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7 quick ways to make your Word docs accessible

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With the new Public Sector Web Accessibility Regulations now in place, here are seven tips and tricks to help you make your existing or new word documents more accessible whether you’re writing internal documents, learning content for students or would like to know how to make your essay or thesis more accessible. Use Heading Styles to make your document easy to navigate Using Headings makes your documents much easier to navigate for someone using a screen reader. You can create Headings Styles that match your needs and if you need to change them you only need to do it once and all the Headings in your document will be updated. Using Headings also makes it much easier to create a table of contents for any… Read more7 quick ways to make your Word docs accessible

Our Special Interest Group Needs You!

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Are you interested in inclusive learning and teaching? Have you been thinking about how this relates to your digital practice? If so, read on….. The last Digital Learning and Teaching Update mentioned a new Special Interest Group which has recently started up. The Digital Accessibility Special Interest Group is an open learning community where anyone at the University who has an interest in digital accessibility can get involved. Whether you’re a student studying a subject that includes inclusive approaches and assistive technologies, a member of staff with an interest in digital accessibility, a researcher who has an active focus on this or you’re just generally curious, then please come and get involved in the community. While this is the first group to be set-up due… Read moreOur Special Interest Group Needs You!

Vignette of Practice: Level 2+ Award Programme by Craig Williams; School of Sport and Exercise Science

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Level 2+ Award Programme by Craig Williams; School of Sport and Exercise Science     This case study provides an overview of the rationale for, and impact of the ‘Level 2+ Award Programme’, an accredited Sports Coaching Award Programme at the University of Worcester (UW). Launched in 2011, the programme provided students with the opportunity to achieve recognised vocational qualifications within a mandatory first year coaching module (SPRT1024). The embedded Level 2 coaching award programme was designed to develop vocational coach education qualifications for UW students, which provided affordable and flexible vocational learning whilst also enhancing student employability and placement readiness. The blended learning aspect of the program permitted students to accredit prior learning gained in the module towards the Nationally accredited 1st4sport Level 2… Read moreVignette of Practice: Level 2+ Award Programme by Craig Williams; School of Sport and Exercise Science

Aligning Digital Accessibility and Digital Capabilities

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You may have recently heard about the new Public Sector Web Accessibility Regulations which put a much stronger emphasis on ensuring all users of websites and intranets across the public sector can have as an inclusive web experience as much as possible. For most institutions there’s a lot of work underway both on their public facing websites and for those systems such as VLE’s where a significant numbers of individuals need to engage with a range of online content and activities. This blog post isn’t a dissection of the ins and outs of the new regulations. Jisc have been holding a number of accessibility clinics where specific queries can be discussed and the Further and Higher Education Working Group have pulled together a range of… Read moreAligning Digital Accessibility and Digital Capabilities

Vignette of Practice – Graduate Employment: Increasing Student Employability Through Applied Lifelong Learning

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Graduate Employment: Increasing Student Employability Through Applied Lifelong Learning by David Mycock;  School of Sport and Exercise Science   This case study demonstrates the innovative and inspiring work I have done as the SSES Course Leader for the BSc. Sports Coaching Science with Disability Sport. It summarises my attempts to increase practical teaching, learning and employment opportunities for students on this study pathway. Graduate employment is one of the key Teaching Excellence Framework drivers for universities and this driver motivated me to more closely align my teaching activities and learning priorities with developing employability skills and opportunities. Additionally, I wanted to clearly articulate to inquiring students the answer to a question frequently asked; “What job will this course allow me to do”? The University of… Read moreVignette of Practice – Graduate Employment: Increasing Student Employability Through Applied Lifelong Learning

Digital Learning and Teaching Update

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The leaves are tinged with the hints of reds, golds and browns of autumn, there’s the familiar chill in the early mornings . Yes, it’s the start of the new academic year for both schools, FE and HE institutions across the sector are gearing up to welcome thousands of new students to a new phase in their education or perhaps restarting their education. There’s a range of activities that have occurred over the summer months to help put digital learning and teaching on a stronger foothold and plenty of innovative practice to get engaged with over the next academic year. If you’d like to know more, then read on. What’s been happening over the summer? Here’s just a few of the things that have been… Read moreDigital Learning and Teaching Update

Accessible Organisations – Supporting learning providers in creating inclusive teaching and learning experiences

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So, you want me to read for my degree? Considering a Universal Design for learning approach to reading through the use of audiobooks and accessibility tools By Jisc accessibility and inclusion July 20, 2019  Inclusive Digital Capability, Learner Experience, Library, Uncategorized It seems logical to those of us working in higher education that students need to read for their degrees. Yet research indicates this isn’t so obvious to students themselves, with patterns of student reading not reflecting the approach and skills needed to succeed in HE. In this blog post, Michelle Malomo and Sarah Pittaway from the University of Worcester explore ways of reducing barriers to reading. Taking this starting point, initial (currently unpublished) research with a group of Early Years students at the University of Worcester highlighted that students often perceive reading as a skill… Read moreAccessible Organisations – Supporting learning providers in creating inclusive teaching and learning experiences

Student Transitions Project Report

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Developing Institutional Good Practice in Transitions’ Support through Pre-entry, Induction and Learning Support Activities The first phase of the project was completed in May 2019 and a report presented at the July LTSEC. We would like to draw to your attention in particular to two sections of the report, which course teams might find particularly useful when planning Level 4 Transition activities. To see the full report please click here

Vignettes of practice: The Implementation of Weekly Assessment Related Portfolio Tasks to Improve Student Engagement and Achievement During a Student’s 1st Semester at University

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 Michelle Morgan; School of Sport and Exercise Science This case study demonstrates the innovative practice used in relation to the implementation of weekly assessment related portfolio tasks used within a 1st year module (K2). This had a positive impact on student engagement, achievement and attendance in lectures; and supported student transition to University (V4 A4). The reasons for adopting a portfolio approach, specifically for this cohort included; engaging students in a routine of attending classes on a regular basis (A1), building relationships with new peers and, encouraging the students to complete their assessments in smaller, bite-sized sections which would potentially be a more familiar approach to them (as closely aligned to BTEC course work approach) (K2 V1). The portfolio tasks related to the topic of… Read moreVignettes of practice: The Implementation of Weekly Assessment Related Portfolio Tasks to Improve Student Engagement and Achievement During a Student’s 1st Semester at University

Vignettes of practice: The Goldilocks Theory for Quantitative Research Methods

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Miranda Harris; School of Allied Heath and Community     Teaching is a set of activities, carefully fashioned to facilitate learning (HEA, 2018b) with success typically measured by Student Satisfaction (Office for Students, 2018). By responding directly to student feedback three years ago, on how students engaged with quantitative methodology in Research Methods, I was presented with an opportunity for innovation and transformation using a more student-centred approach in order to prepare students effectively for their dissertations. Interactive workshop approach: Drawbacks of the traditional lecture may be lack of active participation, a potential obstacle to deeper learning (Tofade et al. 2013), and from the Higher Education Provider’s (HEP’s) perspective, difficulty in ascertaining student comprehension, as students may be reluctant to voice queries or areas of… Read moreVignettes of practice: The Goldilocks Theory for Quantitative Research Methods