Conferences – Page 29 – Digital Learning Dispatches

Last week a number of NIDL staff contributed to the 12th edition of the highly successful e-Learning Summer School hosted by the Learning, Teaching and Technology Centre at Dublin Institute of Technology. This year’s event explored the question: What impact is digital culture having on higher education? Over the week approximately 40 third level educators (many from DCU funded by the NIDL) came together for a rich and varied programme, including a session on Digital Assessment by Elaine Walsh and Eloise Tan; a couple of contributions by Mark Glynn on Screencasting and the use of Moodle; and a final keynote by Mark Brown on the “Promise, Progress and Pain” of digital learning. Full credit goes to the team at DIT for organising such a valuable professional learning experience.

Education and the Digital World: Promise, Progress and Pain from Mark Brown

On Monday 16th June, NIDL professors Mark Brown and Grainne Conole contributed to a very successful event at Athlone Institute of Technology on the theme of the ‘Flipped Classroom’. The event attracted around 80 participants and was part of the National Seminar Series being managed by the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning. Grainne’s opening presentation looked at the bigger picture of flipping, openness, e-pedagogies and design. She explored the disruptive nature of new digital technology and some of the implications for teaching and learning. Mark then followed up by looking at the concept of flipped learning within an institutional context using a novel ice-cream metaphor. He argued that the right type of institutional culture was essential for fostering and sustaining innovations in teaching and learning. Finally, Dr Bryan McCabe shared valuable lessons and insights from his experience of ‘flipping’ at NUIG which showed that enhancing learner interactivity and engagement was something that any teacher could do through incremental changes. The three presentations worked well together and thanks to the Athlone team for organising such a successful event. Already Grainne, Mark and Bryan have discussed offering another version of this flipped classroom event at other locations and institutions.