As one academic year comes to an end and 2021/22 edges ever closer, we’re back again with the latest updates on all things FBMH eLearning. In this edition, we have information and updates on:

  • Digital Teaching Showcase – recordings now available
  • Blackboard course rollover
  • Hypothes.is for student collaboration – training and semester 1 trial
  • Tips for recording video
  • Eduflow – now available to all
  • Uploading video content

Digital Teaching Showcase – 2021

After the success of the 2020 event, the team delivered a second digital teaching showcase on Thursday 22nd July, highlighting the work that has been completed over the last 12 months while the university adapted to online and blended learning. The theme of the day was. ‘Evaluate and Review’, where our speakers took an in-depth look at the things that had worked well over the last year, the challenges that were overcome and the lessons that have been learnt.

Recordings for each of the day’s sessions are available here now.

Blackboard Course Roll Over – 2021–22

The team (alongside course administrators) have recently completed the bulk process to bulk activate 2021/22 Blackboard courses, rolling content over from the 2020/21 versions of the course where applicable. This means that your Blackboard course should now be available to edit, ready for the start of teaching.

There will be a handful of courses across the faculty which may not have been rolled over, either due to staff request or because it may be more complex than the ‘average’ course. If you are expecting to see your course on Blackboard and find that it is not available, first check with your course’s Campus Solutions or Programme Administrator to ensure that you are enrolled correctly.

If required, manual rollover/activation can be completed by following these instructions. Please make sure you take note of the Campus Solutions course “Start date” when choosing the settings for activating your course to ensure that your course becomes available to students on the date you anticipate – more information on this is available here.

My Course Has Been Activated – What Now?

Once active, you need to prepare your course for the next cohort of students. The team have produced a ‘Start of Year’ checklist to help you get everything in order. Our training pages also cover various topics that you may find useful when preparing your course.

Start of Year Checklist
FBMH eLearning Training

Hypothes.is Trial – Student Collaboration Tool

As discussed at the Digital Teaching Showcase, Hypothes.is is a new software that is being trialled for Semester 1 units (and so far, available until January 2022) to help encourage student collaboration. If you were unable to attend the showcase, you can watch the recording here where Chris Millson, eLearning Manager at The University of Manchester Library, discussed its potential uses and features.

Some training dates for the software have been announced:

Monday 9 August, 5:30–6:30pm
Monday 16 August, 5:30–6:30pm (Faculty of Humanities only)

Session sign-up can be found here.

Any questions regarding Hypothes.is training can be directed to either Chris Millson (chris.millson@manchester.ac.uk) or Jennie Blake (jennie.blake@manchester.ac.uk).

Tips for Recording Video

Are you an academic whose students record videos? We’ve just published a student guide to recording videos to help your students create high-quality videos, particularly from a home setting.

Tips for Recording Video

Eduflow – Now Available to All

In our May newsletter, we introduced you to Eduflow – a peer review tool useful for increasing the amount of feedback that students receive. We’re pleased to say that the tool is now available for all to use in their course units, and importantly, Blackboard integration is enabled.

For more information on how the application works and how you can get utilise it in 2021/22, follow the link below.

Peer Review with Eduflow and Peergrade *this link is now obsolete [July 2024]

Uploading Video Content

Staff are reminded that any video content should be uploaded to the university video portal, and not directly into Blackboard. Instructions on how to upload can be found on the portal’s help pages. We have also added a direct link to the video portal in the left-hand menu of most Blackboard courses – this link is hidden from students but should prompt you to upload your videos here whenever necessary.

Remember, if you find yourself uploading a video directly into Blackboard, you are doing it incorrectly.

Contacting the eLearning Team

Our live chat service is available every day from 10–12pm and 2–4pm, where you can speak to one of our team regarding quick queries. More complex queries can be directed to either:


eLearning Newsletter – August 2021