PebblePad

What is PebblePad?

In a workbook, students can interact with course-specific material, while incorporating records of events, reflections, and evidence from placement scenarios. The workbooks are submitted for assessment and can be shared with assessors to review development and progress and provide feedback at various points along the learning journey. 

Key Features

• Students have full control of their accounts, therefore, the tool is personal, and can be a repository for your personal assets and reflections which you can share for collaboration, for a specified amount of time, if you choose to.
• Interactive workbooks include an auto-submit function which means you can be secure in the knowledge that your work, from the outset, has been received by assessors.
• Students are given the option to continue using PebblePad after they have completed their studies. With an Alumni Account, you can still access your workbooks and portfolios as you move into the professional sphere, and you can continue to add to your development records by providing evidence of the skills you have acquired, thereby increasing your employability prospects.  

Accessing PebblePad

When you start your course, your PebblePad account details will be emailed to you, make sure you check your junk mail or spam folders as occasionally the email can be re-directed there. The email will contain a link for you to set up your account and choose your own password. As students, your username is always your student number.

 

You can log in to PebblePad from any internet-connected device (computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone). The link to PebblePad is at the bottom of this section. We recommend using the Google Chrome browser.

If you forget your password, you can reset it from the login page. Once the password reset has been emailed to you, check your junk mail or spam folder in case the reset link is there.

PebblePad Terminology

When you log in to PebblePad, you will open up the Pebble+ Dashboard. The Pebble+ Dashboard – or home screen – is where you can access all the tools within PebblePad. It is worth taking the time to become familiar with each of the areas, and what they do, so that you know how to access your work, share it and read your feedback.

Resources are blank copies of forms (templates) and workbooks. They are provided to you (by your tutors) but you can create your own too. Resources are located in the Resource Store. Resources marked as ‘single use’ can only be used once. This mostly applies to workbooks and prevents the issue of working on multiple copies of the same workbook.

Assets are all of your own files. When you use a Resource and save it, this now becomes an asset and it is saved to your Asset Store, where you can revisit it to complete your work. If helpful, think of assets as ‘my documents’. You can save a variety of file types in your Asset Store – all your PebblePad forms and workbooks, plus upload PDFs, Images, Videos, Word documents, and other files:

 

                                                          

 

Workbooks are the resources that students use for their studies. Depending on your course, you may have one workbook that spans the duration of your studies; workbooks that you submit each year of your course, or multiple workbooks to work on each year. Workbooks are generally single-use, and auto-submitted resources.

Templates are empty forms that you complete by following the prompts provided and can cover aspects of learning experience and/or reflection. Your tutors may have developed their own templates (such as timesheets) which they will make available to you in the Resource Store.

These are the main terms that you need to know. As you start to use the tool more often you should become more familiar with these terms, along with others you come across, and begin to know the difference. You can click on the links at the end of this guide to find out more information.

Accessing Resources and Submitting for Assessment

Once you have become a little more familiar with PebblePad, the dashboard and the terminology, you can start to look at the resources you need for your course. You will probably be working with a workbook/s so you will need to locate these, open them, and save them to your Assets Store. This means they will auto-submit to ATLAS for your tutors to be able to see, and provide feedback and assessment, as you go along.

• To find your workbook/s, log in to PebblePad, and in your dashboard, click on the Resources Store (you will see this next to assets just below your name and avatar):

There are a number of ways you can search for your workbooks in the Resources Store:

• If you know the name of the workbook or course you are undertaking, you can put the title in the search box and click Search;
• By clicking on the Workbooks tab, you can narrow the search down to workbooks alone;
• Using the drop-down menu you can click on one of the pre-set search filters e.g. you can search for dates and when the resources were created or modified, or list resources in alphabetical order:

When you have found your workbook:

• Click on to the workbook title, this link will open the workbook. You should see the words SINGLE USE and AUTO-SUBMIT beneath the workbook link:

When the workbook opens, you will be prompted by the Auto share page to share the workbook for assessment. Because the workbooks are set up to auto-submit so that your tutors can assess them, you must make sure you go through this step before you start working in your workbook:

• Check the box, To share for assessment I agree to the terms of usage;
• Click on Continue:

• When you have completed this step then click on the Save button in the top left of the screen: 

                                                            

This will save your workbook to your own Assets Store where you can begin to work on it - you can tell if it has been shared for assessment successfully by looking at the clipboard - it will no longer be grey.

Sharing With Your Mentor

1. You can only share your workbook with your mentor if it has been submitted for assessment.
   !! Only share your WORKBOOK and not any individual templates such as timesheets or patient feedback forms !!
2. You can only share with your mentor if they have a PebblePad account

While the Auto-submit function submits your workbook/s for your course tutor to assess and provide feedback, if you are out on placement and working with mentors/supervisors/placement educators, you will be required to share your workbook directly with them, so that they can sign off competencies and provide feedback on your work.

Firstly, you will have to ensure that your mentor has a PebblePad account. If they don't, they must complete the request form with their relevant details. 
https://mypad.northampton.ac.uk/placements/2015/08/14/how-to-get-a-mentor-account/ 

If they have an account, then you can share your workbook with them:

• Find the workbook you want to share in your Assets Store; 
• To the right of the title link, click on the information button:   ​

• Next click on the I want to... button in the side panel;
• From the drop-down menu choose Share

• Then click on WITH AN EXTERNAL ASSESSOR. 
  If you do not see this option, then please go back to the beginning of these guides where it explains why. If you do not follow these instructions precisely, your mentor will not be able able to interact with your workbook.

• Make sure you type in your mentor's exact email address
• AND click the magnifying glass to search. When found, it will show underneath the search box.
• Add an expiry date of no longer than one calendar year (you can always reshare if needed)
• When you have done this click Share Asset.

 

Add Evidence Button

You may see the +Add button in your workbook as shown below. This is an area for you to add additional text or any assets to provide evidence to support the completion of a skill or capability. PebblePad calls these capability fields. The following instructions will show you how capability fields are used, but as everyone's workbooks are subject-specific you must make sure you are clear on how your tutors are expecting you to use the capability fields.

You have 2 options for adding evidence.

1. Add an asset. This is any file type saved into your assets. It could be a paper form you've scanned/photographed and uploaded or it could be a PebblePad/PebblePocket form that you have already filled in, for example.
2. Add text only. There are two variations for this, explained below.

For every option start by pressing the +Add button and choose Add Evidence.

Then you will have the option to choose to add an asset or add text only.

Please note that it is your tutors who have designed your workbooks, they are subject-specific and therefore you should check with them if you are not sure which one to choose.

Option 1- To add an asset:

1. Click the +Add button
2. Choose Add Evidence
3. Choose Add an Asset
4. Find the asset(s) you want to add. Use the search bar to help you
5. Click the tile to select the asset(s) you want
6. Click Done
7. (Optional) Add a brief explanation about how this asset supports this capability.
8. Click Save

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Option 2 - To add text only:

1. Click the +Add button
2. Choose Add evidence
3. Choose Add Text Only
4. For the Title use the naming convention you have given. Make sure this is unique from any other entries
5. In 'About this entry' type (or paste in) the details of your placement experience
6. Click Next
7. Click Save
Next to the +Add button, you will now see a document icon with a number next to it. When you click on that icon, the capabilities side panel will open and you will see the entry you have created. From here you will be able to open and edit it if you need to. If you have more than one piece of evidence, you will see them listed.

Alternatively, in About this entry you put a dot (just something to let you press next) and you type/paste the bulk of your text into the justification area instead. If you do it this way, your mentors and tutors can see the text onscreen, without needing to open a separate attachment. This can be quicker and easier for them.

Next, your capability will need to be approved.

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Evidence is complete

Once your capability has been approved, you will receive a notification to say 'feedback has been released'. You will most likely receive that in an email. However, it will not tell you where in your workbook you have feedback, so you'll need to be aware of what you're waiting on and look through the workbook.

Over on the right-hand side, along from the +Add button, you will see a new icon. If your evidence has been approved you will see a green tick inside a green circle (with a blue dot to show it's new). If the evidence/capability has not been approved you will see a minus sign inside a red circle instead. Click the icon to see if you have any feedback about why it has not yet been approved.

If your evidence was approved, click on the document icon to open the side panel. Tick the checkbox to confirm "This evidence is complete". 

Using Templates with Collections

In your workbook you may find a page that collects templates, your 'templates' can be linked directly from the page. Alternatively, your tutor may direct you to look from them in your resources. 

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Example of a collection page with a pre-tagged template (dynamic):

Open the template page, from either the link on the collection page if there or your resources if not.

Enter a unique title in the 'save as' box to name the individual template, you must follow the naming convention set by your tutors. Complete the other boxes, then save and close.

(Templates are pre-tagged by the tutor - in this example, the tag is 'collection1')

Back on the collection page click the toggle switch to the ON position. Everything from your assets, with the relevant tag, will show up on the page.

PebblePocket

PebblePocket is an app to accompany PebblePad, for smartphones and tablets, so you can use PebblePad templates offline. This means you can get signed off even where you have no internet connection. The template is saved onto your phone/tablet and you must send it to PebblePad as soon as you are able. The app will only store 10 items, so make a regular habit of always sending to PebblePad as soon as you have internet access.

You are under no obligation to download the app to your personal device and will be able to find and use the templates in PebblePad if you choose not to use PebblePocket.

Currently, Paramedic Science, Nursing and Midwifery students using the eMORA, have specific templates accessible via the app.

Log in to the app using the same login details you use for PebblePad. Then you will find your templates grouped by subject. Midwifery students' templates are in the eMORA section, Nursing templates are under the M,Y,NE+E PLG section and Paramedic Science students will find theirs by pressing the university logo.

    

In most cases, the templates will lock after they've been signed. So, if you have been asked to add any hours, points or tags, you should do so before you get a signature.

You may need to add hours to a timesheet. Or you may need to add tags so a template will be added to the relevant page of your workbook. The majority of templates are already tagged for you, so DO NOT REMOVE any tags from the templates. 

 

Keeping your PebblePad work after you complete your studies

After you graduate from your course you will lose access to the University of Northampton systems. Normally, your access to University systems is revoked thirty days after the date on which the exam board confirmed that you completed and passed your course.

However, with PebblePad you are entitled to a Personal PebblePad Alumni Account. This is provided by PebblePad, so that you can take your PebblePad assets with you when you leave. You can continue to use PebblePad for your personal learning and professional development as you move on to the next stage of your career.

You will have free access to this Personal PebblePad alumni account, for as long as the university licenses PebblePad, and for three years after that. After which, you can choose to retain your alumni account for a low annual fee. You will receive notification of this and have plenty of time to make a decision.

As a UON alumnus your assets will be stored in a separate tab within your asset store called The University of Northampton - alongside Assets, Resources and Deleted. From there, you will be able to continue to access and manage any assets that you had previously. However, any new assets that you create will be stored in your default assets tab, separate from the University tab.

Technical support with PebblePad

If you require technical support with PebblePad, please use the PebblePad Contact Form

 

Updating your details: 

PebblePad is not tied in with any of the other university systems, therefore you will need to contact us (via the form linked above) if you wish to have your name or email address changed on PebblePad.