POST:
E-Learning Technical Support Officer
DIVISION/DEPT/UNIT:
IT Services
RESPONSIBLE TO:
Training and Digital Media Manager
GRADE:
Scale 6
JOB DESCRIPTION
Job Purpose
Based within the Training and Digital Media team in the IT Services Department, the main
purpose of e-Learning Technical Support Officer role is to provide technical support for the
School VLE (Moodle) and associated learning technologies and digital platforms across the
School. This newly created post has been established to enhance the technical skills base within
the Training and Digital Media team in order to provide robust and highly effective maintenance
and support for e-Learning platforms.
The e-Learning Technical Support Officer works closely with other educational and technical
specialists within the department, including the Web, Multimedia and Systems teams in order to
provide effective technical maintenance of online systems and learning platforms. S/he will be
required to work pro-actively and in collaborative partnership with the e-Learning Officer and
wider Division of Education leads in order to ensure the provision of a seamless end-to-end
service, spanning user needs and support for stakeholder initiatives. The post holder will act as
dedicated technical lead in the planning, implementation and support of such initiatives.
The role holder acts as first point of contact for technical enquiries and requests related to
learning technologies and digital systems, providing support, documentation and training in this
area as required.
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Responsibilities
Operational support
1. Provide technical support and maintenance for the School VLE (Moodle) and other teaching
and learning platforms (e.g. Blackboard Collaborate, Panopto).
2. Provide e-learning systems administration, including support for VLE enrolments and
site/course configuration.
3. Maintain the good structure of e-learning systems set-up, including attributes and business
rules and liaise with the business systems team on integration with other data and systems,
in order to plan and carry out system maintenance and user administration.
4. Act as first point of contact for e-learning technical enquiries escalated by the Helpdesk and
key stakeholders and ensure queries are dealt with in an appropriate and timely manner.
Monitor support provision against set service standards.
5. Provide technical support for online assessment and evaluation tools, including Turnitin,
online survey software and voting/polling systems.
6. Provide training, documentation and support for the Distance Learning Assignment
Management System (AMS) including student, tutor and administration interfaces and the
Exams Management System (EMS) including Marker and administration interfaces.
7. Ensure the effective maintenance of e-learning systems, installing patches, updates and
configurations as needed using agreed or established change control procedures. Be
responsible for back-up procedures and their testing and ensure robust disaster recovery
systems are in place.
8. Produce and maintain documentation of technical processes and procedures to assist
service users.
9. Support the wider functioning of the Training and Digital Media team by assisting with
multimedia and web development work, database administration and training as required.
10. Provide support for web-based administration tools e.g. web forms.
11. Attend and contribute to team/departmental meetings as and when required, and work
collaboratively with colleagues.
Stakeholder engagement
12. Act as technical point of contact when seeking support from external product suppliers (e.g.
the School’s VLE hosting provider). Liaise with other organisations as appropriate to
maintain and develop existing services and to support the introduction of relevant new
services.
13. Act as technical lead for the introduction of new e-learning initiatives and systems and
oversee the continuous improvement of the online teaching and learning platforms and
systems.
14. Works in partnership with the Deputy Head of Distance Education & Professional
Development Office to ensure robust and resilient DL student support systems are
maintained and improved.
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15. Represent the IT Services team at technical forums and other meetings as required.
16. Deliver training on technical aspects of the e-learning portfolio to IT Services staff and key
stakeholders across the School to establish sustainable institutional knowledge base.
17. Work collaboratively and maintain close working relationships with the IT services systems
and helpdesk teams and principal digital learning stakeholders within the Division of
Education.
18. Assist in the development of new policies and procedures relating to technical management,
administration and support of the VLE/e-learning platforms.
Professional development
19. Remain up-to-date with developments in learning technologies and digital media, both
within Higher Education and more widely. Liaise with other HEIs and other networks in
order to exchange good practice.
20. Manage own continuous professional development, internal collaborations and external
networks, in order to contribute to service quality, research excellence and innovation.
Behavior
21. Represent the interests of the School in an accurate and diplomatic manner at all times.
22. Demonstrate the School’s values through appropriate behavior at work, including duties
and responsibilities in respect of equality and diversity, health and safety, data protection,
and any other legislative requirement.
PERSON SPECIFICATION
Qualifications
The successful candidate should:
Essential/
Desirable
Hold a relevant degree qualification or equivalent professional qualification or Essential
have equivalent professional experience
Essential
Hold a relevant IT/systems/e-learning qualification
Provide evidence of continuous professional development
Tested
by*
A
A
Essential
A, I
Essential
A,I
Essential
A, I
Essential
A,I
* A = application; I = interview; T = test
Background & Experience
The successful candidate should have a background in, or experience of:
Providing technical support for a VLE and/or other online teaching and
learning platforms
Acting within a customer service/support role within a university and/or
public sector environment
Supporting teaching staff in their full use of the suite of tools in a VLE and/or
other online teaching and learning platforms
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Deploying and configuring tools within a VLE
Supporting other online tools and platforms e.g. online classroom
environments and assessment & evaluation tools e.g. Blackboard Collaborate,
Turnitin
Building database-driven web forms e.g. for data collection
Essential
I
Desirable
A,I
Desirable
A,I
Experience of administering Windows and/or Linux server systems
Desirable
A,I
Maintaining computer records with attention to detail
Desirable
I
Essential
I
Essential
A, I
Essential
A, I
Desirable
I
Desirable
I
Knowledge
The successful candidate should have demonstrable knowledge of:
Strong technical knowledge of Moodle (or other VLE)
An understanding of how e-Learning technologies underpin the key principle
of online teaching and learning and their application in Higher Education
A range of associated e-learning tools and their deployment within a
university setting
An understanding of multimedia systems in use in a university environment
e.g. lecture capture, live streaming.
Digital literacy including an understanding of support issues pertaining to
mobile learning
Skills & Competencies
The successful candidate should demonstrate:
Excellent interpersonal and customer care skills, including the ability to explain
technical points clearly and simply
The ability to develop a network of internal contacts to aid service delivery and
speedy resolution of training needs
Excellent written and verbal communication skills
Essential
A, I
Essential
A,I
Essential
A, I
Ability to manage complex and competing pieces of work in an effective way
with limited supervision
Essential
A, I
Ability to plan and prioritise projects and meet deadlines
Essential
A, I
Strong troubleshooting skills and the ability work collaboratively and alone to
find effective solutions
Essential
I
Human Resources Division
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