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This is super, super late! Peter here.

Present thoughts are that Google classroom is the way to go. If there is a continuum between clunky at one end and seamless at the other, I think GC is further to the latter end than Moodle (my institution's VLE). It seems intuitive and to be well integrated with Google docs and Google calendar, and it's not such an effort to find things.

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Hi guys,
Maria here. This is super, super late, I know, and I sincerely apologise for the delay. My idea is to create a Module Forum as a platform for students to ask all the 'silly' questions they usually ask the teacher. e.g. When is the deadline? (asked in week 10 of the course) What time do I have to submit by? Can I submit the hard copy later than the e-copy? etc. These are all pertinent questions and the students REALLY need to be communicated these details, but when each and every student in a class of 21 asks these same questions once a week, then they become a little 'silly' and answering can take up class time - especially when the rest of the class gets involved in providing these answers, naturally. So why not let the students sort these issues out themselves? I've created a word document with a brief description of how the idea came to me and a few steps to follow to create the forum on Blackboard.

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We have resources that accompany the modules of our academic English course on the platform.  Teachers can edit and assign these. We log homework, link to videos and texts and other resources to achieve a blended learning approach.
Students can upload essays to TurnItIn, access the homework log and share documents, or submit work for feedback, or contribute to the module forums.
I also use it to flip the class and upload input for them to access.  Sometimes this is via other external apps like, Ted Ed, Quizlet, Padlet etc.
Students can also produce work, or edit a shared wiki document.

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At INTO we have a couple of moodle platforms.  My INTO and the Exeter Learning Environment, which is linked to the University.  The plethora of platforms and online tools is part of the headache.  It would be good if we could consolidate things onto one space.

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At INTO we have a couple of moodle platforms.  My INTO and the Exeter Learning Environment, which is linked to the University.  The plethora of platforms and online tools is part of the headache.  It would be good if we could consolidate things onto one space.

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Poor layout

Poor colour scheme

Easy to misread

One tab contains more tabs which aren’t obvious that they are there and so easy to miss something which might be useful

No way to see an overall map of al the contents on one view.

The problem is the layout and the labelling rather than the materials themselves. In addition there is no one in charge of it.

The tabs at the top take you to different pages. So you choose the tab you want. But one tab might refer to two courses and this was the mistake I made last week as one announcement was for another class and not my class. Other teachers who have worked here longer also made the same mistake.

The updates come every day. So on one day you look for the updates, but someone might have posted something last in the evening, something appears on yesterday’s notice board and if you are in a hurry you miss it. Or as it is online in a screen within a screen you misread it. This has happened to me more than once and especially during the pre sessional. The type face and background colours are poorly chosen and not clear.

The tabs on the sides refer to different parts of the course.

So the tabs can take you to 5 different pages. One tab does this and it is confusing. The other tabs are fine. These are not visible until you open the tab and so are easy to miss and difficult to find unless you know where they are located.

The other tabs are self explanatory so it is only this one tab which has too much stuff.

It was overwhelming at the beginning.

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Advantages

The lesson records are here and easy to find as they are all together in the top left corner.

On the page I need, there are three big section with either six or seven smaller tabs to choose from. These are clearly labelled.

The first section is straightforward.

The final section is clear now that I have taken the time to look at it.

All there

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Overview

The language teaching section uses https://wordpress.com/

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Disadvantages

I have used Blackboard and moodle before.

Blackboard I really didn’t like. For one course I did I had to make a portfolio and then share it with the tutor. This was quite clumsy and I had to share again everytime I added something new.

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Advantages

Easy access to all information

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Overview

The university use MOLE. My Online Learning Environment. However, when I looked at the mobile app it was Blackboard.

I have used moodle and this was a few years ago. I can’t remember much about it now, but it was better than Blackboard.

The tab on the introduction page of the University.

Has access to

Google mail, google calendar, google drive (google docs and google slides)

Google calendar - don’t know how to use it.

Telephone directory

Uni drive, have to log in again with the same user name and the same password.

I found some downloads.

My job: payslip, how much holiday left.

Some won’t allow me access.

MOLE: takes me to Turnitin.

Star Plus the library catalogue

CIS link only available when using Internet Explorer.

The Deal - things to buy cheaply e.g cinema tickets if you download the app.

others include: Lynda.com which has free online courses.

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There are three different virtual learning environments (VLE) that I am required to use.

One is used throughout the university for all the students, one is used by the students and yet another one is used by the language teachers. These all use different systems.

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Disadvantages

Must have google

Doesn’t always work on my personal google email account

They changed it without notice during the summer pre sessional, so a user is at the mercy of google.

It does not make it easier if I want to share a document with the members of the class. I have to make the document available to everyone in the university and then I can post it on google classroom.

Stream and Classwork.

I am confused by the difference.

I have noticed that my partner teacher and I have been putting materials on Stream and that there is nothing on Classwork. Maybe it should have been put on classwork.

Sharing documents but making them only editable by some people and not others is more difficult. I have done that before but I can’t remember how to do it now.

There is no way to track if the students are collaborating. Only the final or in progress document can be seen.

Some teachers persist in using Microsoft Word and Microsoft Powerpoint. So these documents have different characteristics and sometimes I have found them difficult to use as I have to download them and then access them from a folder on my computer. At the university both are used equally.

When you have a google document and you download it as a word document the tables do not correspond i.e. the pages do not match up 100% correctly.

My phone is registered with my personal google email and so accessing work google email has been impossible a my phone doesn’t seem to like having 2 google email addresses. However that might be an advantage as I don't want to get the 2 mixed up.

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Advantages

The People Tab at the top  is useful if I want to send an email to all the students in the class.

To add a document, or something from the internet is straightforward and easy.

Share something with your class:

Click on the writing that says Share something with your class and then you can add form a file on your PC, something from your drive (which is like a folder but in the cloud somewhere), from youtube.com or a link to a web page.

Google docs and Google slides save automatically.

Easy to download a google doc as a word document.

It is useful for sharing slides with students. For example if you make a presentation in google slides, you can share it with the class so that they can review the material after a lesson.

Using Firefox all worked equally well doing some simple tasks.

Using Internet Explorer all worked equally well doing some simple tasks.

When you have a google slides you can download it as a powerpoint but when I was using internet explorer, any links to webpages do work and it was  a read only version. But I was able to type onto it.

When using Firefox you can download a google slides presentation as a powerpoint.

The links to other websites worked when I tried it.I could edit it.

When you have a powerpoint and try to save it as a google slides it is straightforward as well. File upload and then open it as a google doc. The open with tab is by itself in the middle of the top of the page and not easy to locate.

(However I didn’t know any of this until today and I had struggled through three pre sessional courses switching between Microsoft and Google products.)

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Overview

The titles at the the top are Stream, Classwork and People

Google docs: These are a text document similar to Microsoft Word, or the Open Source versions. They can be shared with other users. There are 3 options:

Can edit

Can comment

Can view

Can edit means that the other user(s) can makes changes.

Can comment Not sure

Can view: can only look at and cannot make any changes.

Google slides. This is google’s version of PowerPoint

Google chrome is needed to access google classroom