DCU Connected – Page 11 – Digital Learning Dispatches

The New Year got underway in earnest on Saturday 13^th January with the Open Education Postgraduate Team welcoming the Semester 2 intake of Masters students. A diverse mix of students commenced their postgraduate studies in Operations Management, Sustainable Development or Information Systems. The 2018 cohort of online students includes people located throughout Ireland and as far away as China and Azerbaijan. Our internationally-based students participated virtually in the Welcome Day.

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At the start of the day acting Head of Open Education, Dr James Brunton, welcomed everyone to online learning through DCU Connected and introduced the work of the NIDL more generally. Programme Director, Colum Foley, guided this group of mature students through DCU’s virtual learning environment, known as Loop, the main policies and procedures related to studying from a distance, and wished everyone well in their studies.

Tutors James O’Connor, Colm Ward and Emma McEvoy outlined the role of the Open Education tutor in studying through DCU Connected while successful students William Schofield and Andrew McGrane gave valuable insights from a learner’s perspective. Aisling Deignan advised on administrative procedures and then Ellen Breen hosted students on a tour of the DCU Library on the Glasnevin campus.

We wish the class of January 2018 every success in their student journey and look forward to hearing more about their goals and aspirations for the future as they work towards successful completion of their study.

As 2017 draws to a close it is important to reflect on and highlight the outstanding achievement of our graduates. This year we were delighted to celebrate the success of DCU Connected graduate, Fergal Nealon, who has developed StoryTracks.ie – an award winning tourism app.

StoryTracks1 — DCU President Professor Brian MacCraith presenting award to Fergal Nealon

Fergal’s story is an interesting one. A professional poker player for a number of years, he decided that he wanted to put his career on a more secure footing and so returned to education in 2016. As Fergal lives in Sligo, online study through DCU Connected provided him with the perfect opportunity to complete university study without the need to relocate to Dublin. Fergal graduated in 2017 with the Certificate in Software Systems and Entrepreneurship, funded through the Government’s Springboard scheme.

As part of the Entrepreneurship and Emerging Technologies module, Fergal developed StoryTracks.ie — an app which facilitates local people to upload their stories for tourists to listen to as they travel throughout the country. The local stories connect the tourist in a very real way with the place they are visiting.

Storytracks2

Fergal’s end of year presentation earned him a place on the prestigious DCU Ryan Academy UStart Programme, a DCU student accelerator for entrepreneurial and business development. Fergal further developed the app and went on to win “Best Pitch” at the UStart Accelerator Demo Day in October. Fregal has gone on to work with Enterprise Ireland and the app is available for download on Apple and Android devices.

Check out Fergal’s app: https://storytracks.ie/

Listen to an interview with Fergal on RTE Radio 1 Saturday 14^th October. at: http://www.rte.ie/radio1/the-business/podcasts/