'Back to Uni' course launches for UG returners and Master's students
Monday, 21 September 2020
This week (Monday 21 September) sees the launch of our new online course, Back to Uni: Your Essential Guide to Flexible and Online Study, for all our returning undergraduates and taught postgraduate (Master's) students.
This FutureLearn course has been developed by the Online Course Team and Study Advice, in collaboration with colleagues from CQSD and Counselling and Wellbeing. It draws on their expertise and experience of supporting students to develop effective learning strategies and supporting colleagues with online teaching, learning, assessment and feedback practice. The content and structure has also been inspired by the highly successful Study Smart induction course for new undergraduate students that has been running for the past three years.
Back to Uni provides essential information on how students will be learning this autumn term and introduces them to the tools and technologies they will be using and where to go for further guidance and support. It includes advice on how to make the most of face to face, interactive sessions and online core content, as well as developing study skills for online learning. As with our established Study Smart course, Back to Uni includes videos, brief articles, quizzes and discussion with other students.
Students will be invited to join the course with an email link sent to their Reading email account. As students will be enrolling at different stages, there will be three launch dates:
- 21 September for all our returning students;
- 28 September for all Master's students (except HBS);
- 12 October for HBS Master's students.
We've produced two Powerpoint slides for Study Smart (2.31 MB) and Back to Uni (5.35 MB) that colleagues may wish to use in teaching or Academic Tutor meetings at the start of term.
Back to Uni is one of three courses supporting our students' induction/re-induction to the University of Reading this year. The two others are:
- Study Smart is our tailored, pre-arrival online course for new UG and Foundation students. The course went live on the 3 September and has been updated this year to include advice on learning in a blended learning environment. With nearly 2,000 students already enrolled, early indications are excellent with many students actively engaging with the contents and sharing enthusiastic comments about how much they are looking forward to studying at the University. See our Tutor Guide.
- The International Welcome Course has been developed by ISLI to support all students in self-isolation (‘quarantine') after arriving in the UK from overseas. To enroll and access the full content:
1. Sign into Blackboard with your University login from 16 September.
2. Access this link: International Welcome Course.
3. Follow the instructions on the page to enrol.
Students can complete the course in their own time alongside their academic studies. For more information on this course, contact Dr Liz Wilding at e.a.wilding@reading.ac.uk.
For more information on Back to Uni, please check our Tutor Guide or contact Dr Sonia Hood at s.hood@reading.ac.uk