Here are some self-help resources to get you started with digital learning:
Although this sway refers to 2018, the information is still relevant.
The best way to learn from a recorded lecture
Before you watch the recording
Firstly choose when and where you are going to watch the recording. Did you know that your brain is at its most receptive two hours after you wake up (Hull University, 2020). Although it might be tempting to watch the recording in bed, it is usually best to sit at a table or desk so you can easily take notes.
Now is also the time to have a quick read of your notes from the previous lecture and do any preparatory reading outlined in your reading list or by your lecturer.
During the recording
Limit distractions
To keep you focused
Ask the people you live with not to disturb you during the recording
Turn off the notifications on the device you are using so you are tempted to look at incoming emails, updates etc
Put your phone in another room
Note-making
Making notes during the recording is important to your learning, it keeps your active and engagement with what is being said. Here a few handy tips for making notes in a recorded session that you might not of considered.
You can paused the recording at any point to allow you to look something up of make more detailed notes
You can take screen shots. this can be very handy to capture any slides used
Make use of time stamps. If you feel an important point is being made then make a note of the time in the recording so you can go back to it if needed.
Take breaks
If you have a number of recordings to watch make sure to take a break in between. Get up, stretch your legs and give your eyes a break from looking at a screen.
The day after
One of the best ways to consolidate your learning is to revisit your notes the next day, but don't just read through them, be active. Here are a few ideas to get you started.
Highlight key points and phrases
Convert any written notes into a mind map
Condense your writing into bullet points
Use different coloured pens to annotate your notes
Try any methods that gets your to actively engage with what you have written.
Learning in an online lecture or webinar has some distinct differences from learning in a classroom. It’s very easy to become a viewer, similar to when you watch a film or tv program but it is important to remain engaged and participate when appropriate. The level of participation may vary.
Check your tech. Check the link you have been sent to join the meeting, do you need to download anything? Check your microphone and camera. If you are using your camera, check your background. Find a suitable location at a table or desk. Although your bed might be comfy, is it the best place to study?
Be prepared. Have all the equipment you need to take notes, whether that be pen and paper or electronically. If the session is being recorded them you have to option to make notes later at a later date so you can fully concentrate on the session live.
Be patient. Sometimes there can be a time lag between participants. If you ask a question in the chat box or use the raise hand button, it might take the presenter a moments to see it.
Participate. Be ready ask or answer questions, do group work or take part in a quiz. Although you are watching a screen you are not a passive viewer you should be an active member of the session.
Video and microphone
You may be asked to turn off your camera and microphone for sessions that have lots of people in them, this is to avoid any distractions from the main speaker.
In Microsoft teams you can turn your microphone or camera off by clicking on the appropriate buttons at the bottom of the call screen (if your are using an iPad and the buttons don’t appear, simply tap the bottom half of your screen).
If you need to ask a question or communicate something to the group you can use the chat function or the raise hand button.
Raise hand
In Microsoft Teams you can access the raise hand button by clicking on the three dots in the call menu (see above). Then select “Raise my hand”.
Chat box
The chat box appears in the top right of the screen in Microsoft Teams as a speech bubble.
You might be required to ask or answer questions, participate in group discussions orto answers polls or quizzes so it’s important to be ready to participate.
You have so many methods of note taking available to you.
If you want advice on how to take notes then you might like our guide to note taking.
This can be seen as the traditional method for taking notes. obvious advantages are that it is pretty low tech and can be done anywhere but there are some drawbacks. If you have a lots of notes then will start to amass lots of paper. For many people this can be both hard to organise and cumbersome to carry around. so what are the advantages of going digital?
OneNote is available as part of your Future Facing Learning Toolkit. Here are some instructional videos on how to use it.
Reviewing lectures
Many of your lectures may now be recorded using panopto for you to rewatch. These will be made available through your Blackboard module.
Audio recording
There are two scenarios where audio recording might be a great option.
Here a is short video of how to add audio clips to you notes using OneNote.
Word, PowerPoint and Excel
If you want to save to your OneDrive on your iPad from Word, PowerPoint or Excel.
As an Adobe Creative Campus, Teesside University will not only provide access to Adobe’s industry-leading creative and design tools and digital learning resources, it will also benefit from dedicated activities to help staff embed the tools into their curricula.
Students will have access to all the creative cloud apps and services from all their devices enabling them to produce, collaborate and share their work from anywhere, anytime.
Creative Cloud is a collection of desktop and mobile apps and services for photography, design, video, web, UX and more.
This video looks at Photoshop vs Illustrator
Acrobat DC includes Acrobat desktop software, the Acrobat Reader mobile app enhanced with premium mobile features, and premium Adobe Document Cloud services to keep you connected and productive wherever you work, on any device.
Acrobat and PDF
Overview of Acrobat DC
You will need to download the following apps on your iPad:
| App | Description |
| Adobe Acrobat Reader: iOS | Store your files online and read PDF files anywhere with this leading, free PDF reader and file manager. You can also view, share, annotate, and add e-signatures to PDF documents. |
| Adobe Scan: iOS | Use the Adobe Scan mobile document scanner to turn anything — receipts, notes, documents, photos, business cards, whiteboards — into an Adobe PDF or JPEG file with content you can reuse from each PDF and photo scan. |
| Adobe Fill & Sign: iOS | Adobe Fill & Sign app lets you fill, sign, and send any form fast. You can even snap a picture of a paper form and fill it in on your phone or tablet. Then e-sign and send. No printing or faxing needed. |
| Adobe Sign: iOS | Adobe Sign lets you e-sign documents and forms, send them to others for e-signature, track responses in real time and get signatures instantly with in-person signing. |
The most intuitive way to design, view and share interactive Augmented Reality experiences, no coding skills required. Adobe Aero helps you design immersive experiences by overlaying digital content over a live view of your mobile device's camera.
3D and Augmented Reality
Overview of Aero
The links below should help with using Aero on both Desktop and an iPad
After Effects generates visually stunning work for film, TV, video, and web. After Effects brings “life” and motion to graphics, whether it's as simple as animating a title across the screen or as complex as building a 3D world.
| Graphic Design | Video | User Interface and User Experience |
Overview of After Effects
After Effects is not yet available on the iPad
With Animate, you can design interactive vector animations for games, apps, and the web. Bring cartoons and banner ads to life. Add action to tutorials and infographics. Quickly publish to multiple platforms and reach viewers on desktop, mobile, and TV.
| User Interface and User Experience | Video |
Introduction to Animate
Animate is not yet available on the iPad
Audition is a comprehensive toolset that includes multitrack, waveform and spectral display for creating, mixing, editing and restoring audio content. This powerful audio workstation is designed to accelerate video production workflows and audio finishing — and deliver a polished mix with pristine sound.
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Video
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Audition is not yet available on the iPad
Bridge is often referred to as a digital asset manager, or a media manager. It gives powerful ways to find, manage and organize your collection of images. Bridge is a companion program for every app in the Adobe Creative Cloud. You can use Bridge to manage not just images but also Adobe Illustrator files, InDesign files, videos, and more!
| Photo | Video | Graphic Design |
Introduction to Bridge
Bridge is not yet available on the iPad
Character Animator allows you to bring to life artwork that you've imported from Photoshop or Illustrator. It does this with the help of real-time motion capture recorded by a microphone and a webcam. You can also control parameters such as position, scale and rotation and behaviour properties such as head tilts or eyebrow movements can be keyframed at specific points. You will be able to make edits on-the-fly to give your live performances added impact.
Video
Introduction to Character Animator
Character Animator is not yet available on the iPad
Dimension allows new 3D artists and 2D designers to create bespoke 3D scenes quickly and easily. It assumes the user has little to no knowledge of working in 3D, and therefore provides a wide range of assets to help you along. The software provides 3D models, materials, environments and lighting which can enable artists, out of the box, to create anything from a sci-fi landscape to a product model shot with ease.
| Graphic Design | 3d and Augmented Reality |
Introduction to Dimension
Dreamweaver makes it easy to design, code, and publish responsive websites and web applications. With support for HTML, CSS, Javascript, and more, designers and developers can quickly create and publish web pages.
| User Interface and User Experience |
Build responsive websites in Dreamweaver
Dreamweaver is not yet available on the iPad
Fresco is a drawing and painting app with a range of vector, raster and Sensei-powered watercolour and oil brushes (live brushes). It delivers a totally natural painting and drawing experience.
Illustration
Introduction to Fresco
Illustrator is a vector graphics software lets you create everything from web and mobile graphics to logos, icons, book illustrations, product packaging and billboards.
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Graphic Design |
Illustration |
User Interface and User Experience |
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Illustrator Overview |
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Illustrator features |
InCopy lets copywriters and editors style text, track changes, and make simple layout modifications to a document while designers work on the same document simultaneously in Adobe InDesign — all without overwriting each other’s contributions.
Graphic Design
Adobe InDesign has everything you need to create and publish books, digital magazines, eBooks, posters, interactive PDFs etc, including layout and page design software for print and digital media.
Graphic Design
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InDesign overview |
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InDesign features |
Dimension is not yet available on the iPad
Lightroom lets you edit pictures extensively using simple exposure adjustments and colour management. It is a RAW converter. meaning that when you add images, it manages the file type in the background. When you use other software, you might have to use another program to edit and convert. Lightroom has a non-destructive editing feature, which means you can reset the settings and adjustments so you can work on the original photo again.
| Photo |
Lightroom is the new cloud-based photo service that works across desktop, mobile, and web. Lightroom Classic is the desktop-focused digital photography product.
Overview of Lightroom
Media Encoder is responsible for encoding video files to the proper format to ensure they play on different devices videos are watched on today. Using Adobe Media Encoder, you can export videos to video-sharing websites like YouTube and Vimeo, devices ranging from professional tape decks to DVD players, mobile phones, and high-definition TV sets.
Video
Overview of Media Encoder
Media Encoder is not yet available on the iPad
Photoshop enables photo editing and compositing to digital painting, animation and graphic design.
| Photo | Graphic Design | Video | Illustration | 3D and Augmented Reality | User Experience and User Interface |
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Photoshop Overview |
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Photoshop features |
Prelude is an organizer and a management program that can store various kinds of videos in different file formats and convert the videos into a default file format that can be used by any video editor and designer. It is a video ingest and logging software and helps you to tag and transcode raw footage from cameras.
Video
Premiere Pro is the industry-leading video editing software for film, TV and the web.
| Video | Social Media |
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Premiere Pro Overview |
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Premiere Pro features |
Premiere Pro is not yet available on the iPad
Premiere Rush is an all-in-one, cross-device app for creating and sharing online videos fast. Edit, fix colour, adjust audio, add titles, and more with easy-to-use tools, customizable Motion Graphics templates, and integration with Adobe Stock. And share your videos to your favourite social channels right from the app.
| Social Media | Video |
Adobe Spark is an online and mobile design app. Easily create stunning social graphics, short videos, and web pages that make you stand out on social media and web pages.
| Social media | Video | Illustration | Graphic Design | Photo | User Interface and User Experience |
Introduction to Spark
Design, prototype and share user experiences for web, mobile, voice and more. It has everything you need to design websites, apps, voice interfaces, game interfaces, email templates, and more
| Graphic Design | User Interface and User Design |
Overview of XD
The following mind mapping apps available from Apps Anywhere may be useful when planning your work.
Please note that most apps are only available on Windows operating systems.
Inspiration supports users in organising their ideas graphically with diagrams, outlines and mind maps. It helps to develop critical thinking, planning and organisational skills during learning.
This video provides a 3 minute overview of Inspiration
Xmind is a mind mapping and brainstorming software. It can be used to capture ideas, clarify thinking, manage complex information, and promote team collaboration.
It supports mind maps, fishbone diagrams, tree diagrams, organization charts, spreadsheets, etc. Normally, it is used for knowledge management, meeting minutes and task management. Meanwhile, XMind can save to Evernote.
Introduction to Xmind 8
There are many ways to make your devices more accessible. This page offers sources of guidance and useful apps that may be useful in your studies.
Disability Services offer advice on learning support apps.
The Global Accessibility Reporting Intiative (GARI) website also has a list of useful applications.
You can filter or limit these by support for hearing / speech / vision / cognition.
The British Dyslexia Association also has a useful list of accessibility applications that may benefit a wide range of users and not just those with Dyslexia.
