Tools and software

The Digital Education Office recommends the use of a limited number of tools for learning, teaching and assessment. See the tool descriptions.

You may have access to additional or specialist software not listed here, please ask your School and see the software list from IT Services.

Search within DEO
A mediasite video about redesigning a lecture for online teaching on a laptop. On the table the laptop is on, there is also a tablet, a mouse, a hard drive and sheets of paper. A garden is visible in the background.

Based on photo by Nick Fewings

Tool descriptions

Recommended

Use these where possible. Support and training is available from DEO.

  • CheckmarkAvailable through Blackboard
What you can do with the "Recommended" tools
Blackboard Build your course in this online learning environment offering an online space for learning activities and a range of tools for communication, collaboration, assessment, feedback, reflection and content management. Checkmark
Blackboard Ally Make your course more accessible. Checkmark
Blackboard Collaborate Run and record live online sessions with interactive options like polls and quizzes. Checkmark
Impact Find relevant guidance, contextual support and look at course participation statistics with this Blackboard add-on.
Re/Play Record, edit, publish and manage lecture videos, see analytics. Checkmark
Turnitin Use for submissions to get similarity reports comparing students' text submissions with other text sources, mark and give feedback. Checkmark
Camtasia Capture your screen and audio, edit the video. Newly available for University Windows 10 devices and Mac, soon available for personal Windows devices.
Mentimeter Create and present online live or asynchronous polls, quizzes and word clouds.
H5P A web-based tool that enables you to easily create interactive, mobile-friendly resources, which you can then include in your course.
MS Office Create materials, record lectures, ask students to produce resources individually or collaboratively. Support from IT Services.
MS Teams for teaching Video conferencing and collaboration tools. Technical support from IT Services.
Padlet Create interactive and collaborative learning activities.
Questionmark (QMP) Deliver and manage online formative, high-stakes summative assessment and examinations. Alternative to Blackboard tests.
Qwickly Record attendance at teaching events, including online, hybrid and in person.
TurningPoint Create polls, quizzes and surveys, then deliver them online or in person, live or scheduled, and store the responses for analysis.
Xerte Create - or ask students to create - interactive and accessible online learning materials containing text, images, media. Available to anyone with a UoB login.

Also available

May not be free to use. Limited advice and support may be available from DEO.

What you can do with the "Also Available" tools
Audacity Audio recording and editing software. Free and easy to use.
Articulate Storyline Create interactive learning materials. Licence/ subscription required.
Flip Lead and moderate asynchronous video discussions. Free and easy to use.
Numbas Create formative tests for mathematical subjects and deliver them through Blackboard.