Conferences – Page 28 – Digital Learning Dispatches

The National Institute for Digital Learning is very pleased to announce our support to ensure the annual UK and Ireland Moodlemoot returns to Dublin in 2015. DCU has played a leadership role for many years in the Moodle community and through the work of Dr Mark Glynn we welcome the chance to continue our association with Moodlemoot. Next year’s Moodlemoot 2015 will take place at Dublin City University over three days from May 11th–13th.

The Moot will feature two high profile keynote speakers along with panels, short presentations, highly engaging Pecha Kucha, and more. Hosting this event is consistent with NIDL’s mission of listening, linking and leading and reflects our recognition of the particular importance that Moodle plays in the Irish educational context. The event provides a valuable forum for supporting and enhancing strong pedagogical and technical communities of practice around the effective use of digital technology in the service of better outcomes for learners. While rightly there will be a strong pedagogical focus throughout the event we also understand that building capacity for digital learning requires the appropriate technical infrastructure. Moodlemoot is known for the way it brings together different stakeholders to share experiences from a range of perspectives. Next year’s Moot will be no exception.

The call for proposals opens on 31st October and both DCU and the NIDL are looking forward to hosting the best Moodlemoot yet.

We took a short break from updating our blog over the summer months as many of our NIDL staff was away on annual leave. Having said that, we have been busy on a number of fronts with a range of activities over the last couple of months as indicated by the following brief highlights: General

We completed the refurbishment of our reception area
We welcomed Muireann O’Keeffe as a new staff member in the Teaching Enhancement Unit

DCU Connected

Successful DCU Connected marketing campaign through radio, bus stops and electronic media
Double digit growth in number of confirmed registrations through DCU Connected with a significant increase in postgraduate students
Teaching began at both DCU and Arizona State University in the new online Masters in Biomedical Diagnostics with more than 30 students

Events and New Initiatives

Hosted a Hackfest Day in August
Open DCU Staff Forum in September to share new and forthcoming NIDL initiatives
Successful launch of Loop as the new overarching name for DCU’s new online learning environment.

Talks and Presentations

Presentations given to Governing Body and Academic Council on the work of NIDL
Dr Mark Glynn participated in two radio interviews on EduTalk
Keynote presentations given by Dr Mark Glynn at UK e-assessment conference and the Annual Conference for SQT Training,
Muireann O’Keeffe gave a keynote at the Symposium for Engineering Education in Manchester
Dr Pip Ferguson presented two conference papers
Director gave keynotes and presentations at the 3U N-Step Conference, University & College Teaching Conference, Birmingham, and Sloan (now rebranded Online) Learning Consortium Conference on Blended Learning in Denver
Director contributed to the Knewton Designing the Future Event in San Francisco which was attended by Hillary Clinton

Research and Development

Success in winning EU funded project called “Support Centres for Open Education and MOOCS in different Regions of Europe 2020” (SCORE2020) with a total budget of €300k
Developed and submitted three funding proposals to the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning to support building digital capacity
Successful application to the National Forum’s National Seminar Series for Reaching the Stars Symposium
Member of the National Forum funded Virtual Learning Envrionment Student Survey Project
Director invited to join the Editorial Board for the Journal of Open, Flexible and Online Learning
Hosted an open networking event to share ideas with other institutions for applications to the fund for Building Digital Learning Capacity

External Engagement

Director participated in a 10 day institutional review of flexible learning working on behalf of the Commonwealth of Learning
Director established and chaired International Advisory Board for ICDE funded study on standards and guidelines for online learning
Director chaired the Innovation in Teaching and Learning Working Group for the European Consortium of Innovative Universities
Director participated as a faculty member in the Institute for Engaged Leadership in Online Learning at Penn State University