{"id":8764,"date":"2021-07-06T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-06T08:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/?p=8764"},"modified":"2021-06-29T10:43:20","modified_gmt":"2021-06-29T09:43:20","slug":"the-tech-behind-the-online-festival-of-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2021\/07\/06\/the-tech-behind-the-online-festival-of-learning\/","title":{"rendered":"The tech behind the Online Festival of Learning"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2021\/06\/Festival-of-Learning.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"709\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2021\/06\/Festival-of-Learning-1024x709.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8765\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2021\/06\/Festival-of-Learning-1024x709.png 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2021\/06\/Festival-of-Learning-300x208.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2021\/06\/Festival-of-Learning-768x532.png 768w, https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2021\/06\/Festival-of-Learning-100x69.png 100w, https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2021\/06\/Festival-of-Learning-150x104.png 150w, https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2021\/06\/Festival-of-Learning-200x138.png 200w, https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2021\/06\/Festival-of-Learning-450x312.png 450w, https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2021\/06\/Festival-of-Learning-600x415.png 600w, https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2021\/06\/Festival-of-Learning-900x623.png 900w, https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2021\/06\/Festival-of-Learning.png 1086w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The Technology Enhanced Learning team has been core to <a href=\"https:\/\/activelearningnetwork.com\/\">the Active Learning Network<\/a> from its creation in 2017. The network is a group of educationalists who share an interest in active approaches to learning. We have a growing number of satellite groups emerging in universities through the UK, as well as involvement from India, Cambodia, China and other countries. The ethos of the group can be expressed through John Dewey\u2019s maxim, \u201cGive the pupils something to do, not something to learn\u201d. The nature of the task we ask students to do should demand deep thinking and learning naturally results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Online Festival of Learning<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When the Active Learning Network set up the Online Festival of Learning we had a number of concerns including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>How could we make it work when we could not be face-to-face?<\/li><li>How could we make it work for people in different time zones?<\/li><li>How could we make it feel like a festival and avoid it feeling like a conference?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>One important factor was that we didn\u2019t have a budget, we didn\u2019t want to charge people and so everything needed to be done for free. Consequently, core to our efforts would be the technologies that we put in place to support the festival and these ended up being: <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2019\/10\/22\/flipgrid-video-discussions-for-learning\/\">FlipGrid<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2018\/02\/20\/g-suite-share-collaborate-documents-presentations-online\/\">Google apps<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/zoom.us\/\">Zoom<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wonder.me\/\">Wonder.me<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3><strong>Submissions<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In order for potential session facilitators to propose submissions we created a Google form, which invited people to fill in the relevant information. We recommended formats such as Campfire (storytelling with an opportunity for participants to tell their own stories), Birds of a Feather (sessions without a pre-planned agenda designed to encourage discussion and networking), Solution Rooms (designed to provide peer-supported advice on individuals\u2019 problems) and Hyde Park Corner Debates (a central theme or question where two speakers debate for and against). Once the potential session facilitators had submitted their proposals we reviewed each of them and fed back further ideas of how their session could fit the festival theme and ethos using a shared Google Slide deck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3><strong>Festival Itinerary<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>We put together <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/presentation\/d\/1hDExKBZ1XF7ff-w_JkwYEtPP5XBYXXm5Z1KpcJYoxnc\/edit?usp=sharing\">the festival itinerary<\/a> bearing in mind that some of the participants might not be in the UK and might be in timezones ahead of us or behind us. The festival lasted a week and we had 9am morning and 5pm evening slots. These times would allow participants from outside the UK to come to at least a morning or evening session each day and participants in the UK could have a full day&#8217;s work and be able to relax into our sessions without competing work distractions.&nbsp;We used the Google Slide deck where we had given facilitators feedback to construct the itinerary. It was versatile enough to enable facilitators to respond to reviewers\u2019 questions, add photos and so on. This was a big time saver and provided us with an inclusive and colourful itinerary to be shared with participants. It was also navigable and was easy to find when sessions were and what they were about.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3><strong>Introductions<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Given the festival was at either end of the day for people from all over the world to join, it didn\u2019t make sense to have just one slot for introductions so in the spirit of blended learning and flipped classrooms we used <a href=\"https:\/\/flipgrid.com\/z7eez3of\">an asynchronous introduction space on FlipGrid<\/a>. The organising committee all made three videos of themselves, one introducing themselves, a second saying what they were excited about and a final one recommending a festival theme song. All festival participants were invited to do the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3><strong>Zoom sessions<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In order to deliver the festival activities we used the Zoom platform. The most sessions we ran concurrently was three so we set up three zoom meetings, with no set time and reused them. That made it easy for us to administrate and easy for participants to join. To give it a festival feel we gave each of the three meetings the name of a tent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3><strong>Collaborative writing<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In the spirit of multiple forms of delivery, we wanted to include a collaborative writing platform and offered participants the opportunity to contribute to our collaborative book by adding a hundred word summary of <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/document\/d\/1ErBFq2_o_1RiLD9wzirG0U19juElzGKQwWsJlfWFOq4\/edit\">a short idea for putting active learning into practice<\/a>. A number of the sessions introduced the idea of collaborative writing and participants were regularly offered the opportunity to submit their ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3><strong>After hours social<\/strong>s and <strong>Festival Spirit Circle<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Each evening at the end of the afternoon session we had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wonder.me\/r?id=ad1707ec-3ecf-4e43-99a7-3131c92adecd\">an after hours social using the wonder.me app<\/a>. This is a visual app that allows groups of people to easily meet and talk in groups. We closed the week with a festival of learning <a href=\"https:\/\/wfdf.sport\/spirit-of-the-game\/spirit-circles\/\">spirit learning<\/a> where we all shared what we had got from the festival. We had a shared Google Spreadsheet where we shared thoughts and musings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Summary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The festival of learning was a great success and a great ambassador for, and example of, active learning. We utilised a number of free services to put on an event which was enjoyed by over 300 participants over the week. It was a different sort of event where we all learned a little more about the importance of fun and innovation in teaching for deep and meaningful learning.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled\"><div class=\"robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon sd-sharing\"><h3 class=\"sd-title\">Share this:<\/h3><div class=\"sd-content\"><ul><li class=\"share-twitter\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-twitter-8764\" class=\"share-twitter sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2021\/07\/06\/the-tech-behind-the-online-festival-of-learning\/?share=twitter\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Twitter\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-facebook\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-facebook-8764\" class=\"share-facebook sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2021\/07\/06\/the-tech-behind-the-online-festival-of-learning\/?share=facebook\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Facebook\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-tumblr\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-tumblr sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2021\/07\/06\/the-tech-behind-the-online-festival-of-learning\/?share=tumblr\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Tumblr\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-print\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-print sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2021\/07\/06\/the-tech-behind-the-online-festival-of-learning\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to print\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to print (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-pinterest\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-pinterest-8764\" class=\"share-pinterest sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2021\/07\/06\/the-tech-behind-the-online-festival-of-learning\/?share=pinterest\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Pinterest\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-pocket\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-pocket sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2021\/07\/06\/the-tech-behind-the-online-festival-of-learning\/?share=pocket\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Pocket\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-end\"><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Technology Enhanced Learning team has been core to the Active Learning Network from its creation in 2017. The network is a group of educationalists who share an interest in active approaches to learning. We have a growing number of<span class=\"ellipsis\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2021\/07\/06\/the-tech-behind-the-online-festival-of-learning\/\">Read more &#8250;<\/a><\/div>\n<p><!-- end of .read-more --><\/p>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled\"><div class=\"robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon sd-sharing\"><h3 class=\"sd-title\">Share this:<\/h3><div class=\"sd-content\"><ul><li class=\"share-twitter\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-twitter-8764\" class=\"share-twitter sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2021\/07\/06\/the-tech-behind-the-online-festival-of-learning\/?share=twitter\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Twitter\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-facebook\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-facebook-8764\" class=\"share-facebook sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2021\/07\/06\/the-tech-behind-the-online-festival-of-learning\/?share=facebook\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Facebook\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-tumblr\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-tumblr sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2021\/07\/06\/the-tech-behind-the-online-festival-of-learning\/?share=tumblr\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Tumblr\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-print\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-print sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2021\/07\/06\/the-tech-behind-the-online-festival-of-learning\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to print\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to print (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-pinterest\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-pinterest-8764\" class=\"share-pinterest sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2021\/07\/06\/the-tech-behind-the-online-festival-of-learning\/?share=pinterest\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Pinterest\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-pocket\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-pocket sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2021\/07\/06\/the-tech-behind-the-online-festival-of-learning\/?share=pocket\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Pocket\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-end\"><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[137817],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4IWEK-2hm","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6260,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2017\/07\/25\/active-learning-feedback-learning-spaces-tel-joins-sussexuni-away-days\/","url_meta":{"origin":8764,"position":0},"title":"Active Learning, Feedback and Learning Spaces - TEL joins in @SussexUni Away Days","date":"25th July 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Technology Enhanced Learning are always keen to be involved in school specific events and this year we have been pleased to be invited to contribute at many of the academic schools\u2019 teaching and learning away days. These are sessions which are set aside to both examine current teaching practices within\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Active learning&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"\"Feedback\" flickr photo by Skley https:\/\/flickr.com\/photos\/dskley\/15719784736 shared under a Creative Commons (BY-ND) license","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2017\/07\/15719784736_d10da39873.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9223,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2022\/06\/21\/the-online-global-festival-of-active-learning\/","url_meta":{"origin":8764,"position":1},"title":"The online Global Festival of Active Learning","date":"21st June 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"In 2022 the Active Learning Network, with the University of Sussex, Anglia Ruskin University, University of Glasgow, the University of Coventry and other key universities, hosted the second Global Online Festival of Active Learning. The Active Learning Network is a global community supporting the development of teaching and assessment practices\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Events&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2022\/06\/C473664C-8BB4-45A6-A5E5-4600E036C648.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8963,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2021\/12\/15\/seasons-greetings-from-tel\/","url_meta":{"origin":8764,"position":2},"title":"Season's Greetings from TEL","date":"15th December 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Seasonal Greetings from Technology Enhanced Learning A Year in TEL - 2021 Online Distance LearningThe university Online Distance Learning (ODL) provision has continued to grow this year, now with over 1000 enrolled students across 5 Masters programmes. Over 100 students have graduated on an ODL course. The team have just\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2021\/12\/image.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9260,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2022\/08\/08\/summer-conference-round-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":8764,"position":3},"title":"Summer conference round-up","date":"8th August 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Educational Enhancement (EE) team members have been attending and presenting at a range of conferences over the summer months, as part of our work keeping an eye on sector developments as well as disseminating our own good practice and research. This post lists some of the events we have been\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;External events&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2022\/08\/52249225741_dd836b5591_w.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9669,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2023\/10\/10\/academic-developers-october-round-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":8764,"position":4},"title":"Academic Developers October round up","date":"10th October 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Upcoming events Globally Networked Learning: Discovery Day Wednesday 18th October 12:00 until 13:30\u00a0 Do you teach modules that involve international topics? Would your students benefit from engaging with international students and peers? Would you like to enrich your curriculum through new intercultural interactions and global perspectives? Then join Global Engagement\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Academic Development&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2021\/01\/social-3408791_1920.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8459,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2020\/09\/01\/5-online-tools-for-active-learning\/","url_meta":{"origin":8764,"position":5},"title":"5 Online Tools for Active Learning","date":"1st September 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Active learning is an approach to teaching and learning that requires students to take an active approach to learning material by analysing the topic and producing something tangible. It is different from passive learning which involves listening and reading but does not immediately require the students to produce anything from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Active learning&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8764"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8764"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8764\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8768,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8764\/revisions\/8768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}