2021

26th March 202127th April 2021 WordPress User [mhj] Weekly Resource Roundup Leave a comment

As leader of our PGCTHE programme, I keep an eye out for resources to help staff teach effectively. These include webinars, podcasts, online toolkits, publications and more. Topics include active learning, online/blended teaching, accessibility/inclusion, and effective learning design based on cognitive science. Below I’ve listed items that came to my attention in the past week. In the interest of clarity, our policy is to show the titles and descriptions in the language of delivery.

29/3/2021 IUADigEd, Join the Conversation (Inclusivity in Digital Learning: Student Perspectives)
29/3/2021 QAA, Launch Education for Sustainable Development: Guidance for UK Higher Education Providers
1/4/2021 University of Kent, What can we learn from distance learning? Supporting teaching in the post-COVID world, Digitally Enhanced Education Webinars
7/4/2021 Transforming Assessment, Lessons Learned from Systemically Implementing Competency Based Assessment
20/4/2021 TILE Network, Dr Bryan Dewsbury on “Equity Practices in Higher Education – The Importance of Dialogue”
26/4/2021 Westminster Insight, Mental Health in Higher Education Digital Conference
4/5/2021 Assessment in Higher Education (AHE), two webinars offered through Transforming Assessment: Finding Your Confidence in the Numbers: Developing Self-Assessment Accuracy through an Adapted TBL Process, and An Evaluation of Serious Gaming as a Formative Assessment Tool
2/7/2021 ALT, Academic Practice and Technology (APT2021) conference
8-9/7/2021 University of Liverpool, L&T Conference: Reflect, Revise, and Reimagine
ALT (22/3/2021), Learning Technology in the age of COVID-19
Assessment for Learning at King’s, How can I use team and group work?
Byrne, N. & Butcher, C. (22/12/2020), An Introduction to Teaching in UK Higher Education, Routledge
Hardman, P. (15/3/2021), Educators’ experience of digitally-enabled learning and teaching during Covid-19, WonkHE blog
LTEU, Aberystwyth University, Vevox Polling Tool
Mihai, A. (24/3/3021), A Year Later…, The Educationalist
Peat, J., Broadbent, J., & Gormley, C. (24/3/2021), Time to Refocus, SEDA blog
Sambell, K. & Brown, S. (19/3/2021), A compendium of examples of authentic assessment in practice from diverse disciplines, available in Covid-19 Assessment Collection
Teach First (25/7/2015), Open edX 2017: Applying Blooms Taxonomy to Open edX, Conference presentation recording with Philippa Hardman
University of Plymouth, 7 Steps Series: guides help you plan and teach effectively
WonkHE (3/2021), University staff experience of digitallyenabled learning during Covid-19

Please see the Staff Training booking page for training offered by the LTEU and other Aberystwyth University staff. I hope you find this weekly resource roundup useful. If you have questions or suggestions, please contact our team at lteu@aber.ac.uk. You may also wish to follow my Twitter feed, Mary Jacob L&T.

Last chance to register! Mini-conference, 25 March 2021

Mini Conference Banner On Thursday 25th March, the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit will be hosting the second Academy Mini-Conference online of this academic year. The theme will be ‘Embedding Well-being in the Curriculum’, where will explore the links between mental well-being and learning and how this could help to maximise success for both students and staff.

You can see our full programme here. The Mini-Conference will run from 09:30-16:50.

We hope that you will be able to join us. *You can register to attend the Mini-Conference by clicking on this link*. If you have any queries, please email lteu@aber.ac.uk.

Vevox Polling Tool

23rd March 20215th November 2021 WordPress User [jbw] Polling Software, Vevox 1 Comment

Distance Learner Banner

The Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit is pleased to announce that Vevox has been chosen as Aberystwyth University’s polling solution. Our Vevox licence will last for a minimum of 3 years.

You can get started today by logging into https://aberystwyth.vevox.com/ with your AU username and password.

We’ve produced the following support materials for you to make the most of this polling tool:

What else could we do to support student learning? (according to students themselves!)

22nd March 202127th April 2021 WordPress User [aeu] Online Teaching, Teaching Continuity, Training and Support Leave a comment

We have recently had an opportunity to deliver ‘Make the most of your online learning’ sessions to Peer Guides, Student Representatives as well as Residential Assistants. These sessions focused mainly on introducing students to resources which are available to them: Supporting your Learning module on Blackboard (which will shortly be rolled out to all students); and the Quick Guide to Student Success.

We have also taken these opportunities to ask students: ‘What else can we do to support your learning?’. We would like to share with you some of the feedback we received along with suggestions on how these could be addressed:

Assignment extensions

Although this is not something that can be resolved by teaching staff, it may be worth including a link to the Course Extensions information along with other assessment related information.

Clear structure

Some students expressed difficulties in navigating their workload related to online learning and a need for a clearer structure on how and when the content will be released to them. Therefore, we would like to encourage staff to include a short table with content release dates (it can be included in Module Information) and sticking to dates and times of seminar and live sessions which have been timetabled.

A table showing dates on each content being released on Blackboard

NEW Welsh-medium Teams site and CPD (March ’21)

16th March 202127th April 2021 WordPress User [sil12] Microsoft Teams, Training and Support Leave a comment

NEW Teams Site:
We have set up a new Teams site, Dysgu ac addysgu cyfrwng Cymraeg. This site is for staff at the University who teach through the medium of Welsh or who can speak Welsh. It is an informal place for us to share information about Welsh-medium training with you and a place for everyone to share good teaching practice.

*To be added to the site, please e-mail lteu@aber.ac.uk *
Welsh-medium Learning and Teaching site
Welsh-medium training (March):
The Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit offers several sessions for Continued Professional Development (CPD) covering a range of topics. We are holding two Welsh-medium sessions during March.

Hanfodion E-ddysgu Uwch: Beth allaf ei wneud gyda Blackboard (22 March; 14:00-15:30)
Fforwm Academi: Addysgu grwpiau bychain (24 March; 11:00-12:30) *Open to staff from other universities in Wales

For a full list of all sessions (both English- and Welsh-medium) and to book a place on any course, please visit the staff training website. If you have any questions about any of the sessions, please email lteu@aber.ac.uk.

Student Digital Experience Insights Survey

16th March 202127th April 2021 WordPress User [lah26] Information for Students Leave a comment

Aberystwyth University is taking part in the Digital Experience Insights project aiming to explore our students’ experiences of technology. The project is based on online surveys designed by Jisc and used by different institutions across the UK.

It allows us to gain insight into how students use technology and to benchmark our results against other HE institutions in our sector.

We would appreciate your help in promoting the Digital Insights Survey to all students

Weekly Resource Roundup – 15/3/2021

15th March 202128th April 2021 WordPress User [mhj] Events and Networks, Training and Support, Weekly Resource Roundup Leave a comment

15/3/2021 12:30 Enhancing Digital Teaching & Learning in Irish Universities IUADigEd: Join the Conversation – student collaboration, recording of previous webinar Student Collaboration
23/3/2021 WonkHE, The academic experience of digitally enabled learning during Covid-19
25/3/2021 LTEU Aberystwyth University, Embedding Well-being in the Curriculum
31/3/2021 Future Teacher, Getting savvy with digital tools and resources
7/4/2021 Transforming Assessment, Lessons Learned from Systemically Implementing Competency Based Assessment
15/4/2021 University of Warwick, Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching Conference booking / programme
3/5/2021 Post-Pandemic University, Digital Divide in the Post-Pandemic University: “If you would like to take part in this online workshop on the Digital Divide in the Post-Pandemic University, due to take place on May 3rd from 1pm to 5pm BST, please send the following information via this online form by March 31st: a theme you would be interested in speaking about, a brief account of your work and how it relates to the theme and biographical details including your social media handle (if applicable) and affiliation.”
Hinton, D. (17/9/2020) Exploring the Anatomy of an Online Discussion Board Activity, National Teaching Repository
Knight, S. (8/3/2021) Over 27,000 students share how colleges and universities could improve digital learning, Jisc News
Mote, K. & Kelly, J. (3/3/3021) Video captioning and accessibility regulations, Jisc
Wilson, H. SCULPT – Shaping your documents and content for accessible and inclusive practice, Worcester County Council

Mini Conference: ‘Embedding Well-being in the Curriculum’, Thursday 25 March, 09:30am

12th March 202128th April 2021 WordPress User [sil12] Conference, Mini Conference 2021 Well-being Leave a comment

Mini Conference Banner
On Thursday 25th March, the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit will be hosting the second Academy Mini-Conference online of this academic year. The theme will be ‘Embedding Well-being in the Curriculum’, where will explore the links between mental well-being and learning and how this could help to maximise success for both students and staff. The Mini-Conference will run from 09:30-16:50.

We’re excited to confirm our programme:

Flourishing at Aberystwyth – Putting Positive Education into Practice (Frederica Roberts – Keynote)
Online Communities and Student Well-being (Kate Lister – Keynote)
Well-being in the Curriculum at Aberystwyth University (Samantha Glennie)
Well-being in the Curriculum – a Foundation Year Pilot (Sinead O’Connor)
Supporting Students in Building a Resilient Approach to their Learning (Antonia Ivaldi)
What Can Lecturers Do to Get Students to Embrace Mistakes? (Marco Arkesteijn)
Building Resilience (Alison Pierse)
Meeting Students’ Needs (using simple tools) (Panna Karlinger)
Resilience – a Valuable Student Skill (Sadie Thackaberry)

We will also be running an optional yoga and meditation session during two of the breaks for all conference attendees.

We hope that you will be able to join us. You can register to attend the Mini-Conference by clicking on this link. If you have any queries, please email lteu@aber.ac.uk.

Kate Exley Workshop Summary

12th March 202128th April 2021 WordPress User [jbw] External Speakers, Microsoft Teams, Online Teaching, Virtual Learning Environment(VLE) 1 Comment

Last month the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit invited Dr Kate Exley to run a workshop for Aberystwyth University Staff called Moving your (PowerPoint) Lecture online.

What emerged from participants were lots of useful strategies for engaging students whilst teaching online. We’ve summarised some of the discussion below.

Learning Design:

Simple strategies were most effective, such as using word document and uploading into chat
Make use of Polling Software to engage students in their learning
Build in ice-breaker activities to establish initial engagement
In longer sessions, set a task and factor in a screen break
Include tasks for students to do in advance and use the live sessions to scaffold their knowledge
Include social tasks as well as formal tasks
One department are running day long workshops with the option to ‘dial’ in the staff member if they’ve got any questions
Stick to one or two large scale activities in a 40 minute session
Be aware that students might be entering the synchronous session not having engaged with all tasks beforehand
Use collaborative tools such as shared document, whiteboard or Padlet to collectively generate notes
Being more informal in recorded lectures
Offering weekly live q and a drop in sessions
Asking students to meet in groups outside of timetabled activities
Share real life examples / case studies in teaching and ask students to contribute with their own examples
Ask students to look things up / research in the synchronous session

Reflections from Academy Forum: How can I make my teaching more inclusive?

11th March 202128th April 2021 WordPress User [aeu] Academy Forum Leave a comment

What does insivity mean to you wordcloud

Last week’s Academy Forum on inclusivity was one of the best-attended sessions this year. It was great to see so much interest and commitment in developing more inclusive teaching. This session was delivered in partnership with Student Support Services. Accessibility Advisor Nicky Cashman provided staff with information on demographics at AU as well as support available to students.

The session started from a broad question of ‘what does inclusivity means to you’ (see the word cloud we created above). After Nicky’s introduction, we moved onto a scenario-based activity. Each group was given one scenario to work with. Every few minutes each group received and an additional piece of information providing them with a broader perspective of the situation.

The scenarios can be found at the bottom of the post.

The activity was followed by a whole-group discussion. Staff talked about a ‘duty of care’ towards their students and the extent to which they are expected and should be monitoring their students. We also talked about the balance between taking care of individual students and the needs of the entire cohort. The group looking at scenario one rightly pointed out that more inclusive practice would be to ensure that students are pre-assigned to groups, to avoid situations when someone is excluded. A discussion on when alternative assessments are appropriate and where additional support in completing existing assessments would be more suitable. Finally, the importance of establishing trust with students as well as checking in with students who may show early signs of difficulties was discussed.

We are very grateful to Nicky and all staff who attended and contributed to this session.