CDEL delivers keynote on the emerald isle!

CDEL is pleased to announce the availability of a keynote which was delivered by it's departmental head at the at 7th Annual Irish Workshop on Mathematics Learning and Support Centres held on 7th of December 2012 at Queen's University, Belfast.

You can watch the keynote below:

Keynote: Engagement with Mathematics using technology from Paul Andrews on Vimeo.

If you'd like further information about this keynote, please click here.

Two new CPD resources for staff allowing them to engage with Webinars, Live streaming and assistive technologies.

The CELT: Digitally Enhanced Learning team (CDEL) is pleased to announce the launch of two new online Continual Professional Development (CPD) resources which provide staff with free and open source tools to engage with two key activities, Webinars/Live streaming and Assistive technologies as outlined in the vision (embedded below).

In addition to these online resources, the CDEL team are also offering a series of "hands on" sessions to enable staff to experiment with these, and other technologies who's use they may wish to integrate into their teaching, research and other working practices.

Full details of these, and all the other sessions which are available to staff are viewable here.

If you are a member of staff within the University of Wales, Newport then you can access the two new resources by clicking on the links below.

• Webinars & Live Streaming

• Assistive technologies

CELT: JISC Events

JISC RSC Wales Lunchtime Byte:

An Introduction to the People's Collection Wales website – Discover. Contribute. Share.

Tuesday, 27th November

12.30pm - 13.15pm

Location:  Online

Cost: Free

Further information and booking can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/d39ckz2

21st Century Learning Spaces. What are they and how do we create them?

This Free event will be of interest to teachers, estate managers and institutional senior leadership. Please forward to those who would benefit from attending.

City College Norwich has developed a new inspirational toolkit to help institutions through the process of visioning and creating 21st century Learning Spaces.

The conference is being offered at three locations.

Bookings are available via the appropriate link and close one week before the event

4th December – Newcastle.

Village Hotel, Cobalt Business Park, West Allotment, Newcastle upon Tyne

Book via: http://goo.gl/f2nhi

5th December –London

West One, 9-10 Portland Place, London W1B 1PR

Book via: http://goo.gl/YWMBd

6th December – Birmingham

Village Hotel & Leisure Club, Castlegate Park, Birmingham Road, Dudley, West Midlands

Book via: http://goo.gl/wpbGB

CDEL & The Psychology department team up to deliver data analysis and visualisation training for Newport staff.

As part of the CELT's ongoing commitment to providing continual professional development (CPD) opportunities for the University's staff and students, we are pleased to announce the launch of a series of free face to face workshops designed to provide staff with the confidence and competence to make full use of technology to analyse and visualise data which in turn will support their research activities.

Working in partnership with the university's Psychology department, CDEL is providing workshops focusing on statistical analysis and data management, focusing primarily on the use of SPSS and how its use can benefit staff in their teaching and research practises.

• For more details on when the next workshops are running and how to attend please click here. 

Staff at the University of Wales, Newport tucking into some data filled pi.
Nom nom nom.

CDEL Build Online Community for HOVEP

The CDEL team have been working with The Heads of The Valley's Education Programme (HOVEP) to develop them an on-line community of practice designed for education professionals in the local area.  The aim of the initiative has been to get educators communicating with each other and discussing effective teaching practices, it also provides an area where they can swap experiences and share useful resources, documents and links through blogging.  

CDEL are pleased to announce that the site has gone live today.
To get involved please Click here and fill out the registration form.
Set up your Blog http://www.blogger.com and start blogging!

CDEL supports new blended-learning Engineering Work-Based Learning Programme in Energy Management

The Engineering Work-Based Learning Programme in Energy Management is designed to give support to those responsible for, or wish to be involved with, energy management and related topic areas.  It will enable them to review, plan and introduce effective measures to improve their organisation’s energy efficiency and usage whilst reducing their Green House Gas emissions through a systematic approach.

The CELT's Digitally Enhanced Learning team (CDEL) have tailored training to meet the identified needs of the newly launched Engineering Work-Based Learning in Energy Management Programme team.  Early research by the team identified key training needs in the effective use of Moodle 2, where bespoke sessions for the team were provided to use the platform as part of their delivery strategy.

Further training needs were also identified in using the cloud-based resource 'Prezi'. As part of the Work-Based Learning delivery model, coupled with the need to engage businesses in fresh new ways, Prezi was deemed an ideal tool for the job. CDEL delivered a comprehensive training session which opened up many new and innovative ways of delivering presentations.

Programme Lecturer Stephen Biggs commented:

“CDELs friendly, knowledgeable and approachable demeanour has made the sessions extremely productive and useful.  I look forward to working with them in the future as the WBL programme develops. This will help the team deliver module content in innovative and effective ways, meeting the contemporary blended learning approach of a 21st Century HE learning and teaching environment.”

If you'd like more information about the Energy Management course, please email:  Eng.WBLProjectTeam@newport.ac.uk

Engineering WBL  Programme Team

L-R - Stephen Biggs, Valerie Embleton, Chris Gledhill

Teaching with Tablets - A new resource for staff teaching at the University of Wales, Newport

The CELT: Digitally Enhanced Learning (CDEL) team is pleased to announce the launch of a new "Teaching with Tablets" online resource which is now available to staff.

This new resource contains links to websites which educators can use to integrate the use of tablet computers, such as the iPad & Google Nexus 7, into their teaching, research and administrative roles.

University of Wales, Newport staff can access the new resource by clicking on the link below and then selecting the "Teaching with tablets" icon when it appears on screen.

• Please click here to access "Teaching with Tablets"

The future starts now: 2012 edition.

Broadcasting live from #CELTCoCurr at 11 AM UK time

You can watch the video stream here.

"You said, we did" Responding to students needs re: Digitally Enhanced Learning, as identified by the National Student Survey.

Following the release of this years National Student Survey data, the CELT's Digitally Enhanced Learning (CDEL) team is pleased to announce the launch of several new staff and student initiatives, designed to enable individuals and departments to meet the needs, relating to the integration of technology into the student learning experience, as outlined in the NSS results for the University of Wales, Newport.

Our students said: "Moodle needs improvement in its organisation."

Over the Summer we dramatically overhauled the University's online learning platform, installing the latest version of Moodle and customising it based on the pedagogical, logistical and strategic needs of the university, it's staff and students.

The organisation of the system itself is now tightly linked to the university's central database, ensuring that it's organisational structure mirrors that of the university, and this is reviewed and automatically updated on a daily basis to ensure a consistency of organisation across all modes of delivery.

Our students said: "Not all documents that we are told will be made available via Moodle have been made available."

In addition to the upgrading of the systems, CDEL has been running regular face to face and online staff development sessions over the summer to ensure that all university staff have the opportunity to learn how to upload documents to the system.  In addition to this, we have also been providing support and guidance to academic staff on the format which uploaded documents should be saved as to ensure that students can view them on any web enabled device, not just machines with Microsoft Office on them.

Our students said:  "I would have liked more technical workshops."

In addition to running IT induction sessions for all new and returning students from 9am until 8pm during the first two weeks of enrolment, CDEL is now running a regular student technology support session every Wednesday between 13:00 and 16:00 on the Caerleon campus.

The sessions are open to all students studying at the University of Wales, Newport who want help, support and advice using technology to work smarter and to support them in their studies.

Full details on the sessions are available here.

In addition to the face to face workshops, we have also launched an online portal which is aimed at students but is open to everyone.  The portal, called "Digitally Enhanced Learning", showcases some of the best free and open source tools and resources which are freely available to students that can support them in undertaking their studies and also enhance their employability prospects once they graduate

You can access the portal by clicking here.

Our students said: The online learning facility MLE, is helpful to locate lecture notes and other documentation designed to help support and progress students' learning.

We couldn't agree more & would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the students who took the time to complete the survey and give us this valable feedback, we really appreciate it!

An introduction to the National Student Survey

CDEL provides Continual Professional Development (CPD) opportunities for external partners.

As part of our ongoing commitment to provide quality staff development to all of the University's provision partners,  CDEL are delighted to report on the success of our training sessions with the team at ESIS in support of the LEAP programme. 

The LEAP programme is a series of modules at either level 4 or level 6 for teachers and support staff with an emphasis on developing inclusive classroom practice, specifically relating to Additional Learning Needs. 

The LEAP programme is co-ordinated by LiNKS, the Learning and Innovation Network for Schools in Central South Wales, on behalf of the University of Wales, Newport.

Each Module Leader is involved in professional practice in the field and the support from CDEL has allowed them to develop their ability to use the University's Web Based Learning Environment (WBLE) to support their students. 

Following the sessions, LiNKS programme co-ordinator Ken Dicks told us: 

“Several of our Module Leaders were unfamiliar with online learning platforms and the support from CDEL has given them confidence to place materials on the MLE so that students can access them at all times”.

The training took place at the ESIS Conference Centre in Natgarwu, Cardiff.

HEA Wales e-bulletin

The latest HEA Wales e-bulletin is available.  For an update on News, such as the HEA International Scholarship Programme, Publications, Resources and Funding  and Events such as 'New to Teaching Workshop: Business & Management, Finance & Accounting, Hospitality & Tourism, Marketing' and 'Recognising holistic learning: developing the co-curriculum',  please  click here

HEA: Thematic workshop and seminar series 2012-13

The HEA is running a workshop and seminar series in the thematic areas of employability, flexible learning and internationalisation. Each seminar will be hosted and delivered by an HE institution and will focus on aspects of learning and teaching.

Details of the 2012-13 series are now available here.

Below are the current Employability Seminars being hosted:

Employability seminars

• Teaching with team projects: Best practice for developing employability skills
  24 October 2012, University of Salford
• Developing internships and work based learning opportunities for mature students: creating opportunities and raising aspirations
  31 October 2012, The Open University
• The impact of regionalisation and ‘employment during study’ on graduate aspirations and employability
  6 November 2012, Teesside University
• Addressing the gulf between academic, student and employer perspectives on employability
  3 December 2012, University of Leeds
• ‘I can’t believe how far I’ve come - I think I’ve finally found my career choice’: what makes a good placement?
  12 December 2012, Nottingham Trent University

The second call for proposals for this series will open on 1 October and close 29 October. Details will be available shortly, http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/seminar-series.

CDEL Launches IT Induction website for all new and returning students.

As part of the University's ongoing commitment to improving the student experience, CDEL has developed a new IT Induction website for all new and returning students at the University of Wales, Newport.

The site contains everything students need in order to get started in using the university's web based portal, which itself has been revamped this year in a join project between the IT department, it's web development team and CDEL.

The site has also been optimised for viewing on a mobile phone and will change it's appearance dynamically to provide the best possible user experience depending on how students choose to access it.  For students choosing to access it on their smartphones it will transform from a website into a mobile web app, allowing them to access all of the IT induction resources no matter where they are.

A QR code directing students to make use of the site has been incorporated into their paper based induction packs and during the university's enrolment period CDEL will be running drop in workshops for any students who require face to face help and support.

To view the site for yourself, please click on the link below:

Click here to view the IT Induction Website

HEA Wales Bulletin

The latest HEA Wales e-bulletin is available.  For an update on News, Publications, Resources and Funding  and Events such as 'Student Engagement with International Curriculum Development' and

'Recognising holistic learning: developing the co-curriculum',  please  click here

CELT: Teaching Innovation Grants and Learning Innovation Grants

As previously announced there were  8 successful funded projects from the CELT Innovation Grant call of May 2012.

These projects were:

Teaching Innovation Grants

Deb Baff - Enhancing the Student Experience through improved communication :Provision of Electronic Enrolment and Induction Information

Mark Richardson - Re-evaluating  Summer  School  Activity  as  a  Widening Access  Opportunity  to  Higher  Education—Family Centred Provision

Elizabeth Jones - Creating a professional online identity: educating staff & students to create and maintain their own ePortfolios

Charles Penwarden - Student Profiling and Early Intervention System

Dr Michal Tombs - Development and Dissemination of a University Wide On-line Resource of Psychological Tests & Measures for Research and Teaching

Learning Innovation Grants

Andrew Hilling  -  How can photographic media be used to bring a sense of visual realism and detail to Careers case study information of Newport Photography graduates in the years following graduation?

Carys Heath - Collaboration Module Project 1

Olu Adetiba - Collaboration Module Project 2

For more information about these and previous CELT Learning and Teaching Projects visit the CELT Moodle Enterprise pages: https://my.newport.ac.uk/moodle/course/view.php?id=2329

CELT: Staff & student learning and teaching collaborations enhance employability skills

CELT’s first round of Innovation Grants have resulted in 8 successful funded projects, supporting teaching developments of 5 staff and work-experience for 10 students over the next year.  CELT Teaching Innovation Grants provide funding to support staff-led projects, which also employ at least one student providing short-term work-experience as part of the overall project developments.  CELT Learning Innovation Grants are student-led projects, which are each mentored by a staff member with the Grant providing funding to support the students work-experience.  Collectively, these Grants encourage staff and students to work together on learning and teaching developments to enhance the student learning experience.  These Grants provide invaluable opportunities to further develop students employability skills and enrich their graduate attributes.

Verity Worthington, the new Education and Welfare Officer, in Newport Students Union commented

 "In my campaign to become Education and Welfare Officer, my overall aim was to ensure students are able to take part in each aspect of their student experience. CELT innovation Grants fit in particularly well to my plans as students are actively encouraged to contribute to their education whilst also gaining useful work experience and getting paid."

Details of CELT Innovation Grants are available at http://bit.ly/CELTgrants

Student work-experience opportunities at the University are supported by the Careers and Employability Service: http://bit.ly/NewportCareers

The next call for CELT Innovation Grants is now open.  All applications from staff and students, whether experienced project developers or new adventurers, are welcome.   Further details are available from CELT Enterprise at http://bit.ly/CELTenterprise or by email to celt@newport.ac.uk.

eBooks Event

Library Services is hosting an eBooks day for libraries across the South East region.  We are working in conjunction with our partners from the public sector, further and higher education and also specialist health and government services too. This is a great opportunity to forge strong alliances with regional stakeholders and for Newport to brand an exciting and innovative training product, along with developing a community of practice for eBooks across Wales.

Moodle 2 is coming...

Over the last four years the University of Wales, Newport has been making extensive use of Moodle as part of it's web based learning environment, both internally via it's "myLearningEssentials" platform and externally as part of it's "Outside Learning Network".  

During this time, usage of the system has grown exponentially and with it have come feature requests from both staff and students and so for the last nine months, members of the CDEL team have been working closely with key stakeholders to develop and test a brand new Moodle system to replace the existing one site for the forthcoming academic year.   This new system contains many bespoke features which adress all of the requests made by staff and students, meeting the logistic, strategic and pedagogical needs of everyone contributing to the quality of the student experience within the University of Wales, Newport.

Powered by Moodle 2, the look and feel of the site has also been refreshed and modernised to fit in with the next generation of myLearningEssentials, which itself has been rebuilt from the ground up and will be known as "myNewport", being developed by the university web team alongside the Moodle project.

Over the last few weeks, the CDEL team have worked to transfer all existing modules from the current system to the new one, this process is now complete and  the new site is now live and ready for staff to start building the next generation of online and blended courses for the forthcoming academic year.

CDEL contributes to JISC run webinar on E-assessment.

This week CDEL contributed to a webinar run by JISC showcasing some of the tools and technologies staff in Newport are using to provide new an innovate feedback opportunities to it's students.


During the webinar, CDEL showcase three free tools:

Video feedback

• Using YouTube's browser based video recorder to record video feedback.

Audio feedback

• Using the RecordMP3 website to record audio feedback

Realtime "screencast" feedback

• Using Join.me to provide real time "webcast" feedback or use it for assessment.

The webinar was available worldwide for free and was attended by a number of representatives from different colleges and universities across the country who were keen to learn about the innovative practice currently being undertaken by the university's staff in providing their learners with multimedia feedback.

How to Record a Video Using a Webcam and YouTube

CELT Research funding forum established

As part of the CELT's on going commitment to supporting staff in undertaking world class research into teaching and learning, a bespoke online forum has been setup to highlight current research grant opportunities further develop best pedagogical practice inside and outside of the classroom.


Staff can choose to subscribe to the forum whereby they will automatically receive regular emails which showcase all of the funding opportunities that are available to them.  Face to face support is also provided by Dr Ann Smith, the CELT's Senior Researcher to staff on an on-demand basis at times and places which suit them best.


The forum has been a great success with positive feedback from staff and students and has resulted in a number of successful bids.  We aim to continue and build upon this success in the coming academic year by providing a series of bookable workshops which will enable staff who are less confident in getting started with research to develop and further refine their academic outputs.

Screen shot of the CELT Funding calls forum

2 Keynotes, 1 Week

This week was a busy one for CDEL as they were asked to provide keynotes for two separate conferences; the first at the "Sharing Practice: Open approaches to teaching and learning" conference held at the University of Lincoln on 21st June 2012 and the second at the "Excellent Teaching & Learning - How Can Technology Help?"conference held in Merthyr Tydfil, held for schools, FE colleges and universities taking part in the Heads of the Vallies Education Programme (HOVEP) on the 27th of June  2012.


Both keynotes showcased different aspects of  how CDEL supports staff and students within the University of Wales, Newport demonstrating the exemplar use of learning technologies employed within the university and the "pedagogy first" approach the team takes to ensure that enhancing the student experience is always the number one priority. 


Both talks were met with very positive feedback, within the conferences and online via Twitter. The new contacts made at both events are now providing the team with new opportunities to share best practice and raise the profile of the University of Wales, Newport as a whole.

Videos of both keynotes are below:

 

HEA funding opportunity to host events in 2012-2013 workshop and seminar series

The workshop and seminar series aims to encourage innovation and the sharing of best practice in learning and teaching based on evidence and research. Each event attracts a bursary of £750.

Through this series, institutions are invited to disseminate findings from research or evaluation work, or share evidence-informed policy and/or practice in the one of the thematic areas of

• employability;
• flexible learning;
• internationalisation.

The 2012-13 series will focus on the three priority areas: graduate employability, widening access through flexible learning and enabling students to study, live and work internationally (internationalisation).

To find out more and apply, please visit: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/seminar-series#themes, emailthematic.seminar@heacademy.ac.uk, or call us on 01904 717500.

Round 1 (October 2012 - January 2013):       Call opens: 19 June 2012        Closes: 16 July 2012

Round 2 (February - July 2013):                     Call opens: 1 October 2012   Closes: 29 October 2012

If you are interested in applying, please contact CELT at celt@newport.ac.uk.

HEA Wales Bulletin 25 June 2012

The Higher Education Academy (HEA) Wales bulletin is designed to keep all colleagues and contacts up to date on the latest news, events, resources and funding opportunities.


To view the bulletin click here 

HEA: HEA Wales Bulletin

The HEA Wales bulletin is designed to keep all colleagues and contacts up to date on the latest news, events, resources and funding opportunities.  For more information click here

HEA: Arts & Humanities Bulletin

To view the HEA Arts & Humanities bulletin to find out information about news, funding and events please click here

HEA: Black and minority ethnic (BME) students funding opportunity

The HEA is offering funding of up to £10,000 for projects which improve the attainment of black and minority ethnic (BME) students. The successful bids will also contribute to our knowledge about effective approaches to improving the retention and success of BME students. The closing date for submissions is 6 July 2012.

Please see the website for full details and how to apply: http://mail.heacademy.ac.uk/12ZA-U7S5-5FML0W-BQG9A-0/c.aspx

CDEL @ The CELT Conference 2012

On Monday 11th June, CDEL hosted a stand at the 2012 CELT Conference, held at the University of Wales, Newport's Caerleon Campus.

Internal and external delegates were given the opportunity to ask representatives from the team about CDEL's role within the University and also how they work with external clients. A rolling presentation was screened throughout the conference and delegates were invited to take part in a 'What does Learning Technology mean to you?' Youtube video recording session.

The CDEL representatives spoke to many of the conference delegates and offered advice and information wherever possible on a range of e-Learning issues. CDEL hope that those in attendance had a useful and thought-provoking day and we hope to get the opportunity to see, and even work with, many of you again.

CDEL Launches Webinar based training for staff at the University of Wales, Newport.

We are thrilled to announce the success of last week’s first cross campus Webinar training session ran here at the University by the CELT's Digitally Enhanced Learning team (CDEL).  A webinar is a live, web-based event, that incorporates audio and visual elements as well as enabling attendee interaction.  A training session ran in this way can be attended virtually, the trainer sharing their screen with their audience.

The training was delivered from the CDEL office at the Caerloen Campus and watched by trainees at both the Caerleon and City Campuses, participating as individuals from their machines.  At Tredegar, seven trainees gathered in one room and watched on a Smart Board. They watched their trainer on the screen and listend to their comments using a real time screencast system. Attendees interacted with the trainer asking lots of questions and discussing what had been shown.

This particular session was on ‘What’s New in Moodle 2’ but literally anything informative that does not need on hand facilitation can be delivered in this way.   The web based software used in this case was Join.me and Skype, both of which are free to use and available online.

How does join.me work? Take a tour and discover join.me.

Skype Explained visually

The benefits of using Webinars to facilitate teaching and Learning

In this blog post, George Levy outlines some of the main benefits to using webinar technology, please click here to read it.

CDEL will be running regular Webinars, on a variety of technologies, for staff and students within the University & we also plan to showcase some of these at the forthcoming CELT Conference which is taking place at the University of Wales, Newport on June 11th 2012.

• Please click here to learn more & book your place at the conference.

Student ePortfolio projects

The Centre for Digitally Enhanced Learning - ePortfolio projects


The Centre for Digitally Enhanced Learning (CDEL) at Newport University have begun piloting student led ePortfolio workshops for students. This pilot ePortfolio provision has been developed in recognition of the need for all students to fully engage in creating and managing their own ePortfolios and the personal and professional opportunities this encapsulates; students can begin to create a professional image now and promote themselves to prospective employers by creating and managing their own personal brand.


The ePortfolio is a powerful tool that can inspire students. It encapsulates the ‘New Basic Skills’ required of students today; multi-literacy, creativity, communication/IT, lifelong learning, adaption and change, environmental responsibility. Students being able to market themselves to lots of different cultures, businesses and industries is one of the most effective ways they can create a stable professional and financial future for themselves, as they’ll demonstrate a wide range of abilities through a diverse portfolio.

Initially, CDEL ran two large workshop sessions for student mentors and feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. The workshops are a combination of theory (e.g. personal branding and what to include) and practice. The sessions have had a great impact on the students as they have come away from the day with their ePortfolios already created and live on the web. They have also gained practical skills and confidence in website creation and maintenance as well as starting to think about their future employability. 


As an outcome of this pilot stage of the project, staff from CDEL presented one of their 'hands-on' workshops at the recent ALDinHE conference. Delegates were taught how to create an ePortfolio with Google Sites and all attendees left with a live portfolio. CDEL received excellent feedback from this session and plan to attend the conference again next year. 


Building on the success of the ePortfolio pilots, CDEL are progressing an institutional ePortfolio system for integration within the University's VLE.  This will enable students to export their developments to their own website after they have graduated.

CELT Awards: New Award Added

As you know you the deadline is looming for the CELT Awards.  The categories for self nomination are: 

                     

• Vice-Chancellor's Award for Teaching Excellence
• CELT Rising Star Awards
• CELT Learning Support Awards
• Deputy Vice Chancellor’s (Academic) Enterprise Educator Award

Following the success of the Deputy Vice Chancellor’s (Learning Support) Awards for The Student Experience (Student Experience Staff Awards), for which over 450 nominations were received we are piloting a new award this year called the CELT Award (The Colleagues Award).

This award is an opportunity for colleagues around the University to show their appreciation to others.    Nominations are open for all academic and corporate staff to nominate another member of staff.  

The 4 most original nominations will win £50 of CELT vouchers for each nominee and £25 of CELT vouchers for the nominator.  CELT Vouchers can be exchanged for services within the University, e.g. car parking, food, drink, etc.

I nominate __________________for a Colleagues Award for ………………(max 10 words)  because …………………………………………………….. (max 100 words).

Examples (merely suggestions):-

·         for being a great listener

·         as an excellent team worker

·         for being a creative problem solver

·         for being a "breathe of fresh air"

Criteria

1.     Originality of title

2.     Reason for nomination

Click here to make your nomination .  Closing date is June 6th.   Winners will be announced at the CELT Awards on June 11th.

CELT: Conference and Awards

The CELT Conference and Awards are being held on Monday 12th June.

The conference will be held at City Campus in the morning and Caerleon Campus in the afternoon, with the awards to follow.

For more information view the trailer at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIzFKhLwVbs&hd=1  or book here: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/3168169079

HEA: The Teaching Development Grants for 2012-13

The Teaching Development Grants for 2012-13

Higher Education Academy teaching development grants are a core part of the HEA's work to build up an evidence base for the sector around what works in learning and teaching. Through the practice that they develop and model, they encourage innovations in learning and teaching that have the potential for discipline-wide and sector-wide impact. 

Grants are awarded through a bidding process to individuals, academic departments and collaborative teams within higher education institutions that subscribe to the HEA. 

The substantive thematic call areas for 2012-13 will be assessment and feedback and flexible learning. In order to encourage innovative applications we will also allocate 25% of the funds to an open call for learning and teaching development.

The Individual call will open on the 18 May 2012 with a closing date for submissions on the 17 June 2012, with ring fenced funds for fellows and new academic staff.

The departmental call will open on the 28 August 2012 with a closing date for applications on the 30 September 2012.

The collaborative call will open on the 7 January 2013 with a closing date for applications on the 3 March 2013.

http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/tdg

HEA: Event

Student Engagement with International Curriculum Development, 19 October 2012, Cardiff Metropolitan University

This seminar will focus on a student centred project carried out at Cardiff Metropolitan University and will cover the student involvement in international curriculum design, how their recommendations were put into practice and the conclusions drawn from experience.

HEA: Event

Different languages, one voice: The international students’ voice in internationalising the curriculum, 11 July 2012, University of Glamorgan

The aim of the seminar is to share the findings from our internationalisation project lead by our international students. The seminar will share issues and good practice identified by our student groups’ research.

HEA Annual Conference, 3-4 July 2012, University of Manchester

The title for the 8th Annual Conference of the HEA is “Great Expectations – are you ready?” Higher education is undergoing transformational change throughout the UK and although policies may be diverging amongst the four nations, the principle of students being central is shared. Their expectations of their course, institution and learning experience are rising. Staff and Institutions have their own aims and expectations too. In the year of the London Olympics where competitors have expectations of winning and are preparing to be ready for the challenge we apply the theme to the higher education sector and explore its implications for 2012. There are three main strands: Student expectations and the learning experience; Supporting staff to deliver student learning experiences of a lifetime; Institutional adaptability.

HEA: Believe and achieve: supporting achievement through the co-curriculum, 27 June 2012, University of Wales, Newport

This event is being hosted as part of the Higher Education Academy's Workshop and Seminar Series 2012. The aims of the seminar: to identify key development themes in supporting the co-curricular student experience to enhance retention and success; to stimulate discussion on case study examples and developments(from Newport and from attending institutions); and to provide opportunities for those involved in enhancing the co-curricular student experience to link together to discuss potential collaborative opportunities. There is no charge to attend the seminar, but a place must be reserved. To register, please email HEA@newport.ac.uk.

HEA:Event

Using simulation to encourage a more inter professional approach to health care education (Health Sciences), 22 June 2012, Glyndŵr University

This workshop will demonstrate how collaborations between Glyndŵr University, the North Wales clinical school and Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board encourage commitments to improving patient safety from a health care perspective.

NUS and HEA Student Engagement Conference, 12-13 June 2012, Nottingham

This two-day conference on student engagement that will: highlight some of the ways that the National Union of Students (NUS) and the HEA have been working to embed student engagement at the heart of each and every institution, including its projects on student-led teaching awards and widening engagement; showcase some of the work being done by students, students’ unions and institutions across the UK to ensure student engagement is not merely tokenistic; reflect on the research and evidence-base for student engagement; explore the debates underpinning student engagement; bring together voices from across the sector to look to the future of student engagement and how we can continue to ensure that it is meaningful and accessible to all.

HEA: Events

New to teaching workshop: Strategies to enhance learning and teaching for home and international students, 31 May 2012, University of Glamorgan

This workshop is intended for staff new to teaching who have students from a range of cultural and educational backgrounds. Getting students engaged with the subject matter has always been a key challenge, but the increased diversity of students can help to open up new ways of involving them all. Participants will be asked to think about their own expectations and to compare them with alternative views and interpretations of commonly experienced teaching situations. Practical strategies will be introduced to help develop teaching practices that include all students in the learning process.

HEA: News

HEPI-HEA Spring Conference – bookings open

The HEA is to be the partner for the Higher Education Policy Institute’s Spring conference: “What students want – the student learning experience in the changing world of higher education.” This conference, which will be held at the British Academy in London on 22 May, brings together those at the very heart of the debate about the student experience in the UK, and will also hear from Professor Alexander C. McCormick, Director of the American National Student Engagement Survey. Professor Stephanie Marshall, Deputy Chief Executive (Research & Policy) at the HEA comments: “We are delighted to be working so closely with HEPI on this conference. The HEA works to enhance learning and teaching to improve the experience that students have while they are in higher education. This conference will help to facilitate debate around many of the key issues”.

HEA: News

 Bookings open for HEA discipline cluster conferences
The HEA’s first annual STEM learning and teaching conference kicked off on Thursday at Imperial College, and the HEA has now opened bookings for the three remaining HEA discipline cluster conferences – the Health Sciences Conferences, the Social Sciences Conference, and the Arts and Humanities Conference. Visit our website for further details and booking.

HEA: New to teaching workshop

New to teaching workshop: Strategies to enhance learning and teaching for home and international students

31 May 2012, University of Glamorgan

This workshop is intended for staff new to teaching who have students from a range of cultural and educational backgrounds.

Getting students engaged with the subject matter has always been a key challenge, but the increased diversity of students can help to open up new ways of involving them all. Participants will be asked to think about their own expectations and to compare them with alternative views and interpretations of commonly experienced teaching situations. Practical strategies will be introduced to help develop teaching practices that include all students in the learning process.

By the end of the workshop participants will be able to:

• explain how previous educational experience can impact on student expectations;

• identify their own assumptions and preferences;

• plan for introducing new teaching strategies in their own practice.

Register online at http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/events/detail/2012/academyevents/31_May_New_to_teaching_workshop