IT Sligo/NDLR Teaching and Learning Webinar Series

2012-01-11T03:09:00.000-08:00

"Virtual worlds, real learning"

Thursday, January 19, 2012 from 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM (GMT)

James Corbett, MissionV This webinar will look at the results of a virtual worlds programme involving 20 Irish primary schools and supported by the National Centre for Technology in Education.

In November 2011, MissionV ran a Science Week event in association with Discover Science & Engineering where each of the 20 schools on the programme developed chemistry themed projects and exhibited them in a massive virtual expo centre. MissionV has also partnered with Dublin City University (DCU) Centre for Talented Youth (CTYI) in Ireland to run part of its Access programme. CTYI is using the platform as a virtual school with tutors based in DCU teaching children in number of northside schools entirely through the online environment.

James Corbett graduated from University of Limerick with a degree in Computer Engineering and went on to work for the multinationals Apple, Motorola and Analog Devices. With 15 years experience in the IT industry James co-founded MissionV Education in early 2011 along with partner Margaret Keane. James acted as technical adviser to Gaelscoil O'Doghair in Co. Limerick where he introduced virtual worlds as a learning platform.

Having received seed funding from Social Entrepreneurs Ireland and the support of the NCTE, MissionV is now running a virtual worlds learning programme for 20 primary schools around Ireland. It has also partnered with DCU CTYI to run part of its Access programme.

Check out comments on the work at: http://missionv.ie/archives/1387

or the Science week website: http://www.scienceweek.ie/features_2011_mission_v.asp

You can follow James and Margaret on Twitter @MissionVHQ or Facebook.com/MissionV

The recording of this event is available at: http://sligoit.adobeconnect.com/p38aus5b8um/

Feel free to use this blog to ask questions of comment before or after the event.

What's Right? An Overview of copyright and clearance guidelines

2011-11-29T01:37:00.001-08:00

"What's Right? An Overview of copyright and clearance guidelines".

Friday December 9th, 1pm-2pm (GMT)

David Jennings, University College Dublin

This webinar provides an introduction to copyright in the area of e-learning and how one may assert their own rights. It will highlight a series of steps one may take to assure teaching materials are appropriately cleared (in respect of copyright) before use. It will conclude by presenting the creative commons licence suite and how these may be used to support an individual's rights.

David Jennings is a lecturer in UCD Teaching and Learning. He is the local National Digital Learning Repository (NDLR) co-ordinator, and has worked on the project from its inception, in particular on the licencing programme.

The recording is now available here:
http://sligoit.adobeconnect.com/p8aupxpd2h9/

To comment before of after the event, feel free to post on the blog here.

Effective elearning Design – Catherine Kane, TCD

2011-11-23T10:50:00.001-08:00

Webinar: Effective elearning Design – Catherine Kane, TCD

Friday, December 2nd, 1pm - 2pm (GMT)

An introduction to elearning covering principles of instructional design - Topics: Web Based e-Learning, Problems with e-Learning, Planning e-Learning, What is Instructional Design, Delivery methods and approaches and Evaluation

Catherine is a senior instructional designer at Trinity College Dublin where she delivers workshops on all aspects of eLearning.

You can view the recording here.

Feel free to comment or ask questions on this event below before or after the event.

Getting Real: Making Online Learning Sustainable

2011-10-04T02:31:00.000-07:00

"Getting Real: Making Online Learning Sustainable", Thomas Michael Power, Faculty of Education - Université Laval - CANADA

This presentation is a research-based critique of some aspects of Blended Learning as well as of Distance Education and Online Learning. It argues in favour of more effective ways and means to improve university outreach and cost-effective instruction while emphasizing quality and promoting greater core faculty participation, without increasing workload. It proposes a completely online, combined-technology approach that connects directly with traditional faculty instructional practices and values while taking into account student and administrator priorities. This presentation thus redefines blended learning, specifically at the graduate studies level, in order to reach off-campus learners. Furthermore, it will describe past university decentralisation strategies and their successes and failures. Finally, it will present the author’s actual experience in applying a redefined blended learning model based on effective pedagogical practices that maintain faculty-perceived quality of instruction, increase accessibility for off-campus students for whom BL is not a solution and improve cost-effectiveness, which is essential to developing a sustainable outreach model.

About the presenter:

Dr. Thomas Michael Power is Associate Professor of Educational Technology at the Faculty of Education, Laval University in Quebec City, Canada.

He is:

Founder of the www.BOLD-research.org researcher community,

Deputy Director – Education for the GEOIDE-sponsored GeoEduc3D project http://geoeduc3d.scg.ulaval.ca/ and

Member of the Board of Directors and of the Coordinating Committee for the Inter-university Learning & Technology Research Center (CIRTA)http://www.cirta.org/

Researcher with the The Centre for Research and Intervention on School Success www.crires.ulaval.ca/

Expert with www.IFADEM.org (under AUF and OIT)

Reviewer for numerous scientific journals.

Author of A Designer’s Log published by Athabasca University Press.

He was formerly

Director of Communication and Associate Researcher with the SAGE for Learning Research Network, Simon Fraser University/Télé-université;

Adjunct Faculty and Instructional Designer at University of Moncton;

Visiting Scholar at Simon Fraser University

Field Director for the CIDA-funded, Canada-Gabon Technical and Scientific Project, Gabon, Central Africa.

Website: http://www.fse.ulaval.ca/Michael.Power

You can view the recording here: http://sligoit.adobeconnect.com/p9dhn3furrr/

Correction on last slide: Power, M. & Morven-Gould, A. (2011). Head of gold, feet of clay: The online learning paradox. 12 (2) IRRODL. http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/916

If you have any comments or questions on this webinar, before or after the event, please post them below.

Some of the chat during the event:

Chrys Ngwa: http://jolt.merlot.org/vol4no4/power_1208.htm

Brian Mulligan 2: Thanks Chrys for Mike's paper.

Brian Mulligan 2: Peason just announced free LMS

Brian Mulligan 2: Peter Shea?

Sean Conlan: Is the revolution really taking place in informal online edn?

Sue Leather: Good question, Sean. I'm interested in that too .

Sean Conlan: What about peer to peer?

Brian Mulligan 2: Peer to peer is very importand in the University of the People

Sean Conlan: Where is the 'faculty' in the university of the people?

Brian Mulligan 2: They design, but I'd like to find out more: http://www.uopeople.org/

Sean Conlan: and also the role of the faculty is to be the catalyst in the learners' use of the new tools

Sean Rattigan AIT: I had a class of lecturers earlier today... some were worried that recordings of lectures and more interactive online learning might endanger their jobs.... I'll be directing them to this recording.

Sean Rattigan AIT: I agree- but change brings resistance...

Marie Heraughty: I have taught a MA this year using blended learning as Mike outlined and it has worked very well. Great discussions on blended learning on www.hetl.org and HETL on LinkedIn. Unfortunately have to depart this interesting sessions now.

Sean Conlan: What about all the free courses now available...Stanford etc...?

Chrys Ngwa: I don’t think one can get away from “Blended” when dealing with modules that require lab/practical work...unless labs are replaced with simulations...any comments?

Darina Slattery: As someone who gives live lectures to on-campus students, and records them for distance students, I can testify that there is still PLENTY for lecturers to do (with a blended approach). In UL, our on-campus and distance students participate in the same online discussions and the engagement and quality of interaction is much greater than it would typically be in a live F2F tutorial, for example.

Sue Leather: I think one of the biggest issues might be the re-training/development of teachers to cope with the new demands. of online learning.

Sean Rattigan AIT: Great point Sue! But if we build it will they come?

John McGarrigle: Does inequality in educaton move to internet accesss area/

Tom Farrelly: Unless administrators acknowledge that online equates to teaching hours it is very difficult in the IOT sector when you're teaching 18 and 20 hours per week

Sean Conlan: and we also greatly encourage peer to peer!

Ewa Adam: Agree with Sue, teachers need to learn how to adopt new technology to learning and change thinking about a relationship with students and a way of teaching

Sean Rattigan AIT: Tom, that's true, but I look at developing online resources as an investment that can save me time in the long run... but time is certainly an important factor

Niall Watts (UCD): Is the BOLD model suitable for undergrads as well as worinh professionals

Tom Farrelly: I agree that there is a long term benefit, but to be honest, with the extra two hours this year I'm reaching a tipping point

Sue Leather: Thanks Sean and Ewa. Somehow, this is the last issue that's thought of.

Shawn Read: Most faculty are digital immigrants that speak a different language than the digital natives we teach. Many faculty do not understand the benfits of on-line learning and how a blended approach with F2F Learning can meet the needs of the students. The point that we should be focusing on is on the students and how the face of education is changing. To maintain educational silos is a mistake that is largely based on fear.

Sean Rattigan AIT: Ewa, I agree. It's more about the application and creative use of the toolsto compliment learning and appeal to students.... just because I have a hammer I dont have to hit everything.... there are some great ideas out tere about ways to use technology

Sean Rattigan AIT: I wish there was a "Like" button for some of the comments in this chat :)

Sean Conlan: OK would like to ...but I am more optimistic about all the 'free' stuff out there. Like Shawn we are behind the times compared to our students.

Catherine Cronin (NUIG): I am interested in communicating with you, Michael. We run a completely online MSc programme www.it.nuigalway.ie.mscsed

Sean Rattigan AIT: Lower ivestment costs could be lowered even ore by creating a sharing community of learners

Sean Conlan: I think the current digital generation are much more inclined to share ...

John McGarrigle: thanks bye

Shawn Read: Sean you are right but faculty less so

Sean Conlan: Thanks a lot to all Bye...

Sue Leather: Thanks everyone. Bye.

Tom Farrelly: The hour has flown, a great session!!!!

Michael Power: thanks to you all for coming

Shawn Read: Thank you for the session

Catherine Cronin (NUIG): Great, thanks!

Sean Rattigan AIT: Thank for the presentation- enjoyed it but will have to watch it again to absorb it... and will be directing more people to it as well

Darina Slattery: Thank you and bye.

Lisa: Thankyou all too

Ewa Adam: great idea Brian! thank you for the session, looking forward to the online follow up!

Patrick Kiely University College Cork: Thank you for the session.

Diane: Thank you for the session, bye

Mary Ellen Bornak, Newtown, PA: Interesting to put research and financial motivation together.

Deirdre McClay: Thank you all, very interesting. Bye

Eoghan Bailey DkIT: thought provoking indeed - thankyou to all

Catherine Baumgardner: Very interesting! Thank you so much!

Chrys Ngwa: thanks mike and all

marie-jeanne carrière: très intéressant !

What Neuroscience can Teach us about Teaching!

2011-09-15T05:01:00.000-07:00

Professor William T. (Billy) O’Connor is an internationally recognised leader in both research and education in neuroscience. He has been recognized by the award of the Conway Silver Medal for Achievement in the Biosciences and has secured over 3 million Euro in research funding. He is skilled and experienced in making neuroscience accessible to the public. Professor O’Connor has a keen interest in the application of neuroscience – the scientific study of the nervous system - to more effective education and training methods including such questions as - are good teachers born that way or can they be made? His blog ‘Inside the brain’ http://Inside-the-brain.com/ which was a finalist in this year's Irish Blog Awards reports on the latest from the world of brain research including recent neuroscience findings to get the best from your brain.

Workshop Details

Recent brain research shows that different circuits are called upon in the brain for different activities such as math, music and reading. In addition, learning and practicing particular skills can cause corresponding areas in the brain to grow or change by adding a tiny fraction of the brain’s neural circuitry and eliminating old ones. Imaging technologies are helping map the circuits and study variability among children with learning difficulties. Moreover, recent research is providing insight into attention systems in the brain and is shedding light on how we plan, initiate, organize, and most importantly, inhibit certain behaviours. This workshop contributes to this dialogue by summarising what we already know about the learning process in the brain and suggests how it might inform the teaching/learning process in the classroom using approaches such as problem-based learning.

Particular areas of interest to staff may include:

1. An overview of how problem-based learning is implemented and assessed in University of Limerick on the Graduate Medical School programme.

2. A review of how the brain learns and memorises new information

3. An examination of the different brain circuits involved in processing science and maths concepts, music and reading or laboratory skills

4. Recommendations on how we can facilitate and support appropriate learning environments.

Please feel free to comment or ask questions before or after this event here on the blog.

Click here to access a recording of this event. This was about two hours long but was extremely engaging with almost all the online participants staying on until the end.

How to run a webinar series!

2011-03-22T10:58:00.000-07:00

Are you interested in running a webinar series? As part of the NDLR Fest 2011, Brian Mulligan will be webcasting a short 10 minute presentation into the venue in Trinity College Dublin, entitled "Teaching and Learning Webinar Series", in which he will describe how the It Sligo/NDLR series was organised and the technology that was used. If you'd like to listen in, just register and you will be sent access instructions.

If you are planning to be at the NDLR Fest in Trinity, feel free to register and get the access instructions so that you can join the "back channel" during the presentation.

Recording available here

Comments welcome here on the blog.

Mobile Apps for Education

2011-03-10T06:32:00.000-08:00

Mark Campbell, Pocket Anatomy
Wednesday, March 16, 2011 from 1:10 PM - 2:00 PM (GMT)

Are you old enough to remember that Gray's Anatomy was a textbook for medical students? How times have changed. Students can now lighten up their schoolbags with phone apps instead.

Mark Campbell, founder and CEO of Galway based Pocket Anatomy who were winners of the 2010 European Media in Education Awards for their mobile apps, Pocket Heart and Pocket Body, will give a presentation on the development of these products and the market for mobile educational apps.

Recording is now available here.

If you have any comments or questions on this webinar, feel free to post them on this blog.

Supporting Staff Engagement with Technology: from challenges to change

2011-03-03T06:56:00.000-08:00

Laura Widger, Waterford Institute of Technology
Wednesday, March 09, 2011 from 1:10 PM - 2:00 PM (GMT)

Reaching a point where academic staff are effortlessly engaging with technology as part of their everyday teaching is a huge challenge for educational organizations. Some might argue as that we shouldn't be aiming for this goal, voicing concerns that the technology and substantial benefits for students are not yet available. However, most organizations are committed to this journey with a view to improving the learning process and the associated teaching environment.

Supporting this staff engagement is a significant challenge for the departments and their personnel tasked with providing the appropriate tools, technologies, training and support. This presentation shares the experiences of the Waterford Institute of Technology's eLearning Support Unit in endeavoring to support staff in their engagement with technology reflecting on some of the challenges that they faced and how the solutions presented, lead to change.

However, this is a constantly evolving ecosystem that now faces new challenges (economic, pedagogical and social, etc ) that will influence staff engagement with technology. What changes will these bring?

Laura Widger, Waterford Institute of Technology

Laura Widger holds the position of Manger of the eLearning Support Unit and is responsible for coordinating all the eLearning related systems and activities within WIT. Laura has extensive experience within the area of eLearning and and is actively involved in a number of funded eLearning related research projects in WIT. She has led the integration of the VLE into core information systems within WIT and the successful migration of the Virtual Learning Environment from a proprietary to an open source solution. Laura is a graduate of WIT holding a Bachelor of Science in Commercial Software Development and a Masters in Science. Her MSc focused on creating creating reusable computer based assessments and she has published in the area of eLearning. Laura worked as an assistant lecturer in the Department of Computing, Maths & Physics before moving into the role of eLearning Manager.

Recording available here.

If you have any comments or questions on this webinar, feel free to post them on this blog.

Communicating the message: Can presidents make a difference in higher education?

2011-02-16T02:47:00.000-08:00

Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski
Wednesday, February 23, 2011 from 1:10 PM - 2:00 PM (GMT)

Until recently university presidents were on the whole fairly invisible to all but an inner circle of university administrators. They presided over some internal committees and working groups, but they did not exercise any significant executive role.

However, as the environment has changed and as universities are increasingly under financial stress, it has become important to provide strategic direction and manage a university's mission, for which a chief executive figure may be needed. Furthermore, it is also necessary to communicate the university's priorities in a professional manner to government and other stakeholders. As a result, the role of presidents has become much more visible.

But how good are presidents at communicating? Do they know whom they should be addressing, and on what? And what communications tools should they be using?

Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski

Professor von Prondzynski was President of Dublin City University from 2000 to 2010. Previously he was Professor of Law and Dean of the Law School, University of Hull, England (1990 1997); and Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Hull (1997-2000). Professor von Prondzynski was also a Director of the British-American Business Council.

A graduate of Trinity College, Dublin (BA and LLB), and the University of Cambridge (PhD), Professor von Prondzynski has achieved international status as an authority on employment and commercial law. He is also an expert on European Union matters and on competition (antitrust) policy. He lectured at the School of Business Studies at Trinity College, Dublin before his appointment as Professor of Law at Hull.

Professor von Prondzynski is a member of the National Competitiveness Council, and the US-Ireland R&D Taskforce (established by the US and Irish governments). He is also a non-executive director of Skillsoft Ltd (formerly Skillsoft plc), the world’s largest elearning company. He writes a regular column for the Irish Times newspaper and is the author of a widely-read blog.

Professor von Prondzynski has been appointed to the post of Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen and will take up the position at the end of March 2011.

View the recording here.

Please feel free to comment or submit questions on this webinar here on this blog before or after the event.

Trinity Inclusive Curriculum Project

2011-02-03T02:49:00.000-08:00

Making module, programme, or individual teaching practices inclusive and accessible to all
Wednesday, February 09, 2011 from 1:10 PM - 2:00 PM (GMT)

This event will provide a demonstration of web resources created in Trinity College by the Trinity Inclusive Curriculum (TIC) strategy to support and guide academics seeking to enhance inclusion within their modules, programmes, or individual teaching practices.

TIC was devised with the aim of embedding inclusive practices within the mainstream curriculum through the creation of web resources and training activities. In November 2010 TIC launched an online self-evaluation tool allowing those involved in student teaching, supervision, and assessment to evaluate their practices for inclusion. Users receive a report of suggested actions upon completion. The tool is supported by TIC resource website, which combines guidelines and AV materials to guide users as they seek to enhance inclusion.

For further details contact include@tcd.ie

Michelle Garvey is the Inclusive Curriculum Development Officer in Trinity College Dublin (TCD) where she has been working on Trinity Inclusive Curriculum (TIC) since October 2008.

Prior to commencing work on TIC Michelle worked within various positions in TCD, the University of Sheffield and Sheffield College of Further Education including philosophy tutor and peer mentor, and as administrator on a back to education programme. Michelle has worked as a qualified guidance counsellor, with an M.Ed from TCD. She also has a BA (hons) from TCD, and an MPhil from the University of Sheffield, both in Philosophy.

Recording now available.

Please free to post comments or questions on this topic before or after the event here on the blog.

Supporting lectures with online pre-lecture resources: design and implementation

2011-01-20T07:33:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, January 26, 2011 from 1:10 PM - 2:00 PM (GMT)

Dr. Michael Seery, Dublin Institute of Technology

This presentation will outline the use of online pre-lecture resources to supporting in-lecture material. The design rationale is to develop a cyclical approach between online resources and lectures, so that the two are mutually dependent. The aim of the resources are to introduce students to some key ideas and terminology prior to the lecture, so that their working memory during the lecture can focus on application and integration, rather than familiarising with new terminology. These had a short quiz associated with them which was linked to the gradebook in the VLE. Some design principles behind developing these (and any) e-learning resources will be presented, along with implementation strategy and some analysis of the effect of using these resources with my own students.

Dr Michael Seery is a lecturer in physical chemistry and programme director for the degree BSc(Forensic and Environmental Analysis) at Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT). He is a long-time fan of DIT’s Learning, Teaching and Technology Centre and has completed several programmes there, most recently an MA(Higher Education) considering the role of prior knowledge in first year performance. He is currently completing a project on the development of pre-lecture resources as part of the MSc (Applied E-Learning). Michael was awarded a National Academy of Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (NAIRTL)
Teaching Excellence award with his colleagues from DIT’s Chemical Education Research Team in 2009 and was awarded a Teaching Fellowship from DIT for 2010 – 2011. More information can be found at his website: http://www.michaelseery.com/

Recording now available.

Please free to post comments or questions on this topic before or after the event here on the blog.

Separating Fact from Fiction in the Digital Generation Discourse

2011-01-13T07:30:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, January 19, 2011 from 4:10 PM - 5:00 PM (GMT)

Dr. Mark Bullen, British Columbia Institute of Technology

Synposis
According to the popular literature, a new generation has emerged that has acquired fundamentally different skills, dispositions and social characteristics due to its intensive exposure to and use of digital technologies. Futurists, pundits and commentators argue we need to make radical changes to our educational institutions and workplaces to accommodate this digital generation.
This presentation will show that there is no empirical basis for these claims and argue that we have a very superficial understanding of how young people use and understand information and communication technologies in their social and academic lives. It will highlight the dangers of blindly accepting these claims and argue that stereotyping an entire generation in this way is potentially damaging and hides much more important issues and significant intra-generational differences.

Biography

Dr. Mark Bullen is the Dean of the Learning & Teaching Centre at the British Columbia Institute of Technology in Vancouver, Canada. The Learning & Teaching Centre is a comprehensive support unit for curriculum & instructor development at BCIT. It provides support for face to face instruction, online design and development, instructor training and media production.
Before joining BCIT in 2005, Dr. Bullen was the Associate Director of the Distance Education & Technology department at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and the Director of the Centre for Managing & Planning E-Learning (MAPLE). MAPLE research projects focused on institutional planning and management issues, policy, and social and educational impacts of e-learning.
Dr. Bullen has extensive international consulting experience related to online course development and the planning and management of e-learning. He has taught workshops on developing and delivering online instruction and the planning and management of e-learning in Mexico, Malaysia, Taiwan, Bhutan, Croatia and Canada and he has been a consultant on distance education projects in Mongolia, Indonesia and Bhutan.
He is an adjunct Professor in the UBC Master of Educational Technology program and in the Athabasca University Master Distance Education.
He is currently leading the Digital Learners in Higher Education international research project. He is also the editor of the Journal of Distance Education.
He has a Ph.D. in Adult Education (1997), a Masters degree in Educational Psychology (1989) and a B.Ed. (1982) from the University of British Columbia. He also holds a Diploma of Technology in Broadcast Journalism (1977) from BCIT.
Links
Net Gen Skeptic: http://netgenskeptic.com
Digital Learners in Higher Education Research Project: http://digitallearners.ca
Personal web page: http://www.markbullen.ca
Journal of Distance Education: http://www.jofde.ca

Recording now available.

Please free to post comments or questions on this topic before or after the event here on the blog.

Webinar series to resume on Jan 19th

2011-01-05T08:00:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to you all and welcome back to the latest from the IT Sligo/NDLR Webinar Series. We modestly think we have a great line up of presentations for you.

Personally I'm very excited about the first one we have coming up on January 19th. Dr. Mark Bullen, of BCIT in Canada is going to give a presentation entitled "Separating Fact from Fiction in the Digital Generation Discourse". In my early days teaching Information Technology, I used to think that things would change with the new wave of students who would soon to be coming to us that had been immersed in the use of technology since childhood. Mark Prensky's Digital Immigrants/Natives theory seemed very plausible to me. However, this new wave of students never came and I was fascinated and pleased when I stumbled upon Mark Bullen's blog, "The NetGen Skeptic". So, I was thrilled when this Mark agreed to do a talk for us. Now, as he is broadcasting from "the west coast" (not the one I'm on), the webinar will take place at 4.10pm (which is about 8am in Vancouver). So I'm hoping see lots of there for this relatively controversial presentation and please pass along the details to your skeptical friends.

After that here is a complete list of the speakers and topics coming up (All at 1.10pm - 2pm):

Jan 19th: "Separating Fact from Fiction in the Digital Generation Discourse", Dr. Mark Bullen, BCIT, Canada
Jan 26th: "Supporting lectures with online pre-lecture resources: design and implementation", by Michael Seery of DIT
Feb 2nd, "Reflective Learning and e-Portfolios", Orna Farrell
Feb 9th: TCD Inclusive Curriculum Project, Michelle Garvey.
Feb 16th: "Implementing the Bologna Agreement in Europe", Prof. George Francis, University of Bergen, Norway.
Feb 23rd, "Communicating the message: can presidents make a difference in higher education?", Ferdinand von Prondzynski, former President, DCU.
Mar 2nd, "Funding Opportunities in Teaching and Learning.", Catherine Bruen, NDLR
Mar 9th, Laura Widger, Waterford IT
Mar 16th, "Mobile Apps for Education", Mark Campbell, Pocket Anatomy
Mar 23rd, "Webinar live from the NDLR showcase" - a series of short presentation live from the NDLR showcase which will be taking place in Trinity College Dublin that day.

We'll post for here for all the webinars the week before each one, but if you want up to date information as it come is or to register for any of them, just go here: http://www.eventbrite.com/org/686682363?s=2761479

Looking forward to seeing you!

If you have any comments or questions, why not post them here on the blog.

Assessment

2010-12-09T00:46:00.000-08:00

Dr Jen Harvey, DIT and Dr Marion Palmer, IADT
Wed Dec 15th at 1.10pm
Assessment

This webinar looks at assessment from the point of view of practice. Critical incidents are events that change the way you think. A critical incident in assessment might be an event - remark, action, observation - that changed the way in which you thought about assessment. Before the webinar starts, from your work experience, please try and identify a critical incident related to assessment. During the webinar we will be analysing sample critical incidents, identifying the issues in assessment practice and finding ways in which they can be addressed. The relevance of programme and modules assessment strategies will be discussed. Do join in and take part.

Dr Jen Harvey is currently the Head of the Learning, Teaching and Technology Centre (LTTC) of the Dublin Institute of Technology. The LTTC provides a range of academic development and support for staff involved in third level teaching including a suite of Postgraduate Programmes. Jen has been in this role from 2003, prior to this she was the DIT Head of Distance Education. Before moving to Dublin she worked as an Implementation Consultant for the LTDI a SHEFC funded project based in ICBL, Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh. Jen is involved in a number of local and national collaborative Strategic Innovation Projects and has recently initiated the DIT Realigning Assessment (and Feedback) to support Lifelong Learning (ReALL) project within the DIT. In addition to her interest in using assessment and feedback to support learning,current research interests relate to the use of technology to support learning, student assessment strategies, practitioner based evaluations and Communities of Practice.

Dr Marion Palmer is Head of the Department of Learning Sciences at IADT. She is chair of the Institute’s Teaching and Learning Committee. Prior to becoming Head of Department Marion was a lecturer at IADT, teaching instructional design, physics, and science and working in science education. Marion is a member of the Council of the Higher Education and Training Awards Council (HETAC) and has been awarded a doctorate in education at Queen’s University Belfast on teaching in Institutes of Technology.

Click here to access the recording.

Click here for information on upcoming webinars.

Feel free to post comments here on the blog before or after the event.

A Demonstration of Student Diary Pro

2010-12-08T11:24:00.000-08:00

Terry Maguire

ITT Dublin
Thursday, December 16, 2010 from 12:10 PM - 1:00 PM (GMT)

This is not strictly part of the webinar series, but we thought we would list it here as many of the subscribers would be interested in this Moodle add-on which can be used for monitoring student projects or placements or even as a light-weight e-portfolio tool.

Click here to register.

Click here for information on upcoming webinars.

Feel free to post comments here on the blog before or after the event.

Plagiarism, intertextuality and the ethical (re-)use of information

2010-12-01T07:58:00.000-08:00

Plagiarism, intertextuality and the ethical (re-)use of information

Dr Perry Share

Head of Department of Humanities
Institute of Technology, Sligo.

Wednesday, December 08, 2010 from 1:10 PM - 2:00 PM (GMT)

Regularly, in the Irish and international media, there are eruptions of concern about ‘plagiarism’ in third level institutions, invariably linked to words like ‘standards’, ‘dumbing down’, ‘cheating’ and, of course, ‘the Internet’. From time to time higher education institutions enact new policies and procedures, investments are made in ‘plagiarism detection software’ and – very occasionally – some scapegoats are ‘punished’ as an example to others.

Arguably there is no real development in our understanding of the issues involved. The more enlightened and resource-rich institutions support comprehensive academic writing centres and programmes; they seek to address some issues of assessment; and they send their staff on training courses and to international plagiarism conferences. Others just turn a ‘blind eye’ to what many of their staff (and indeed students) see as unacceptable practice.

This webinar argues that we need to reconceptualise our approach to ‘plagiarism’ as part of a wholesale reshaping of teaching and learning processes. In particular, the development and ubiquitous adoption of digital technology has fundamentally altered the nature of education to an extent not seen since the development of the printing press. Notions of writing, originality, research, collaboration, identity, learning and teaching are literally up for grabs.

The webinar outlines the pedagogical challenges posed by contemporary and emergent digital technologies; it locates intertextuality and repurposing of materials in a broader cultural context – the one inhabited by all our students – and asks about the implications for our practice. It points to hidden issues of power and authority in the academic and broader worlds and argues that ‘plagiarism’ is an issue related to the ethical use of information.

We will explore – interactively – some of these ethical issues and dilemmas and consider how learners can be supported in ethical decision-making around use/re-use of material: based in the idea that assessment of learning is above all a communicative process. An example from my own teaching practice will be offered for consideration.

Finally the webinar will consider how these issues might be addressed through educational integrity policies and processes at the institutional level.

Dr Perry Share is Head of Department of Humanities at the Institute of Technology, Sligo, Ireland. He is a sociologist by training and has lectured for over 20 years in Australia and Ireland in a broad range of areas in sociology and communication. He is the co-author of the widely used text A sociology of Ireland and has also co-edited a number of texts in the fields of sociology and social care practice. His current research interests are varied, but include the sociology of food and eating; professionalisation; and plagiarism and intertextuality. He completed an MA in Educational Management at Waterford Institute of Technology, and his minor thesis for that award – Managing intertexuality - has been partially repurposed for the purpose of this webinar. He has participated in and presented at the international conferences on plagiarism held biennially in Newcastle/Gateshead in the UK.

Click here to access the recording.

Click here for information on upcoming webinars.

Please use this blog to post comments and questions before and after the webinar.

Research Posters meet Web 2.0: Obsolescence or Creativity?

2010-11-25T04:33:00.000-08:00

Imogen Bertin will give a webinar entitled "Research Posters meet Web 2.0: Obsolescence or Creativity?"
You can contact Imogen at i. bertin @ ucc. ie
Imogen teaches a short course in "Communication Skills for New Media" at UCC. In her previous role as Publications Officer at NAIRTL, she designed and edited research posters, books, videos and websites. Imogen is interested in why posters tend to be used retrospectively, to report a piece of research, rather than as tools for discussion and creativity earlier in the research process.

Educated in the UK at Wadham College, University of Oxford, Imogen spent too much time as a student doing theatre productions and writing for student newspapers, and too little on Philosophy and Physiology. Fortunately her unofficially acquired skills have kept her in work for the intervening decades, including twenty years working under the auspices of the Royal Society of Chemistry designing educational textbooks for schools and colleges.

An avid life-long learner, Imogen completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning for Higher Education with Ionad Bairre last year, and is currently working on the Association of Learning Technology's CMALT portfolio qualification.

The webinar will discuss:

What makes a successful poster?
How will your poster be read?
How can you encourage feedback and discussion of your research idea?
Why should you care about design?
What is the shape of your idea?
How can you re-use, reduce and recycle your poster for maximum impact and minimum effort?

Click here to access the recording.
Click here to see the upcoming webinars in this series.

You are encouraged to use this blog to post queries and comments before or after the event.

Lecture Capture: A Disruptive Technology for Higher Edication?

2010-11-10T05:50:00.000-08:00

Although this is not part of the webinar series, we thought it would be of interest to participants in this series. Brian Coll (left) and I will be webcasting a talk we are presenting at the HEAnet Annual Conference 2010 in Kilkenny on Friday morning at 9.45am. You can find more information on the conference here: http://www.heanet.ie/conferences/2010/

The recording is available here.

Learning Styles

2010-11-02T04:49:00.000-07:00

Wednesday Nov, 10th, 1.10pm - 2pm

Dawn Duffin of NLN will deliver a webinar on the topic of Learning Syles.
A SIF funded project on learning styles allowed students and lecturers to examine their learning and teaching styles and to apply that knowledge to the process of learning and teaching. Some of the results and conclusions drawn from the project are really interesting and innovative. This presentation will look at the rationale for a Learning Styles approach and provide some tips and tools to get you started on how it may benefit you.

Dawn Duffin Biography
Dawn Duffin is Head of Learning and Assessment Services, National Learning Network. Having held a variety of posts she is now a member of the Senior Management Team and leads the Department of Learning and Assessment Services. As a former teacher with special needs responsibilities, she is an advocate of inclusive education at all levels of society. The Department of Learning and Assessment Services provides training, CPD, Pscyhological Assessment and a comprehensive range of support services within the Rehab Group and in a number of partnerships and projects with mainstream education providers such as CDVEC and the Institute of Technology Blanchardstown. Having completed a Masters in Theoretical Linguistics in 1998, Dawn is currently undertaking doctoral research on inclusive education.

For more information and registration on this webinar and others in the series go to:
http://www.eventbrite.com/org/686682363?s=2389303

We would encourage you to post comment or questions on this blog, before or after the event.
Recording now available at: http://connect.itsligo.ie/p43471290/
Slides are available here.

Webinar series to resume in November!

2010-10-05T06:26:00.000-07:00

The IT Sligo Teaching and Learning Webinar Series is now being supported by the NDLR and will start again in November. The following is a list of topics that we are lining up:

Assessment
Funding Opportunities
Plagiarism
Learning Styles
Enquiry Based Learning and Project Maths
Learning Outcomes

However, as this series is for the benefit of the viewers, we want you to suggest topics and speakers, and remember that the speakers can be from anywhere in the world. So let us know what you want by filling in this form.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

The future of this series.

2010-03-14T04:00:00.000-07:00

I'd like to thank you all for your support for this webinar series. In particular I must thank those who agreed to present. For many, it was their first time to present live online.

In a way, the series was a pilot, to show that it could be done in a simple manner, and that it would provide a useful service. However, it does require some effort to organise and I hope to apply to get resources to continue this in the Autumn. In my efforts to get these resources it would be useful to get some testimonials from attendees. So if you found it useful, please feel free to post comments indicating how useful you found it, how you used it (eg. did you bring others into a room to view or did you post recordings to others), and how you think it could be improved. (Suggestions for topics and speakers are welcome)

Thanks again and see you again in the Autumn.

You can see that this has not been doing my eyesight any good. Wait 'til I find out who drew this on my board!

End of Series Celebration

2010-03-04T04:07:00.000-08:00

To celebrate what will be the last webinar in this ITSligo Teaching and Learning Webinar Series, we will be adding a little extra next week. Over 270 separate people registered for the events to date (estimated total attendance: 320) and the technology for the most part worked. So to celebrate this success and the international audience that attended, (and to test the technology a little further, and just for the fun of it), some of our staff here in IT Sligo will be playing some traditional music for our sound check from about 1pm (GMT). After the presentation we'll have a few more tunes and maybe some refreshments at this end. If you want to hang on afterwards, you would be very welcome. If you sing or play yourself, we'll hand you the microphone. If you're viewing online, I'm afraid you'll have to supply your own refreshments (and for those of you in the US, remember you have the whole day to get through).

Link to the recoring of Mark's presentation (with 3 minutes of introductory music - "St. Patrick's Day" and followed by 10 minutes of celebratory music - Enjoy!)

"Flexible Assessment", Dr. Mark Glynn

2010-03-03T07:03:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, 10th March, 2010. (Recording now posted see below)

Dr Mark Glynn, Senior executive Flexible Learning, Institute of Technology of Ireland.
A chemistry graduate from the Institute of Technology of Tallaght, Dublin. After completing his degree he joined CompuPharma Ltd., a multimedia company that specialised in designing software to teach validation and pharmaceutical chemistry. He worked for 18 months there before returning to education to start his PhD in Organic Chemistry in Trinity college. After his PhD he spent just under five years working in Pharmachemical Ireland, the branch of IBEC responsible for the chemical and pharmaceutical industry. His main role within IBEC was to build relationships between the education sector and the pharmaceutical industry. Mark then worked with ITT Dublin to lecture chemistry at all levels from first year to masters students. While in ITT Dublin, Mark became the Moodle™ coordinator for the science department. Mark also works with Hibernia college to teach chemistry on-line to students studying for their post graduate certificate in education. Technology and education have been strong influences throughout his working life. In recent years the marriage of these two factors increased his capacity to deliver his classes in a flexible manner. Mark now works for the Institutes of Technology of Ireland. The main role of his present job is to increase the capacity of each institute to deliver their modules and courses in a flexible manner.

“Flexible Assessment”
The assessment of students is one of the most important elements of higher education1. There is a tendency for assessment to drive learners towards strategic learning. Academic institutions are, for the most part, concentrating on measuring and proving that the learner has met specific learning outcomes of their course. Professor John Biggs advocates an approach referred to as "constructive alignment". This approach encourages the alignment between the intended learning outcomes, teaching and learning activities and assessment. This workshop will highlight case studies where a variety of assessment techniques were used with the students to move from an approach of “Assessment of Learning” towards “Assessment for Learning”
At the end of this workshop you will be able to:

explain the terms “constructive alignment” and “flexible learning”
examine current modules that you teach and identify options available to increase the flexibility of assessments provided within modules
Identify how technology can be used to reduce the administrative workload associated with assessments for lecturers

Link to the recording (with 3 minutes of introductory music - "St. Patrick's Day" and followed by 10 minutes of celebratory music - Enjoy!)

Feel free to post comment or questions on the blog, before or after the event.

"Enquiry Based Learning", Bláithín McGrath, IT Sligo

2010-02-24T08:30:00.000-08:00

March 3rd, 2010: 1.15pm - 2pm.

Blaithin McGrath is a lecturer and Programme Chair in the School of Science at the Institute of Technology, Sligo, Ireland. She has always had an interest in student centred learning and in 2008 as both lecturer and Programme Chair on the Occupational Safety and Health Programme she was instrumental in redesigning the range of courses within the Programme to incorporate teaching and learning through a multidisciplinary model of enquiry based learning (EBL). This involved co-ordinating 14 lecturing staff on the programme to deliver learning outcomes through enquiry based learning modules.

In her webinar Blaithin will focus on her experiences as a practitioner and as the co-ordinator of a team using this approach. She will also give an insight into the student experience of EBL. Blaithin has presented nationally on this subject and her interest in this area has led her to carrying out research on the effectiveness of enquiry based learning in addressing the National Framework Qualification Science Standards.

Recording now available.

Feel free to post comments or questions here on the blog before or after the event.

Digital Elephants and Flying Penguins; some thoughts on the shiny-bright HE world of technology-mediated T&L

2010-02-17T04:34:00.000-08:00

'Digital Elephants and Flying Penguins; some thoughts on the shiny-bright HE world of technology-mediated T & L' , Conor Galvin, University College Dublin, February 24th, 1.15pm - 2pm (GMT) Recording now available (see below)

From Conor: "This series is about technology and higher education. Most of the webinar series to date has focussed on the technology side. So I though it might be useful to move things a little in the other direction. Having said that, it is of course very difficult to disentangle the two – especially when what we are doing involves using some of the shiny-bright stuff!

But, be that as it may, the technological turn of the past decade or so raises some profoundly interesting issues is relation to how we educate and why – at third level and at what is increasingly referred to as fourth level in this country. We are living in wildly changing times. There are some fantastic gains in all of this. There are some challenges also. My hope is that a few of these can be surfaced here to get a conversation going about those ‘elephants’ and ‘penguins’ that can / might/ should rock our HE world/s."

Conor Galvin, BA MA(Kent) MPhil PhD (Cantab) teaches and researches at University College Dublin. He holds The President’s Award for Teaching Excellence at that rather large and increasingly corporate institution but often feels like giving it back. Conor speaks regularly at national and international conferences on education and public policy, ICT / digital literacy in higher education, and 21st century schooling. His teaching and research interests include professional knowledge and lives, the social & political context of education, and the cultural politics of knowledge. He loves shiny-bright T&L technology even though it frequently ruins his weekend life.

Streamed Recording available here.

Please post any queries or comments here on the blog, before or after the event.

Google Wave for Student Collaboration

2010-02-11T03:46:00.000-08:00

February 17th: "Google Wave for student collaboration", Ray Schroeder (University of Illinois at Springfield), Brian Mulligan (IT Sligo)

Recording now available (see below)

During December 2009, a collaborative exercise was carried out between students in the University of Illinois at Springfield and Institute of Technology Sligo using Google Wave. (See Chronicle of Higher Education article). This presentation will outline some of the relevant features of Google Wave, describe the collaboration that took place and the reactions of the students as well as speculate on how useful Google Wave may be in the future.

Ray Schroeder: Ray began working with interactive computer learning technologies through the PLATO system in the mid-1970's. Having taught more than 38 years at the University of Illinois (in Urbana-Champaign and Springfield), he is Professor Emeritus. Schroeder received the 2002 Sloan Award for Most Outstanding Achievement in ALN by an Individual and was a Sloan-C Distinguished Scholar in Online Learning 2002-2003. He was "visiting scholar in online learning" at the University of Southern Maine 2006-2009. His Online Learning Update and Educational Technology blogs and twitter postings are widely read and syndicated around the world.

Brian Mulligan: Brian is the Open Learning Coordinator at the Institute of Technology Sligo, Ireland where he has been a lecturer since 1984. He has been instrumental the rapid growth in online learning in the Institute since 2002 (www.itsligo.ie/online) and a founding member of the Irish Learning Technology Association (www.ilta.net) in 2002. His main areas of expertise are in web-casting, synchronous online training, instructor-led online training and rapid development of online training.

Link to Recording.

Please feel free to comment or post questions before or after the event on this blog.

Screen Capture: All your lectures are belong to us!*

2010-02-03T09:22:00.000-08:00

February 10th, 1.15pm to 2.00pm (GMT): "Screen Capture", Eamon Costello, Dublin City University
(recording now available - see below)

Eamon joined DCU in 2004 after spending several years in industry as an IT consultant and a software developer and analyst. He has degrees in humanities and computing and am now pursuing a PhD in the area of open source and eLearning. He works as a module-coordinator on Oscail’s BSc. in Information Technology and as an eLearning specialist. His main research interest is in looking at practical ways of using technology in teaching and learning. ("While in my spare time I like to look at impractical ways of using technology for no good reason".) Eamon has modified his presentation title to the more provocative:

Screen Capture: All your lectures are belong to us!*

"In a nutshell screen capture is the art of developing educational materials by capturing a video of what is happening on a computer screen. This simple process can allow rapid creation of rich-media instructional aides. In this talk I will present some experiences of mine and of my colleagues in developing these resources for students of Oscail in Dublin City University who are studying a Bsc. in Information Technology by distance education. I will look at some tips I wrote two years ago on this topic and examine their continued relevance. The take-home message of this talk will be “publish or perish”, an exhortation to the educator to focus not on fancy production or editing of screen captures but rather on a process that involves a minimum of time and technical effort to create videos and get them to students. To finish I will give an overview of how we are using Camtasia Studio with Google Video as part of DCU’s roll out of Google Apps for Education and demonstrate some interesting aspects of this elearning platform."

Click here to access the recording.

Please feel free to post questions or comments on this blog before or after the event.

Contact links for Eamon:

eamon.costello@dcu.ie
http://www.dcu.ie/~costelle/
http://www.rElearn.ie http://www.twitter.com/eam0

Teaching Large Class Groups

2010-01-28T01:36:00.000-08:00

Emer Ward, Institute of Technology Sligo

3rd February, 2010, 1.15pm - 2.00pm
(Recording now available - see below)

Emer Ward is a Senior Lecturer in Marketing in the Institute of Technology, Sligo, Ireland. This includes teaching all marketing subjects but she has a keen interest in The Marketing of Services. As a senior lecturer she has responsibility for Student Retention which involves examining the role of different teaching methodologies in helping to engage the students. She has been involved in the training of new staff to the institute for the last number of years and part of this involves the topic of "Teaching large groups". Emer is also an associate member of Meehan, Tully and Associates, Consultants in Sligo where she presents marketing training programmes to people interested in starting their own businesses or hoping to grow their venture. She has also worked as a business mentor with Envision Marketing Consultants, Galway. The webinar today is a discussion on issues such as; What are the difficulties in teaching large groups? What are the positives? How should one prepare to teach large groups? What strategies are necessary in the class room to make it run smoothly and to achieve the objective of the session?

When you register you will be sent registration instructions 3 days before the event and again as a last minute reminder 2 hours before the event.

The recording is now available here.

If you have any questions or comments before or after the event, please post them here.

"Online Discussion"

2010-01-20T09:41:00.000-08:00

Seán Conlan, Institute of Technology Sligo, Ireland.

Wednesday 27th January, 2010, 1.15pm - 2.00pm (GMT)
Recording now available - see below.

Seán Conlan graduated as an electrical engineer at University College Dublin in 1969. He worked in a variety of engineering, product and project management roles in Africa, Ireland, France & Belgium before returning to Ireland in 1994. As Chief Executive of Excellence Ireland (the national independent quality association) from 1994 to 2003 he led the development of programmes to enable Irish organisations improve their performance. He served as President of EOQ (European Organization for Quality) (1998-2000). Seán now works on various teaching and developmental programmes for the Institute of Technology in Sligo such as transformational change and energy management. He is one of the Institute’s staff to deliver programmes exclusively on-line. He was appointed a Board member of the ESB (Electricity Supply Board) in 2007. He has served on a variety of national boards and has recently been nominated trustee of Feasta – The Foundation for the Economics of Sustainability.

In his online modules Seán use both synchronous and asynchronous discussions as well as asking students to make their own online presentations. Seán will talk about the use of asynchronous and synchronous discussions in teaching online distance learners. Seán normally uses mind-mapping software to present lectures and will be using this thechnique in this presentation.

This was a very lively webinar with over 40 attendees and lots of input from them. You can listen to the recording here and please feel free to post comments or questions here on the blog.

Open Educational Resources

2010-01-14T09:19:00.000-08:00

This event is about getting access to educational resources on the web. We have two speakers, Catherine Bruen from the National Digital Learning Repository in Ireland and Cathy Swift from the MERLOT collection of peer reveiwed online materials.

Wednesday 20th January, 2010, 1.15pm - 2.30pm (GMT) - Recordings now available.

"Open Educational Resources", Catherine Bruen, NDLR, Cathy Swift, Merlot

Catherine Bruen: is currently working as the manager for the National Digital Learning Repository Service. Before that she worked as a Senior Instructional Designer and eLearning Project Manager for the Centre for Learning Technology (CAPSL) at Trinity College. Her research interests include technology enhanced learning, Communities of Practice, Open educational resources, Social learning, cloud computing for education, adaptive hypermedia, personalised learning and simulations based learning. She has lectured part time for postgraduate programmes in Computer Science and Education. She has collaborated with colleagues in Ireland and the UK on a number of publications in the area of technology enhanced learning, open educational resources, Reusable learning resources (RLRs), Academic Practice and Adaptive Hypermedia for ILTA, Ed-Media, AH, IUISC and ISKS. Catherine is the deputy chair of the Irish Learning Technology Association for ILTA.

Recording now available (28 minutes - first 2 minutes clipped)
Handout
PowerPoint slides

Dr. Cathy O, Swift is the Director of Academic Partner Services at MERLOT, (which is a peer reviewed collection of online learning resources.) She received a B.S. in Marketing at Penn State, MBA at Indiana University, and Ph.D. at University of North Texas. She has published over 30 journal articles and numerous proceedings. Until four years ago, she was a Professor of Marketing at Georgia Southern University and received the Outstanding Georgia WebMBA Faculty Award, College of Business Administration Award for Sustained Excellence, College of Business Administration Professor of the Year Award, University Award for Teaching Excellence, and COBA Award for Teaching Excellence. She has worked part time on MERLOT since 1999 as Editor of the Business discipline as well as Manager of the Editorial Boards. She started working full time on the MERLOT project in June 2006. Her research interests are in the areas of online teaching, teaching pedagogy and international business. She will be speaking about MERLOT.

Recording now available (28 minutes - first 2 minutes clipped)
Powerpoint slides

Please feel free to ask questions or post comments before or after the event on the blog below.

Technology and Large Classes

2010-01-04T09:22:00.000-08:00

Formal launch of Teaching and Learning Webinar Series,
Wednesday 13th January, 2010, 1.15pm - 2.30pm (GMT):

Welcome for Prof. Terri Scott, President, IT Sligo (Recording 1min 43 sec)
"Technology and large classes",

This consisted of two presentations:

"Learning to Thrive: Strategies for Saving Time Online", Larry Ragan, Penn State University

"Technology for effective and timely feedback", Brian Coll, IT Sligo

Recording 18 minutes

Q & A Recording 8 minutes

Brian Coll is a lecturer in the School of Engineering at the Institute of Technology, Sligo, Ireland where he currently teaches on the quality and engineering programmes. He lectures primarily to online students and was instrumental in developing the first podcasts of lectures for online students in Ireland. Brian is a regular contributor of papers and articles to the news media, industry publications and conferences on trends in online higher education particularly as it relates to the use of new technology in helping to up-skill the workforce. Prior to joining IT Sligo, he held senior positions in multinational electronics companies working in Europe, USA and Mexico.

Lawrence C. Ragan, Ph.D., is director of faculty development for Penn State's World Campus. He is responsible for directing the design and development of systems and services to meet the professional training needs of the online and blended educator. Dr. Ragan has taught in the online classroom for over nine years and has experience with integrating a wide range of electronic media technologies into the instructional process in order to create dynamic, student-centered learning systems. He is a frequent workshop coordinator and has presented internationally on the topics of instructional design, multimedia development, faculty development issues and instructional design for distance education. Dr. Ragan has also served as co-director of the EDUCAUSE Institute’s Learning Technology Leadership Program and the Penn State/Sloan-C Institute for Emerging Leadership
in Online Learning program.

The recordings of the event are posted above. If you have any comments before or after please feel free to post them here.

Welcome to the IT Sligo Teaching and Learning Webinar Series

2009-12-01T06:49:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone. Welcome to the blog for the IT Sligo Teaching and Learning Webinar Series which starts on January 13th, 2010. In these webinars you will be able to view presentations live on the Internet and ask questions of the presenters during or after the presentations

We will post details here of forthcoming webinars and recordings of these afterwards. Feel free to use this blog as a forum for discussion before and after event.

These webinars will be broadcast openly on the Internet, but we have limited capacity so we will need you to register in order to get access instructions and so we can keep track of numbers.

These webinars will be given by presenters from IT Sligo and beyond. Here are some of the topics that we will be webcasting:

Formal launch of Teaching and Learning Webinar Series,
Wednesday 13th January, 2010, 1.15pm - 2.30pm (GMT):

"Technology and large classes",

This will consist of two presentations:

"Technology for effective and timely feedback", Brian Coll, IT Sligo
"Learning to Thrive: Strategies for Saving Time Online", Larry Ragan, Penn State University

The series will continue with weekly webinars every Wednesday from 1.15pm to 2pm. Delow is a list of topics that are planned. Dates may change so make sure to subscribe to this blog for the latest news.

January 20th: (1.15pm - 2.30pm) "Open Educational Resources", Catherine Bruen, NDLR, Cathy Swift, Merlot
January 27th : "Online Discussion", Seán Conlan, IT Sligo
February 3rd: "Teaching large class groups", Emer Ward, IT Sligo
February 10th: "Screen Capture", Eamon Costello, DCU
February 17th: "Google Wave for student collaboration", Ray Schroeder (University of Illinois at Springfield), Brian Mulligan (IT Sligo)
February 24th: 'Digital Elephants and Flying Penguins; some thoughts on the shiny-bright HE world of technology-mediated T & L' , Conor Galvin, UCD
March 3rd: "Enquiry Based Learning", Bláithín McGrath, IT Sligo
March 10th: "Flexible assessment", Mark Glynn, IoTI

We are still recruiting speakers from outside IT Sligo and outside Ireland, so if you know of anyone (including yourself) that might have a topic suitable for webcasting, please email your suggestion to, mulligan.brian@itsligo.ie

Please feel free to share your thoughts on this initiative publicly by submitting comments below.