access the platform without needing a separate login or going through a long and convoluted process to get access to the platform? We created a <strong>teacher admin app</strong> using the Eduframe APIs that syncs with the central user management system. This allows admins to enable access to the short course platform with the assurance that when staff leave accounts are updated. Staff login using their UoE account so don’t need to find that bit of paper with a password (I am joking…).</p>
<p>So, to summarise the below are the key services that make up the short course platform.</p>
<ul>
<li>Virtual learning environment</li>
<li>User, course, order content management system</li>
<li>Bespoke website using the next,js framework</li>
<li>Data reporting tools</li>
<li>Teacher admin app</li>
</ul>
<p>This list does not cover the payment integrations, the numerous integrations we have with tools in canvas and the numerous workflows required to support courses (book, apply, private, waiting lists etc) but hopefully it provides an overview of the services we have implemented that allow us to successfully support and manage the short course platform at scale.</p>
<p>So on reflection 3 years ago I was blissfully paddle boarding on Loch Ness not knowing what was lurking beneath, bit like the implementation of any new service.<br />
<span class="uoe-published-time uoe-seo-hidden-area"><br />
<time datetime="2025-08-07" itemprop="dateModified">Aug 7, 2025</time><br />
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<title>Failure and me</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/failure-and-me/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/failure-and-me/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[mblaney]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 13 Mar 2025 08:43:30 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorised]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam-feed]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[service]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=544</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 2</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>The past few weeks have reminded me that failure is a part of everything we do. Whether it’s in our professional lives or personal pursuits, from breaking an application to playing a game incorrectly and not winning, failure happens. The term ‘failure’ sounds harsh, but for me, it is about becoming comfortable with it and […]]]></description>
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<p>The past few weeks have reminded me that failure is a part of everything we do. Whether it’s in our professional lives or personal pursuits, from breaking an application to playing a game incorrectly and not winning, failure happens. The term ‘failure’ sounds harsh, but for me, it is about becoming comfortable with it and ensuring we mitigate its effects.</p>
<p>As we approach the launch of a new platform at the university, it is difficult not to reflect on missed opportunities or things we could have done differently. I need to remind myself that when we started, we didn’t have the wealth of knowledge that we have now, gained over the last 18 months. It’s challenging for me not to get caught up in a “failure spiral,” which can have negative consequences both professionally and personally.</p>
<p>I listen to a few sports podcasts, and a quote by Samuel Beckett came up:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better – Samuel Beckett</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I love this quote! Failure, when rolling out not just one, but five new applications, along with brand new processes, creating a new service, introducing new technology, new workflows, training, understanding the present, planning for the future, onboarding, involvement in boards and steering groups, and dealing with compliance—how can we not fail? Therefore, we need to get comfortable with failure, but try to “fail better” by:</p>
<ol>
<li>Accepting that it has happened, and for me, it’s part of the job. Get comfortable.</li>
<li>Reviewing what happened by getting the facts.</li>
<li>Understanding why it happened, which sometimes involves digging deeper than the facts.</li>
<li>Developing new strategies so we do not fail in the same way again or so we can fail better.</li>
<li>Implementing a process or workflow to help us, which is documented.</li>
<li>Communicating consistently in all the above steps. It’s not easy, but it’s key.</li>
</ol>
<p>Obviously, we want to deliver a service that is perfect, but in my 20 years of working in the tech center, I have yet to find an application that hasn’t changed, that hasn’t been rebranded, or that hasn’t required UI changes, that still is exactly the same as it was when it launched. Look at Apple; they love to tell us it’s perfect, but what they define as “flawed perfection” means it’s constantly changing.</p>
<p>Accepting failure doesn’t mean we sit back with popcorn and watch the “wheels fall off.” Failing better, for me, involves a lot of work to ensure we minimize failure (if possible) and are prepared when it happens (again, sometimes we aren’t, as it could be a new workflow, patch, cyber attack, user requirement, or edge case scenario).</p>
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<time datetime="2025-03-13" itemprop="dateModified">Mar 13, 2025</time>
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<title>2024: the year of short courses & the edge!</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/2024-the-year-of-short-courses-the-edge/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/2024-the-year-of-short-courses-the-edge/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[mblaney]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:18:56 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorised]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam-feed]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[short course platform]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=529</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 4</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>This is my reflection on my 2024. It’s for me but you can come along for a few minutes. First reflection, why have I not blogged more this year! Simple answer its been hectic but I feel like I could have reflected on a more regular basis the 12 month journey. Second reflection, what a […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 4</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>This is my reflection on my 2024. It’s for me but you can come along for a few minutes.</p>
<p>First reflection, why have I not blogged more this year! Simple answer its been hectic but I feel like I could have reflected on a more regular basis the 12 month journey.</p>
<p>Second reflection, what a year!</p>
<p>By the end of 2023 we signed the contract with Drieam (who support the learner, course and order management platform called <a href="https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Feduframe.com%2F&data=05%7C02%7C%7Cc57c79c049f74fc4222608dd3536802c%7C2e9f06b016694589878910a06934dc61%7C0%7C0%7C638725230381480477%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=qiL39YC%2B0JyNdVLoKhQQo%2FHuTFRPszgLbUrHKTbRDpQ%3D&reserved=0">eduframe.com</a>) and Instructure (who host the learning platform called Canvas <a href="https://www.instructure.com">https://www.instructure.com</a>) to help us deliver the new Short Course Platform. It had taken 6 months of procurement and legal wrangling to get the contract sorted but in December 2023 it was finally signed. The short course platform will allow the public to browse courses via a web site, create an account, pay (if costed), enrol, learn, maybe get a digital badge and hopefully come back and repeat the process.</p>
<p>The platform aims to emulate a lot of the learnings from the core VLE projects including a consistent user experience, replacing laborious and admin heavy workarounds and having a clear purpose/strategy/vision. It has been a gap in the learning eco-system for a while and we have seen schools/depts bend tools and policies to meet their needs.</p>
<p>Interestingly with the current issues in HE we are starting to see a few other institutions spin up similar platforms. When we started this journey 2 years ago only a few examples existed but with institutions keen to explore additional revenue tracks we have seen similar platforms come online but that’s a different blog.</p>
<p>Like any new service we are starting fresh, which is great! But as soon as we started to update stakeholders and share the news more widely that we had signed a contract then comes the big questions…..when will it be available? Can we use it? How do I use it? Is it compliant? Will the learners like it? What is a learner? Can I show it to my friends? What is a short course?</p>
<p>It can feel like a landslide but I am lucky to work with people who are very supportive, open to ideas and like me love a plan(ner).The service isn’t just one new service, its 4 new platforms, training, guidance, marketing, communication, stakeholder engagement (one off and ongoing), terms of use, legal, compliant handling, data protection, accessibility, reporting (another new service so make that 5), terminology and the list goes on and on.</p>
<p>Spinning up a new service involves working with colleagues inside the department and making sure we are all confident or if not approachable to ask questions. Sounds easy but it’s probably the toughest part, the people who are the face of change need to speak the same language or stakeholders will lose confidence pretty quickly and that can cause tension in teams (who said what, why, when, did they not read the 1000 page memo).</p>
<p>Change agents also need to change. The ability to listen and change what we have thought about, developed or delivered is also key but with the caveat it must be based on facts. I listen to sports podcasts and was really intrigued by a football manager saying the team needed to focus on the team’s core goals (playing good football) and not be driven by the edge (bad passes and mistakes). That edge in service delivery can sometimes be a blocker to progress especially when creating a new service. Evaluating the use case and categorising it is key to understanding impact and priority especially when deadline is involved.</p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong use cases generated by stakeholders need to be listened to and evaluated but it’s the teams requirement to review and categories. Sometimes its not popular with stakeholders however I am a firm believer that services are never perfect. They evolve as does the requirements, the users (all of them) and the underlying technology. Services deliver to the masses and aim to meet all requirements however I have struggled to work on a service that doesn’t have a wish list or a product development roadmap.</p>
<p>The quicker you get comfortable with the edge the better.</p>
<p>My role in the project is technical lead but I feel more like a troubleshooter and negotiator. I have had to get to grips with 4 new bit of tech (content management system, payment portal, new VLE, a website developed on Next.js, a user provisioning tools) and help design a 5<sup>th</sup> (data reporting tool), negotiate with others use of the tools, design, onboarding for early adopter, project timelines and I am mentally knackered. Thankfully (again) a good team and me being very open about forgetting stuff and asking for reminders or checking my notes (which have merged into teams chats) has helped keep me on track. A technical lead sounds like someone who knows it all and I don’t but that’s ok. My role is offering workflows and options to a problem whilst speaking to the experts to help me map it out. Last Monday I had no clue on GA4 and now we have a plan to debug tags. Last Jan I started to play with APIs of the new platforms and now not a day goes by when I don’t have postman open and I am trying to figure out something.</p>
<p>2024 has been a blast but it’s been difficult. The projects have been challenging and that’s not just the tech. My confidence has taken a bit of a bashing along the way but its not personal. I will look back when we finally go live in May 2025 and think 2024 is the year we made a lot of decisions, I learned a little bit more about me and I am sharing some with you as it may help and remembe0 for any service its not the destination as there is never a destination, its just one big journey.<br />
<span class="uoe-published-time uoe-seo-hidden-area"><br />
<time datetime="2024-12-23" itemprop="dateModified">Dec 23, 2024</time><br />
</span></p>
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<title>Canvas UK & Ireland User Group December 2024</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/canvas-uk-ireland-user-group-december-2024/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/canvas-uk-ireland-user-group-december-2024/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[mblaney]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 09 Dec 2024 17:01:56 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorised]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[ai]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[canvas]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam-feed]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[sd]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=521</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 2</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>A user group is a great way to get the latest product gossip from the supplier and more importantly other institutions. They are great ways to network, get inspiration from peers and generally gauge where we are in the current implementation compared to others (plus free pastries).The Canvas UK & Ireland user group was hosted […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 2</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>
<p>A user group is a great way to get the latest product gossip from the supplier and more importantly other institutions. They are great ways to network, get inspiration from peers and generally gauge where we are in the current implementation compared to others (plus free pastries).<br />The Canvas UK & Ireland user group was hosted by Manchester University. The day covered the Canvas roadmap, rubric adoption at medical schools, institutions migrating to canvas from another suppliers, break out sessions on analytics and administration of a VLE and more however there seemed to be one theme that was ever present in sessions, AI.</p>
<p>The first presenter represented FE and discussed how they had developed AI tools based on the Azure Framework (Microsoft) to create assessment feedback for students, assessment feedback summaries for staff and AI assistants to support students. The session highlighted how coding light tools can be developed using existing frameworks, APIs and a lot of engagement with users. The session generated a lot of questions including environmental impact, opt-in/out, academic integrity, quality and assurance of feedback etc. These questions aren’t new but I feel like we have moved from a space where we questioned AI and how it would be included in education to a new space where institutions themselves are developing tools.</p>
<p>With Open AI and the rapid evolution of LLMs suppliers are rushing to squeeze AI into their applications but at what risk? And why? I feel like we are partly to blame as we like new stuff but also want to improve the staff and student experience. It feels like AI might be the new thing that will solve all our problems (did someone saying Learning Analytics…). Like any new tech and especially with LLMs we also need to factor that these cohorts may have a certain level of expectation that AI is integrated into their professional, academic or learning journey. My fear is where should it be integrated and why?</p>
<p><br />New stuff is always fun for me but as someone who works with technology, I also need to consider the why? What is this bringing to the user’s experience? Do we have a gap? Does it improve the users experience? Any repercussions we need to consider? Speaking to design colleagues and stakeholders should drive the change and with AI I don’t know how much of a conversation is happening with users. Don’t get me wrong we need to start somewhere, and basic support bots being used to support users (like <a href="https://information-services.ed.ac.uk/computing/comms-and-collab/elm">ELM</a> or <a href="https://edhelp.ed.ac.uk/">EDHelp</a>) help us grow knowledge and at the same time they practically allow end-users to interact and maybe think about additional functionality they would like to see included in these tools or where they can envision these tools supporting them.</p>
<p>Instructure will be releasing more AI functionality and already have tools like Insights which utilises aspects of AI so:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>‘buckle your seat Dorothy, cause Kanvas is going bye-bye!’ – Cypher, The Matrix.<br /><br /></p>
</blockquote>
<span class="uoe-published-time uoe-seo-hidden-area">
<time datetime="2024-12-09" itemprop="dateModified">Dec 9, 2024</time>
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<title>2023 Reflection</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/2023-reflection/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/2023-reflection/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[mblaney]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 21 Dec 2023 09:46:14 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorised]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[digital badges]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam-feed]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[short course platform]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=497</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 3</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>It has been a while since I sat down with my thoughts. I have been talking about making time to blog and reflect and today is the day! If you’re new here, hello! This will not be an ideological masterpiece or reference books I read related to the role but more a personal reflection for […]]]></description>
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<p>It has been a while since I sat down with my thoughts. I have been talking about making time to blog and reflect and today is the day! If you’re new here, hello! This will not be an ideological masterpiece or reference books I read related to the role but more a personal reflection for me on me, but you can read it (just don’t tell anyone!).</p>
<p>My 2023 will be the year of procurement, digital badges, and supporting the team (bored reading about AI so omitting it until Jan 2024).<br /><br />I have previously blogged about digital badges and how they have emerged from the pit of edu-tech doom and evolved into something that has value for issuers, earners and anyone else who is interested in the recognition of skills, achievements or competencies. I have also talked about replacing standalone credit that equates to nothing in the real world and longer term how institutions will need to offer digital versions of credit as the death of paper accelerates. I get it that people will still want to frame awards etc I just think that may be a minority.<br /><br />The team has done a fantastic job completing a procurement and establishing a service to support a 3-year pilot which we hope will extend with the pending new fun aka the short course platform. In just over 6 months we have issued over 1.5k badges, created and supported a badge governance process, created numerous guides and snazzy webpages, and planned to experiment with badge pathways in 2024. If you are interested have a peek at the webpage: <a href="https://edin.ac/3Waglnj">https://edin.ac/3Waglnj</a> and yes that is a badger wearing a jacket with badges (they are called Bo the badger).</p>
<p><br />I can only see badge popularity and use cases growing however I have concerns regarding the quality of products in the market, cost (platform prices vary vastly) and openness of underlying badge frameworks and portability. With Instructure hoovering up Badgr and now Parchment a big player is making an early move and the wider impact will be interesting to watch.</p>
<p>Procurements are always interesting and when the outcome is a brand new service it’s even more ‘exciting’. At this point I am going to read your mind, are you thinking something along the lines of…</p>
<p>‘Wow Wow, Myles is that a typo!, has the eggnog gone to your head!’ </p>
<p>The answer is no, in a weird and slightly concerning way it’s been fascinating to work with the project team to collaborate, collate, refine and produce a vision with key stakeholders for a new centrally supported platform that will allow the public to view CPD, PPD and any other short courses. pay (if required) and access a dedicated learning platform or be sent any relevant course information. </p>
<p>Ok, in reality, the devil is in the details and creating clear and concise questions that suppliers need to answer is a challenge. Interpreting those answers and scoring them is a bigger challenge especially then the question set is over 100 questions! Then agreeing to scores and feedback is a bigger challenge! It’s like Mortal Combat but without the combat as that would involve HR (however sometimes I think it would have been quicker to just have the combat).</p>
<p>So why did we need to go into the combat ring of procurement? Currently, these types of courses are delivered via numerous platforms, can be an admin burden to support staff, provide an inconsistent and sometimes poor learner experience and may be breaching software licenses (moving on swiftly). To summarise it’s very Edinburgh. everyone is doing something different. So, we proposed a change as we saw a clear gap and after lots of conversations, papers, presentations, and acronym searching we secured support from senior management and a budget from the institution. Instructure and Drieam won the procurement, and I look forward to working with them in 2024.</p>
<p>I manage a small team and also deputize for the section head. I enjoy both and am fortunate to be surrounded by people I respect and enjoy working with each day but this year has taught me to be a human first and a manager second. Work-life balance has always been important to me, especially with a family and growing up in a family where that balance did not exist and witnessing the impact on people’s mental and physical health has always been a valuable lesson to me.</p>
<p>I work hard as Myles Blaney team manager, technical lead, senior service manager, internal consultant, HR rep for the team, information security rep for the section, procurement mediator, badge specialist, and everything else in between. So, I need time to be Myles Blaney gym enthusiast, bike rider, Newcastle United fan, MMA fan, gamer, husband, dad, son, brother, dad taxi, family event planner, and spectator to name a few. I am lucky to have control of my balance due to my supportive manager but I also need to take control of it when I have it and not to quickly check or reply to a ping in teams.</p>
<p>Lastly, AI! It’s here to stay and we are only at the base of the hype curve. I have dabbled this year with Karen into what other institutions are doing and it’s another blog I will post in Jan 2024. Exciting and terrifying at the same time but not new just quicker, faster and better.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
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<time datetime="2023-12-21" itemprop="dateModified">Dec 21, 2023</time>
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<title>Canvas Credentials: the new open digital badge platform</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/canvas-credentials-the-new-open-digital-badge-platform/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/canvas-credentials-the-new-open-digital-badge-platform/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[mblaney]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 30 Mar 2023 08:32:31 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorised]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[digital badges]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam-feed]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[instructure]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=482</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 2</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>Finally after months of scoring procurement questions, analysing costs and negotiation I am pleased to announce that we will be providing open digital badges via Canvas Credentials (formally called Badgr).This is the start of a 3 year pilot to understand the value of digital badges for all stakeholders. Obviously for the earners aka the people […]]]></description>
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<p>Finally after months of scoring procurement questions, analysing costs and negotiation I am pleased to announce that we will be providing open digital badges via Canvas Credentials (formally called Badgr).<br /><br />This is the start of a 3 year pilot to understand the value of digital badges for all stakeholders. Obviously for the earners aka the people awarded a badge(s), will it help motivate them? will they share it on digital CVs or social media? will they even click on the email and accept the badge? what about employability? how do they value a digital badge?<br /><br />How about issuers aka the schools that award the badge, is the platform easy to use? does it allow them the flexibility to develop and deliver standalone and badges which are interlinked (like a pathway)? what about resource for managing all things badges? and why bother with badges?<br /><br />Hang on, what about IS (we are people too), how does it affect us as issuer, earners and support? So all of the above plus is the platform robust? does it provide what the issuers and earners need? how will the service grow? will be see a badge bonanza or the butchering of badges?<br /><br />Whatever will happen the next few years will allow us to pilot and review the premium version of canvas credentials. For clarification when I say premium I mean paid for aka we get extra bits and bobs like:</p>
<ul>
<li>Lots of Analytics: data, data, data</li>
<li>Organisation Management: aka one admin to rule them all! </li>
<li>Ability to add skills to a badge: I got skills their multiplying!</li>
<li>Ability to add custom fields to a badge: starting to panic about how this could be used!</li>
<li>Pathways: interlinked badges journeys</li>
</ul>
<p>Sounds pretty cool! Pathways are probably the ‘funnest’ (not a word but you know what I mean) premium tool which will allow schools or departments to create open stackable badges or paths (basic, intermediate, high ) to a higher level of achievement (Expert). These can include internal or external open badges so in theory could involve external bodies (e.g. companies, other institutions) and users can track their own progress! (take a breathe!).</p>
<p>And what have we decided to call the new open digital badge pilot/service……(drum roll)……BadgEd! (we got the word badge, we are the University of Edinburgh and we love incorporating Ed into stuff). </p>
<p>Sounds like a busy few years? You interested in finding out some more information? Ain’t you lucky we created this website where you can find out some more information on the <a href="https://edin.ac/40QRuX3">BadgEd webpages.</a></p>
<p><br />Finally this wouldn’t be possible without all the hard work of colleagues who have been exceptional (as usual) to help get from an idea to a live pilot (so thanks goes to Delia, Tracey, Nikki, Karen, Fiona and Ellen). Let the hard (fun) work begin….<br /><br /></p>
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<time datetime="2023-03-30" itemprop="dateModified">Mar 30, 2023</time>
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<title>Digital Badges, not just a pretty picture</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/digital-badges-not-just-a-pretty-picture/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/digital-badges-not-just-a-pretty-picture/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[mblaney]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 09 Aug 2022 15:48:03 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorised]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[digital badges]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam-feed]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=455</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 4</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>Digital badges are back! They never went away I hear you say and yes? Of course not but we did enter an odd phase were badges were being issued for anything or everything (I like to refer to this era as the ‘Oprah Winfrey’ era). So we all got badges and the value of a […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 4</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>Digital badges are back! They never went away I hear you say and yes? Of course not but we did enter an odd phase were badges were being issued for anything or everything (I like to refer to this era as the ‘Oprah Winfrey’ era).</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium aligncenter" src="https://media.giphy.com/media/3o7ZeQBhbVGnELP4bK/giphy.gif" alt="you get a gif" width="480" height="326" /></p>
<p>So we all got badges and the value of a badge declined plus how could we validate the badge, where do we put the badges to promote ourselves? So the badge hype slowly dwindled to some hardcore fans who issued badges sporadically. Badge strategies were forgotten and images of badges were added to email signatures with no ability to validate someones claim to be an Google Cloud wizard. I should also state that the frustration with badges also may be related to lack of platforms to develop and issue plus the limited options for styling, metadata and a space for an earner to host (yes Mozilla backpack was available however if you used it then you would understand it had issues).</p>
<p>I personally worked with badges via Blackboard learn a few years ago and we had some great use cases but the value of badges was not recognized by external institutions or private companies.</p>
<p>Fast forward a few years and the digital badge ecosystem has evolved. IMS open badge standards have been widely adopted by numerous suppliers, the options for badge creation & management is also diverse with open, free and paid for services available and most importantly the understanding that to maintain value for digital badges institution needs to have a strategy for badge creation.</p>
<p>The value aspect is key, speaking to other institutions in the UK and US they have stressed how value can only be maintained by guidance and governance. Guidance ensures standardization of the visual, the metadata and criteria for awarding. The visual is key and in most cases badge consumers (someone who sees a badge on a host platform aka linkedin, personal web page, email signature) will only see a small thumbnail of the image so keeping it clean and not going full Picasso is key. To get around the visual issue the creation of a style guide and a badge template helps subdue any hidden artistic desires.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium aligncenter" src="https://media.giphy.com/media/l4tV5VQbNScIikY4o/giphy.gif" alt="picasso art" width="480" height="480" /></p>
<p>Metadata is key, its the data/information that provides the context for the badge and includes fields like description, competencies, achievements, award criteria, expiration and the ability for consumers to check validation! Yes, if you have shared a badge I can check if your a world of war craft level 6 orc from the dune sea by clicking on the validate button.</p>
<p>Governance allows users to request a badge and for it to be reviewed by badge champions to ensure we do not create 100 badges for the same thing, ensure badge value is maintained (aka we don’t hurtle back to the Oprah era, PS you get a badge for reading this far!) and badge visuals are maintained (we want the University of Edinburgh badge experience to follow established design guidelines and best practices) . I would stress that governance is a mix of academic and service staff all with a vested interest in the success of digital badges.</p>
<p>So we have a process and some standards so what do we issue badges for? As highlighted earlier they have been issued for everything and we are keen to avoid those dark days. Badges have a place for recognition of extra curricula or non-curricula skills, competencies or achievements that may not be recognized via other awards or even at all. Badges can be used to level up the softer skills that are core to user development or simply recognize the skills, competencies or achievements a user has gained. Badges spans the digital ecosystem and user base and could be issued on a MOOC platform to a user completing the book MOOC or to a member of staff for competing the Information security training.</p>
<p>So I gained a badge what next? How about recommendations for associated badges which can build upon your skills, achievements or competencies gained via a previous badge. Or the ability to share on a host platform (go on be that LinkedIn boaster who announces everything they are doing to the world) or it can be kept private. Even better imagine having a space that is yours for life and doesn’t need you to be registered at the university, your account, your personal email address your in control. Or don’t claim the badge its all up to the earner (They have the power!)</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-medium" src="https://media.giphy.com/media/yhK4PWI9WJ0c/giphy.gif" alt="i have the power" width="320" height="240" /></p>
<p>The good news is that this service will be launching in the academic year 2022-23 and the team will share more thoughts once we pick a platform. The last thing I wanted to share is that whilst we are focusing on non-credit extra/non-curricula skills, achievements and competencies we are starting to hear institution considering issuing badges for UG and PG degree awards which kinda makes sense. Question if you have a degree what do you have to show your awesome achievement? and more importantly where is it? Personally I got a paper certificate and it sits in a cupboard with all my life admin things. Its not visible, its not verifiable and its on a bit of paper which isn’t great for the environment. A digital badge is verifiable and can be shared on numerous professional and/or personal platforms plus no trees were cut down to produce it. Sure the award ceremony might be slightly different however I have a feeling that the digital badge will be more useful to graduates.</p>
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<time datetime="2022-08-09" itemprop="dateModified">Aug 9, 2022</time><br />
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<title>My Hybrid Reflections (not yours!)</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/my-hybrid-reflections-not-yours/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/my-hybrid-reflections-not-yours/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[mblaney]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 16 Nov 2021 09:52:18 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorised]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam-feed]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[hybrid]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=421</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 4</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>19 months ago the thought of me staying at home for 23hrs for months would have terrified me, however we got out routine sorted which helped a lot, this included Joe Wicks 0900, BoJo presser at 1700 (do this but don’t do this), becoming at P2 teacher 1330-1600 (elbow pads in the post), family walk […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 4</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>
<p>19 months ago the thought of me staying at home for 23hrs for months would have terrified me, however we got out routine sorted which helped a lot, this included Joe Wicks 0900, BoJo presser at 1700 (do this but don’t do this), becoming at P2 teacher 1330-1600 (elbow pads in the post), family walk on the golf course 1600-1700. Throughout that period my working arrangements shifted from room to room as my setup evolved into a desk in my spare bedroom with a large screen and laptop. I have also blogged about the transitions if your interested in the detail but now I am now a hybrid worker.</p>
<p>Hybrid, what’s that? Well it’s kinda like a bit of office working and a bit of home working and for my working situation it makes a lot of common sense. Why does it work for me? The flexibility is something I have craved for years. I worked at home 1 day a week for 13 years, it allowed me to focus on documentation (if you have had the pleasure of working with me you know I love a good process document and making things transparent for anyone involved, who wouldn’t, share the fun), building servers remotely and other individual tasks with maybe the odd phone call to ask people to press a button on campus. Over the 13 years technology has evolved from email, messenger, skype for business (once you got it working) and now teams or Zoom. </p>
<p>Technology evolves and whilst we adapt it seamlessly into our non-working lives, with some of us actively promoting it for work, are 9-5 environment has stagnated due to numerous factors that include open spaces and noise, users unfamiliarity with the technology (e.g. can you hear me, I have poor Wi-Fi. Cat face – to name a few common issues), the technology being regarded as secondary, peoples personal or meeting room hardware setups (some people have vanity lights some people have 3 laptops perched on encyclopaedias). With the tech evolving we can now do remote tasks which now include group work (ability to host or join online meetings), group text chat, drop-ins to chat, share a screen and work through shared documents or issues. </p>
<p>So the technology has evolved (braw!) however the office space hasn’t however what is the office meant to be? I have blogged that people are the campus and they! This has been clearly shown over the numerous lockdowns but as a red brick university the campus is the shop floor for the bulk of roles. IS touch numerous points of campus life (on and remote) and we have shown we can work in extreme circumstances however personally for me I prefer a hybrid work space, which is ultimately a flexible work space.</p>
<p>Home working is great, no trains, no flesh market close steps, no expensive sandwich or coffee shops, work in leisure clothes (bought my first pair of tracksuit bottoms 6 months ago….), no running to meetings basically a lot of good points,. I love my house however I like coming back to it (bit like when you walk in the door post-holiday after sharing a confined space with the hobbits) and I am a strong believer in work life balance. Now for me what work life balance means is ‘give and take’ aka flexibility, managing time/resource, honestly. It may sound preachy but having a young family has taught me to enjoy the time and separate work (like the LTW no comms after 6 policy). I know people who find this impossible and to be honest it freaks me out but it’s their decision. </p>
<p>Working in the office 2 days gives me a bit of separation and allows me to plan 2 different days however I don’t plan them any different and for the foreseeable wont. I come in and work, catch up with folks, meet online or in-person and go home. Currently 2 days is enough and not due to COVID concerns but due to the change in routine (which I am over) and the office feeling different. The space feels subdued and when I come in it’s like a Saturday. It’s quiet for a time however co-ordinating days when others (usually Karen or Nikki) are in helps prioritise tasks for those days, allows us to bounce ideas around (scheduling collaboration and spontaneity on Teams is difficult) and lets me see other people J which I miss. Some of the people I get to work with or share an office with are worth the train fare alone to cheer me up. The human side of work and the office has been something I have blogged about before and it’s one of the reasons why I enjoy my job.</p>
<p>So let’s be honest about the office, desk layout isn’t the best for online meetings and mics pick up other conversations pretty quickly. Meeting rooms are quiet but rely heavily on tech working and the building not being full (booking a room prior to COVID was like a playing a game in Squid Games – somebody would die!). If we are to adopt hybrid shared desk arrangements, thinning of the space would help. The creation of more social sitting and printer booth breakout spaces would help the space however my big thing is the noise. We probably need to admit that for a truly hybrid space the open spaces will need to be a bit more nosier due to online meetings held at desk, more collaboration spaces in teams local environments (again noisy) and the acceptance that the office should be a collaboration space and not just a undefined space with a desk with your stuff on it. Making it a collaboration friendly space helps hybrid workers however like we have all gone through over the past months it would require a change and physical office space changes are probably the most difficult to accept.</p>
<p>So hybrid for me works, the tech now allows us the flexibility, management now understand having being entrenched in it during lockdowns but (always a but) the office isn’t configured to support it…yet. My experience of coming into the office isn’t negative however it could be better which I will be feeding back.</p>
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<time datetime="2021-11-16" itemprop="dateModified">Nov 16, 2021</time>
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<title>Who needs awards anyway!</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/who-needs-awards-anyway/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/who-needs-awards-anyway/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[mblaney]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 17 Feb 2026 08:59:32 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorised]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam-feed]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[short course platform]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=663</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 2</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>The Short Course Platform project team were nominated for 2 awards at the 2026 IS Staff Recognition Awards. The team of the year award and contribution to the community award and unfortunately we didn’t win! Firstly, congratulations to all the winners. It’s nice to see teams and individuals get recognition for the work they do […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 2</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>
<p>The Short Course Platform project team were nominated for 2 awards at the 2026 IS Staff Recognition Awards. The team of the year award and contribution to the community award and unfortunately we didn’t win! Firstly, congratulations to all the winners. It’s nice to see teams and individuals get recognition for the work they do above and beyond to accomplish some amazing tasks. Secondly. we were robbed<br /><br />We had drafted a speech (after all the wild celebrations, kissing the badge, knee slides and general mocking and aggressive finger pointing at the opposition) and whilst we didn’t get the opportunity to read it out I still think it’s worth sharing as a last thank you for those involved in delivering the short course platform. It’s the end of a programme but the beginning of a new service.<br /><br /><br />The Speech:<br /><br />The short course platform was a programme that started just under 4 years ago. It was after the closure of the distance learning at scale programme which may not have been the burning success we wanted however it had taught us valuable lessons which ultimately led us to the successful launch of the short course platform.<br /><br />I think what I want to flag, is that sometimes things don’t work out the way you wanted or expected , but that’s ok, learning and evolving is part of our roles and the sweet doesn’t taste as sweet without the sour.<br /><br />We would like to acknowledge all the support and time provided by stakeholders across the institution who attended numerous, steering groups, boards, demo sessions and various meetings. Their patience and time have ultimately steered and supported us to deliver a successful programme and sets of services used by over 7k learners accessing over 1k courses so far.<br /><br />We would not be accepting this award without the hard work and down right determination of some key folk who have worked collaboratively across LTW and Apps. On behalf of the team we need to thank section heads Stuart and Karen for their invaluable support. Andrews team for delivering a snazzy shopfront, Lauren and Fiona’s team for all their hard work in designing course, websites, an amazing spoint hub and training just to name a few things. Legal for doing legal stuff and Neil for helping us understand it. Viki Galts team for everything accessibility. All the PMs that have organised us over the last few years and Ellen who got us over the line. Cassie for organising groups, boards, papers and making sense of are wittering’s in meetings. Adam Scott and Gordon Forbes for guiding us through the madness of finance. My team for delivering 5 technical services and all the related compliance and process fun that all involve. Lastly, I want to thank Nikki Stuart for the drive and support for the delivery of the platform. <br /><br />The short course programme felt like a family, dysfunctional at times but aren’t all families/projects.</p>
<span class="uoe-published-time uoe-seo-hidden-area">
<time datetime="2026-02-17" itemprop="dateModified">Feb 17, 2026</time>
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<title>2025: The year SCP took off</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/2025-the-year-scp-took-off/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/2025-the-year-scp-took-off/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[mblaney]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 22 Dec 2025 16:15:55 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Short Courses Platform]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam-feed]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=573</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 3</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>That time of year again when I need to pause, breathe and look back at 2025 and remind myself to reflect but this year feels a bit different. First thing, launching the new short course platform, which includes 5 services (not 6 or 7……that one is for all the parents), numerous integrations (one being online […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 3</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>That time of year again when I need to pause, breathe and look back at 2025 and remind myself to reflect but this year feels a bit different.</p>
<p>First thing, launching the new short course platform, which includes 5 services (not 6 or 7……that one is for all the parents), numerous integrations (one being online payment platform so everyone panics about financial transactions), compliance (privacy policies, terms and conditions for a new service), processes (we have the tech but how do we use it, support it, manage it, update it, access it, review it, communicate it, approve it etc) has been challenging.</p>
<p>I love a challenge but 2025 has been a tough one hence my reflection feeling different if not slightly weird. The pressure and expectation to have all the answers to various elements of a new platform (technical and non-technical) at stages throughout this year has been difficult to manage.</p>
<p>Part of this is my own expectation to have the answers or simply know everything. Part of this was my own disappointment and frustration when I didn’t. Part of this is the pressure cooker of delivering a new platform across the institution during a period of financial instability. It’s a lot of parts (some I haven’t included) but in reality, the only part I can fully control is me. Turning off a bit more sounds like an easy solution but it felt impossible. I honestly look back and am thankful for my colleagues who have supported me in 2025. SCP took a chunk of me and getting it out the door nearly broke me.</p>
<p>Friday emails (I don’t work Fridays) and teams conversations kept me in cycle of checking in when I should have been checking out. Don’t get me wrong, my role is to deliver and support services so it’s part of the JD and its with great joy the teams have delivered but the paranoid version of me questions “what did I do”. I know the answer but when things start to go wrong it leads to darker place. Am I mansplaining, are the right people included, what did that person mean, we agreed this but its changed, why?, why am I not invited to that meeting? Constant thoughts swirling through my head when in reality as the project grew you need to let go as it’s impossible to do it all. Placing trust in others but more importantly practising what you preach, sharing the load (like Samwise Gangee wanted to help Frodo by carrying the one ring into the fires of mount doom……), be transparent and listen.</p>
<p>I enjoy the challenge, I love pushing myself but I don’t have all the answers, I get stuff wrong and I am only 1 person. Being comfortable with being uncomfortable has been a big mentality change. It helps when your surrounded by supportive people.<br />
Practically, I also installed an app blocker on my phone which makes accessing Teams and checking emails on a Friday a living nightmare as my phone makes me jump through multiple hurdles to even login to Teams (which is a kinda great!).</p>
<p>Learning and playing more with APIs, agile methodologies, Power BI, headless CMS, resource planning, release planning, power apps, power flow, Canvas, virtual meetings, communications, working groups, BAU are things that have all of a sudden merged into my vocabulary over the past 12 months. Lessons learnt is a term I am looking forward to using less over 2026…..although it’s part of however they are key to the of reflecting and being honest (as much as you can be).</p>
<p>SCP launched in June and so far we have over 450 courses which have ran just under 1000 times, 7k learners and over 11,500 enrolments which have either been via online card transactions or backend fun orders. The platform was a massive task with contributions from various teams in IS and across the institution. Listening and adapting the platform or the requirements has been pivotal to launching a platform that is starting to gain traction amongst schools.</p>
<p>Sadly, it will be the last year in Argyle House or as some may recognise the building as the police station in Dept Q (Netflix). Looking at a castle every day, having easy access to meeting rooms, seemingly always being on or close to a film set (T2, Frankenstein, Avengers) will be things I will miss. Listening to the jazz folk jam under the bridge at castle terrace will definitely not be something I will miss. We move in March and I wil miss the eye sore.</p>
<p>Overall, 2025 will always be the year we launched and I am proud of what we achieved. 2026 already has private courses, programmes, website enhancements and more on the agenda with less access to Teams and a bit more confidence in myself to get things wrong and the odd time right. Anyway, this is for me not you but if you feel the same sometimes, talk to someone. It does help.</p>
<p> <br />
<span class="uoe-published-time uoe-seo-hidden-area"><br />
<time datetime="2025-12-22" itemprop="dateModified">Dec 22, 2025</time><br />
</span></p>
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<title>Short Courses Platform Implementation and Me</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/short-courseplatform-implementation-and-me/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/short-courseplatform-implementation-and-me/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[mblaney]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 07 Aug 2025 14:07:26 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Short Courses Platform]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorised]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam-feed]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[short course platform]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=555</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 4</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>The new short course platform is alive! First thing you might ask is ‘What is a short course?’. Well, these are courses that enable learners around the world to gain a new skills, expand their interests in a topic, or fulfil professional development needs. Secondly, go have a look at the shiny new UoE developed […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 4</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>The new short course platform is alive!</p>
<p>First thing you might ask is ‘What is a short course?’. Well, these are courses that enable learners around the world to gain a new skills, expand their interests in a topic, or fulfil professional development needs.</p>
<p>Secondly, go have a look at the shiny new <a href="https://shortcourses.ed.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">UoE developed short courses website</a> that allows you to browse, view details on a course, register, pay (if costed), sign up to mailing lists, receive automated comms on the course and access course material via a dedicated VLE/LMS or whatever letters you like to call an online learning platform (it can do more but I don’t want to spoil the fun).</p>
<p>3 years of my life have been dedicated to launching this set of services and its been a roller coaster. but for today lets briefly talk about the set of service that make up the short course platform. This blog won’t cover all the amazing work done by colleagues for course design, branding, marketing etc but will discuss the services (platforms) that make up the short course platform.</p>
<p><strong>The background (always important to tell the back story)</strong></p>
<p>Short courses are offered by various schools across the institution and have been managed and taught via numerous platforms and usually involved a lot of disjointed workflows for learners, teacher and administrators. Short courses didn’t have a dedicated service, we had a gap in the digital eco-system and learners were managed in silo via over complicated workflows and taught on platforms that maybe shouldn’t have been used or weren’t the best for delivering or supporting learning.</p>
<p>Quite a conundrum but not a new one to many of us. Start the business analysis, market analysis, funding applications, procurement and contract sign off (I skipped a lot of steps but that’s another blog) and we get to the fun stuff, implementation.</p>
<p><strong><br />
The services (get ready for learning technology bingo)</strong></p>
<p>The obvious ones are a <strong>Virtual learning environment</strong> so we can facilitate online, hybrid, and in person teaching and learning. The university loves collecting VLEs and at one point I think we had completed the sticker album and had a few swaps available (mostly Moodles). An early decision was to consider a standalone VLE that would separate learners and students and for an institution that has spent years consolidating VLEs this was the first big decision.</p>
<p>It was clear looking at the options this would be more beneficial technically and practically. Technically VLEs all share very similar elements and for short courses we would being use a subset of the tools available but we needed a reliable and stable platform that could support us as the service grew.</p>
<p>Practically we wanted learners to create and manage their own accounts which also reduces the admin burden on courses who may have been managing users manually. Splitting the audience allowed us more flexibility to offer a tailored learning experience to learners but (and its a biggie) we were very wary that we would be introducing a new platform which teachers and administrators would need to learn. This comes back to my initial point VLEs under the hood do have similarities and we understood the risk. We implemented Canvas by Instructure.</p>
<p>We also needed a shopfront which would be a multifaceted tool (the swiz army knife of the overall service) that included (deep breathe):</p>
<ul>
<li>an online tool to advertise the courses</li>
<li>a payment integration</li>
<li>course management tool</li>
<li>order management</li>
<li>user management</li>
<li>access to all the data</li>
<li>all had to be accessible and compliant</li>
</ul>
<p>I won’t list anymore but you hopefully get the gist and understand it was an very important part of the jigsaw. Internally we have referred to this platform as the <strong>user, course, order content management system</strong> (it rolls of the tongue). Looking around we didn’t have anything in house that could do the above so we again did the business analysis, market analysis, spoke to some great institutions to understand products available. We implemented a Eduframe by Drieam which is used by a few other UK Universities.</p>
<p>Eduframe did come with a WordPress based website however my development colleagues flagged concerns (they have been burned by WordPress a few times). We then looked at Drupal (which is used for the University website) however again it didn’t meet are long list of requirements. So we plonked for developing a<strong> bespoke website using the next,js framework</strong>. That will be its own blog like all the other services discussed in this post but a big thank you to Andrew Millington for all his support and advise to get the website off the ground.</p>
<p><strong>What about data!</strong> We love data so needed to ensure we could access all the data to allow for pretty visuals to be created and large numbers to be shared on professional media channels. Eduframe has as set of APIs that have allowed us to a Power BI App (they have their own app but we love developing stuff), Canvas has in product analytics and Canvas Data 2 and we use GA4 for web analytics. Its alot of data.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><figure id="attachment_560" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-560" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-560" src="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/wp-content/uploads/sites/65/2025/08/PXL_20250205_172952694-300x226.jpg" alt="whiteboard with my brain" width="300" height="226" srcset="https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/wp-content/uploads/sites/65/2025/08/PXL_20250205_172952694-300x226.jpg 300w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/wp-content/uploads/sites/65/2025/08/PXL_20250205_172952694-1024x771.jpg 1024w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/wp-content/uploads/sites/65/2025/08/PXL_20250205_172952694-768x578.jpg 768w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/wp-content/uploads/sites/65/2025/08/PXL_20250205_172952694-1536x1157.jpg 1536w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/wp-content/uploads/sites/65/2025/08/PXL_20250205_172952694-2048x1542.jpg 2048w, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/wp-content/uploads/sites/65/2025/08/PXL_20250205_172952694-1275x960.jpg 1275w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-560" class="wp-caption-text">Data Data Data brain dump on a whiteboard</figcaption></figure></p>
<p>So how do staff access the platform without needing a separate login or going through a long and convoluted process to get access to the platform? We created a <strong>teacher admin app</strong> using the Eduframe APIs that syncs with the central user management system. This allows admins to enable access to the short course platform with the assurance that when staff leave accounts are updated. Staff login using their UoE account so don’t need to find that bit of paper with a password (I am joking…).</p>
<p>So, to summarise the below are the key services that make up the short course platform.</p>
<ul>
<li>Virtual learning environment</li>
<li>User, course, order content management system</li>
<li>Bespoke website using the next,js framework</li>
<li>Data reporting tools</li>
<li>Teacher admin app</li>
</ul>
<p>This list does not cover the payment integrations, the numerous integrations we have with tools in canvas and the numerous workflows required to support courses (book, apply, private, waiting lists etc) but hopefully it provides an overview of the services we have implemented that allow us to successfully support and manage the short course platform at scale.</p>
<p>So on reflection 3 years ago I was blissfully paddle boarding on Loch Ness not knowing what was lurking beneath, bit like the implementation of any new service.<br />
<span class="uoe-published-time uoe-seo-hidden-area"><br />
<time datetime="2025-08-07" itemprop="dateModified">Aug 7, 2025</time><br />
</span></p>
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<title>Failure and me</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/failure-and-me/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/failure-and-me/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[mblaney]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 13 Mar 2025 08:43:30 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorised]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam-feed]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[service]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=544</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 2</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>The past few weeks have reminded me that failure is a part of everything we do. Whether it’s in our professional lives or personal pursuits, from breaking an application to playing a game incorrectly and not winning, failure happens. The term ‘failure’ sounds harsh, but for me, it is about becoming comfortable with it and […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 2</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>
<p>The past few weeks have reminded me that failure is a part of everything we do. Whether it’s in our professional lives or personal pursuits, from breaking an application to playing a game incorrectly and not winning, failure happens. The term ‘failure’ sounds harsh, but for me, it is about becoming comfortable with it and ensuring we mitigate its effects.</p>
<p>As we approach the launch of a new platform at the university, it is difficult not to reflect on missed opportunities or things we could have done differently. I need to remind myself that when we started, we didn’t have the wealth of knowledge that we have now, gained over the last 18 months. It’s challenging for me not to get caught up in a “failure spiral,” which can have negative consequences both professionally and personally.</p>
<p>I listen to a few sports podcasts, and a quote by Samuel Beckett came up:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better – Samuel Beckett</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I love this quote! Failure, when rolling out not just one, but five new applications, along with brand new processes, creating a new service, introducing new technology, new workflows, training, understanding the present, planning for the future, onboarding, involvement in boards and steering groups, and dealing with compliance—how can we not fail? Therefore, we need to get comfortable with failure, but try to “fail better” by:</p>
<ol>
<li>Accepting that it has happened, and for me, it’s part of the job. Get comfortable.</li>
<li>Reviewing what happened by getting the facts.</li>
<li>Understanding why it happened, which sometimes involves digging deeper than the facts.</li>
<li>Developing new strategies so we do not fail in the same way again or so we can fail better.</li>
<li>Implementing a process or workflow to help us, which is documented.</li>
<li>Communicating consistently in all the above steps. It’s not easy, but it’s key.</li>
</ol>
<p>Obviously, we want to deliver a service that is perfect, but in my 20 years of working in the tech center, I have yet to find an application that hasn’t changed, that hasn’t been rebranded, or that hasn’t required UI changes, that still is exactly the same as it was when it launched. Look at Apple; they love to tell us it’s perfect, but what they define as “flawed perfection” means it’s constantly changing.</p>
<p>Accepting failure doesn’t mean we sit back with popcorn and watch the “wheels fall off.” Failing better, for me, involves a lot of work to ensure we minimize failure (if possible) and are prepared when it happens (again, sometimes we aren’t, as it could be a new workflow, patch, cyber attack, user requirement, or edge case scenario).</p>
<span class="uoe-published-time uoe-seo-hidden-area">
<time datetime="2025-03-13" itemprop="dateModified">Mar 13, 2025</time>
</span>
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<title>2024: the year of short courses & the edge!</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/2024-the-year-of-short-courses-the-edge/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/2024-the-year-of-short-courses-the-edge/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[mblaney]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:18:56 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorised]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam-feed]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[short course platform]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=529</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 4</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>This is my reflection on my 2024. It’s for me but you can come along for a few minutes. First reflection, why have I not blogged more this year! Simple answer its been hectic but I feel like I could have reflected on a more regular basis the 12 month journey. Second reflection, what a […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 4</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>This is my reflection on my 2024. It’s for me but you can come along for a few minutes.</p>
<p>First reflection, why have I not blogged more this year! Simple answer its been hectic but I feel like I could have reflected on a more regular basis the 12 month journey.</p>
<p>Second reflection, what a year!</p>
<p>By the end of 2023 we signed the contract with Drieam (who support the learner, course and order management platform called <a href="https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Feduframe.com%2F&data=05%7C02%7C%7Cc57c79c049f74fc4222608dd3536802c%7C2e9f06b016694589878910a06934dc61%7C0%7C0%7C638725230381480477%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=qiL39YC%2B0JyNdVLoKhQQo%2FHuTFRPszgLbUrHKTbRDpQ%3D&reserved=0">eduframe.com</a>) and Instructure (who host the learning platform called Canvas <a href="https://www.instructure.com">https://www.instructure.com</a>) to help us deliver the new Short Course Platform. It had taken 6 months of procurement and legal wrangling to get the contract sorted but in December 2023 it was finally signed. The short course platform will allow the public to browse courses via a web site, create an account, pay (if costed), enrol, learn, maybe get a digital badge and hopefully come back and repeat the process.</p>
<p>The platform aims to emulate a lot of the learnings from the core VLE projects including a consistent user experience, replacing laborious and admin heavy workarounds and having a clear purpose/strategy/vision. It has been a gap in the learning eco-system for a while and we have seen schools/depts bend tools and policies to meet their needs.</p>
<p>Interestingly with the current issues in HE we are starting to see a few other institutions spin up similar platforms. When we started this journey 2 years ago only a few examples existed but with institutions keen to explore additional revenue tracks we have seen similar platforms come online but that’s a different blog.</p>
<p>Like any new service we are starting fresh, which is great! But as soon as we started to update stakeholders and share the news more widely that we had signed a contract then comes the big questions…..when will it be available? Can we use it? How do I use it? Is it compliant? Will the learners like it? What is a learner? Can I show it to my friends? What is a short course?</p>
<p>It can feel like a landslide but I am lucky to work with people who are very supportive, open to ideas and like me love a plan(ner).The service isn’t just one new service, its 4 new platforms, training, guidance, marketing, communication, stakeholder engagement (one off and ongoing), terms of use, legal, compliant handling, data protection, accessibility, reporting (another new service so make that 5), terminology and the list goes on and on.</p>
<p>Spinning up a new service involves working with colleagues inside the department and making sure we are all confident or if not approachable to ask questions. Sounds easy but it’s probably the toughest part, the people who are the face of change need to speak the same language or stakeholders will lose confidence pretty quickly and that can cause tension in teams (who said what, why, when, did they not read the 1000 page memo).</p>
<p>Change agents also need to change. The ability to listen and change what we have thought about, developed or delivered is also key but with the caveat it must be based on facts. I listen to sports podcasts and was really intrigued by a football manager saying the team needed to focus on the team’s core goals (playing good football) and not be driven by the edge (bad passes and mistakes). That edge in service delivery can sometimes be a blocker to progress especially when creating a new service. Evaluating the use case and categorising it is key to understanding impact and priority especially when deadline is involved.</p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong use cases generated by stakeholders need to be listened to and evaluated but it’s the teams requirement to review and categories. Sometimes its not popular with stakeholders however I am a firm believer that services are never perfect. They evolve as does the requirements, the users (all of them) and the underlying technology. Services deliver to the masses and aim to meet all requirements however I have struggled to work on a service that doesn’t have a wish list or a product development roadmap.</p>
<p>The quicker you get comfortable with the edge the better.</p>
<p>My role in the project is technical lead but I feel more like a troubleshooter and negotiator. I have had to get to grips with 4 new bit of tech (content management system, payment portal, new VLE, a website developed on Next.js, a user provisioning tools) and help design a 5<sup>th</sup> (data reporting tool), negotiate with others use of the tools, design, onboarding for early adopter, project timelines and I am mentally knackered. Thankfully (again) a good team and me being very open about forgetting stuff and asking for reminders or checking my notes (which have merged into teams chats) has helped keep me on track. A technical lead sounds like someone who knows it all and I don’t but that’s ok. My role is offering workflows and options to a problem whilst speaking to the experts to help me map it out. Last Monday I had no clue on GA4 and now we have a plan to debug tags. Last Jan I started to play with APIs of the new platforms and now not a day goes by when I don’t have postman open and I am trying to figure out something.</p>
<p>2024 has been a blast but it’s been difficult. The projects have been challenging and that’s not just the tech. My confidence has taken a bit of a bashing along the way but its not personal. I will look back when we finally go live in May 2025 and think 2024 is the year we made a lot of decisions, I learned a little bit more about me and I am sharing some with you as it may help and remembe0 for any service its not the destination as there is never a destination, its just one big journey.<br />
<span class="uoe-published-time uoe-seo-hidden-area"><br />
<time datetime="2024-12-23" itemprop="dateModified">Dec 23, 2024</time><br />
</span></p>
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<title>Canvas UK & Ireland User Group December 2024</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/canvas-uk-ireland-user-group-december-2024/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/canvas-uk-ireland-user-group-december-2024/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[mblaney]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 09 Dec 2024 17:01:56 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorised]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[ai]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[canvas]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam-feed]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[sd]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=521</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 2</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>A user group is a great way to get the latest product gossip from the supplier and more importantly other institutions. They are great ways to network, get inspiration from peers and generally gauge where we are in the current implementation compared to others (plus free pastries).The Canvas UK & Ireland user group was hosted […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 2</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>
<p>A user group is a great way to get the latest product gossip from the supplier and more importantly other institutions. They are great ways to network, get inspiration from peers and generally gauge where we are in the current implementation compared to others (plus free pastries).<br />The Canvas UK & Ireland user group was hosted by Manchester University. The day covered the Canvas roadmap, rubric adoption at medical schools, institutions migrating to canvas from another suppliers, break out sessions on analytics and administration of a VLE and more however there seemed to be one theme that was ever present in sessions, AI.</p>
<p>The first presenter represented FE and discussed how they had developed AI tools based on the Azure Framework (Microsoft) to create assessment feedback for students, assessment feedback summaries for staff and AI assistants to support students. The session highlighted how coding light tools can be developed using existing frameworks, APIs and a lot of engagement with users. The session generated a lot of questions including environmental impact, opt-in/out, academic integrity, quality and assurance of feedback etc. These questions aren’t new but I feel like we have moved from a space where we questioned AI and how it would be included in education to a new space where institutions themselves are developing tools.</p>
<p>With Open AI and the rapid evolution of LLMs suppliers are rushing to squeeze AI into their applications but at what risk? And why? I feel like we are partly to blame as we like new stuff but also want to improve the staff and student experience. It feels like AI might be the new thing that will solve all our problems (did someone saying Learning Analytics…). Like any new tech and especially with LLMs we also need to factor that these cohorts may have a certain level of expectation that AI is integrated into their professional, academic or learning journey. My fear is where should it be integrated and why?</p>
<p><br />New stuff is always fun for me but as someone who works with technology, I also need to consider the why? What is this bringing to the user’s experience? Do we have a gap? Does it improve the users experience? Any repercussions we need to consider? Speaking to design colleagues and stakeholders should drive the change and with AI I don’t know how much of a conversation is happening with users. Don’t get me wrong we need to start somewhere, and basic support bots being used to support users (like <a href="https://information-services.ed.ac.uk/computing/comms-and-collab/elm">ELM</a> or <a href="https://edhelp.ed.ac.uk/">EDHelp</a>) help us grow knowledge and at the same time they practically allow end-users to interact and maybe think about additional functionality they would like to see included in these tools or where they can envision these tools supporting them.</p>
<p>Instructure will be releasing more AI functionality and already have tools like Insights which utilises aspects of AI so:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>‘buckle your seat Dorothy, cause Kanvas is going bye-bye!’ – Cypher, The Matrix.<br /><br /></p>
</blockquote>
<span class="uoe-published-time uoe-seo-hidden-area">
<time datetime="2024-12-09" itemprop="dateModified">Dec 9, 2024</time>
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<title>2023 Reflection</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/2023-reflection/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/2023-reflection/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[mblaney]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 21 Dec 2023 09:46:14 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorised]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[digital badges]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam-feed]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[short course platform]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=497</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 3</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>It has been a while since I sat down with my thoughts. I have been talking about making time to blog and reflect and today is the day! If you’re new here, hello! This will not be an ideological masterpiece or reference books I read related to the role but more a personal reflection for […]]]></description>
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<p>It has been a while since I sat down with my thoughts. I have been talking about making time to blog and reflect and today is the day! If you’re new here, hello! This will not be an ideological masterpiece or reference books I read related to the role but more a personal reflection for me on me, but you can read it (just don’t tell anyone!).</p>
<p>My 2023 will be the year of procurement, digital badges, and supporting the team (bored reading about AI so omitting it until Jan 2024).<br /><br />I have previously blogged about digital badges and how they have emerged from the pit of edu-tech doom and evolved into something that has value for issuers, earners and anyone else who is interested in the recognition of skills, achievements or competencies. I have also talked about replacing standalone credit that equates to nothing in the real world and longer term how institutions will need to offer digital versions of credit as the death of paper accelerates. I get it that people will still want to frame awards etc I just think that may be a minority.<br /><br />The team has done a fantastic job completing a procurement and establishing a service to support a 3-year pilot which we hope will extend with the pending new fun aka the short course platform. In just over 6 months we have issued over 1.5k badges, created and supported a badge governance process, created numerous guides and snazzy webpages, and planned to experiment with badge pathways in 2024. If you are interested have a peek at the webpage: <a href="https://edin.ac/3Waglnj">https://edin.ac/3Waglnj</a> and yes that is a badger wearing a jacket with badges (they are called Bo the badger).</p>
<p><br />I can only see badge popularity and use cases growing however I have concerns regarding the quality of products in the market, cost (platform prices vary vastly) and openness of underlying badge frameworks and portability. With Instructure hoovering up Badgr and now Parchment a big player is making an early move and the wider impact will be interesting to watch.</p>
<p>Procurements are always interesting and when the outcome is a brand new service it’s even more ‘exciting’. At this point I am going to read your mind, are you thinking something along the lines of…</p>
<p>‘Wow Wow, Myles is that a typo!, has the eggnog gone to your head!’ </p>
<p>The answer is no, in a weird and slightly concerning way it’s been fascinating to work with the project team to collaborate, collate, refine and produce a vision with key stakeholders for a new centrally supported platform that will allow the public to view CPD, PPD and any other short courses. pay (if required) and access a dedicated learning platform or be sent any relevant course information. </p>
<p>Ok, in reality, the devil is in the details and creating clear and concise questions that suppliers need to answer is a challenge. Interpreting those answers and scoring them is a bigger challenge especially then the question set is over 100 questions! Then agreeing to scores and feedback is a bigger challenge! It’s like Mortal Combat but without the combat as that would involve HR (however sometimes I think it would have been quicker to just have the combat).</p>
<p>So why did we need to go into the combat ring of procurement? Currently, these types of courses are delivered via numerous platforms, can be an admin burden to support staff, provide an inconsistent and sometimes poor learner experience and may be breaching software licenses (moving on swiftly). To summarise it’s very Edinburgh. everyone is doing something different. So, we proposed a change as we saw a clear gap and after lots of conversations, papers, presentations, and acronym searching we secured support from senior management and a budget from the institution. Instructure and Drieam won the procurement, and I look forward to working with them in 2024.</p>
<p>I manage a small team and also deputize for the section head. I enjoy both and am fortunate to be surrounded by people I respect and enjoy working with each day but this year has taught me to be a human first and a manager second. Work-life balance has always been important to me, especially with a family and growing up in a family where that balance did not exist and witnessing the impact on people’s mental and physical health has always been a valuable lesson to me.</p>
<p>I work hard as Myles Blaney team manager, technical lead, senior service manager, internal consultant, HR rep for the team, information security rep for the section, procurement mediator, badge specialist, and everything else in between. So, I need time to be Myles Blaney gym enthusiast, bike rider, Newcastle United fan, MMA fan, gamer, husband, dad, son, brother, dad taxi, family event planner, and spectator to name a few. I am lucky to have control of my balance due to my supportive manager but I also need to take control of it when I have it and not to quickly check or reply to a ping in teams.</p>
<p>Lastly, AI! It’s here to stay and we are only at the base of the hype curve. I have dabbled this year with Karen into what other institutions are doing and it’s another blog I will post in Jan 2024. Exciting and terrifying at the same time but not new just quicker, faster and better.</p>
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<span class="uoe-published-time uoe-seo-hidden-area">
<time datetime="2023-12-21" itemprop="dateModified">Dec 21, 2023</time>
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<title>Canvas Credentials: the new open digital badge platform</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/canvas-credentials-the-new-open-digital-badge-platform/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/canvas-credentials-the-new-open-digital-badge-platform/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[mblaney]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 30 Mar 2023 08:32:31 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorised]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[digital badges]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam-feed]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[instructure]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=482</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 2</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>Finally after months of scoring procurement questions, analysing costs and negotiation I am pleased to announce that we will be providing open digital badges via Canvas Credentials (formally called Badgr).This is the start of a 3 year pilot to understand the value of digital badges for all stakeholders. Obviously for the earners aka the people […]]]></description>
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<p>Finally after months of scoring procurement questions, analysing costs and negotiation I am pleased to announce that we will be providing open digital badges via Canvas Credentials (formally called Badgr).<br /><br />This is the start of a 3 year pilot to understand the value of digital badges for all stakeholders. Obviously for the earners aka the people awarded a badge(s), will it help motivate them? will they share it on digital CVs or social media? will they even click on the email and accept the badge? what about employability? how do they value a digital badge?<br /><br />How about issuers aka the schools that award the badge, is the platform easy to use? does it allow them the flexibility to develop and deliver standalone and badges which are interlinked (like a pathway)? what about resource for managing all things badges? and why bother with badges?<br /><br />Hang on, what about IS (we are people too), how does it affect us as issuer, earners and support? So all of the above plus is the platform robust? does it provide what the issuers and earners need? how will the service grow? will be see a badge bonanza or the butchering of badges?<br /><br />Whatever will happen the next few years will allow us to pilot and review the premium version of canvas credentials. For clarification when I say premium I mean paid for aka we get extra bits and bobs like:</p>
<ul>
<li>Lots of Analytics: data, data, data</li>
<li>Organisation Management: aka one admin to rule them all! </li>
<li>Ability to add skills to a badge: I got skills their multiplying!</li>
<li>Ability to add custom fields to a badge: starting to panic about how this could be used!</li>
<li>Pathways: interlinked badges journeys</li>
</ul>
<p>Sounds pretty cool! Pathways are probably the ‘funnest’ (not a word but you know what I mean) premium tool which will allow schools or departments to create open stackable badges or paths (basic, intermediate, high ) to a higher level of achievement (Expert). These can include internal or external open badges so in theory could involve external bodies (e.g. companies, other institutions) and users can track their own progress! (take a breathe!).</p>
<p>And what have we decided to call the new open digital badge pilot/service……(drum roll)……BadgEd! (we got the word badge, we are the University of Edinburgh and we love incorporating Ed into stuff). </p>
<p>Sounds like a busy few years? You interested in finding out some more information? Ain’t you lucky we created this website where you can find out some more information on the <a href="https://edin.ac/40QRuX3">BadgEd webpages.</a></p>
<p><br />Finally this wouldn’t be possible without all the hard work of colleagues who have been exceptional (as usual) to help get from an idea to a live pilot (so thanks goes to Delia, Tracey, Nikki, Karen, Fiona and Ellen). Let the hard (fun) work begin….<br /><br /></p>
<span class="uoe-published-time uoe-seo-hidden-area">
<time datetime="2023-03-30" itemprop="dateModified">Mar 30, 2023</time>
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<title>Digital Badges, not just a pretty picture</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/digital-badges-not-just-a-pretty-picture/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/digital-badges-not-just-a-pretty-picture/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[mblaney]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 09 Aug 2022 15:48:03 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorised]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[digital badges]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam-feed]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=455</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 4</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>Digital badges are back! They never went away I hear you say and yes? Of course not but we did enter an odd phase were badges were being issued for anything or everything (I like to refer to this era as the ‘Oprah Winfrey’ era). So we all got badges and the value of a […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 4</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>Digital badges are back! They never went away I hear you say and yes? Of course not but we did enter an odd phase were badges were being issued for anything or everything (I like to refer to this era as the ‘Oprah Winfrey’ era).</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium aligncenter" src="https://media.giphy.com/media/3o7ZeQBhbVGnELP4bK/giphy.gif" alt="you get a gif" width="480" height="326" /></p>
<p>So we all got badges and the value of a badge declined plus how could we validate the badge, where do we put the badges to promote ourselves? So the badge hype slowly dwindled to some hardcore fans who issued badges sporadically. Badge strategies were forgotten and images of badges were added to email signatures with no ability to validate someones claim to be an Google Cloud wizard. I should also state that the frustration with badges also may be related to lack of platforms to develop and issue plus the limited options for styling, metadata and a space for an earner to host (yes Mozilla backpack was available however if you used it then you would understand it had issues).</p>
<p>I personally worked with badges via Blackboard learn a few years ago and we had some great use cases but the value of badges was not recognized by external institutions or private companies.</p>
<p>Fast forward a few years and the digital badge ecosystem has evolved. IMS open badge standards have been widely adopted by numerous suppliers, the options for badge creation & management is also diverse with open, free and paid for services available and most importantly the understanding that to maintain value for digital badges institution needs to have a strategy for badge creation.</p>
<p>The value aspect is key, speaking to other institutions in the UK and US they have stressed how value can only be maintained by guidance and governance. Guidance ensures standardization of the visual, the metadata and criteria for awarding. The visual is key and in most cases badge consumers (someone who sees a badge on a host platform aka linkedin, personal web page, email signature) will only see a small thumbnail of the image so keeping it clean and not going full Picasso is key. To get around the visual issue the creation of a style guide and a badge template helps subdue any hidden artistic desires.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium aligncenter" src="https://media.giphy.com/media/l4tV5VQbNScIikY4o/giphy.gif" alt="picasso art" width="480" height="480" /></p>
<p>Metadata is key, its the data/information that provides the context for the badge and includes fields like description, competencies, achievements, award criteria, expiration and the ability for consumers to check validation! Yes, if you have shared a badge I can check if your a world of war craft level 6 orc from the dune sea by clicking on the validate button.</p>
<p>Governance allows users to request a badge and for it to be reviewed by badge champions to ensure we do not create 100 badges for the same thing, ensure badge value is maintained (aka we don’t hurtle back to the Oprah era, PS you get a badge for reading this far!) and badge visuals are maintained (we want the University of Edinburgh badge experience to follow established design guidelines and best practices) . I would stress that governance is a mix of academic and service staff all with a vested interest in the success of digital badges.</p>
<p>So we have a process and some standards so what do we issue badges for? As highlighted earlier they have been issued for everything and we are keen to avoid those dark days. Badges have a place for recognition of extra curricula or non-curricula skills, competencies or achievements that may not be recognized via other awards or even at all. Badges can be used to level up the softer skills that are core to user development or simply recognize the skills, competencies or achievements a user has gained. Badges spans the digital ecosystem and user base and could be issued on a MOOC platform to a user completing the book MOOC or to a member of staff for competing the Information security training.</p>
<p>So I gained a badge what next? How about recommendations for associated badges which can build upon your skills, achievements or competencies gained via a previous badge. Or the ability to share on a host platform (go on be that LinkedIn boaster who announces everything they are doing to the world) or it can be kept private. Even better imagine having a space that is yours for life and doesn’t need you to be registered at the university, your account, your personal email address your in control. Or don’t claim the badge its all up to the earner (They have the power!)</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-medium" src="https://media.giphy.com/media/yhK4PWI9WJ0c/giphy.gif" alt="i have the power" width="320" height="240" /></p>
<p>The good news is that this service will be launching in the academic year 2022-23 and the team will share more thoughts once we pick a platform. The last thing I wanted to share is that whilst we are focusing on non-credit extra/non-curricula skills, achievements and competencies we are starting to hear institution considering issuing badges for UG and PG degree awards which kinda makes sense. Question if you have a degree what do you have to show your awesome achievement? and more importantly where is it? Personally I got a paper certificate and it sits in a cupboard with all my life admin things. Its not visible, its not verifiable and its on a bit of paper which isn’t great for the environment. A digital badge is verifiable and can be shared on numerous professional and/or personal platforms plus no trees were cut down to produce it. Sure the award ceremony might be slightly different however I have a feeling that the digital badge will be more useful to graduates.</p>
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<time datetime="2022-08-09" itemprop="dateModified">Aug 9, 2022</time><br />
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<title>My Hybrid Reflections (not yours!)</title>
<link>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/my-hybrid-reflections-not-yours/</link>
<comments>https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/my-hybrid-reflections-not-yours/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[mblaney]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 16 Nov 2021 09:52:18 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorised]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dlam-feed]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[hybrid]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=421</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 4</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>19 months ago the thought of me staying at home for 23hrs for months would have terrified me, however we got out routine sorted which helped a lot, this included Joe Wicks 0900, BoJo presser at 1700 (do this but don’t do this), becoming at P2 teacher 1330-1600 (elbow pads in the post), family walk […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<span class="span-reading-time rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time"> 4</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span>
<p>19 months ago the thought of me staying at home for 23hrs for months would have terrified me, however we got out routine sorted which helped a lot, this included Joe Wicks 0900, BoJo presser at 1700 (do this but don’t do this), becoming at P2 teacher 1330-1600 (elbow pads in the post), family walk on the golf course 1600-1700. Throughout that period my working arrangements shifted from room to room as my setup evolved into a desk in my spare bedroom with a large screen and laptop. I have also blogged about the transitions if your interested in the detail but now I am now a hybrid worker.</p>
<p>Hybrid, what’s that? Well it’s kinda like a bit of office working and a bit of home working and for my working situation it makes a lot of common sense. Why does it work for me? The flexibility is something I have craved for years. I worked at home 1 day a week for 13 years, it allowed me to focus on documentation (if you have had the pleasure of working with me you know I love a good process document and making things transparent for anyone involved, who wouldn’t, share the fun), building servers remotely and other individual tasks with maybe the odd phone call to ask people to press a button on campus. Over the 13 years technology has evolved from email, messenger, skype for business (once you got it working) and now teams or Zoom. </p>
<p>Technology evolves and whilst we adapt it seamlessly into our non-working lives, with some of us actively promoting it for work, are 9-5 environment has stagnated due to numerous factors that include open spaces and noise, users unfamiliarity with the technology (e.g. can you hear me, I have poor Wi-Fi. Cat face – to name a few common issues), the technology being regarded as secondary, peoples personal or meeting room hardware setups (some people have vanity lights some people have 3 laptops perched on encyclopaedias). With the tech evolving we can now do remote tasks which now include group work (ability to host or join online meetings), group text chat, drop-ins to chat, share a screen and work through shared documents or issues. </p>
<p>So the technology has evolved (braw!) however the office space hasn’t however what is the office meant to be? I have blogged that people are the campus and they! This has been clearly shown over the numerous lockdowns but as a red brick university the campus is the shop floor for the bulk of roles. IS touch numerous points of campus life (on and remote) and we have shown we can work in extreme circumstances however personally for me I prefer a hybrid work space, which is ultimately a flexible work space.</p>
<p>Home working is great, no trains, no flesh market close steps, no expensive sandwich or coffee shops, work in leisure clothes (bought my first pair of tracksuit bottoms 6 months ago….), no running to meetings basically a lot of good points,. I love my house however I like coming back to it (bit like when you walk in the door post-holiday after sharing a confined space with the hobbits) and I am a strong believer in work life balance. Now for me what work life balance means is ‘give and take’ aka flexibility, managing time/resource, honestly. It may sound preachy but having a young family has taught me to enjoy the time and separate work (like the LTW no comms after 6 policy). I know people who find this impossible and to be honest it freaks me out but it’s their decision. </p>
<p>Working in the office 2 days gives me a bit of separation and allows me to plan 2 different days however I don’t plan them any different and for the foreseeable wont. I come in and work, catch up with folks, meet online or in-person and go home. Currently 2 days is enough and not due to COVID concerns but due to the change in routine (which I am over) and the office feeling different. The space feels subdued and when I come in it’s like a Saturday. It’s quiet for a time however co-ordinating days when others (usually Karen or Nikki) are in helps prioritise tasks for those days, allows us to bounce ideas around (scheduling collaboration and spontaneity on Teams is difficult) and lets me see other people J which I miss. Some of the people I get to work with or share an office with are worth the train fare alone to cheer me up. The human side of work and the office has been something I have blogged about before and it’s one of the reasons why I enjoy my job.</p>
<p>So let’s be honest about the office, desk layout isn’t the best for online meetings and mics pick up other conversations pretty quickly. Meeting rooms are quiet but rely heavily on tech working and the building not being full (booking a room prior to COVID was like a playing a game in Squid Games – somebody would die!). If we are to adopt hybrid shared desk arrangements, thinning of the space would help. The creation of more social sitting and printer booth breakout spaces would help the space however my big thing is the noise. We probably need to admit that for a truly hybrid space the open spaces will need to be a bit more nosier due to online meetings held at desk, more collaboration spaces in teams local environments (again noisy) and the acceptance that the office should be a collaboration space and not just a undefined space with a desk with your stuff on it. Making it a collaboration friendly space helps hybrid workers however like we have all gone through over the past months it would require a change and physical office space changes are probably the most difficult to accept.</p>
<p>So hybrid for me works, the tech now allows us the flexibility, management now understand having being entrenched in it during lockdowns but (always a but) the office isn’t configured to support it…yet. My experience of coming into the office isn’t negative however it could be better which I will be feeding back.</p>
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<time datetime="2021-11-16" itemprop="dateModified">Nov 16, 2021</time>
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Diag| Considering item [https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=663] "Who needs awards anyway!"
Diag========| SQL: SELECT wp_30_posts.ID, wp_30_posts.guid, wp_30_posts.post_modified_gmt, wp_30_posts.post_name FROM wp_30_posts LEFT JOIN wp_30_postmeta EO_META ON EO_META.meta_key = 'ease_only' AND EO_META.post_id = wp_30_posts.ID WHERE 1=1 AND ((guid = 'https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=663')) ORDER BY wp_30_posts.post_date DESC
Diag====| Item [https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=663] "Who needs awards anyway!" is a duplicate of an existing post.
Diag| Considering item [https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=573] "2025: The year SCP took off"
Diag========| SQL: SELECT wp_30_posts.ID, wp_30_posts.guid, wp_30_posts.post_modified_gmt, wp_30_posts.post_name FROM wp_30_posts LEFT JOIN wp_30_postmeta EO_META ON EO_META.meta_key = 'ease_only' AND EO_META.post_id = wp_30_posts.ID WHERE 1=1 AND ((guid = 'https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=573')) ORDER BY wp_30_posts.post_date DESC
Diag====| Item [https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=573] "2025: The year SCP took off" is a duplicate of an existing post.
Diag| Considering item [https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=555] "Short Courses Platform Implementation and Me"
Diag========| SQL: SELECT wp_30_posts.ID, wp_30_posts.guid, wp_30_posts.post_modified_gmt, wp_30_posts.post_name FROM wp_30_posts LEFT JOIN wp_30_postmeta EO_META ON EO_META.meta_key = 'ease_only' AND EO_META.post_id = wp_30_posts.ID WHERE 1=1 AND ((guid = 'https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=555')) ORDER BY wp_30_posts.post_date DESC
Diag====| Item [https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=555] "Short Courses Platform Implementation and Me" is a duplicate of an existing post.
Diag| Considering item [https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=544] "Failure and me"
Diag========| SQL: SELECT wp_30_posts.ID, wp_30_posts.guid, wp_30_posts.post_modified_gmt, wp_30_posts.post_name FROM wp_30_posts LEFT JOIN wp_30_postmeta EO_META ON EO_META.meta_key = 'ease_only' AND EO_META.post_id = wp_30_posts.ID WHERE 1=1 AND ((guid = 'https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=544')) ORDER BY wp_30_posts.post_date DESC
Diag====| Item [https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=544] "Failure and me" is a duplicate of an existing post.
Diag| Considering item [https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=529] "2024: the year of short courses & the edge!"
Diag========| SQL: SELECT wp_30_posts.ID, wp_30_posts.guid, wp_30_posts.post_modified_gmt, wp_30_posts.post_name FROM wp_30_posts LEFT JOIN wp_30_postmeta EO_META ON EO_META.meta_key = 'ease_only' AND EO_META.post_id = wp_30_posts.ID WHERE 1=1 AND ((guid = 'https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=529')) ORDER BY wp_30_posts.post_date DESC
Diag====| Item [https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=529] "2024: the year of short courses & the edge!" is a duplicate of an existing post.
Diag| Considering item [https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=521] "Canvas UK & Ireland User Group December 2024"
Diag========| SQL: SELECT wp_30_posts.ID, wp_30_posts.guid, wp_30_posts.post_modified_gmt, wp_30_posts.post_name FROM wp_30_posts LEFT JOIN wp_30_postmeta EO_META ON EO_META.meta_key = 'ease_only' AND EO_META.post_id = wp_30_posts.ID WHERE 1=1 AND ((guid = 'https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=521')) ORDER BY wp_30_posts.post_date DESC
Diag====| Item [https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=521] "Canvas UK & Ireland User Group December 2024" is a duplicate of an existing post.
Diag| Considering item [https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=497] "2023 Reflection"
Diag========| SQL: SELECT wp_30_posts.ID, wp_30_posts.guid, wp_30_posts.post_modified_gmt, wp_30_posts.post_name FROM wp_30_posts LEFT JOIN wp_30_postmeta EO_META ON EO_META.meta_key = 'ease_only' AND EO_META.post_id = wp_30_posts.ID WHERE 1=1 AND ((guid = 'https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=497')) ORDER BY wp_30_posts.post_date DESC
Diag====| Item [https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=497] "2023 Reflection" is a duplicate of an existing post.
Diag| Considering item [https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=482] "Canvas Credentials: the new open digital badge platform"
Diag========| SQL: SELECT wp_30_posts.ID, wp_30_posts.guid, wp_30_posts.post_modified_gmt, wp_30_posts.post_name FROM wp_30_posts LEFT JOIN wp_30_postmeta EO_META ON EO_META.meta_key = 'ease_only' AND EO_META.post_id = wp_30_posts.ID WHERE 1=1 AND ((guid = 'https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=482')) ORDER BY wp_30_posts.post_date DESC
Diag====| Item [https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=482] "Canvas Credentials: the new open digital badge platform" is a duplicate of an existing post.
Diag| Considering item [https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=455] "Digital Badges, not just a pretty picture"
Diag========| SQL: SELECT wp_30_posts.ID, wp_30_posts.guid, wp_30_posts.post_modified_gmt, wp_30_posts.post_name FROM wp_30_posts LEFT JOIN wp_30_postmeta EO_META ON EO_META.meta_key = 'ease_only' AND EO_META.post_id = wp_30_posts.ID WHERE 1=1 AND ((guid = 'https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=455')) ORDER BY wp_30_posts.post_date DESC
Diag====| Item [https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=455] "Digital Badges, not just a pretty picture" is a duplicate of an existing post.
Diag| Considering item [https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=421] "My Hybrid Reflections (not yours!)"
Diag========| SQL: SELECT wp_30_posts.ID, wp_30_posts.guid, wp_30_posts.post_modified_gmt, wp_30_posts.post_name FROM wp_30_posts LEFT JOIN wp_30_postmeta EO_META ON EO_META.meta_key = 'ease_only' AND EO_META.post_id = wp_30_posts.ID WHERE 1=1 AND ((guid = 'https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=421')) ORDER BY wp_30_posts.post_date DESC
Diag====| Item [https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/mylesblaney/?p=421] "My Hybrid Reflections (not yours!)" is a duplicate of an existing post.
All the edtech shenanigans that's fit to print
Adobe first announced in July 2017 their intention to stop updating Flash player at the end of 2020. There are still quite a number of e-learning websites which use Flash for interactive content such as animations, quizzes and games. These will stop working for most people from January 2021 when Adobe will start blocking Flash […]
Diag| Memory: Current usage: 11 MB
Diag| Memory: Peak usage: 11 MB
Hi Jackie, This sounds like an exciting creative project. Designing and animating custom stick figures from scratch is not that…
This is fascinating, particularly the idea of "coding without writing a single line." It really highlights the potential of prompt…
N.B. Closing date now extended to 23:59 on Wednesday, 4th of March.
Thanks Stewart for your encouragement!
Thank you Miki. I very much enjoyed reading this with my morning coffee. It was lovely to have such a…