Fwd: Upcoming Event from the UK Centre for Bioscience

Using technology to enhance feedback
University of Roehampton, Tuesday 14 December

As most of you will be aware feedback to students is very much in the spotlight, with most institutions keen to raise their score in the National Student Survey. This event will explore the use of different digital media for enhancing feedback and feed-forward provision to students. During the course of the day you will have opportunities to see how different technologies can help to enhance your feedback provision through:

·         a range of case studies;

·         hands-on media sessions;

·         feedback design activities;

·         discussion sessions;

·         and networking opportunities.

The day is co-hosted by the successful ASSET project  whose aim was to develop an innovative, interactive Web 2.0 resource, 'ASSET', to encourage staff to experiment with the use of video media to provide feed-forward and feedback to students on their assignments.

Provisional programme and further details available at: www.bioscience.heacademy.ac.uk/events/roehampton141210.aspx If you are unable to join us on the day and would like to follow the event virtually, please follow with the #heabio #fdback tags on twitter.

 

Please contact me (s.a.meskin@leeds.ac.uk) if you require any further details.

We look forward to possibly seeing you in December.

 

 

Sheryl Meskin, Ph.D.
Academic Advisor

UK Centre for Bioscience
The Higher Education Academy
Room 9.15, Worsley Building
University of Leeds
Leeds LS2 9JT
Tel:   +44 (0)113 343 3438
Fax:  +44 (0)113 343 5894
E-mail: s.a.meskin@leeds.ac.uk

http://twitter.com/smeskin

(0.6 FTE Office Days - Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday)

 

David Andrew,
Head of Academic Practice
 

The Learning Institute at Queen Mary, University of London

Mile End, London E1 4NS

02078822803

02081446753

Fwd: Re-Thinking Reflection using Shared Thinking

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Nick Bowskill <nicholas.bowskill@gmail.com>
Date: 18 November 2010 19:21
Subject: Re-Thinking Reflection using Shared Thinking
To: ESCALATE@jiscmail.ac.uk


Dear All,
Please find attached details and booking form for an experiential
workshop in York offered by my consultancy. The workshop explores
Shared Thinking for collaborative and collective reflection. Feel free
to circulate to those you think may also be interested.

As you probably know the standard approach to reflection is an
activity conducted by individuals using a cyclical model (such as Kolb
etc). This experiential workshop transforms reflective practice into a
whole-group activity offering a unique relational and collective
approach to reflective practice. This approach has been implemented
with trainee teachers in universities and in other settings. It was
shown to be particularly effective in supporting a learning community
approach for separate teaching placements and for tutor support of
trainee professionals. We hope this will be of interest to many on
this list. This workshop will also be of interest to those interested
in whole-class learning and teaching supported by technology in the
classroom.

Regards,
Nicholas Bowskill


Event: Re-Thinking Reflection using a Shared Thinking Approach

Date: Wednesday 8th December 2010

Venue: York, Royal Station Hotel - next door to York Railway Station

Timetable: 10.30 – 11.00: Coffee/Tea and registration
11 -12.15: Intro and Shared Thinking Activity 1
12.15 –12.45: Activity: Collective experience and individual thinking
12.45 – 13.45: Lunch
13.45 - 14.15: Shared Thinking Activity 2
14.15 – 14.45: Activity: A social pedagogy for reflective practice
14.45 – 15.00: Tea/Coffee Break
15.00 – 15.30: Activity: Shared Thinking and collective-level research
15.30 – 15.45: Review and Close

Overview of the Workshop:
This experiential workshop presents a wholesale change to reflective
practices. Participants in this workshop will experience the Shared
Thinking model and consider this innovation as a system for reflecting
in context. Through this experience, participants will have a better
understanding of how Shared Thinking complements and enhances
individual and cyclical approaches to reflection. Participants will
have an understanding of how this innovation improves the
effectiveness of tools such as e-portfolios through the addition of
situational awareness. Shared Thinking is therefore presented as a
transferable enhancement to individual, team and collective learning.

Education Sector Price: £135
Non-Education Sector Price: £175
Includes: Morning Coffee/Tea, Lunch & Afternoon Tea/Coffee

David Andrew,
Head of Academic Practice
 

The Learning Institute at Queen Mary, University of London

Mile End, London E1 4NS

02078822803

02081446753

The fall and rise of the webinar/web conference

 

 

Sent to you by David Andrew via Google Reader:

 

 

The fall and rise of the webinar/web conference

via JISC RSC MASHe by Martin Hawksey on 11/9/10

153 - Our First DEN webinar
Originally uploaded by Holtsman

In the last couple of weeks my aggregation channels have been gently humming to the sound of webinars. It seems a number of institutions are rediscovering the possibilities of these tools to support flexible delivery (and no doubt cut costs allow the reallocation of staff time to enhance the learner experience). This post is designed to highlight some projects and technical developments that I've come across.

Projects/Events

Two projects, both funded by the Higher Education Academy, have found their way into my inbox. At Queen Margaret University the Higher Education Academy Subject Centre for Dance, Drama and Music (PALATINE) has funded "An exploration of learner and tutor experience in using online synchronous learning environments across disciplines within the School of Drama and Creative Industries".

The objectives of this 9 month study are:

To conduct an in-depth, comparative study of tutor and student experiences of using an online synchronous learning environment (OSLE) in order to:

• Build a rich picture of actual learner and tutor engagement with such technology across four drama programmes at undergraduate and postgraduate level;
• Develop an understanding of the impact of using an OSLE in the learning experience;
• Develop guidelines and case studies for educators to improve learner and tutor use of OSLEs.

As part of this project we are supporting QMU, PALATINE and the HEA Subject Centre for Medicine, Dentistry & Veterinary Medicine (MEDEV) in running the Crossing Virtual Boundaries – Teaching and Research with Online Synchronous Learning Environments (OSLEs) event to be held on the 10 June 2011 (click here for booking details). Here is a good starting point for find out more about the QMU project.

The second project is funded as of part of the HEA Discipline-focused Learning Technology Enhancement Academy Programme. The Collaboration for Excellence in a Distance Learning Environment (Excel-DL)  project is being led by the University of Salford. I haven't seen much detail about this project but do know their aim is to:

evaluate the use of 'Elluminate Live', a synchronous online collaboration delivery method for postgraduate distance learners within the School of the Built Environment, University of Salford (to inform the wider context of Construction & Built Environment Community)

The main reason for highlighting this project is because they are hosting a free online session on 'Synchronous Online Learning: Bridging the Divide' on the 10th November 2010 from 1m to 4:15pm. The aim of the event is to:

"is to explore the pros and cons and the pedagogical inspirations of this particular innovation with distinguished academics"

Sessions in the event include:

• Practice and pedagogies of synchronous online learning – Tim Neumann
• Synchronous vs asynchronous online learning – Stefan Hrastinski
• Play time: an interactive demonstration of the possibilities of synchronicity – Peter Chatterton
• The blended situated learner context for synchronous collaboration – Ian Mills & Georgina Evans
• Anticipating the future learner – Simon Kear

Click here for more information and to book a place

Software developments

As well as renewed interest in the human side of webinars there are also a couple of software developments worth flagging:

Blackboard:  Wimba + Elluminate = Gemini

If you are a Blackboard user you might be interested in Collborate on Gemini post by Kevin Brace at Aston University. This post reviews a recent webinar he attended outlining Blackboard's roadmap for merging their recently acquired Wimba and Elluminate webinar platforms.

Adobe Connect Mobile for Android

Mobile technology is everywhere, quite literally, and if you are talking about flexible delivery it is inevitable that mobiles will come into the conversation. Looking at the disputed Wikipedia Comparison of web conferencing software you'll see very few products are declaring mobile device support. For institutions using or looking into Adobe Connect you might be interested to hear that Connect Mobile for Android is now available. This adds to their support for iPhone related devices (iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone).

Open source alternative: Big Blue Button

I was initially dismissive about the open source webinar tool 'Big Blue Button' not finding the interface very intuitive, but then I had session in Adobe Connect and concluded all webinar software is counterintuitive. Rather than going through the details of Big Blue Button I recommend you read Steve Boneham's blog post, which should have everything you need and more. The Moodle integration looks particularly interesting.   

So what have I missed in all of this? Very interested to hear about other projects or tools in this area. Please share using the comments

You also might like:

• Learning and Teaching Innovation Grants for FE (SWaNI)
• HE in FE
• Digital Student – More than Web 2.0
• RSC-MP3: HE Update Jan '09
• RSC-MP3: HE Update Oct 09

 

 

Things you can do from here:

• Subscribe to JISC RSC MASHe using Google Reader
• Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites

 

 

Fwd: JISC Online conference

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: SEDA - Ann Aitken <Ann.Aitken@seda.ac.uk>
Date: 26 October 2010 10:03
Subject: JISC Online conference
To: SEDA@jiscmail.ac.uk

 

SEDA members might be interested in hearing about an upcoming conference - the JISC "Innovating e-Learning 2010 Online Conference - Bringing Innovation to Life: From Adversity comes Opportunity"(http://www.jisc.ac.uk/elpconference10).

 

There are two key themes -

 

·         "Releasing the Potential" - focuses on some of the key drivers for institutional change and looks at the impact and implications for universities and colleges and how they are using technology-enhanced learning to sustain innovation and continue to provide high quality learning and teaching.

·         "Realising the Value" - this theme showcases practice from universities and colleges and shows how they are responding to the key drivers for change and embedding innovative practice across their institutions.

 

The conference is held totally online and includes many real-time webinars (using Elluminate) where delegates can engage with the session leaders.

 

Further info at http://www.jisc.ac.uk/elpconference10.

 

Dr Peter Chatterton

Director, Daedalus e-World Ltd

Visiting Professor, University of Hertfordshire

38 Dinsmore Road, London, SW12 9PS

Tel: 020 8675 9406

E-mail: peter.chatterton@daedalus-e-world.com

Skype: balham

 

The content is confidential to the intended recipient and may be legally privileged. If you are not an intended recipient, please delete this email from your system and notify the sender. You can contact SEDA by telephone on + 44 (0) 20 7380 6767 or by facsimile + 44 (0) 20 7387 2655.

SEDA is a company limited by guarantee and registered in England (no. 3709481) and registered in England and Wales as a charity (no. 1089537).

David Andrew,
Head of Academic Practice
 

The Learning Institute at Queen Mary, University of London

Mile End, London E1 4NS

02078822803

02081446753