Would you like to create inclusive and engaging digital learning experiences for your students? These guides provide you with the information needed to develop a variety of learning activities and materials, such as live online sessions, audio and video recordings and online assessments. The guides are grouped under the four strands of ‘Learning Journey’, ‘Content Delivery’, ‘Assessment and Feedback’, and ‘Student Support’.

Additional guidance and training

In addition, you can access training and development through the adapt your teaching for online delivery course on Minerva and OD&PL’s student education development provision. The University has also developed guidance to support students based in China (Word doc) to help manage their specific challenges and has produced the teaching and researching sensitive issues (Word doc), which will be relevant to supporting students based in China. The Digital Accessibility website provides advice for educators and covers topics such as creating accessible documents, captions for online learning, using Blackboard Ally and more.

Approach to teaching in 2022/23

The University’s approach to teaching for 2022/23 focuses on delivering active and engaging teaching, delivered in-person, and complemented by digital technology where it adds value. In addition, our strategy for the University – Universal Values, Global Change 2020-2030, charts a course for the University for the next 10 years and includes our student education strategy 2020-2030.

Learning Journey

Provide students with a clear picture of their learning from the onset of teaching. Use these guides to plan and communicate your teaching with students.

• Designing a learning journey – Support for the development of a Learning Journey.
• Communicating a learning journey – Advice on creating a module map or timetable, creating a welcome page and communicating a learning journey to students and the different technologies available for communicating with students at Leeds.
• Digital communication with your students – Guidance on selecting and evaluating different technologies for digital communication with students.

Content Delivery

Produce engaging and inclusive digital content, e.g. audio and video, digital activities for groups and interactive virtual classrooms.

• Writing content – Key considerations for writing for digitally enhanced learning, such as writing style, layout and format, and hyperlinks and references.
• Recording and sharing video and audio – Instructions for planning, recording, editing and sharing your video and audio. It also provides links to instructions for using Mediasite for your recordings.
• Running live (synchronous) teaching sessions – Assists the planning and delivery of a teaching session using Collaborate Ultra, including examples of using breakout rooms, chat and polls to engage with students.
• Creating collaborative digital group activities – Assists with the planning and delivery of asynchronous collaborative activities using Minerva Discussion Forums.
• Putting your course onto Minerva – Introduces the basics of adding your course to Minerva and provides ideas and examples for how to present different learning activities to create a consistent experience for your students.
• Using external digital resources – Assists you with the use of external resources, such as YouTube and TedTalks. It also suggests how you can use LinkedIn Learning, FutureLearn and Coursera in your teaching.
• Virtual classrooms – Guidance on delivering engaging, inclusive and interactive virtual classes.

Assessment and Feedback

Plan and deliver a variety of summative and formative online assessments.

• Online open book assessment – How to plan and deliver an online open book exam. It compares and links to the different technologies: Top Hat, Turnitin, Gradescope and Minerva.
• Online coursework – How to plan, deliver and provide feedback for assessed online coursework. It includes a comparison of the different technological options available for preparing, submitting, marking and giving feedback.
• Online and digital presentations and performances – Guidance on planning and delivering online presentations and the process of gaining feedback from both tutors and students.
• Digital quizzes – Assists with planning and delivering online quizzes for formative assessment, including examples and an MCQ template for setting up questions, answers and feedback in Minerva.

Student Support

Gain feedback from your students to ensure that they are supported throughout their learning.

• Gaining feedback from your students – Comparing different techniques for gaining course evaluation feedback from students, including examples of different technologies and ideas for planning and delivering feedback surveys.

Policies and Other Relevant Documents

To ensure quality of student experience, make sure you are aware of important institutional policies, along with other key documents.

Copyright and relevant policies – Information about copyright, intellectual property and the University’s Audio and Video Recording Policy.