Don’t You Know Who I Am?

The Importance of Utilising the Expertise from the Department When Creating Online Courses.

As a civic university, it is essential that our researchers reach out to the public and engage them in their research - to break out of the ‘ivory tower’ of academia they have to show the public who they really are and the difference their research makes to our lives.

One of the key opportunities that developing an open online course therefore offers to the schools and departments within the university is the chance to showcase the diverse range of skills and talents of our research staff. Health Technology Assessment is a highly multi-disciplinary research method, and so it offered the School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR) a unique showcase for the cutting-edge knowledge and expertise that our researchers can offer at each stage of the research process.

As a learner, the benefits of involving a wide range of research staff in our online courses are huge. Not only do they benefit from this wide range of expertise, but they also get to see our researchers explain what they do and why they do it, in a way that demonstrates their enthusiasm for the real-world impact of what they do.

For instance, in week 2 of Health Technology Assessment, Prof. Alan Brennan talked animatedly about his passion for economic modelling.This subject might seem rather dry and academic to many, but is important because it allows him to see the direct results of what he does in the decisions that are made about how our finite healthcare resources are used.

Of course, getting a large, diverse and very busy group of researchers on board is not easy: finding time in diaries, explaining what is required, and persuading people to step in front of the camera are all big asks. But our staff have been incredibly supportive and keen to be involved, and the Online Learning Team are brilliant at putting staff at ease and making sure everyone involved gets the most out of the experience.

Rather than asking our staff to read from a script, it makes much more sense to simply ask questions about what they do and allow them to talk freely about  their research and expertise. This approach has resulted in some fantastic footage that shows our researchers at their best: telling the story of their research in their own terms.


Of course it's not just our research staff who have expertise who can benefit our courses. Our learning technologists have made a fantastic contribution to our course, enabling use to produce versions of academic reports that are much more user-friendly, accessible and interactive. They are brilliant at finding ways in which technology can help to make research more accessible and meaningful; our interactive HTA report and forest plot are great examples of this in action. This can make  something highly academic and complex come to life for our students, both at the university as well as the learners on the online course.

Though its takes time and effort to put together an online course that incorporates all this expertise and still remains coherent and accessible, it's an opportunity not to be missed for any department that wants to shine a light on its bright and brilliant staff.

Claire Beecroft is a University Teacher / Information Specialist at the School of Health and Related Research at the University of Sheffield

British Council Korea GREAT Britain Visit

In late October 2015, the University of Sheffield’s Online Learning Team was delighted to host a delegation of South Korean MOOC enthusiasts as part of the British Council Korea’s GREAT Britain competition, a public engagement programme designed to showcase UK higher education in Korea.

The delegation were selected as part of a national competition where entrants were invited to submit their idea for a MOOC, with the winners travelling to the UK for a whirlwind tour of institutions that partner with FutureLearn to produce MOOCs. Other stops included the National Film and Television School, the University of Glasgow, King’s College London and the British Library. The competition winners blogged extensively to share their experiences with prospective students back home via the Education UK website and a dedicated British Council blog.

Arriving in Sheffield on a crisp autumnal evening, the competition winners Junha Kim, Jung In Lee, Young In Choi, Sae In Lee along with Hanna Shin from the British Council were met by Chris Black and Anna Symington from the University’s Online Learning Team. We were joined by members of the university’s Korean Society for a welcome dinner at Piccolino in the Peace Gardens. Cue lots of excited conversation around the dinner table about Sheffield’s vibrant international student life and wider cultural heritage, and of course photo opportunities against the backdrop of the Town Hall fountains.

The following morning the delegation were greeted over breakfast by the Academic Lead for the Online Learning project, Professor Marie Kinsey, before taking a tour of the campus expertly guided by South Korean Student Ambassador Yoon Young Cho. Highlights were Firth Court and Weston Park, riding the Paternoster lift in the Arts Tower (taking in the stunning views from the top floor) and visiting the state of the art facilities on offer in the newly opened Diamond. Time to smile and say “kimchi” for another photo op.

The competition winners were given a guided tour of the Alfred Denny Museum of Zoology by Professor Tim Birkhead, and met with Harriet Holman, Project Manager for epiGenesys, a student run software development company. A farewell lunch at Interval Cafe with the Korean Society capped off the visit (everyone had the enchiladas - top tip) before a race down to the train station to journey onward to Glasgow.

It was a real pleasure to meet four young people with such an enthusiasm for education and a desire to see GREAT Britain and to be able to showcase what the university has to offer to international students. We were absolutely delighted to hear how much our visitors enjoyed Sheffield.

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The GREAT Britain campaign showcases the best of what the UK has to offer to inspire the world and encourage people to visit, do business, invest and study in the UK. It is the Government’s most ambitious international promotional campaign ever, uniting the efforts of the public and private sector to generate jobs and growth for Britain.

New Features in Google Slides - Live Q&A and laser pointer

Google announced last week that it was sprucing up its features with Live Question and Answer and laser pointer functionality now added to Google Slides - is Slides now becoming a presentation heavyweight force to be reckoned with?

With Poll Everywhere functionality already available (although an account is required) and now the ability for Presenters to launch a Q&A link during a presentation, it is becoming an all-in-one presentation solution.

The Q&A feature enables the audience to submit questions anonymously or with their name attached, and then lets the other people in the audience "vote" for the questions they like the most, so the presenter gets a list of questions in order of popularity, enabling them to tackle the burning issues first. The presenter gets a notification when a question comes in, so they can choose to answer it there and then, or wait until the end. They can also share the question on the presentation screen.

Submit your questions either with your name or anonymously during a presentation. Photo - Google

Also featured in the update was a laser pointer that presenters can use their mouse to point to different aspects on the screen.

To launch a Q&A session from the Desktop App

1. Open Google Slides 
2. Open the presentation 
3. Click on the down arrow next to present
4. Select Present view
5. Start New
6. You Slides contain the link to the Q&A page for the audience 

To launch a Q&A session from the Mobile App

1. Open Google Slides App
2. Open the presentation 
3. Click on the Play icon
4. Select Present to a new video call
5. Give your meeting a name
6. Click present
7. You then get a view that shows you your current and next slides, along with your notes. Click on the icon at the top of the screen to launch the Q&A Session
8. You get a short goo.gl link to share with the audience for them to contribute their questions to