Currently viewing the tag: "Distance Learning"

Flipped teaching mini case study: Social Sciences Tech Expo

By On May 23, 2013 ·

Catherine Fritz demonstrated the concept of flipped teaching – moving assignments into the classroom and delivering lectures as self-paced and scheduled events.

Lectures can be paused by the student to enable research to take place, and give students struggling with vocabulary the chance to look up a word. The lecture is also a much more powerful revision tool. Class work can be more active and collaborative as a result.

The University provides a number of applications to host flipped lectures – Panopto is probably the most suitable, but Kaltura video or NILE based tools like Xerte  are also possible delivery mechanisms. In this case Catherine described how Powerpoint can be used to create slides supported with audio. Her presentation contained a step-by-step guide in how  to do so.

Powerpoint proved an effective alternative, particularly when access to Panopto is not available. In some respects it is simpler to use than Panopto – amending text on a slide is very easy to do. However, long presentations can result in quite large files which are a problem for some distance learners. Dividing these lectures into sections may well be necessary.  As with all asynchronous delivery, support for questions and discussion needs to be available for students at the same time. This will require monitoring, and often moderation, from the tutor.

Overall, this presentation is an excellent example of innovative teaching making used of simple technology and is well worth consideration as an approach.  Many thanks to Catherine for producing what is effectively a multimedia instruction manual!

Since the Expo, a new version of Panopto for the iPad has been launched which offers offers a much better recording experience for tutors and an attractive and useful viewing platform for students. It is free to download from the App Store. Ensure you connect to northampton.hosted.panopto.com and login using NILE.

Resources

Original pptx file in ZIP folder, with audio (large file: 33MB)

Flipped Teaching presentation 15th May 2013 – Panopto recording

Flipped Teaching presentation 15th May 2013 – slide summary PDF

Panopto 4.4 release announcement

Further ‘flipped class’ information: blog.peerinstruction.net

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Lisa Hanson’s presentation on adding interactivity in NILE for International students

By On June 3, 2012 ·

Lisa Hanson talked about how she has enhanced the student experience in NILE for International students using a range of interactive tools. The presentation was made at the Learntech Conference 30-5-12

View Lisa’s presentation

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Enhancing Maths support for students using Skype and Wacom Tablets

By On May 11, 2012 ·

In this case study, Paul Rice reflects on how he has enhanced the ability for Maths students to access support at a distance using a mixture of Skype and Wacom tablets.

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Technology for Transition

By On February 28, 2012 ·

Staff in the School of Science and technology have been looking at ways in which technology can help to widen participation and ‘increase support and retention on non-full-time programmes’. This began with a project to develop online introductory materials, for applicants to Waste Management courses to use before their taught course started.

The team used a range of tools, including NILE and Wimba Create, to build an informative, interactive site for incoming students to use. The resources were based on the team’s previous research into induction of distance learners. These materials can be seen in the guest access NILE site for the course.

The project was a success and led to the project team – Ruth Copeland-Phillips, Paul Cox and Louise Maxwell  – gaining a Teaching Fellowship award. It has also led to the development of further online materials, aimed at helping distance learning overseas students ‘make a successful transtion to the University of Northampton academically, socially and culturally’.

Read the full project report for more information.

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Introduction to Effective Online Distance Learning

By On March 29, 2011 ·

Online workshop: Introduction to Effective Distance Learning – Monday 11 April

by Helen Walmsley – Thursday, 17 March 2011, 04:04 PM

Online workshop: Introduction to Effective Online Distance Learning

Monday 11 April 09:00am – 17:00pm (BST) See your time here

Are you planning or reviewing your online distance learning provision? Would you like to explore ways of planning and designing the learning to save time, engage your students and be more effective? Would you like to reflect on a range of varied case studies and discuss them with other distance learning designers and tutors? There will also be chance to explore VLEs, social media tools, mobile technologies and test them out. This one-day workshop will include 3 sessions:

  • Introduction to Online Distance Learning – models and issues
  • Distance Learning case studies – a variety to explore, compare and review
  • Tools for Distance Learning – delivery, communication, assessment and collaboration tools

Each session will be delivered with a combination of live web-conferences, forum discussions, group tasks and experimentation.

This workshop is aimed at practitioners new to, or with limited experience of delivering distance learning online. There will be an e-buddy system and plenty of support over the day. The facilitators are experienced designers and deliverers of distance learning.

If you would like to book a place, please email Gill Marino ldiadmin@staffs.ac.uk. The fee is £50 (free places available for staff and SURF associates)

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