All teaching staff will need to interact with Learn Ultra, even if the course materials are hosted on Drupal. We have compiled links to instructions on the most common tasks you will need to perform in Learn below. If you do not see what you need below, please check out the following page, which has additional instructions and guidance materials on a range of other aspects of Learn Ultra: Using Learn as an Instructor.

Introduction to Learn Ultra: a series of short videos providing an overview of Ultra and how to navigate the site.

Adding and organising content:

• Types of Course Content – start here to get a definition of the terminology used for content types in Ultra
• Learning Modules and Folders
• Adding Documents
• Web and course links*
• Copying content in Learn Ultra
• Add a video to your course

*If you want to share a link with students to a file you have uploaded to the Content Collection for a course, you will need to adjust the permission settings in the Content Collection folder following these instructions from Blackboard.

Assessment and marking:

Please remember that the Course Secretary is now in charge of setting up most assignment submissions (other than things like CodeGrade or authoring quiz questions), so please contact the ITO about the creation of assignment submission boxes. Below we have provided links for guidance on accessing student submissions and how to give marks and feedback.

For Learn Assignments:

• Marks and Gradebook, Feedback, additional information on marking and the Gradebook
• Uploading marks (and feedback) to Learn Ultra
• Creating and managing tests

For Turnitin assignments:

• See the Marking, Feedback and Grading section here

For Gradescope assignments:

• See our blog post Marking an exam or homework assignment in Gradescope

Tools:

• Communicating with your students (incl. Announcements and how to email a Group in Learn)
• Managing Groups and Group Import and Export
• If you don’t use Piazza for your course, you can set up a discussion board in Learn. This can be linked to Groups, so that students can talk to their group members: Create and manage Discussions
• Adding tools to your Learn course (e.g. Zoom, CodeGrade, Noteable): Adding Tools via Content Market; for more on Zoom, see Adding a Zoom session to your Learn Ultra course

Note: All students, the Course Organiser, and Course Secretary will be automatically enrolled on the Learn course via a feed from EUCLID. All other teaching staff (i.e. additional lecturers and teaching support staff) will be enrolled via a feed from the School’s own databases; teaching support staff will only be enrolled in Learn once their contract is confirmed in PiP.

If students are permitted extra time on timed pieces of coursework as part of their extended time adjustments, then you will need to set this up for any timed quizzes/tests on your course.

If you are a member of teaching staff, please ensure that you talk to the ITO about this before enabling it for any student on your course, as there are different types of extra time adjustments that a student may have and they will help clarify for your course how these need to be applied.

Below are links for how to add these extended time adjustments in the two commonly used coursework quiz/test platforms. For both Gradescope and Learn tests, you can set up an adjustment for a student that extends across a whole course and any timed assignments within that course or grant an adjustment just for one or more individual assignments.

Gradescope: Extending assignment release dates, due dates, and time limits

Learn: Accommodations and Exceptions in Blackboard Ultra (with thanks to Teeside University for writing much better instructions on this than Blackboard itself provides)

Note: Due to an ongoing bug in Learn Ultra, if you upload feedback to submission box in Learn, it will not be visible to students. If you want to upload feedback for an assignment that students submitted to via Learn, follow the instructions below to create a new “item” directly within the Gradebook itself, which (for some reason!) allows students to view the feedback you upload. Update: This bug appears to have been fixed, but let us know if you encounter any problems with the visibility of feedback for students.

1. Go to the Gradebook in the course Learn page.
2. Add a new Item to the Gradebook by hovering over where you want to add it in the list and clicking on the purple (+) when it appears and then select “Add Item”.

Then make the following adjustments when the item settings window opens:

• It will give the item the default name of “New Item and the current date”; change this to the actual assignment’s name to ensure that students can locate it easily.
• We recommend keeping this item hidden from student view for now.
• The due date doesn’t really matter for this, so you can leave it as the default of the current time.
• Set the marking as required (points, percentage, etc.) and, if points, the maximum number possible for this assignment.
• For “Mark category”, choose Assignment.
• Add a description if you want, but it’s not required.
• Press Save.

3. Download the Gradebook, selecting just the new item that you created. Make sure to tick the option to include Feedback (unless you just want to upload marks, in which case, leave it unticked). Choose to save it as an xlsx file and save it to your computer.

4. Open the file on your device.
5. Make sure that the header for Column G is the assignment you want to be uploading marks for (i.e. the item you just created in the Gradebook).
6. Input the marks in Column G.
7. Input the feedback in Column J, if you need to share this with students.

Note: Make sure you do not change the header of any of the columns or Learn may not be able to read the file properly when you upload the marks. If you need to copy and paste data from another spreadsheet, make sure that it aligns with the columns as laid out in the file you downloaded from Learn.

8. Save the file.
9. Return to the Gradebook in Learn and now select “Upload Gradebook”.

10. Choose “Upload Local File” and select the spreadsheet you have just saved. Once it has loaded, untick the option for “Select All” and just leave the assignment you want to upload marks for ticked. Click “Upload”.

11. Once Learn has uploaded the document, you will see how many students there are not marks for (i.e. those who did not submit the assignment) and also the option to post the marks that you just uploaded.

12. Before you post the marks, it’s worth quickly checking that your upload worked. Click on the assignment name and you will be taken through to a list of all the students on the course. You can then check the a few of their marks and feedback in Learn with your spreadsheet to make sure that the upload worked properly.

Note: If you only want to post marks to certain students, you can do that from this view. Just click the “Post” button next to the name(s) of the student(s) whose marks you are to post.

13. Once you are ready to share the marks with the students, Click to Post the marks. And then “Post All Marks” when the dialogue box opens.
14. Go back in to the Edit view of the assignment (by clicking the three dots … at the end of the row for it) and from the drop-down menu choose to make it “Visible to students”. Press Save. The students will now be able to view their marks and feedback for this assignment.

• Login to your Learn Ultra course page and select the ‘Groups’ tab in the top horizontal menu. Select the name of the group set to which your group belongs.

• Scroll to find the name of the group to which you want to send a message. Select the three dot menu icon to the right of the group name and select ‘Message group’ from the drop-down menu.

• Compose your message. Select the ‘send an email copy to recipients’ checkbox if you want the students to receive an email copy in addition to the message within Learn. Press send.

Many of the learning technologies we use for teaching in the School of Informatics are integrated into Learn via LTI links, which ensure that user information (e.g. name, email address, and student number) are fed from Learn through to the other tool. Examples of these are Gradescope, Piazza, Zoom, Media Hopper Create and Replay, and CodeGrade. This also means that information can be fed back from these tools to Learn, e.g. marks in Gradescope added to Learn’s Gradebook. Many of these tools, including Library Resources, Media Hopper Replay (aka Lecture Recordings), and Piazza are included on all Informatics courses automatically through our School Learn template.

The process for adding these tools to a Learn page for students to access has changed in Ultra. Please follow the instructions below on how to add a link to these tools on a course Learn page for students and other staff enrolled on the Learn course to access. (Click on any of the screenshots below to open them full size.)

1. Navigate to the place in Learn that you want to add the link (this might be within a folder, e.g. for an assessment submission) and click on the plus (+) sign where you would like to add it on the Course Content page. You can see that the Gradescope link has already been added below using these steps and, for this demo, we will be adding a link to Piazza below it.
   
2. From the pop-up list of options that opens, select “Content Market”.
3. When the Content Market screen opens, navigate to find the tool you need. Do not click on the name of the tool, rather select the little plus (+) sign icon in the bottom right-hand corner for that tool, as shown below for Piazza QA.
   
4. You will then be taken back to the main course Learn page, where you can see that the Piazza QA tool has been added, as you can see below. You can use the three dot icon (…) to open the menu for the item and edit its name and/or description. Once you are ready for students to access it, make it visible to them.
   

There are a wide-range of assessment options built into or integrated with Learn. Each assessment has its own workflow and a plethora of settings to choose from.

In this blog post we look to highlight some of the common issues, quirks, and key settings to be aware of.

This is part of a series of blog posts related to Tests and Assignments:

• Understanding Test Options
• Learn Assessment “Gotchas”

Learn Assignments

Due Dates

Assignments should have a date/time when submissions should be made by. This date will send notifications to students as the due-date approaches.

We recommend a due-date in working hours so that support is available from ITO or ILTS for any issues that might arise around the submission. So a deadline that is on a Friday at 5pm is not ideal.

Upload Progress

There is no progress bar displayed to students to indicate that the file submission is being processed. The browser will also not show a “spinny-wheel” in the tab to indicate that the page is processing. Students should be instructed to only click the submit button once and be patient.

When the file is submitted the student will be able to see their submission and will receive an email confirmation.

Submission Receipts

When a Learn Assignment is successful the student will receive a submission receipt via email. The students can also see a list of their receipts from their Grades panel which they can access from the top-right of any page.

The general rule is worth following: “if a student does not have a copy of their submission receipt, the submission has not been made.”

Anonymity

Marking should be done anonymously in the majority of assessment scenarios. In Learn Assignment the anonymity settings are very strict – it is not possible to see which student have submitted, and it is not possible to review any attempts related to a specific student until anonymity has been removed.

We recommend setting the anonymity-release date in the future and then changing this when you are ready for anonymity to be removed.

Gradebook

Visible to students

Any activity within Learn that can have a mark associated with it (formative or summative) will have an entry in the Gradebook, which is located in one of the tabs across the top of the course Learn page. The default option for the column is to have the grade visible to students.

By opening up the entry for an assessment, you can choose whether to hide or show it to students.

Calculated Items

The calculated and weighted items are a great way of aggregating grades across activities. However sometimes a calculated item can sometime release a grade from a hidden entry which it is related to.

We recommend taking time to review and manage your Gradebook. You can find out more about navigating the Gradebook here.

You can get in touch with lt-support@inf.ed.ac.uk if you need further support.

Please read through the following guidance well in advance of any submission deadline you have.

Check file type

The Learn assignment tool will accept any file types but check the instructions for your course to see which file types are required for your individual assignment.

Check file size

If you are submitting very large files, this will affect the time it takes to upload…

Internet Connection

… We therefore strongly advise that you submit your assignment using a reliable and fast internet connection.

Check Browser

Wherever possible, use a computer and browser you are familiar with, or a computer in the public access labs, when submitting an assignment. You can check your browser compatibility from the Browser information box on the My Institution page inside Learn.

Submission Deadlines

Do not submit the assignment minutes before the deadline, because then you will have very limited time to change computers or report a problem if there is one.

Troubleshooting

If you do have a problem submitting your assignment try these troubleshooting steps:

• If it will not upload, try logging out of Learn / MyEd completely and closing your
  browser. If possible try using a different browser.
• If you do not receive the expected confirmation of submission, try submitting again.
• If you cannot resubmit, contact your tutor by email attaching your assignment, and if
  possible a screenshot of any error message which you may have. (see below).
• If you have a technical problem, contact the IS helpline (is.helpline@ed.ac.uk). Note the course name, type of computer, browser and connection you are using, and where possible take a screenshot of any error message you have.

Always allow yourself time to contact helpline / your tutors if you have a problem submitting your assignment.

Further information can be found on the IS support pages here: https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/learning-technology/virtual-environments/learn/assignments-marks-feedback/assignments

On 1 March, the IS User Experience (UX) Service, in partnership with the School of Informatics, ran a Learn usability testing showcase event. Participants from across the University watched screencasts of students using an Informatics Learn course, before prioritising the usability issues identified.

Five students in total took part in the testing – four from Informatics, including those enrolled on single programmes, joint programmes with other Schools, and those from our Undergraduate Apprenticeship Scheme – and one from the School of Economics. Each was presented with the following scenario and four ‘typical’ tasks to perform.

A copy of the Learn course for Computer Security was used for testing purposes. This was chosen as it aligned closely with the Learn template developed for the School.

Scenario

You’re a third year student on the joint programme BSc Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science. This semester you are studying a course called Computer Security. It’s week 3 of the course, and you’re preparing for your first piece of coursework.

Tasks

Task 1: You want to check the deadline for the first piece of coursework and see if it clashes with any other coursework deadlines. Using the Learn course site, find out the deadline for the first piece of coursework, and then see if it clashes with coursework deadlines for any other courses on which you are enrolled.

Task 2: You missed the third lecture of week 1 because of sickness. You’d like to watch the recording so you can catch-up. Using the Learn course site, find and play the third lecture of week 1.

Task 3: You’re going away for the weekend and you’d like to do some reading while you’re away. You’re not sure you’ll have access to the internet, so you’d like offline access to your reading. Using the Learn course site, find the required textbook for the course and see if you can download or print a section of the textbook.

Task 4: You’d like to familiarise yourself with the content of the last lecture you attended, called Cryptography – asymmetric encryption. Can you open the lecture notes from this lecture?

Results

Task 1: Most users found the coursework deadline relatively quickly and with ease. One student checked both the Course Information and Course Content pages prior to selecting the Coursework and feedback page.

However, no users were able to easily find the link to the personalised coursework planner. This was expected, and one of the reasons why I included it in the task.

Task 2: Most users found the link to the lecture recording overview page with relative ease. Some users were expecting to find a direct link in the table on the Course content page. This was not surprising as the Semester 1 course Informatics 1: Introduction to Computation includes this.

There was, however, a significant usability issue identified for all users when it came to identifying a particular recording from the Media Hopper Replay course overview page. This was caused by the unhelpful automatic naming convention of recordings (see below). Users performed a lot of cross-checking between different pages on Learn, various online calendars and and the Media Hopper Replay course overview page to identify the recording from the “third lecture of week 1”.

Task 3: The course organiser had used Leganto, the centrally supported Resource List tool, for the course.  Users could access the text on Leganto via both an in-text link, or an icon associated with the service link. Most Informatics users found the link to the required textbook with relative ease. There was one instance of users navigating to the table on the Course content page where references to specific chapters are included.

This particular textbook was behind an EASE login. As the students were using a dummy account, they were prompted to enter their EASE credentials which would not be the case when logged in as themselves.

Interestingly, the student from Economics searched for the textbook by navigating to the Handbook. This highlights the different approach to content curation and the various roles course and programme handbooks perform across the University.

Task 4: Four users found the link to the lecture notes with ease. One (visiting) student initially checked the Coursework and feedback page. It was noted that the terms lecture notes and lecture slides are sometimes used interchangeably.

Action Points

• Feature request for Media Hopper Replay team: can we automate naming of recordings by date? Venue information would also be helpful here.
• Request for Media Hopper Replay team: can we facilitate production of individual URLs for each recording which will work for enrolled users – *even when they haven’t selected initial LTI link*. Only when this can be a achieved, should we encourage course instructors to include links to Media Hopper Replay recordings in the table on the Course Content page.
• Promote coursework planner across the school. Posters / monitor displays etc.
• Include a thumbnail of a ‘typical’ coursework planner in the next iteration of the template.
• Can the coursework planner display full course name rather than acronym?
• Enquire into possibility of responsive design for coursework planner.
• Can we have the coursework planner work for tutors (eg marking loads)? Do we need this?
• Work with the web and communication team to research how Informatics students use the yearly handbook.

Reflection

I thoroughly enjoyed working with Duncan Stephen on this mini project. The feedback was informative, encouraging, and a call to action. I’m looking forward to embedding similar practice across the School for alternative platforms for content delivery.

The results of the ‘prioritisation of issues’ aspect of the workshop can be found below. If you would like to know more about this particular round of testing, or would like to use your course for further testing, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Further links

• User Experience Service: http://www.ed.ac.uk/is/ux
• Join the UX community: http://bit.ly/UX-meetup-blogs
• UX mailing list: http://bit.ly/uoe-ux-mail
• Steve Krug’s Rocket Surgery resources: http://bit.ly/1I1muXo
• David Travis’s prioritisation flowchart: http://bit.ly/1I1mCWW