Coronavirus Help: Remote Teaching Technologies at QMUL

As we have moved on from teaching out the 2019/20 academic year and in to 2020/21, this page is no longer being updated.

For upcoming sessions run by the E-Learning Unit and the QM Academy, please see the course booking system

Getting started with remote teaching

Getting started with remote teaching presentation
Online delivery guidelines (Updated: 24/03/2020)
Student expectations guidelines
Webinar top tips (Updated: 31/03/2020)

QMplus – QMUL’s online learning environment (based on Moodle)

The vast majority of taught modules at QMUL make use of QMplus. You will probably already be making use of QMplus to communicate and share resources with students. It is also quite likely you are already using QMplus for assessment and feedback. Features that you are likely to find useful at this time are:

Using forums for communication
Using online assignment submission and feedback tools for providing feedback on work… …including audio and video feedback

Learn more:

Online communication via QMplus – Communication and Collaboration guides.
Using QMplus for online assignments and feedback – Assignment guides.

Blackboard Collaborate – real-time video conferencing

Blackboard Collaborate is useful for:

Real-time video conferencing (virtual classrooms) for up to 250 participants
Connecting with students using audio and video
File sharing (real-time)
Screen-sharing
Online chat
Using a virtual whiteboard

Blackboard Collaborate requires set up in QMplus, but once set up it is possible to give access to people who do not have QMplus accounts. Participants will need to have a stable broadband connection and modern internet browser.

Note: Blackboard Collaborate is appropriate for up to 250 participants.

Learn more:

Run a webinar using the Collaborate activity in QMplus.

Q-Review – QMUL’s lecture capture and video recording system (based on Echo360)

Q-Review is useful for:

Recording and sharing lecture recordings
Embedding links to recordings on webpages or in QMplus
Using previous years’ recordings where this years’ recordings are not available
Recording yourself using the Universal Capture software which will then be automatically added to your Q-Review lecture recordings library and will look similar to those recordings.
Easier downloading of videos for offline viewing

Should there be Q-Review lecture recordings from previous years, then these can be published to the current cohort of students, providing the owner of the recording has given their express permission in writing for them to be used.

Learn more:

About publishing and sharing Q-Review recordings in our Publishing a recording from last year’s guide
About embedding or linking to recordings by following the steps in our How do I embed or link guide.
Using Q-Review’s Universal Capture.

Recording with Universal Capture

If you do not have access or permission to use previous years’ lecture recordings, you can make your own recording using Q-Review’s Universal Capture. This allows you to

Record anything being displayed on your computer screen, audio and a webcam…or any combination of these.
Publish recordings to the same online course area as your other Q-Review lecture recordings
Paste a link to the published recording onto a website or blog

The recording from Universal Capture will look similar to other Q-Review lecture recordings and will be automatically added to your library of lecture recordings.

Note: Requires admin rights to download and install the Universal Capture software onto your computer or laptop in order to use Universal Capture. If you are unable to download and install Universal Capture you could try using QMplus Media to make a recording instead. See below.

QMplus Media and Kaltura Capture – video streaming and recording system (Based on Kaltura)

QMplus Media and Kaltura Capture is useful for:

Uploading and streaming videos via QMplus, these can be existing videos or ones that you create
Making recordings of your computer screen, web cam and audio
Recording short snippets of feedback or an entire presentation
Enabling the delivery of multimedia content to those with limited bandwidth
Allowing students to make recordings and upload to QMplus Media
Using the mobile app to make recordings
If you do not have admin rights to your machine and you are unable to download and install Q-Review’s Universal Capture

QMplus Media, provides a variety of useful ways to use video in teaching.

Download Kaltura Capture from QMplus Media (no admin rights required) to make recordings of your computer screen, web cam and audio. You can use it to record short snippets of feedback for your students or to record an entire presentation. Once recorded, you can easily upload the recording and embed it into your QMplus area.
Students can upload and share videos too. You can also allow them to submit videos for assessment via a standard QMplus assignment

Learn more:

There is also an app which makes it easy to record videos on mobile devices and upload them to QMplus Media.

Note: Recordings made via Kaltura Capture are available automatically via QMplus Media.

Learn more:

Record video on your mobile using the QMplus Media app.

Moodle Mobile app

Moodle’s Mobile app is useful for:

If your students have access to download the Moodle Mobile App, then this is a good way for them to have quick access to QMplus online learning content.
Downloading content so that students can view the material offline and students can receive notifications in the app.

Learn more:

Mobile App guide

Advice on assessment

If you would like advice from the QM Academy on a specific pedagogic issue related to assessment (rather than technical or practical support) please fill in your details here:
https://forms.gle/DKwn4BeESB1SSnBJ6

Make a recording using PowerPoint

All staff and students at QMUL have access to Microsoft PowerPoint via our institutional Office 365 license. One of the easiest ways to create a video presentation is to record in PowerPoint itself. This allows you to record:

Your voice, and optionally a webcam
Slide animations and transitions
Annotations made with the tools in PowerPoint

After you have completed the recording, you can save the file as a video file and then upload it to QMplus Media, our media server.

Learn more

Online E-Learning training sessions

Details of sessions being run by the E-Learning Unit can be found on the course booking system

If there’s something you’d like us to run a session on…get in touch on elearning@qmul.ac.uk.

Drop-In Sessions

The E-Learning drop-in sessions run every Tuesdays and Thursdays between 1-2pm – please login to QMplus, click on ‘online drop-in’ and ‘join session’, between 1-2pm. Further drop-ins will be advertised on a weekly basis.

Please access the online drop-in sessions here: https://tinyurl.com/ELUSupport