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Blended Learning Toolkit for Students

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A toolkit for students introducing terms and linking to guidelines and FAQs relating to blended learning.

Quite simply, 'Blended Learning' involves blending/mixing traditional modes of teaching and learning with web based technologies.  If you are studying a module that is being delivered via 'Blended Learning', then you may have some 'traditional' face-to-face lectures mixed with some 'online' lectures/tutorials/meetings, online discussion forums or other internet based activities.   Your lecturers may be using a range of tools/technologies, such as discussion forums, quizzes, online meeting tools, to supplement the traditional 'face-to-face' interactions.  

This toolkit briefly introduces several of these technologies indicating how they might be used by your lecturer, guidelines and some Frequently Asked Questions.  It is best to check with your lecturer to see which tools or technologies that they might be using with your module.  Please send an email to moodle@wit.ie if you have any suggestions for additions to this toolkit.  

Please read on for further details on:
1. Participating in online discussions with your fellow students and lecturers
2. Ensuring your assignment/forum contributions are correctly referenced
3. Getting support/help/guidance in using Moodle

1. Participating in online discussions with your fellow students and lecturers:

Your lecturer may use the discussion forum in your module in Moodle to begin discussions between members of the class group. When your lecturer starts a discussion you will be invited to post replies to the discussion much as you would in a social media forum. You can post weblinks to the forum as well as upload files as required. Details on how to do this can be found on our support site at the following links:

2. Ensuring your assignment is correctly referenced:

Turnitin is a plagiarism detection software that can be accessed through Moodle to check students’ work for plagiarism. The Turnitin software used at Turnitin.com is already integrated into Moodle.  As a student,  you can only access it once your lecturer has set up a Turnitin Assignment Submission within the module area in Moodle. If you experience any problems with submitting assignments to Turnitin, please contact the eLearning helpdesk via email at moodle@wit.ie or via phone at 051 834114.

All training materials are available at the Turnitin.com website. Please note that the only options available to students are just the Originality report. It takes approximately one hour to check for an assignment when first uploaded.  Please note that results may be returned quicker than one hour depending on the volume of users. An assignment that receives a high similarity rating indicates that the data contained within the assignment is similar to other sources (books, other assignments submitted worldwide, websites, databases, etc) checked by Turnitin.

3. Getting support/help/guidance in using Moodle

The Moodle helpdesk is located in the Center for Technology-Enhanced Learning on the WIT Main Campus. The helpdesk team is available to assist students using Moodle and associated technologies (e.g Turnitin, Adobe Connect, etc) in person, on the telephone and by email from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays). Please feel free to contact the team with any query you might have. We are happy to help.

4. Feedback

Your lecturer may set up an assignment submission area in their module in Moodle where you will be asked to submit your work. Following the submission deadline your lecturer has the option to provide feedback online as well as your score. You can access your feedback by opening the assignment submission area and clicking on the feedback section.

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5. Copyright

All items posted to Moodle must be limited to students enrolled in the course. All materials must have been legally obtained. Materials must be used for educational, non-commercial purposes.  Students may not be charged for their use of these materials.

We will be adding details in the coming weeks relating to the following:

  • Adobe Connect
  • Quizzes