Over the past two months, Irish universities have been preparing for a big change. Come September, many university lecturers and students will adapt to learning in the online and hybrid modes. Armed with laptops and headphones, they will step into a new and evolving hybrid system that may very well be the new norm post-pandemic. To help facilitate a smooth transition, the EDTL project team came together to work on a plan for effective remote teaching during Covid-19 – we’re calling it The EDTL Approach.

In June, we launched the EDTL Approach in a webinar attended by almost 600 people. Since then we’ve been posting some of our weekly webinars and other video resources on our new Vimeo channel.

Since students are at the centre of our project’s objectives, we’re also raising a militia of EDTL student interns to help steer the conversation with a strong student voice. 7 student interns from each of the IUA universities and one IUA intern working for the home base. We’ve introduced some of our new interns below.

In other exciting news, congratulations to our project team member Suzanne Stone for winning the DCU President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching!

So this month we share with you The EDTL Approach for both module and programme levels, introduce you to some of our new student interns who have joined us this month, our project team member Mairéad O’Reilly tells you a little about the Online Pilot Project in UCD College of Engineering & Architecture, and launch the debut article of our EDTL intern Ruairi who shares his advice for students learning from home.

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The EDTL Approach

In the context of Covid-19, the project has re-focused to support a move to a more blended approach to teaching and learning in the academic year 2020/21. The EDTL Approach adheres to the pedagogy-first pillar of the project, while supporting staff in their digital professional development. A pathway with key considerations for those who are adapting a single module or a whole programme, normally taught wholly or partly face-to-face, is described. The student digital learning experience is maintained at the core… continue reading.

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Meet our new interns!

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UCD Online Pilot Project

By Mairéad O’Reilly, Educational Technologist College of Engineering & Architecture UCD

9 Academics/Engineers from the College of Engineering & Architecture in UCD participated in a fully online pilot project aimed at delivering the video production skills required to create Safety/Lab. Instructional videos to facilitate moving pre-lab and post-lab work online, optimising time spent in actual labs… continue reading.

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Making the most of the new normal: Advice for students learning from home

Ahead of an academic year like no other, EDTL Student Intern Ruairi O’Gallchoir gives advice to students on how to make the most of the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

When I left college on that fateful Thursday in March and headed for home, little did I know that I had just walked out of college for the last time as an undergraduate. What followed were some of the most interesting and challenging times of my entire time in university as remote learning became a reality for myself and thousands of other students. 

I had gone from having a timetable, resources such as a library, and daily interactions with my lecturers to being at home with only a laptop serving as my bridge to the world of learning. All of this culminated with the sitting of my final year exams from the comfort of my bedroom – a situation I couldn’t have envisaged in my wildest dreams before the Covid crisis! This presented its own set of challenges, and here are some tips I picked up that can help you to make the most of your remote learning experience… continue reading.

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