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.