A warm welcome back to all of our returning students! As usual we haven’t been resting on our laurels during the long summer break, and we’ve made a few changes since June…
Single Sign On. Over the summer we’ve begun work on streamlining access to our electronic resources by moving away from Athens authentication to a single sign on process using the University username & password. The project is ongoing and so you need to be aware that there are:
Self Collection of Hold Requests. We have started storing hold requests on the shelves in the High Demand section on Level 3 so that users can collect them and issue them without having to ask for them at the main desk. This only applies to our stock – Inter Library Loans will still be stored in the office behind the desk.
It’s very easy to use – books can be found in alphabetical order on the shelves filed under the first three letters of the user’s surname and the last three numbers of their ID. For example, our own Matt Cunningham would be CUN331. Where a user only has two letters in their surname, just use those two letters followed by the last 3 digits of their ID number.
New Decor. All the old workstation desks on Levels 1 & 2 have been replaced with new ones. We’ve added plasma screens displaying booking details outside of every Group Study Room in the Library, and the Help Desk on Level 4 has been removed to expand the study area.
Wifi Upgrade. IT Services completed their upgrade of the Wifi coverage throughout the building, so hopefully you won’t encounter any more dead spots!
Oh yes – and as you can see from the picture above, we had the Red Arrows fly over for the Graduation Ceremony. As the old police recruitment poster used to say – “Dull it isn’t!”
Posted in Borrowing, Building Work, Databases, E-Journals, Electronic resources, IT, Library, Resources, Service Announcements, Study spaces	
On Monday 25th June and Tuesday 26th June work begins on replacing the workstation desks on Levels 1 & 2. This will necessitate the temporary removal of all of the PC workstations from these floors, including the Catalogue and Short Stay PCs.
All of these machines will placed into storage in Group Study Rooms 1A and 2A, which will mean that these rooms will be unavailable for booking while this work is carried out.
Week beginning Monday 2nd July the old desks will be removed from Levels 1 & 2 for removal by University Facilities Management – this may involve some noise and disruption, and the lift may be unavailable to visitors while the desks are being moved.
The new furniture should be delivered during the following week – again, this will involve some noise and disruption. Once this is completed, IT Services will remove the PCs from storage and begin setting them up on the new desks.
Access to the shelving and other facilities on Levels 1 & 2 will remain unaffected, however there will be no PC workstations available to use on either floor while this work is completed. Workstations are still available on Levels 3 & 4, and staff are available to assist with catalogue searching at our Enquiry Desks.
As term officially ends this Wednesday it’s an opportune time to remind people that from next Monday, 25th June, the Library will be switching to its vacation opening times schedule. This is:
Please note that, as usual, our only late(ish) evening opening is on Wednesday nights, and that we are closed entirely at weekends for the duration of the vacation. Also, please remember that last entry to the Library is ten minutes before closing time, in order to allow staff to clear the building.
The IT Services PC Clinic in the Library is open throughout the summer, but only during the hours 11am-3pm. Outside these times the IT Services Help Desk can be contacted 8.30am-5pm (week days only).
The Library Shop will be closed for the summer, but the Library Café will remain open, 9am-4pm daily.
As usual during the vacation we will be catching up with a few out-of-season maintenance jobs around the building; we will keep everyone posted here and on our usual social media channels of when & where these will be taking place to minimise any potential disruption to visitors.
Due to essential maintenance, the Library lift will be out of action between Monday 19th March until Wednesday 21st March.
Library staff will be available to help out if you are unable to access the lower floors over these three days.
The building work on Level 3 has now been completed and we are now the proud possessors of a brand new collection of very comfortable little study booths out on Level 3, in the area where the printers used to be.
On Monday 10th July work will commence on improving the traffic flow on the University Road outside the Library. Constructors will be making a new passing place for traffic as well as widening the existing bus stop.
The road will remain open while this work is carried out, but traffic management will be in use at times.
Throughout July work will be proceeding on repairing and improving the air conditioning system in the Library. This work will be mostly taking place in the Library’s engineering plant room, but it is likely to involve some noise and disruption and there may be days when the air conditioning system to Levels 2 and 3 will need to be switched off for a time.
We will keep you up to date with any progress, and apologise for any inconvenience caused (particularly in this heat!).
On Monday 3rd July work will commence on relocating the printer/copier area in the middle of Level 3. This will involve the removal of the printers and the knocking down of the screening walls surrounding their location.
During this work a significant proportion of Level 3 will be unavailable to visitors, though access will still be open to the PC Clinic, the Seminar Rooms and Training Room 1. The printers from this area will also be unavailable for use during this time – if you need to print, photocopy or scan documents, alternative machines are still available on Levels 1.2 and 4.
This work will involve some noise and disruption. We apologise in advance for any inconvenience this may cause.
The University will be holding Open Days on Friday 30th June and Saturday 1st July. Visitors, students and staff should be aware that campus, and in particular the Library, will likely be extremely busy on both days.
As usual the Library will be hosting several displays and stands by other support services within the University on both days, and they will be taking up temporary residence this week on Level 3. As such, certain study areas on this level will be unavailable during this time and will be cordoned off from public use.
Posted in Building Work, Car parking, Exhibitions, Library, Opening Hours, Service Announcements, Study spaces, University Events	
On Wednesday 5th April University Facilities Management will begin work on replacing the mains cold water main between Telford Hall and Wolfson. While this work is carried out, the water supply to the Library will be turned off. Alternative arrangements have been made to provide an alternative source of water to the building so users should not be unduly effected – however, these circumstances may change, and we shall inform users of any developments through our usual social channels.
This work is due to begin by 9am and it is anticipated that it will be completed by 6pm, though it is hoped the Library supply will be reconnected within a few hours.
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This is actually out of sequence - I wrote it a few weeks ago and didn't like it, now reading it back I don't hate it so much...
The work I'm going to use as a context for the Learning Design study is something I'm currently actively engaged in - partly the save time (in the hope I can use the material made and build on experience of delivery) and partly to make the project more authentic. I don't teach much day to day, and I very rarely work for an extended period with the same group - so this is a good focus.
For the Conceptualise section - the first of the seven deadly Cs of the 7C model - I must consider why and what I want to design, key principles and pedagogical approaches and demographics and needs.
What I'm designing is a course for in-service teachers, mostly working in primary schools, to support their "delivery" of computing in the English national curriculum. As most of the programme is known to this audience from the old IT curriculum, the focus naturally resides on the programming elements. It tends to be an area where teachers haven't had instruction in the actual skills themselves to code and where they may lack confidence in classroom management and assessment as well.
Although several full days of training would be ideal, it will never happen. The course needs to be structured in such a way that minimal face to face training will take place because to offer this design at a scale that is meaningful (covering 25+ schools) nothing else is affordable.
To gain confidence requires people to have done more than master content - they need to experience programming to have the capacity to teach it.
There is a wide range of levels of experience (as teachers) and settings (as schools) for the audience, so they will need a way to work together to adapt the approaches offered to apply the material for themselves.
Knowledge of what is required: associative approaches presenting content, giving feedback on understanding, coupled with a community of practice to share understanding and tease out subtleties as a group.
Learning how to program: is something I can only see being successful through very constructivist, hands on, problem solving activity. Learning by doing and reflecting and sharing thereon. The outcomes, user generated content and collaboration for members of the community of practice to help resolve problems together.
Considering how to teach programming: is very much a dialogic process with colleagues, having understood what needs to be taught to their classes and mastered some of the skills (and experiences) involved, consider how to frame this in their own teaching. I'd see elements of situative and connectives pedagogy in this phase.