The last year has been full of new learning opportunities for all. As we have grappled with online and blended learning, we have also had the chance to embrace new ways of thinking, and consider new ways of teaching and learning.
This newsletter will focus on the activity of the EDTL project in the past 12 months. With the Your Education, Your Voice, Your Vision campaign, the launch of our Personal and Professional Digital Capacity Open Course, countless webinars, and the creation of student and staff resources, our EDTL Team has been busy.
As well as looking back, this time of year is often preoccupied with exams and final assessments, and with that in mind we will look at what students would like to see with assessment going forward, and how to keep the pedagogy of care in mind in this hectic time of year.
So read on and remember to subscribe to our newsletter here to make sure you keep up to date with the latest updates! Nollaig Shona agus Athbhliain faoi mhaise daoibh go léir, and we look forward to a new year of activity with the EDTL Project.
EDTL Open Course: Getting Started with Personal & Professional Digital Capacity
EDTL Project Manager Sharon Flynn discusses the EDTL Open Course, which was developed by the EDTL Team this year and began in November with more than 80 people participating so far.
The Enhancing Digital Teaching and Learning (EDTL) project has always taken a pedagogy-first approach to digital enhancement in teaching and learning, with the aim of addressing professional development of all who teach or support learning in our partner universities…. continue reading.
Pedagogy of Care
This time of year is dominated by assessment, by frantic emails, stressed students, and equally stressed teaching staff. Frances McCormack, Director of MA in English in NUI Galway discusses the need for patience and empathy in the run up to marking season.
Marking season is upon us. And things will happen that will make us all want to grumble. But: The student who emails me to ask about something that’s in the syllabus or that I’ve answered in writing to the entire group several times before may be stressed and in need of reassurance… continue reading.
A Look Back at our Webinar Series
From discussing student digital skills to escape rooms to hybrid universities, the EDTL webinar series has covered an exciting range of topics within the past year. Here, we highlight some of our most popular webinars in the past 12 months.
As 2021 draws to a close, we take a look back at some of our most popular webinars from the past year. The majority of our webinars are recorded, so if you are unable to attend live, there is always a chance to look at our Webinars page and catch up on anything you may have missed….. continue reading.
Student Interns: Assessing the Possibilities
With all that has happened in the past year, many of us have seen a whole new realm of possibility opened up to us regarding assessment. Our EDTL Interns take a look at their experiences of assessment this semester and what they hope to see in the future.
Reflecting on the hybrid learning experience throughout the past semester, some benefits and drawbacks come to light. I personally really enjoyed being back on campus for lectures, to engage with material and interact with lecturers and classmates. Online learning afforded students an opportunity to have lecture recordings available to help to study for exams. Unfortunately, lecturers may not always record lectures which can pose a challenge …. continue reading
Meet the New EDTL Student Interns
Key to ensuring the student voice is at the center of the EDTL project is our intern team, and we are always lucky to have new faces and new perspectives. Read on to meet our new additions to the team and learn more about the EDTL interns you will definitely be hearing a lot from over the next few months.
Our Intern team has been hard at work the past few months. Among the activity of the EDTL student interns was creating student resources and leading a webinar on the return to campus. Our EDTL Student Interns provide the student voice on the topic of student education, and contribute to EDTL resources in both a University-level and nationally… continue reading.
Systems Down: The Struggle Against Cyber Attacks
Be it learning platforms, email systems or even campus Wi-Fi, our university systems are at the heart of our universities. In the wake of the cyber attack on NUI Galway in recent months Kate Molly, NUIG Project Lead, gives an update from the ground and our IUA student intern MÃde Nic Fhionnlaoich considers the threat we face from cyber attacks on our universities.
On the morning of Thursday, 30th September, staff and students at NUI Galway started their day only to find that they couldn’t access most of our campus systems, with access to the wider internet was unavailable on campus. The university had suffered a cyberattack and most systems were rendered inaccessible…. continue reading.