​The technologies listed below are being used for teaching and learning at Victoria. Some of them are actively supported by Victoria ITS staff, while others are not. You will find Victoria-specific information on many of these tools below.  If we don't have our own information, you'll be take to the support pages provided by the tool.
* Technologies marked with an asterisk are those that are widely used at Victoria.
Technologies marked with an arrow will direct you to external help pages.
If you have questions or would like training in using these technologies, both those supported by Victoria and those that aren't, please talk to one of our learning and teaching team.
​Core Technologies
​​These technologies are used in most, if not all of the courses at Victoria. There is a lot of support for these technologies available from both CAD and ITS.
​Blackboard is Victoria's learning management system. It can be used to provide information, teaching material and grades to students. Every course is required to have at least the course outline on Blackboard
GoSoapBox is used to interact with an audience during a presentation or lecture. It allows you to pose a question, run a poll or get text responses in real time. It is a cloud-based software which runs through a web browser and uses your audience's mobile devices.
Office 365 is a suite of web based applications which work in combination to provide online access to: cloud storage, social networking, Microsoft Office tools, team productivity capability and more.
Qualtrics is the university’s licensed on-line survey creation tool. It is primarily used for research purposes, but it can also be used in teaching scenarios such as class revision or feedback. From basic polls to complex surveys integrating websites and pop-up windows, Qualtrics is a highly flexible tool with a range of uses.
Talis Aspire is the system used at Victoria University to create course reading lists and manage copyright compliance.  All courses must use Talis to create and manage readings that have been copied for course reading lists. 
Turnitin can be used to check student writing for similarity to other sources, such as web pages, articles and other students' work.
VStream is the video recording and distributing system used at Victoria. It allows recordings to be made in an office, in teaching spaces and on any remote computer. Videos from other sources can also be uploaded. All recordings can be made available through Blackboard, shared with other VUW staff or even made publicly available on a website. Live streaming can also be handled through VStream.
Zoom is a video conferencing tool that allows both online meeting functionality, video conferencing and mobile collaboration. Free Zoom accounts can be created by anyone, and VUW staff can be upgraded to Pro accounts with more features.
​Classroom Response Systems
​Classroom response systems are used to get feedback from the audience during a lecture or other presentation. This is usually in the form of multichoice questions and polls.
GoSoapBox is used to interact with an audience during a presentation or lecture. It allows you to pose a question, run a poll or get text responses in real time. It is a cloud-based software which runs through a web browser and uses your audience's mobile devices.
Collaborative Projects
These technologies are used for working together on group projects. They can also be used together with the file sharing tools below.
Google Docs is a group of online tools for collaboratively creating and sharing documents. It includes Google Docs (text editor), Google Sheets (spreadsheets) and Google Slides (presentations).
Office 365 is a suite of web based applications which work in combination to provide online access to: cloud storage, social networking, Microsoft Office tools, team productivity capability and more.
OneNote is an online notebook which is part of the Microsoft Office group of programs.
Devices
​Devices that have features such as portability and touch-capability can allow a variety of beneficial uses.
An iPad is a tablet device with up to 10 hours of battery life and a large selection of apps. They are extremely portable which makes them ideal for mobile teaching.
A Microsoft Surface Tablet is a complete mobile computer, larger than a mobile phone. The Microsoft Surface Tablets are an advantage for teaching and research because you can draw on the screen.
Portable large screen computers used in teaching spaces.
Discussions and Social Media
These tools provide the ability to connect and communicate with others to develop ideas and share knowledge.
The discussion board feature in Blackboard allows students and instructors to initiate, participate and lead online forums, share ideas, critique and reflect on questions, and debate topics related to the course.
Facebook is a social networking website which allows users to create profiles, upload photos and video, send messages and keep in touch with friends.
LinkedIn is a social networking site designed specifically for the business community. It allows users to build a professional profile and document networking and career contacts.
Students use PeerWise to create and to explain their understanding of course related assessment questions, and to answer and discuss questions created by their peers.
This is an online platform that facilitates interaction among students and instructors to work through learning exercises and problems. It allows feedback to students on their work and peer supported learning.
Twitter is an online news and social networking service where users' posts, called "tweets", are limited to 140 characters.
Yammer is an enterprise based networking and communication tool. Users with approved network credentials can join discussion groups, share documents and links and images. It allows push communication in the form of microblogging.
Document Preparation
Document preparation is a fundamental part of both research and study. There are several programs for preparing text documents, presentations (slide shows), spreadsheets, images and posters (graphic design).
Creating text documents is important for pretty much everyone at Victoria.  There are a number of programs available for creating documents of any length, from single pages to large theses.
 
 
 
Using an online tool for digital annotation, linked notation and mark-up of documents and images.
Learning Spaces
​These technologies are available in the learning spaces (lecture theatres, seminar rooms, etc.) around campus.
 
 
Portable large screen computers used in teaching spaces.
Link to the ITS pages about teaching rooms
VStream is the video recording and distributing system used at Victoria. It allows recordings to be made in an office, in teaching spaces and on any remote computer. Videos from other sources can also be uploaded. All recordings can be made available through Blackboard, shared with other VUW staff or even made publicly available on a website. Live streaming can also be handled through VStream.
File Sharing
Cloud-based file services enable the sharing of files over the internet. They can be used to simply distribute files, or to collaboratively work on the same file.
Dropbox is a personal cloud storage service used for file sharing and collaboration.
Google Drive is a file storage and synchronisation service which allows storage, file sharing and mobility of content across devices.
This is Microsoft's file hosting solution that allows users to sync files and later access them from a web browser or mobile device.
This is a slide hosting service where users can upload files privately or publicly in serval different presentation file formats. Slidedecks can be viewed on the site or embedded into other sites.
Portfolios
​Portfolios used in many fields as a way to showcase your expertise. These tools can be used to build digital portfolios.
LinkedIn is a social networking site designed specifically for the business community. It allows users to build a professional profile and document networking and career contacts.
Mahara or Myportfolio is a multi-featured web application to build electronic portfolios. It can be used to create journals, resumés, upload files, embed social media resources from the web and collaborate with other users.
OneNote is an online notebook which is part of the Microsoft Office group of programs.
Research Tools
These tools can be used to analyse and visualise data.
Matlab is used for machine learning, signal processing, image processing, computer vision, communications, computational finance, control design, robotics, and much more. The Matlab platform is optimised for solving engineering and scientific problems.
NVivo is a qualitative data analysis (QDA) computer software package produced by QSR International. It has been designed for qualitative researchers working with very rich text-based and/or multimedia information, where deep levels of analysis on small or large volumes of data are required.
SPSS Statistics is a software package used for statistical analysis. In addition to statistical analysis, data management (case selection, file reshaping, creating derived data) and data documentation are features of the base software. It is commonly used by social scientists but it is also used by market researchers, health researchers, survey companies, government, education researchers, marketing organisations, data miners, and others.
Video Conferencing
​These tools provide the ability to connect and communicate with others through audio and video.
Google Hangouts is a combined communication service that allows members to initiate and participate in text, voice or video chats, either one-on-one or in a group. 
Zoom is a video conferencing tool that allows both online meeting functionality, video conferencing and mobile collaboration. Free Zoom accounts can be created by anyone, and VUW staff can be upgraded to Pro accounts with more features.
​Video, Images, and Audio
eTV distributes programmes recorded off-air from domestic and international television channels and Internet channels, that can be viewed and downloaded under the terms and conditions of the Screenrights Licensing Scheme for education.
Flickr (pronounced "flicker") is an online image and video hosting, management and distribution service. It supports an active and engaged community where people share and explore each other's photos.
The Lightboard allows the key aspects of a whiteboard – the ability to write and draw – to be replicated on video, without the need for extensive post-production editing.
Vimeo is a video-sharing website in which users can upload, share and view videos.
VStream is the video recording and distributing system used at Victoria. It allows recordings to be made in an office, in teaching spaces and on any remote computer. Videos from other sources can also be uploaded. All recordings can be made available through Blackboard, shared with other VUW staff or even made publicly available on a website. Live streaming can also be handled through VStream.
Youtube is a video sharing service that allows users to upload video and make it available through private channels, subsrcibed feeds or publicly available.