Monthly Archives: March 2025

Improving Peer Online Forums Project

Pedagogy, , ,

Written by Sam Pilgrim, Learning Technologist (FHM)

As Learning Technologists, we are asked to become involved in a wide variety of projects. One recent example is a research project I started working on in my previous role in Information Systems Services (ISS) and continued after my move to the Faculty of Health and Medicine (FHM).

The IPOF (Improving Peer Online Forums) Project on Mental Health Forums is a research project led by Professor Fiona Lobban in conjunction with NHS Berkshire’s SHaRON team, to investigate mental health forums and ways to improve them. More information on IPOF, its aims and outputs, can be found on the Lancaster University FHM research pages.

I worked with the research team and co-design group to develop a forum moderator training package using Xerte, online software that allows a user to create interactive learning packages. The package consisted of nine modules developed by lived experience experts and forum moderators along with LU academic and research staff on different topics including:

  • the moderator role;
  • moderator support;
  • mental health on online forums;
  • expressing empathy through language;
  • managing risk;
  • managing challenging situations;
  • encouraging activity; and
  • a final quiz.

Each module was reviewed and amended by the co-design group at monthly meetings, and the final design and content emerged from the feedback discussions.

Graphics and animations created by others in the team were embedded into the training package to aid understanding and increase engagement.

The final package was handed over to the NHS Berkshire who are now in the process of publishing it to their website.

Front page of a Xerte package created for IPOF. The package is called "Mental Health Forum Moderator Training".
The front page of one of the Xerte packages entitled ‘Mental Health Forum Moderator Training’

Add GenAI RAG categories to Moodle at the click of a button

Moodle, ,

Written by Dr. Richard Floyd, Digital Learning Facilitator (ISS)

Each assignment in Moodle needs to have a Red, Amber, or Green category for the use of generative AI. The University has provided some guidance for staff covering what these categories mean and how this should be communicated to students.

To make it easier for staff to share this information with students, we have now added a set of custom components to the text editor in Moodle. This will allow you to choose your category and automatically insert the official icon and text into your assignment description.

How to add an AI RAG category to your assignment description

  1. Edit your assignment settings
  2. In the description field, click the three dots to expand the toolbar, then select the Components for Learning (C4L) option (the Lego brick):The TinyMC text editor in Moodle with the 'Components 4 Learning" (C4L) lego brick icon circled in red.
  3. Under the Custom tab, select the relevant category and then click save:The custom tab for components in the C4L section of the TinyMC editor. The 'RAG AI - Red)' option is selected.
  4. The component will then appear in your assignment description:An example of an assignment with the Generative AI category applied in Moodle in the "description" section of the settings.

If you require any further support, get in touch with a Faculty Learning Technologist or a Digital Learning Facilitator.

eStream 2025 update: What’s new?

Pedagogy, , ,

An update to Planet eStream will be launched across Lancaster University on 23rd April 2025. It is quite a big change and users will be automatically moved to the new version on this date.

If you aren’t already familiar with the platform, Planet eStream is the recommended method of embedding on-demand videos into Moodle courses. You can also use it for multimedia student submissions without file type or size limits. Another feature is Planet eStream Connect which makes it easy to record upcoming TV and radio programmes, with access to an extensive archive of pre-recorded shows that can also be embedded directly into Moodle. The TV and radio archive currently goes back to 2007 and eStream are aiming to backfill the archive to 1987.

This new update doesn’t just provide a new look; there are great improvements to a user’s experience through a more streamlined navigation and recording is now available across all browsers without the need for additional plugins.

In this post, I’m going to introduce you to some of the key changes and a couple of features you may not have noticed.

The new look

Your area in eStream is now a side bar that can be opened and closed and appears on the right hand side of the screen. It automatically pops up when you enter the site and can be closed via the ‘X’ sign. To reopen the sidebar click on your profile/initials icon in the top right hand corner. The default section of your area is the “favourites” tab but you can also access other tabs relevant to you such as your watch history, your media area, quizzes, video edits and conversions. You might remember that your personal eStream area used to default to the quizzes tab so the default to the favourites tab is a small change.

The Lancaster University eStream homepage also looks quite different and in my opinion, more attractive. The most popular videos for eStream users at Lancaster University are displayed on this page for easy access.

The icons to search categories, create new media or open tools are slightly different but can still be found at the top of the page to the right of the search bar.

The Lancaster eStream homepage as shown with the users area side bar open.

Creating new media

To create or record media in eStream go to the cloud icon at the top of the page and this will open the “Create Media Options”.

From here you can access the web recorder as well as other ways to add content to eStream such as the options to create a playlist, upload media, add external links and access the TV and radio archive (eStream Connect). eStream also has a separate option where you can import Microsoft Teams Meetings from your OneDrive which is useful for captioning and sharing online lectures or events with students and other staff.

The web recorder no longer needs additional browser plugins to work and can work on any browser. For example, when using Chrome as your browser, to use the web recorder you had to enable a Planet eStream extension – this no longer applies in the updated version.

Continue reading eStream 2025 update: What’s new? →