On the 31st October, 2013, Rob Howe was invited to Education 3.0 in Moscow to present on the strategic development of Learning Technology at The University of Northampton.
Rob was the only speaker from the UK and joined speakers from leading Russian institutions: FEFU, KAI, LGU, MISiS, and Ural Mining to an audience of Rectors, Provosts, Heads of IT.
The forum was part of a major education exhibition, hosted by the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation, Government of Moscow and the Moscow Department of Education. The goal was to enhance the access to, and quality of, education through public-private partnership, promoting international best practices that will boost the personal and professional development of individuals.
The Russian government has earmarked £178 million to enable its leading national universities to break into the top 100 in the global league tables. Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, announced plans that would see at least five of the country’s universities enter the top 100 by 2020. Education 3.0 was part of a number of events which are encouraging institutions to be more innovative in their outlook.
Rob’s presentations were developed in both English versions and Russian versions to cater for the audience at this event and an interpreter was used throughout.
There was a real interest in the Learning Technology work and developments at Northampton including our Changemaker status…..and surprisingly a question on the Northampton clown during the drinks reception ! As a result of the presentations, Northampton has already had requests for greater collaboration and potential sharing of resources between ourselves and Russian institutions.
Al Holloway, Learning Technologist at University of Northampton talks to School of Health staff member Angie Bartoli on her use of Twitter for collaboration and communication in the field of social work.
We are often asked in CAIeROs where to obtain images that are licensed for use in material that could be part of an Open Resource. There is nothing worse than having to pick out images from a potential OER because of copyright problems. This article on Zembl is a really useful guide to where you can find suitable images.
http://zembl.com/news/blogs/2013/11/15-places-get-free-images-your-elearning
Al Holloway, Learning Technologist at University of Northampton talks to School of Education lecturer Helen Caldwell on her use of Edublogs for student portfolios.
In this forth episode Al Holloway, Learning Technologist at University of Northampton talks to School of Education staff member Jean Edwards on her use of WordPress for student communication.
In this third episode Al Holloway, Learning Technologist at University of Northampton talks informally to School of Health lecturer Anne Segalini on her use of Google Sites.
Providing Mobile Access to Learning and Teaching
The Learning Technology team are pleased to announce a new monthly lunchtime event for all staff at the University of Northampton.
With more and more people accessing the internet via mobile devices, The App Cafe provides an opportunity to look at the implications of mobile devices and apps in HE and how we can better use them in learning and teaching. This first App Cafe will look at the top five essentials for going mobile and consider some different apps that you can start to use easily in a learning and teaching context.
We want to hear from you. This is a participative ‘by you, for you’ event with an opportunity each month to share the apps you already use in the classroom with fellow staff across all disciplines.
With take-aways like ‘Your 5-a-month’ (top apps for learning and teaching), coffee and even cake, this is one lunchtime event in LLS you shouldn’t miss.
First Monday of the month, starting 4th November 2013 | 1-2pm | in the TPod, Park Library
Book your place by signing up today: https://theappcafe.eventbrite.co.uk
We hope to see you there!
Following the NILE upgrade over the summer, some NILE sites have been responding badly to the use of styles and the menu area has changed to black on black. Blackboard are aware of the issue and will fix it in a subsequent upgrade.
In the interim, if you find your site affected, follow these steps:
1. Open the Site Manager, customisation, site style menu item
2. Chose a contrasting background or type in ‘dedede’ into the code value box for a standard ‘NILE Grey’ background.
3. ‘Submit’ to save changes
Apologies for the inconvenience – we will make another posting or announcement when this is fixed.
Business School lecturer Maggie Anderson is a recent convert to the benefits of using Discussion Boards in NILE to increase her efficiency by vastly reducing the amount of email traffic she receives from students about module related issues, particularly where there is a large student cohort. During a CAIeRO session Maggie commented on the difficulties of repeat email traffic. Her case study reflects on the successes of introducing a Frequently Asked Questions forum and how she has adopted this approach more widely in other modules. She also reflects on the wider pedagogical benefits she observed as a result. Read her case study to find out more!
Have you ever wondered if students bother to read the feedback that you so carefully provide them with? Have you ever been overloaded with providing formative feedback that students can use without necessarily engaging more deeply with your advice?
In this case study, Maggie Anderson, Senior Lecturer in Human Resources Management in NBS, reflects on how addressing this issue through the CAIeRO process changed her pedagogical approach to the provision of formative feedback/feedforward and how the Journal tool can be used to encourage earlier student engagement and increase individual learner responsibility.
