Academics, are you LinkedIn?

Posted on by Sally Burr
Rolodex

flickr photo by renaissancechambara shared under a Creative Commons (BY) license

Academic.edu, Mendeley, Researchgate are among a growing range of online professional networking tools that support academic practice and are increasingly used by academics to further their professional learning networks (PLNs). These platforms typically offer members a social space within which to share ideas about teaching, highlight their latest research and showcase their work. If you use these platforms, you might also want to consider joining LinkedIn, the professional business networking service. Read more ›

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Posted in Technology Enhanced Learning

Top tips for designing presentations

Posted on by Pete Sparkes
Capture

flickr photo by ImagineCup shared under a Creative Commons (BY) license

This post introduces a few simple yet effective techniques for designing slideshow presentations.

Make sure your slides are complementary and not a distraction

Simultaneous use of speech, images and text can increase the cognitive load on your audience. Make sure that your audience focus on listening to your presentation rather than reading it;  slides are there to benefit your audience and not act as a script.

Minimise use of text, be concise and use images which complement and reinforce your points rather than distract from your speech. If you need to use a lot of text then consider moving it onto a hand-out sheet. Watch the following short (5 minute) video on Richard Mayer’s ‘Cognitive Theory of Multmedia Learning’ for more information. Read more ›

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Posted in Technology Enhanced Learning

Claudia Eberlein – using a LiveScribe pen

Posted on by Nicholas Botfield
Livescribe pencasts

Livescribe pencasts

To celebrate TEL’s one year blogiversary in conjunction with the recent University’s Teaching and Learning conference, we would like to celebrate examples of innovative teaching practice at the University of Sussex. In this post we will look at the use of a Livescribe pen.

What is a Livescribe pen?

A Livescribe pen uses a camera and a microphone to record what is written (when used with digital paper) and synchronizes the notes with any audio. It creates a ‘pen cast’. The recordings are then stored on the pen and can be imported to Study Direct (Moodle) as a playable pdf file. This means that the students are then able to play the notes as if they were being written live. You can view an example of a Livescribe pencast or watch the short Livescribe video. Read more ›

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Posted in Technology Enhanced Learning

Cracking Open Education

Posted on by David Walker
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flickr photo by Drew Avery shared under a Creative Commons (BY) license

A major challenge facing the adoption of new ideas and innovative practices is that of overcoming existing socially created dispositions and values or, as Derek Robertson from the University of Dundee put it in his recent seminar on games-based learning here at Sussex, “…the inexorable glacial march of the habitus of formal established educational structures”.

The glacial like pace of (higher) educational change is particularly notable in the context of open education.  Whilst technological innovation – most notably the development of the social web – and the politically driven reforms stemming from the recommendations of the Finch Report (2012) have in a relatively short space of time disrupted traditional patterns of academic publishing, the same cannot necessarily be said for open educational resources (OER) and in the broader sense open educational practices (OEP). Read more ›

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Posted in Open Education

DIY Digital – innovating with TEL

Posted on by Anne Hole
padlet

Padlet wall

Earlier this year the first Sussex TEL Innovation Scheme funded six projects enabling staff to develop or experiment with new tools, resources or teaching approaches with the potential to inform practice in their School or disciplinary area.

Lucy Robinson and Chris Warne (History) received funding for DIY Digital: doing punk online which involved students in the 3rd year Spring term module Post-Punk Britain. Here is the story so far…

The idea Read more ›

Posted in Technology Enhanced Learning

Open chat about Open Badges #LTHEchat

Posted on by Anne Hole
Pictures

flickr photo by drewm

This Wednesday (29th April 2015) the popular weekly Learning and Teaching in Higher Education Twitter chat (#LTHEchat) will be focusing on Open Badges.

What is a Tweetchat?

Tweetchats are a great opportunity to learn by connecting with other HE educators to discuss ideas and share experiences. The timeslot (8-9pm GMT) means that international colleagues can contribute too.
Twitter users engage in a real-time discussion, structured around a set of questions tweeted by the facilitators. The conversation is brought together by the use of a hashtag – in this case #LTHEchat. Anyone can follow the conversation by searching Twitter for the hashtag (you do not need to have a Twitter account to do this) or join in the chat by using the hashtag in their tweets.

If you are new to tweetchats you might want to start by observing, or you can get some tips on joining in from this presentation by Sue Beckingham (@suebecks) where she is ‘Introducing tweetchats using #LTHEchat as an exemplar‘. Read more ›

Posted in Technology Enhanced Learning

Talis Insight 2015 – the changing geography of learning

Posted on by Kitty Horne

TalisLast week Sally and I visited Birmingham’s ICC for the first day of Talis Insight 2015, a two day event bringing together a combination of learning technologists and library staff in higher education to explore how learning and teaching is being transformed by technology. The first day featured Sussex’s own Kitty Inglis and Suzanne Tatham as well as much talk of digital identities, ebooks and learning analytics. However, what stood out for me was the idea that the digital is transforming the geography of learning. Read more ›

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Posted in Technology Enhanced Learning

Love your computer’s secret tips and tricks

Posted on by Sally Burr
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creative commons licensed (BY-NC-SA) flickr photo by Sebastian Landwirt

What can your computer do for you? Lots, in fact. There are many computer and keyboard tips and tricks that can help you. Whether you are creating resources for teaching, saving and closing your documents in a hurry, or even presenting in the lecture theatre.

Read on for the TEL team’s favourite keyboard tips that can help you either save time or save that document you’ve been working on for hours from the accidental trash can. Read more ›

Posted in Technology Enhanced Learning

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We are the Educational Enhancement team at the University of Sussex. We publish posts each week on using technology to support teaching and learning. Read more about us.

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