The University of Southampton

eFolio News and Help

Nominations open for 2018 VLE Awards

Nominations are open until March 9th for this year’s Blackboard & VLE Awards.   If you would like to highlight an eFolio site, Blackboard module or other Virtual Learning Environment course that provides excellent support for your learning, then submit your nomination by clicking on the image below.

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There are categories for both students and staff to nominate; full details are here.

Syllabus issue fixed

eFolio modules include code that automatically pulled details of the syllabus and displayed it on the Syllabus tab. The problem was that the code linked to Syllabus Editor, which has been replaced by Curriculum Manager, and that meant that users would be viewing out-of-date details that did not apply to this year’s modules.

Speedy work by the Enterprise Content Management Team in iSolutions has resolved this issue, and all modules now show a link that will take users directly to the latest syllabus details.

Staff access to eFolio modules/tutee information

Staff listed as instructors for a module in Banner should be able to access the corresponding modules in eFolio. Please be aware that modules have been taking longer than usual to appear in eFolio, so you may need to wait a number of days after the Banner record has been updated. Update: This issue should now be resolved.

Blackboard’s new Class Photo Roster tool allows you to view photos of everyone registered on your module.

Tutee updates in Banner may similarly take a number of days before appearing in eFolio.

New registers functionality / consultation

The module registers application has recently seen a huge take up use by academic staff this semester and we’ve already taken on board a number of great suggestions. You might have noticed the new ‘Print register students’ option allowing you to create a customized tutorial group register and print the students mugshots just in that register.

We’ll also be adding an overall attendance print out sheet allowing you have a single sheet for *every* session if you prefer working in that way.

Finally, the big change we’re proposing is that a student isn’t marked as ‘Present’ unless a register has actually been submitted. What this means is that:

– student reports will more accurately represent attendance i.e. not assuming they are there is the register hasn’t been submitted
– admin staff will be able to easily check which registers haven’t been marked and which academics are not engaging with the system

Basically, students will automatically come up as ‘Present’ by default in the mark register page, but this information won’t be represented on the report page unless the register is submitted.

Let us know if you think this is a good / bad idea, and if you’ve got any other suggestions for improvements.

Alex and the eFolio team

Notice to Tutors / Staff

Please note that any Semester 2 marks which are visible in eFolio may not have been ratified and should therefore not be discussed with students.

 

Database backup from Sunday 24th

Due to a significant technician problem we are going to have to restore the wordpress database back to state it was on Sunday evening.

If you have added any content to your blog since then please ensure you have a local copub of this by simply copying the text and saving in a local application like word.

We apologise for any inconvenience and please do get in touch if you have any queries.

We will be able to restore any recent posts made in the last 24 hours after the backup hasoftware taken place.

This backup should take place this afternoon and so access to wordpress blogs may be intermittent during this process.

Alex and the efolio team

 

 

New theme for delivering module content

For the start of 2016 we’ve just released a brand new wordress theme  called “Southampton University Theme 2016” for those members of staff who wish to deliver innovative module content using wordpress.

Key points about this new theme:

  • It has the look and feel of the new University brand
  • Its fully mobile responsive
  • Content can be grouped into topics lectures and slides
  • Lectures have the following options:
    • Approx duration
    • Associated quiz
    • Key concepts
    • References
  • All media and videos are automatically collated and displayed in a references appendix

To enable this new theme go to your dashboard > Appearance > Themes and enable “Southampton University Theme 2016”.

If you’d like help using the theme or anything else get in touch by emailing iliad@soton.ac.uk

Alex and the eFolio team

Having problems with the wordpress admin menu?

A recent bug in chrome (I couldn’t believe it either) has resulted in some versions of the browser not rendering the black wordpress admin menu correctly.

If you’re seeing strange things happening to the text and/or missing links, you can get a fix by doing the following:

1. Copy the following into your chrome browser bar and hit enter:
chrome://flags/#disable-slimming-paint

2. Click on the ‘Enable’ link underneath the very first option

3. Click the button to restart chrome

If you need further help please call me directly on 07779 606934

Thanks!

Alex