Student Support

This page contains recommendations to help you ensure students are supported throughout the duration of the module through existing good practice that is adapted to online delivery. Suggests to link to other support networks is also provided, along with ensuring a range of communication channels remain open allowing students to remain connected while learning online.

In this video, Professor James Pickering, Student Education Academic Lead, examines a range of considerations and approaches to providing students with support during hybrid learning and in fostering the development of learning communities. The Student Support strand of SCALA provides a framework for creating an inclusive learning community that connects formal and informal support structures.

The SCALA Student Support guidance is also available to download.

What How
Establish online community for non-academic contact and to develop a sense of social belonging
  • Ask students to write short bios about themselves and publish in discussion forums such as Padlet or set up OneDrive shared docs
  • Discussion boards with short, structured, weekly activities in small groups
  •  Create module and programme online Café’s for informal extra-curricula activities
  •  Prompt for entertaining online meet ups (ie, academic pub quizzes with course reps and PGRs who teach)
Provide clear guidance on access  to technology and provide tutorials for technology use if unfamiliar
  • Screencapture step-by-by-step instructions using desktop capture
  •  Draw on resources and link to central IT
Ensure all students have access to the technology they will need to engage
  • Provide opportunities for students to contact relevant colleagues in School
  • Develop questionnaire for dissemination and completion
Signpost to Mental health and wellbeing resources
  • Identify LUU, School and Programme initiatives and direct appropriately
Generate FAQ document that is routinely updated
  • OneDrive Open doc embedded within module area
Ensure all teaching and assessment approaches meet current inclusivity guidelines
  • Review guidelines and adapt teaching accordingly
  • Use Blackboard Ally to audit module content
Student: staff forum
  •  Pivot to online delivery
Establish peer-peer and near-peer student groups 
  • Based around Personal tutor groups to facilitate the informal discussion forums and online discussions’