Learning & Teaching in a Digital Landscape

A presentation as part of a Seminar Series run by London South Bank University’s Centre for Research Informed Teaching.

Woman Using a Samsung VR Headset
Woman Using a Samsung VR Headset by Nan Palmero CC BY 2.0

I was really pleased to be asked to deliver this session at South Bank. Many thanks to LSBU’s Marc Griffith, Head of Digitally Enhanced Education for the invitation.

In the talk I asked participants to briefly look back to 2007 (the year the first iPhone was released) but mainly we concentrated on the current picture of the use of TEL in UK Higher Education.

Finally we looked ahead to four areas for the future. No futurology, all areas that are already established but likely to expand further in the coming years:

  1. Blended Learning
  2. Learning Analytics
  3. Virtual Reality
  4. Artificial Intelligence

My overview slides with various links are available: Learning & Teaching in a Digital Landscape.


 

Show me the data. Sorry I can’t.

I gave a presentation about the development of UWL’s Learning Analytics policy at the Blackboard Teaching and Learning Conference 2017, held at Bocconi University in Milan, Italy in March 2017.

Learning Analytics systems

In the presentation I outlined the 10 Principles that form the foundation of our policy and the steps we took to develop and implement the policy last year. I also gave an overview of our project that initiated the need for a policy: a predictive learning analytics project aimed at maximising the continued success and retention of UWL’s students.

My slides are available: Show me the data. Sorry I can’t and I have also written a related article on the #ALTC Blog: 7 Tips for Developing a Learning Analytics Policy.


 

Competitive Ice-breaker

I kicked off our second meeting of the UK Poll Everywhere User Group at City University, London with a competitive quiz using Poll Everywhere’s segmentation feature.

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It was a close run battle, ending in a fair 3-1/2 to 3-1/2 draw. The day as a whole went really well and I particularly enjoyed the team-based learning session expertly facilitated by Rebecca McCarter from the University of Bradford.

I have posted a full report from the day on the user group site, see 2017 User Group Meeting Resources.


 

Facilitating HeLF Meeting

The 38th Heads of E-Learning Forum (HeLF) meeting was held at the University of Birmingham on 9th June, 2016. It was the first HeLF event I have organised as a new member of the HeLF Steering Group.

strategy

The focus of the meeting was Enabling Strategic Change and it included a panel discussion on TEL strategies, groups discussions on policies and frameworks, as well as 5 short presentations. There are resources from the meeting on the HeLF  website.  I was really pleased with how it went on the day and particularly with the large number of people I managed to encourage to present and facilitate sessions – 14 in total. So many thanks to Mark Gamble, Fiona Strawbridge, Chris Turnock, Peter Bryant, Stella Ekebuisi, Catherine Naamani, Sue Gill, Brian Irwin, Uwe Richter, Alicia Mcconnell, Sarah Hayes, Sarah Davies, Rob Howe, and Amber Thomas, for making it a successful day.

At the end of the meeting we started looking forward to next year with a brainstorming session for 2016-17.

Introduction to Learning Analytics

Dashboards, metrics and interventions, my overview of Learning Analytics presented at UWL’s Academic Partnerships Conference.

I presented this on March 17th 2016 at the annual UWL conference for staff from our Partner institutions. As expected there was a lively discussion when we got on to the issues and challenges section of the presentation.

An Overview of Learning Analytics

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Click image to view presentation (new window)

I ended my presentation with a summary of the recommendations from the Higher Education Commission’s January 2016 From Bricks to Clicks report. There are 12 recommendations in total. These are the  five I highlighted:

  • Consider introducing LAs driven by improvement of L&T processes & student engagement
  • Support LAs with clear codes of practice including fully informed consent
  • Review internal data management. Ensure data is fit-for-purpose
  • Ensure digital literacy, capability and data management are integral to overall strategic plan
  • Consider use of LAs in TEF submissions
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