What has worked well

The results show some students are finding online synchronous and asynchronous learning well-structured, engaging, and helpful for learning. 

You said you liked:

• Bite-sized content, activities, short films, quizzes and polls
• The ability to ask questions in live sessions
• In-person teaching, despite the mitigations
• Human connection, a touch of normality, and getting away from screens
• Flexibility of online learning and the ability to go back to, pause and replay material

You told us:

• You value the spontaneity and presence of in-person sessions, even with the Covid-19 mitigations.
• Building friendships and community is easier in-person.
• Many courses have a structured learning design which includes specially designed and prepared materials. As a result of these materials, some are finding their learning better than in previous years.

What hasn't worked as well

The main barriers identified were:

1. not having enough in-person teaching
2. having too many Covid mitigations for in-person teaching. Students felt that it would be better for their education to have face coverings only rather than both face-coverings and visors.
3. technology and connectivity can be problematic and there seem to be particular issues with Blackboard Collaborate.

You told us:

• The move from lots of structured  teaching (lectures, seminars, labs) to  lots of structured online learning was quite a burden for some. The amount of online content each unit has varies a lot. The burden is bigger the more online content you have.
• On some programmes students have struggled to navigate Blackboard and feel they need help structuring their learning. 
• Some breakout groups  work well, some less so.
• You would like more live synchronous sessions and smaller online groups.

Next steps

In the second half of this year will continue with the work already in progress and plan further steps:

• We have asked programmes to increase on-campus teaching hours in the second teaching block where in-person hours are low. This is subject to any new public health requirements.
• We have removed the need to wear visors for in-person teaching, in line with the latest scientific guidance. Students are now required to wear face coverings only as the main 1 metre+ mitigation for in-person teaching events.
• We are advising that asynchronous content is comparable across units. This will help ensure that student workloads are manageable.
• Staff and students are reminded of the Student Digital Equity policy (PDF, 199kB) which provides support for technology and connectivity problems.
• The Digital Education Office (DEO) is providing guidance to programmes on clear online layouts for ease and simplicity of navigation.
• We are sharing best practice with staff through Bristol Institute for Learning and Teaching  (BILT) 'Tales of the Digital' workshops in December.
• We are running a Digital and Blended Design course for staff incorporating innovations and lessons learned from teaching block 1 in January.
• BILT and the DEO have developed guidance for breakout groups and we are incorporating tactics for breakout groups in our Digital and Blended Design course.