Deployment guidelines for distance learning

Manage your preferences

The Leeds Beckett website is designed to enable you to manage your own privacy preferences. By clicking on 'Cookies' below you can manage what data the site collects about your browsing. This will only maintain if you are on your own device or using a synched version of your chosen browser. If you are using a shared or public machine without synching your browser then there is no need to change the preferences.

Our site is built with accessibility in mind and we seek to adhere to the WACG AA levels of compliance for digital accessibility. To support that we have provided instructions on managing animations below.

Cookies

Necessary Cookies
Necessary cookies enable you to use all the different parts of leedsbeckett.ac.uk. Without them services that you have asked for cannot be provided. Necessary cookies can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.
Analytical Cookies
Analytical cookies help us understand how people are using our websites, so we can improve them and provide a better user experience. We also sometimes get our approved partner companies to analyse how people are using Leeds Beckett Websites and they may set their own analytical cookies in order to do this.
Marketing Cookies
Marketing cookies allow us to provide you with online adverts that are the most relevant and useful for you.
For more information please view our Privacy Policy

Animations & Interaction

The Leeds Beckett University website occasionally uses animations to page elements and animated gifs to add impact to pages. If you wish to stop them from playing for accessibility purposes or for personal preference then please see the guidance below. Please note that browsers sometimes change how they operate, so please refer to your browser help files to find their latest information.
How do I turn off animations?

Chrome

Chrome users will need to use browser extensions. Animation Policy from Google will help you set your own preferences.

Microsoft Edge

There is currently no way to disable animations within Microsoft Edge. Users of Edge (Chromium) browser can install the Chrome extensions above and use them.

Internet Explorer

To stop animations on a single page you can just press the 'Esc' key. This will stop the animation on that page. If you wish to restart the animations you need to refresh the page. To permanently disable the playing of animated GIF images, open Internet Options > Advanced tab. Under the Multimedia section, uncheck the Play animations in webpage check-box, click Apply and Exit and then restart your computer.

Firefox

Type about:config in Firefox address bar and hit Enter to open Settings. Search for the image.animation_mode flag and change its value from Normal to None. Once you restart Firefox this will disable animations.

Development for distance learning modules needs to be completed well in advance of when students will study the module.

It should also be protected time, preferably time-tabled into the academic developer’s schedule.

Most new modules will require a minimum of 200 hours of academic time for development. These hours should also be allocated appropriately according to other demands and take into account the resource schedules below which allow the instructional design team time to produce the content.

On average, academic tutors will need to be deployed for around 50 hours per module per 25 students for delivering online modules. Where a course is supported by an online learning tutor, online learning tutors should be deployed for 30 hours per module per 25 students.

In order to spread these costs and resource requirements over a manageable time period, it is advisable to develop courses for part-time delivery prior to offering full time options.

For new module development, academics should be profiled at least 200 hours of development time per module:

Activity	Deployment hours	Instructional Design hours	Online Learning Tutor hours
New module development	200	135	60
Refresh developed module (minor changes)	50	30	30
Revamp developed module (major changes)	100	70	30

Please note all hours are written in full person hours.

Deadlines are set collaboratively between DLU and the academics, usually on a module by module basis. It is important to adhere to deadlines, but if you foresee an issue please communicate it with the whole team so that we can put in measures to mitigate its effect.

When setting deadlines, please take into account busy periods for the University (Exams and Marking) as well as holidays.

The following tables provide guidelines for deadline setting:

Type of development	Deadline for full content delivery
New module	16 weeks in advance of module teaching start date
Refresh of developed module (minor edits)	8 weeks in advance of module teaching start date
Revamp of developed module (major edits)	12 weeks in advance of module teaching start date

Module Developers to start creating content	Deadline to handover to Instructional Designers	Review period	Delivery (teaching) Date
14^th February	1^st June	14^th August	September
14^th May	1^st September	14^th December	January/February
14^th September	1^st January	14^th April	May

In the event of issues with module development, slipped deadlines are set as follows:

At least 4 teaching weeks delivered 6 weeks in advance of teaching start
A further 3 teaching weeks by teaching start
Remainder of the teaching weeks delivered in the first month after teaching start

It is not possible to develop content the week before the students are due to study it. Missing these slipped deadlines means there is a potential delay of delivery to students.

If slipped deadlines are not met, DLU will work to the following service levels: