I decided to experiment with breakout rooms in Teams some weeks ago, in mid-October 2020. It was clear that large group tutorials would not be the right forum for the activity we planned – short, individual presentations. The official Teams release of breakout rooms was not available yet, so we… Continue reading
“When explanations make no senseWhen every answer’s wrongYou’re fighting with lost confidenceAll expectations goneThe time has come to make or breakMove on, don’t hesitateBreakout” (Swing out Sister, 1986) The lyricists behind ‘Breakout’ were prescient, as a ‘need’ for breakout spaces within platforms used for online teaching can sometimes be seen… Continue reading
As Care Leaver Co-ordinator for UK Student Recruitment, I had my first experience of leading Microsoft (MS) Teams sessions over the summer; ‘Preparation for University’ webinars for external offer holders. Using MS Teams with these participants has prompted me to reflect on how I can support engagement, through my actions… Continue reading
The typical child will learn to listen first, then talk, then read, then write. In life, most of us tend to use these abilities proportionately in roughly the same order: listen most, speak next most, read next most frequently and write the least. Yet in educational assessment and feedback, and… Continue reading
In 1993 Alison King suggested we move our teaching away from ‘sage on the stage’ to a role of ‘guide on the side’ but what does this mean in the blended learning context? In my role, I am focused on supporting colleagues in preparing their teaching for 2020/21 and many… Continue reading
Two-year degrees, often referred to as ‘accelerated degrees’, are intensive degree programmes that offer increased flexibility in Higher Education (HE) with the traditional three years of study condensed into a two-year period. Accelerated degrees are becoming a more appealing option for many students seeking HE study (Baty, 2017; Cabral and… Continue reading
Mentimeter is a university-wide tool that enables electronic voting, contributions, discussion prompts and questioning in and outside of taught sessions. To sign in or sign up, go to: http://mentimeter.com/join/greenwich “It radically improves the connection between lecturer and audience, and makes the process of teaching feel more collaborative.”Dr Oliver Robinson, Programme Leader, BSc… Continue reading
Recordings from a selection of the presentations at the APT2016 conference “Mind the gap: exploring institutional practices in the post-digital age” are now available on the EDU Vimeo site, at https://vimeo.com/channels/apt2016 Thanks to the presenters for agreeing to share their sessions in this way. Continue reading
The seed fund scheme run by Greenwich Connect between 2013 and 2015 supported a number of projects experimenting with the use of podcasting as a learning activity. One of these, led by Dr Angela Byrne within the level-5 history course “Global Exploration from Columbus to Scott’s Antarctic”, is the subject… Continue reading
(originally posted on a previous version of the university’s Moodle Help blog in August 2011) I’ve been thinking about the differences between the forum types in Moodle and the simplest way to explain these. There are some significant differences, that will affect the experience learners have and may provide better… Continue reading