果冻影院

As we听transition听to听a blend of online and听face to face learning听in the new听academic year, Virtual Common Rooms听(VCRs)听can continue to听provide听an online space听for听students to听make connections and to听work, collaborate or relax.听听

The Virtual Common Rooms project (VCR) was one of a series of projects for the academic year 2020/21听focused听on supporting听students (especially those new to听果冻影院)听and听to helping听them听avoid feeling isolated and disconnected from their peers.听听

For departments interested听in ways听to help students connect with each other,听the听VCRs created through this听project can听do this by providing new and returning students with a virtual听space to network, connect and build communities with other students in their department (and beyond) using a globally accessible and inclusive platform 鈥撎齅S听Teams. Its development has been informed by students and Students鈥� Union 果冻影院.听

Just like a physical common room space,听 VCRs can be used in different ways. Feedback from last year suggests that they work best when run in collaboration with, and programmed by, members of staff. Having a designated VCR Staff Lead who can work in collaboration with students to establish and curate the departmental VCRs can help to make them well visited and exciting spaces for students.听 Take a look at some top tips on how to make the most of your VCR.听

Departments could collaborate with Student Reps, Transition Mentors or Departmental Societies. You may wish to create specific VCR Student volunteer roles or start a VCR Committee.听

How do VCRs work?

听A staff member is assigned as a VCR Lead to manage the space but collaborates with a student volunteer or specific group of students to shape it鈥檚 purpose and proactively drive the content.听听They reflect the environment of a 鈥榬eal鈥� common room allowing for connections and networking opportunities with peers.听听

The VCRs have been created using the Microsoft Teams platform, with different channels for different activities:

• Common Room Committee - This is only visible and accessible to Staff leads , and any designated Student Leads. You can use this channel to have private conversations about how to run the VCR, plan events and discuss any issues that arise.
• Noticeboard 鈥� a place to notify the students of important information, similar to a noticeboard in a physical common room.
• Introductions 鈥� members can be encouraged to introduce themselves and share information about themselves and their interests. These introductions can be referred to over time, especially if new members join the VCR.
• Chat 鈥� the main space for general discussion (both synchronous and asynchronous).
• Cafe - a space dedicated to hosting meeting and events, with ability to set up ad hoc, scheduled or drop-in style events.听 Guests can be invited to specific events too.

Note: these channels titles are the current default titles, but members of staff leading on the departmental VCR can also change and add to them to suit your department needs and purpose of the VCR.These Staff leaders could be Connected Learning Leads, Student Advisors, Programme Directors, Departmental Tutors, Teaching Administrators or any other role that is听 appropriate for your department.

听

Adding Members to the VCR听

Staff听will need to advise ISD on how you wish to populate your VCR(s). Members (students) can be added to the VCR in the same way as any other Team, however we are offering听additional听support with this task. 听For the听VCR听the following methods can be used, depending on your preference and the numbers involved: 听听

1. Manually:听staff leaders听add them manually. Can be done for any听number听however听can be听time consuming听so better for small numbers听perhaps up听to 25 students.听听听

2. Share a link:听Send out or promote a join link听(good for听publicising听widely), however, due to the VCR being a 鈥榩rivate team鈥� each use of the link requires one of the owners to approve the individual鈥檚 request to join the VCR. Instructions can be found听听听This is also best used for smaller numbers.听听

3. Email list upload:听Provide a list of 果冻影院 email addresses to ISD and we will load them as members of a specific VCR. The .xlsx template for listing the email addresses can be downloaded and can be sumbmitted . This option is best for adding over 25 students to a VCR.

You can use one or more of these methods, for example you can work with ISD to do an email list upload, and then manually add听additional听students听later on. This can be useful if you are planning to add students from outside your department who might share modules and/or teaching with your students.听

Please also add a link to the听VCR Student Guidance听in each VCR. You can do this by simply:听

• going into the 鈥楴oticeboard鈥� channel and clicking the + in the top menu;听
• In the 鈥楢dd a tab鈥� menu click on 鈥榃ebsite鈥�;听
• enter 鈥楽tudent Guidance for VCRs鈥� as the tab name, and听/students/academic-support/ucl-virtual-common-rooms听as the听URL.听

Students will now see this as a separate tab in their 鈥楴oticeboard鈥� and can read the guidance within Teams, or click on the globe icon (top right) to go to the page on the website.

N.B. Should you need to change the Staff Leader for your VCRs please complete 听

Removing Members of your VCR

1. In the teams list, go to the team name and select听More options听听>听Manage team.

2. Under听Members, select the听X听to the far right of the name of the person you'd like to remove.

听

Spring cleaning your VCR for the new year

VCRs can be re-used each year therefore you don鈥檛 need to clone or make a new one each time.

There is听value of retaining your old VCR as it builds knowledge in the Committee Private channel as well as allowing听students to see how the VCR was used in previous听years.

It鈥檚 important to note that students who have left 果冻影院 will get automatically unenrolled. If you wish to add or remove further members听from the VCR please follow the 'Removing members' instructions and then following the 'Add Members' instructions.

Activities and encouraging engagement in your VCR

Staff leaders and Student volunteers should work together to establish the value of the VCR and build momentum behind it in the first few weeks of term鈥� more guidance on this is being developed!

Introduce yourselves

Students can 听introduce themselves on the 鈥業ntroductions鈥� channel and then they can also encourage student members to introduce themselves too. This will also be a great opportunity to let student members know about the role of Transition Mentors, Academic Reps and feedback tools at 果冻影院. You might want to point your students towards our You Shape 果冻影院 Campaign, to find out more.

To help get the ball rolling, here are some suggested messages that you can use once students have joined the VCR. It is recommended to make the opening posts in the 鈥楴oticeboard鈥� channel, and tag (using the @ key) the whole VCR, so that students on the VCR are notified.

Staff leaders may want to make an opening post to kick off activity. Here is some suggest text for the opening post:

鈥淗i @[VCR name], I鈥檓 happy to welcome you to our virtual common room. The common room has specific channels for Introductions, Chat and the Caf茅 鈥� a space for organising online or in-person events. I鈥檒l be looking after the common room for the next few weeks, before handing over to your Academic Reps when they are in place, who will then take the reins. Why not get started in this room by introducing yourself and your interests (academic or otherwise) in the Introductions channel, or starting a new conversation in the Chat channel.鈥�

Once Student volunteers are added, they may want to make an opening post to encourage activity among fellow students. Here鈥檚 some suggested text for the opening post, which you can edit as much as you like:

鈥淗i @[VCR name], I鈥檓 your Academic Rep/Lead Department Rep/Transition Mentor etc looking after our common room, and I look forward to helping us build a fun and supportive community in this space. We鈥檝e got specific channels for Introductions and Chat, as well as the Cafe 鈥� a space for organising online or in-person events. Take a look and see if there are any conversations on those channels, or feel free to start your own discussions. We can add any other channels you鈥檇 like, so just add a comment here if there鈥檚 something else you鈥檇 be keen to see. 鈥�

Set up events

Staff leaders and students should work together to set up events in the 鈥楥af茅鈥�. It may be that Staff leaders set up some initial induction week events, whether they be for individual programmes, year groups, with or without staff invited by the Student volunteers, or the whole department!

Staff leaders could also听set up some ad-hoc, regular or drop in events for the future. Maybe a coffee morning after a core module session, or a Friday night quiz in the 鈥楥afe鈥� channel.听 Activities that can work well on Teams include quizzes, bingo and fancy dress

Promote events and activities

Work together to promote these events to encourage a virtual social space for your students.

Owners can publicise things on the 鈥楴oticeboard鈥� channel, such as activities, task, jobs or interesting news items. Be sure to also post notices about the events you have set up in the 鈥楥af茅鈥� as well as other 果冻影院 or external events of interest.

'Chat' regularly

Student volunteers should try to post regularly in the 鈥楥hat鈥� channel, as this will help students see this as a place to raise and share comments, questions, observations, ideas or just catch up with other students in their free time

Seek feedback

If your department does not currently use Unitu, Reps may wish to create a 鈥楩eedback鈥� channel in the VCR so that they can seek feedback from fellow students before Staff Student Consultative Committees (SSCCs) and at other times.

Clarify how channels will be used

Try and be clear amongst yourselves, and with your members, about what content should be posted in which channel.

What to do if you are concerned about behaviour in the VCR

The VCR is an informal space. Like a physical common room, it is part of 果冻影院 but intended for use by students. Also like a physical common room there needs to be some expectations or rules to make sure the common space is respected and respectful.听

果冻影院, as part of its commitment to equality,听diversity听and inclusion, believes that every student has a right to work and study in an environment which encourages harmonious relationships. 果冻影院 is committed to preventing harassment and bullying and its commitment to equality and inclusion is enshrined in the principles on which it was founded.听

Just as it is on campus,听behaviour听in virtual common rooms and other online spaces is covered by the听听and related policies such as the听.听

In particular, it鈥檚听important for students to remember that any activity engaged in 鈥溾��using the internet, including virtual learning environments (e.g.听Moodle), social networking sites (e.g.听Facebook, Twitter etc.), blogs or other web resources, refrains from causing offence and could not be regarded as bullying or harassment.鈥� (Section 1 of the 果冻影院 Code of Conduct)听

听Student听may occasionally听encounter听disrespectful or inappropriate posts or听behaviour, and they may need support from staff if this occurs. Please make yourselves familiar with the new听果冻影院 Netiquette guidance. We recommend that you make student members aware of guidance when they first start using the VCR, and whenever needed during the year.听

If students approach you with a concern,听students may听wish to work with staff to try and resolve these informally. If a concern needs to be听escalated听then staff (whether that is the original Staff听leader听or another member of staff in the department) will need to be involved. If students raise concerns about听behavior听in a VCR, please support them in the same way that you would deal with any other complaint. Encourage them to resolve it informally in the first instance, but you can refer to the听Student Complaints procedure听if听required.

Further information

For general guidance about using MS Teams, please visit the听.听

For technical queries about the Virtual Common Room, please contact听VCRsupport@ucl.ac.uk.听
Please note that an ISD account will automatically be a member of your VCR. This does not belong to a particular member of staff, and no ISD staff member will听participate听in the VCR activities. It is there in case ISD need to provide support with technical aspects of running the VCR. If they prefer, Student Owners can remove this account from the membership at any time.听

Staff听leaders听will also be added to the听VCR Staff Owners Teams site. The purpose of this site is for听sharing of听knowledge, best practice and seeking help from other VCR Staff Owners. User guidance will also be stored听in听this site for you to access via files.听听听Staff Owners should stay in this Team even after you have handed over ownership to Student Owners, to help听provide听support during the year.听