Posts by: robhowe

Skype over three Continents for Marketing Conference.

By On June 10, 2011 ·

The Learning Technology team have successfully supported the Northampton Busines  School lecturers KathyMortimer and Sally Laurie in Skyping into a Marketing conference in Australia alongside a team from the USA.

Kathy and Sally have facilited a team of marketing students to present to a Marketing Conference in Australia via a Skype link which also allowed a student team from a University in the USA to also present. The event meant a late start as the time difference in Australia resulted in the Northampton team presenting at 01.00am in the morning!

All went well, with only the occassional connection drop-out with Skype. The event was held in the Avenue CTC room (Creative Teaching Centre) which allowed for dedicated large screen visual and enhanced audio provision to make the students feel like they were really at the Conference in Australia. “…..a great experience that went well.  Our student did a great job.” -( Sally Laurie)

For further information contact Rob Davis – Learning Technologist 01604 893531

 

New IT training Schedules

By On June 3, 2011 ·

Take a look at the new IT training schedules at www.northampton.ac.uk/it-training

 

May 2011 Learning Technology Newsletter is now available

By On May 31, 2011 ·

The May 2011 Learning Technology Newsletter is now available from the Learntech Newsletter page. This provide full details on current team activity and new activity based on feedback received.

 

CAIeRO QAQE Project: e-ployment of the QAQE E-Learning Toolkit to enhance the quality of programme development

By On May 9, 2011 ·

Executive Summary

The University of Northampton (UN) is committed to enhancing the quality of its e-learning and this is a central component of its Learning and Teaching strategies and key to the delivery of its new Strategic Plan 2010-15. The QAQE E-Learning Toolkit allows the University to develop, refine and enhance the institutional approach to quality with a particular focus on the whole lifespan of the (re)development of programmes, making use of Open Educational Resources where applicable. The toolkit will particularly assist as the institution moves forward to increase and enhance its distance learning provision and review and develop its curricula.

1) Institutional Context

Since 2007, UN has been working on improving processes for course design and delivery using a method based on the Carpe Diem model (Originally developed by The University of Leicester (Armellini et al, 2008 and 2009)). Over time this process has been changed and refined and is now termed CAIeRO (Creating Aligned and Interactive educational Resource Opportunities).

The CAIeRO process is an opportunity for the course team, Learning Technologists, Librarians, Students and other stakeholders (e.g. academic developer/facilitator(s) who are not part of the course team) to come together over a focused period of time to reflect on current or future courses and rebuild these in a way which is pedagogically focused and makes use of technology where relevant – and where it would enhance the delivery.

‘…….the use of the technology itself is increasingly not a distinguishing factor for organisations, but rather the quality of that use and the way it advances the goals of a change resilient organisation become essential to success.’

(Marshall, 2010)

The style of the events held under the CAIeRO banner have subtly changed over time to incorporate new practices and developments. For example, recent JISC/HEA funding during 2010 has allowed the University to explore the development of Open Educational Resources under the TIGER project (www.northampton.ac.uk/tiger). This has introduced the elements of Designing for Openness to the CAIeRO events so that culture of both using and sharing material is ingrained at the earliest opportunity.

We are also discussing the nature of course development and design with the Director of Learning and Teaching and Head of Quality and Curriculum Services to look at the nature of the validation process and the way in which programmes are delivered within the University.

2) Focus, Scope and Timeline

A team with the following staff will review the toolkit during March and its applicability to the CAIeRO process:

  • Director of Learning and Teaching
  • Head of Quality and Curriculum Services
  • Deputy Director of Academic Services (Information Services)
  • Principal Lecturer Learning and Teaching (Health)
  • Head of Learning Technology

Whilst the institution has interest in all the stages and the detailed questions which are provided within the toolkit, it is clear that we currently place more focus on some areas than others. We will provide full feedback on the use of the toolkit and would hope to be involved in future revisions.

Two CAIeRO events will be held during March/ April / May informed by the outcomes of the above review and appropriate modifications. Staff involved in the CAIeRO processes will be surveyed about their experiences with particular focus on the value added through the use of the e-learning toolkit.

The feedback will be collated by 31st May, reported on, case study developed and then presented at the e-learning quality conference on 14th June.

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EIGHTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON NETWORKED LEARNING IN HIGHER EDUCATION AND LIFELONG LEARNING 2-4 April 2012

By On May 8, 2011 ·

EIGHTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON NETWORKED LEARNING IN HIGHER EDUCATION AND LIFELONG LEARNING

To be held in Maastricht, the Netherlands on the 2nd. 3rd & 4th April 2012.

NOTE: Full papers must be submitted for peer review by Monday 3rd October, 2011.

Further details at: http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fss/organisations/netlc/call/themes.htm

This conference is considered a major event in the international ‘technology enhanced learning’ conference circuit, and provides a friendly, collegiate context for meeting researchers and practitioners in networked learning.

All submissions are peer reviewed, and accepted papers published in conference proceedings

Invited Speakers: Terry Anderson, Tara Fenwick & Judi Marshall

PRE-CONFERENCE ONLINE COMMUNITY AND ONLINE SEMINARS: please visit the conference website for further details

Full Conference Details can be found at:

http://www.networkedlearningconference.org.uk/

 

NILE Upgrade 2011

By On May 5, 2011 ·

As part of our regular programme of NILE maintenance and improvements, this summer there will be two short periods when work will be completed. There may a disruption to the NILE service during these periods.

On the weekend of 25/26 June, the software that underpins NILE will be upgraded to the latest service pack.

On the 26/27 July, NILE will be linked to the staff / student login system.

In preparation for these changes, all users need to ensure that their passwords and email addresses on NILE match those on the main University IT systems, before 25th June. For more details, please see the upgrade information page.

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ELESIG – Midlands 19th May

By On May 3, 2011 ·
The next regional group meeting for those that are midlands based will be held at the University of Northampton (Park Campus) on Thursday 19th May 2011, 10-3pm. Having held several successful meetings during 2010 the midlands group aims to continue on a self funding basis for the foreseeable future. We look forward to seeing members old and new and the sign up sheet can be found:

https://survey.northampton.ac.uk/elesigmidlands2011/

Information about ELESIG
===================

The ELESIG group is the Evaluation of Learners’ Experiences of e-learning Special Interest Group and is supported by the Higher Education Academy. ELESIG is an international community of researchers and practitioners from higher and further education who are involved in investigations of learners’ experiences and uses of technology in learning. ELESIG members work together to share knowledge and practice and develop a shared repertoire of resources which will be of benefit to the community and the sector (http://elesig.ning.com). Originally started as part of the small grants scheme the group is now self supporting as a regional group and continues to be coordinated by Dr. Gemma Towle and Mr. Rob Howe from The University of Northampton.

There has already been several regional meetings held during 2010 as well as a NING site and Twitter Feeds for regular updates. This meeting will take place at The University of Northampton on Thursday 19th May 2011 from 10am till 3pm. (Further details will be sent nearer to this date).

Places are limited and the closing date for the booking form will be Thursday 12th May.

Whilst the event is free, a charge may be raised for booked places which are not used. Lunch is not included so feel free to bring your own or there are facilities to purchase lunch on the campus. Tea and coffee is provided though!

 

eLearning in Health Conference

By On May 3, 2011 ·

eLearning in Health Conference

27 – 28 June 2011

Conference themes

The conference themes are:

  • Enhancing assessment and feedback through technology
  • Using technology to improve collaboration across the Education and Health Sectors; including mobile learning in practice
  • Innovative tools and technologies to support learning
  • Releasing, sharing, and using openly accessible online teaching materials (OER)
  • Using technology to enhance pedagogic quality whilst maintaining cost efficiencies
  • Using technology to enhance digital inclusion and promote widening participation
  • Using technology to support those with learning difficulties
  • The role of technology in education for sustainable development
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Free workshops from the JISC e-Learning Programme on developing digital literacies

By On May 3, 2011 ·

Developing Digital Literacies: A series of national workshops on developing learners and learning organisations for the 21st Century

A series of free workshops from the JISC e-Learning Programme on developing digital literacies will take place during May – October 2011.

The workshops will be held on:

26 May 2011, Goodenough College in London (in partnership with RSC London and RSC Eastern)
23 June, Maple House in Birmingham
22 September, The Studio in Manchester
6 October, The Bristol Hotel in Bristol

These workshops will offer the latest in organisational thinking and educational development around digital literacies. Participants will hear the outcomes of recent JISC-funded activity in this area and be given the chance to share their own experiences through structured activities. Proven resources in support of staff and curriculum development and institutional change will be available to download, adapt and use in participants’ own contexts of work.

The workshops will be suitable for:

Educational professionals with an interest in and responsibility for digital literacy. They may be located in:
e-learning teams; library/learning resource teams; educational or learning development; academic departments; careers/employability teams; outreach teams; other support services; quality; senior management.

The workshops will be facilitated by Helen Beetham (consultant) and author of JISC’s recent review of digital literacies and lead consultant on the Learning Literacies for a Digital Age1 (LliDA) project and Dr Rhona Sharpe or Dr Greg Benfield (Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development, Oxford Brookes University) of the recent JISC Supporting Learners in a Digital Age2 (SLiDA) study.

Further information together with the registration forms for the workshops, is now available from www.jisc.ac.uk/diglitworkshops

 

Northampton Impact on Blackboard Learning and Teaching Conference in Leeds 11-13 April 2011

By On April 14, 2011 ·

Julie Usher, Adel Gordon, Kardi Somerfield and Rob Howe attended the Blackboard Learning and Teaching Conference in Leeds (11-13 April 2011) and managed a hat trick of presentations along with Julie coordinating the first informal meeting of the Learning Objects Usergroup.

Twitter was actively used during the three days and you can review the stream of conversations.

The Northampton presentations covered:

Putting the TIGER into the Blackboard tank (Rob Howe) – a review of how the TIGER project is putting Open Educational Resources into the Blackboard environment.

Sticky Content: Creating Blackboard sites that keep students coming back for more (Kardi Somerfield and Rob Howe) – a report of Kardi’s URB@N project on creating engaging NILE modules and how this is influencing Northampton’s strategic direction.

Lecture capture using Panopto at The University of Northampton (Adel Gordon and Rob Howe) – a review of the first 9 months of implementing video capture using the Panopto tool.

As normal the networking was invaluable as colleagues from other institutions shared experiences and we were able to talk direct to suppliers. Looking forward to next year’s event in Antwerp !

RobH