What is the Digital Education Technologies Student Feedback Channel?
The annual Digital Education Technologies Student Feedback Channel, led by the Centre for Teaching and Learning, provides valuable insights into our students' experiences with digital tools.
It helps us to understand how students use digital technologies to support their learning, so we can shape and enhance the digital education tools available at Oxford.
How have we responded to 2024-25 feedback to the channel?
Feedback received from students through the channel in 2024-25 is now being used to help improve the use of the MyOxford app, and tools including Canvas, Oxford Reading Lists Online (ORLO), Panopto and Microsoft Teams.
Results have been shared with relevant services across the University, as well as with divisions and departments.
Read on to find out how we have been responding to feedback from our students.
Canvas
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Students said
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We did
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| Canvas’s interactive features are underused. At the moment, many courses rely on static materials. |
We have expanded our training resources for staff, including a workshop for educators to reflect on their use of digital tools to support student learning.
A suite of staff training sessions is available each term, alongside updated self-guided resources. In particular, we have implemented a new staff training session called Canvas: designing for student engagement focusing on the student experience. These resources support staff users in confidently utilising a variety of interactive tools available in Canvas, such as interactive content activities, quizzes and assignments. |
| Course organisation is inconsistent between departments and faculties. |
We provide a customisable student induction slideshow for course teams to share how Canvas is used on their programme. Course administrators are encouraged to point students to the student guide to using Canvas at Oxford.
Given Oxford’s unique structure, we recognise that the value of all digital tools depends on how departments or colleges use them. The Canvas team continues to offer guidance, support and ongoing developments to improve Canvas centrally. The Centre for Teaching and Learning's Digital Education Group is divided into sub-teams to provide customised support for divisions, departments and faculties, as needed. |
| Canvas is not intuitive and can be difficult to navigate, making it hard for students to find learning materials efficiently. |
We worked with the MyOxford team to improve ways in which students can make use of calendars and notifications. Deadlines for quizzes, assignments and course events in Canvas now automatically sync into the MyOxford app, thus streamlining how students access important information in one central place.
We continue to promote ways to improve navigation and presentation of learning materials in Canvas, by promoting, for example, the Page Enhancement tool, the Snippets tool, and using AI to build the HTML code behind Canvas pages. |
MyOxford student app
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Students said
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We did
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Students appreciate the MyOxford app as a central hub for accessing University resources, which improves convenience and accessibility.
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We met over 700 students in-person at events in 2024-25 to collect feedback on improvements and additions.
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Frequent login and authentication issues disrupt the user experience and reduce the app’s reliability.
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This year, we are gathering additional student feedback through digital journals, working with a group of students to capture and collate their experiences.
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Students want better integration with other platforms, such as Canvas and SOLO, to create a more seamless digital experience.
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We added a new 'Libraries' tile to the app linking to more library resources.
We met with local administrators to discuss using the Canvas calendar for course timetables which would then appear in MyOxford.
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Students requested a back button to better navigate emails.
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We added this to the app
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Students would like to find their course information, course code, start date etc in the app.
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We're developing a 'Student Information' tile showing key data which will launch soon.
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Panopto/Lecture Capture
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Students said
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We did
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Technical problems—such as poor audio/video quality and unreliable captions—undermine the learning experience.
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Additional student feedback is being gathered during the audit process for the Physical Spaces Project targeting key spaces that require upgrades to resolve AV quality issues. This process is ongoing.
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Recordings are sometimes cut off when lectures run over time, leaving content incomplete.
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An increase in the uptake of dedicated hardware recorders has been improving the ease by which local administrators can schedule sessions, thus reducing the risk of sessions being cut short.
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Compatibility issues with the Safari web browser create additional barriers for some students.
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Platform improvements have removed the existing barriers that were caused by incompatibility with Safari.
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| Some departments provide limited or inconsistent access to recorded lectures. |
Guidance on expected access to recordings and related policy is shared regularly, with decisions regarding access the responsibility of individual departments and faculties.
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ORLO (Oxford Reading Lists Online)
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Students said
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We did
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| Students want more flexibility and personalisation features, such as the ability to take notes and track progress. |
Students can add personal notes, mark as ‘done’, and add to favourites for personal/free-text tagging. Student how-to videos will be (ARE BEING?) created to assist in promoting best use of the software.
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| Students struggle to find or access reading lists. |
A new form has been created to assist local administrators in linking ORLO lists from Canvas.
From the default interface, lists can be added to ‘My lists’ for easier access.
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| Issues with formatting, search functionality, and accessibility were reported as barriers to effective use. |
Accessibility features continue to be added to Leganto (the system underlying ORLO), including a new ‘reduce motion’ feature.
A new 'My lists/All lists' tab has also been introduced to assist in searching.
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| There is interest in broader adoption of ORLO across courses, reflecting its perceived potential if consistently used. |
The central ORLO team continues to encourage use of the software across the University, with decisions regarding the use of the platform the responsibility of individual departments and faculties.
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Microsoft Teams
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Students said
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We did
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| Students are frustrated with Teams integration and functionality, particularly how it fits into the broader University digital ecosystem. |
The central Microsoft Teams team continues to facilitate requests for integrations between University digital tools and the broader Nexus365 service.
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| There is a need for better support and guidance. |
Support and guidance materials are continually being updated and enhanced, alongside targeted communication that promotes new features and capabilities within the Teams application.
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