What is the Digital Education Technologies Student Feedback Channel?
The annual Digital Education Technologies Student Feedback Channel, led by the Centre for Teaching and Learning, provides valuable insights into students' experiences with digital tools.
It helps us to understand how students use digital technologies to support their learning, so we can shape and enhance the digital education tools available at Oxford.
How have we responded to 2024 feedback to the channel?
Feedback received from students through the channel in Trinity term 2024 is now being used to help improve the use of tools including Canvas, Oxford Reading Lists Online (ORLO), Panopto and Microsoft Teams.
Results have been shared with relevant services across the University, as well as with divisions and departments.
Students' priorities are feeding into how we implement the University's Digital Education Strategy 2023-27, and we have been working with colleagues in IT Services to ensure that issues raised by students have informed the Digital Transformation programme.
Read on to find out how we have been responding to feedback from our students.
Platform integration
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Students said
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We did
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There are too many tools and information sources.
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The launch of the MyOxford student app at the start of 2024-25 offers seamless integration with key University platforms, including Canvas. The app provides a centralised hub for students to access their timetables, course materials, and other essential resources, where available, enhancing navigation across multiple digital tools.
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Canvas
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Students said
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We did
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Navigation is confusing and inconsistent across departments.
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We've introduced a more consistent structure across departments we worked with through the Canvas ITE2 project, making it easier for students to find essential course materials. For example, we re-designed 165 course homepages for better navigation and content presentation and crafted 32 bespoke course templates.
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| The search function is inadequate and difficult to use. |
Canvas has rolled out an updated search tool to help users locate content more efficiently. The enhanced search functionality now provides better results and quicker access to specific course information. |
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Better training for staff is needed.
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We’ve expanded our training resources staff. New training sessions are available, alongside updated self-guided resources to ensure all users can confidently navigate and utilise Canvas features.
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More support for students is needed.
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The Student Guide to using Canvas at Oxford provides full information on where to get help with Canvas. It is reviewed and updated regularly. We also use announcements in Canvas throughout the year to draw students’ attention to its most valuable features to help them get the best from Canvas for their learning.
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Panopto/Lecture Capture
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Students said
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We did
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Inability to download recordings for offline viewing.
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Downloads can now be enabled by request from department administrators as per the University's Educational Recordings Policy.
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| Issues with audio quality and automated captions. |
Continual improvements to the caption engine in the back end are improving the quality of captions across the platform.
Work continues to improve captured audio quality in Panopto enabled spaces with support from the Physical Spaces Project’s audit process.
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ORLO (Oxford Reading Lists Online)
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Students said
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We did
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ORLO is underused and lacks integration with other resources.
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A shared underlying platform between library systems and online reading lists has resulted in more accurate and timely access to library resources.
A new push-from-SOLO tool makes it easier for reading list owners to bookmark items from Oxford’s vast collections and guarantees bibliographic accuracy.
ORLO list owners can now upload files creating more flexibility for online content.
Leganto (the platform used for ORLO) offers options for exporting to Word and provides accurate exporting of non-Romanic scripts.
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| More guidance is needed from lecturers on how to use ORLO effectively. |
Owners of reading lists were contacted ahead of the 2024-25 academic year and alerted to a new top tips guide which can be shared with students. |
Microsoft Teams
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Students said
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We did
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Teams is slow and resource-intensive compared to other platforms.
Difficulties with login processes and session stability.
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Microsoft rolled out a new version of Teams in January 2024. This re-engineered version of Teams for both desktop and web is designed to improve usability, with a more intuitive interface and enhanced performance.
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