The majority of units running in other teaching periods, such as our Nursing program or Trimester 1 programs, have already commenced online.

Your learning experience will change with the move to online. All our Unit Coordinators and other teaching staff are focussed on providing you with a rich learning experience and making sure your units meet the intended learning outcomes.

Additionally, there are many cases where the assessment planned for your units has changed, including all those with face to face exams. Unfortunately, there are cases where some learning activities can’t be undertaken online. These units will not continue to run and alternative options will be proposed to affected students.

From Friday 3 April most of your units will have a “COVID-19: Updated Unit Guide” located in the unit site in MyMurdoch Learning (LMS). This guide will outline the changes prepared by your Unit Coordinator to timetables, learning activities and assessments.

The online learning approach adopted in many of your units will be similar, however this may change in the coming weeks, as Unit Coordinators consider what will work best for each unit. MyMurdoch Learning (LMS) will remain central to the online learning experience, with new tools you may not have used before.

Blackboard Collaborate with timetabled tutorial classes
Collaborate will be used in many of your units for small group classes, such as tutorials. It’s a tool that enables many people to come together and take part in a virtual class. Lecturers and tutors can present material, invite discussion through conversation or text-based chat, segment the class into break-out rooms, perform quick polls, and much more. Collaborate requires that your audio (and video if your computer enables this) is configured correctly.

Mini-lectures via Echo360
You'll be familiar with viewing recordings of your live lectures in Echo360. Many Unit Coordinators will replace their live lectures with on-demand mini-lectures they’ve pre-recorded from their home or the University.

Video assignments, labs and specialist software
Video assignments are replacing presentations or practical skill demonstrations in some units. Through creative thinking many of your lecturers and tutors have devised alternative ways for you to demonstrate your knowledge and skills with the use of the technology we have available.

Video resources are also being created to enable lab activities to continue where possible. Additionally, it’s anticipated that specialist software in University computer labs can be accessed via virtual desktop.

It’s important we acknowledge the rapid way in which our circumstances have changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our move to online learning is significant for you and for our teaching staff.

This will be a new way of learning for many of you, as well as for many of our teaching staff. Please be patient and kind during this challenging time. We’ll be asking for your feedback throughout the semester and also encourage you to give feedback to your tutors at any time.