We’re delighted to confirm our next external speaker for this year’s Annual Learning and Teaching Conference.

We’ve previously announced our keynote, Neil Currant, and Professor Lee Elliot Major and Beth Brooks from the University of Exeter, and Higher Education Partners.

Now, we’ve also got Professor John Traxler joining us for a special panel discussion on Generative AI.

This session will be taking place on the afternoon of Tuesday 8 July via Teams.

John Traxler, FRSA, MBCS, AFIMA, MIET, is Professor of Digital Learning, UNESCO Chair in Innovative Informal Digital Learning in Disadvantaged and Development Contexts and Commonwealth of Learning Chair for innovations in higher education. He is Academic Director of the Avallain Lab, leading research on ethical and pedagogic aspects of educational AI. His papers are cited around 12,000 times and Stanford continues to list him in the top 2% in his discipline. He has written over 40 papers and seven books, and has consulted for international agencies including UNESCO, ITU, ILO, USAID, DFID, EU, UNRWA, British Council and UNICEF.

He was a pioneer of mobile learning, starting in the 2000s with technology and pedagogy but, in the 2010s, concerned with the impact and consequences on societies, cultures and communities of mobility and connectivity, and on the nature of disadvantage. He is interested in the impact of AI on global and individual disadvantage and the decolonisation of the digital technologies of learning and education.

Our full programme will be announced in due course.

Bookings for the conference are already open.

We’re delighted to be joined by colleagues from Higher Education Partners (HEP) on the final day of our conference (10 July).

Kate Lindsay from HEP will be presenting and leading a roundtable as part of the conference. Kate is currently SVP of Academic Services at HigherEd Partners, working with UK Universities to grow their capacity and capability in the the design of high quality online learning experiences.

Previously, Kate worked at the University College of Estate Management as Head of Digital Education, leading the transformation of fully-online programmes. Before that Kate was the Head of Technology Enhanced Learning / Director of Academic Services at the University of Oxford. Kate has experience working on teaching, learning and assessment strategy, digital education strategy, learning design consultancy, staff digital fluencies, curriculum design, and IT innovation programmes.

 The University has partnered with HEP on the new online learning project as part of the invest to grow strand.

We’ll also be joined by colleagues in academic departments who are working with HEP for the first cohort of courses.

We’ll be announcing our full programme in due course but colleagues can book onto the conference. See our previous blogposts for our external speakers: Neil Currant and the University of Exeter.

Following the announcement of our conference keynote, we’re pleased to confirm our next external speakers.

On Tuesday 8 July, Professor Lee Elliot Major OBE FAcSS and Beth Brooks from the University of Exeter will be joining us to showcase their pioneering work with social mobility in the South West.

Bookings for the conference are already open and we will be announcing our full line up in due course.

Professor Lee Elliot Major OBE FAcSS is the country’s first Professor of Social Mobility, based at the University of Exeter. As one of the world’s leading social mobility experts, his work is dedicated to improving the prospects of young people from under-resourced backgrounds. Lee was formerly Chief Executive of the Sutton Trust and a trustee of the Education Endowment Foundation. He is focused on the impact of research, working closely with Governments, policy makers as well as schools, universities, and employers across the world, and advocates an ‘equity approach’ in schools based on principles set out in his book Equity in Education.

Beth Brooks is an Executive at the South-West Social Mobility Commission, where she leads on various social mobility projects. Before joining the Commission, Beth worked in Widening Participation at the University of Exeter, and as a secondary school teacher in the South West. She holds a PGCE with distinction from the University of Exeter.

Their University-led Tutoring Service is scalable, sustainable, low-cost tutoring model is a high-quality approach to tutoring with the potential to transform thousands of young lives across the country. Using programmes, undergraduate tutors boost key skills of school pupils, gaining work experience and credits towards their degree, forming invaluable relationships with pupils falling behind in class while considering a career in teaching. Unlike other programmes, it is free for schools. We call it the ‘win win win’ scheme.

For further information, see their website.

We are delighted to confirm our keynote for this year’s Annual Learning and Teaching Conference. Bookings for the conference are already open.

Dr Neil Currant will be joining us for an in-person keynote presentation and masterclass workshop on the second day of the conference, Wednesday 9 July.

Neil will be discussing the important role of compassionate assessment, belonging, and inclusive assessment practices.

In the workshop, colleagues will be given the opportunity to reflect on their own assessment practices and ways in which they could incorporate and adapt them based on Neil’s keynote. This work builds on the vital work being undertaken in Student Support Services.

Please see below for a speaker biography and links to selected works and projects:

Dr Neil Currant is a Senior Educational Developer at the University of Bedfordshire. He was previously Head of Educational Development at Oxford Brookes University and the Royal Veterinary College. Neil has been supporting teaching, learning and assessment practices in higher education for twenty years with expertise in inclusion and assessment.

Neil has been involved in JISC funded research projects on the use of learning technology, an Advance HE funded project on global citizenship, institutional research on awarding gaps and QAA funded projects on belonging and compassion.

Neil is a reviewer and accreditor for Advance HE. Neil co-founded the Compassionate Assessment Network in HE and is currently researching assessment practice related to compassion, the affective impact of feedback and ungrading.

Belonging research – Teaching Insights journal.

Rethinking assessment? Research into the affective impact of higher education grading

Belonging project – https://www.qaa.ac.uk/membership/collaborative-enhancement-projects/assessment/belonging-through-assessment-pipelines-of-compassion

Compassionate Assessment Project – https://www.qaa.ac.uk/membership/collaborative-enhancement-projects/assessment/compassionate-assessment-in-higher-education

We will be announcing further external speakers in due course.

Call for Proposals

Our Call for Proposals is still open, and closes on April 8. We welcome proposals that speak to the conference themes, but also those which showcase the excellent teaching practices taking place at Aberystwyth University.

Bookings Open

Bookings for the conference are already open. Please complete our online survey to book your place.

If you have any questions about the conference, please contact the conference organisers via elearning@aber.ac.uk.