{"id":6259,"date":"2021-05-25T12:01:16","date_gmt":"2021-05-25T11:01:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/digital-learning\/?p=6259"},"modified":"2023-08-23T15:27:20","modified_gmt":"2023-08-23T14:27:20","slug":"blackboard-vle-awards-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/digital-learning\/2021\/05\/25\/blackboard-vle-awards-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Blackboard & VLE Awards 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In a year of many challenges, one common story is that students feel short-changed by their online learning experience. It’s therefore been both heartening and humbling to receive 1235 nominations from students for our 9th annual Blackboard & Virtual Learning Environment Awards. Amidst all the hurdles they’ve had to overcome, it’s exciting to hear about courses that have offered them engaging and enriching learning experiences, “dare I say even better than the communication and involvement in lessons in many previous in-person modules.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shortlisting from nominations totalling nearly three times the previous record was a daunting task, as well as a rewarding one. The care and consideration our student judges put in to find the courses that most stood out from students’ comments has been tremendous. Having explored the shortlisted course sites, judges selected those to go through to the final judging panel, made up of Associate Deans for Education, past winners, representatives from SUSU, CHEP and iSolutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In spite of the extraordinary circumstances and all the limitations of remote working, we’ve seen the bar raised for what can be offered in a virtual learning environment. Re-imagining courses for online delivery has yielded some brilliant examples of innovative and student-centred practice. The sentiment below was echoed by many others on the panel:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cEvery single one of the nominated courses was outstanding in different ways, and it was extraordinarily difficult to select only three.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Awards event<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There was no lunch this year, but plenty of food for thought! We asked attendees to sum up their experiences of teaching and learning online this year, and while the inevitable “challenging” takes centre stage, it’s encouraging to see the positive responses from attendees too – “innovative”; “exciting”; “inspirational”; “awe-inspiring”; “revolutionary”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Vevox
What words describe your experience of teaching (or learning) online this year?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We also asked attendees to share their top tips and biggest successes, and “we’re all in this together” summed up the main theme of responses – to listen to students, to approach things from their perspective and to work with them. “Be honest and be human” was another key takeaway, and a willingness to experiment – “just have a go, if it doesn’t work move on and try something different.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Things that had surprised attendees included the amount of time and energy involved in delivering learning online, and limitations of platforms, but also many positives: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

“People are forgiving if you make mistakes”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“How much fun it was to create online stuff and how much the students enjoyed it too”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We survived, and more than that, we triumphed, and our students loved it.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Suggestions from attendees about what they might take forward into in-person teaching included: a flipped classroom model; blended delivery; Vevox activities; recording live sessions; moderated chat during lectures; building in regular Q&A opportunities; “helping maintain a student community beyond just module help”; and waving at the end of sessions!<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Close-up<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The winning courses<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In a very close-run competition, the three overall winners offered something unique – but also something that other courses might replicate. View the video tours, accompanied by some of students’ comments and showcasing some of the features they highlighted, below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n