Digital Learning – Page 106 – Digital Learning Dispatches

In November 2016, the Student Success Toolbox project under the leadership of Dr James Brunton was a successful recipient of an Effective Practice Award at the Online Learning Consortium’s Accelerate conference in Orlando. OLC is one of the largest professional bodies in the United States for higher educators with an interest in harnessing the potential of new digital technologies.

The award was presented during a gala luncheon event which attracted a large audience.

The NIDL has a close relationship with OLC with Professor Mark Brown contributing over several years to their well known leadership development programme and during the conference he also served on a high-level panel discussion, including professors Terry Anderson, Peter Shea and Karen Swan, exploring some of the lessons from the research literature on online learning. The room was full to capacity and generated favourable feedback in the conference evaluation.

The final presentation on the Y1 Feedback project funded by the National Forum was given by project lead Lisa O’Regan to the review panel in October, 2016. This project set out to pilot technology enhanced feedback approaches to facilitate teacher feedback/feedforward and peer-feedback in large first year classes to support student transition. An extensive review of existing experience in this area was undertaken based on a literature review and survey of existing practice.

The basic assumption is that technology enabled feedback approaches can support learning designs that may not otherwise be possible due to time, large groups, or location as well as providing more opportunities for teachers to provide ongoing dialogical feedback. Currently the final phase of the project is underway in documenting a number of Y1 Feedback case studies of effective feedback practices. The results of the Y1 Feedback project will be presented at a Feedback Symposium at Maynooth University at the end of January 2017.