flickr photo by Scott McLeod shared under a Creative Commons (BY) license
The 2015 Academic Practice and Technology conference at the University of Greenwich focused on ‘Flipping the Institution: Higher Education in the Post Digital Age’. There was a huge range of sessions to choose from, so this is just a flavour of what I took away from the day. Read more ›
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Inspired by the journal article Online Discussion Forums in Higher Education: Is ‘Lurking’ Working?, International Journal for Cross-Disciplinary Subjects in Education Mazuro and Rao (2011), we take a look at the benefits of lurking in online learning spaces in HE.
Lurking to some may have negative overtones, but why is this? A lurker is defined by the Cambridge Dictionary simply as ‘someone who reads the messages in a chat room without taking part.’
Whilst this definition indicates a level of passivity in terms of overt engagement, it does not mean that learning cannot, or is not, occurring. Read more ›
flickr photo by Carollainy shared under a Creative Commons (BY-SA) license
This blog post will review CamScanner, an app that allows you to turn paper to PDF using only the camera on your mobile device. Scan anything from mathematical equations to your shopping list and then edit, organise and share your files in a variety of different ways.
The CamScanner app allows you to:
flickr photo by Jason A. Howie http://flickr.com/photos/jasonahowie/7910370882 shared under a Creative Commons (BY) license
Once upon a time research meant mountains of paper, tapes, card-index systems and hours spent trying to find just the right note or adding bibliographical references. Today, mobile devices and cloud-based apps make life as a researcher easier and less stressful. Here are a few apps that you can use to streamline your research life. Read more ›
Technology Enhanced Learning were thrilled recently to award the first TEL Champion badge. Open badges have been awarded for a range of TEL workshops over the last year and Lucia Guzman from the Sussex Centre for Language Studies (SCLS) is the first to collect the 5 badges necessary to earn TEL Champion recognition. Read more ›
Take 5 is a series of bitesize online courses that offer academic and professional services staff at the University of Sussex the opportunity to gain an insight into five interesting learning technology topics including;
These short self-study courses aim to provide an introduction to these topics, highlighting the ways in which each learning technology can be useful in a teaching and learning context, and in day-to-day life.
Take 5 will be hosted on the university’s Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), Study Direct, making use of many of the resource and activity tools available. Read more ›
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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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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 ›
