On 7th June colleagues from across the University came together to share innovative examples of using technologies for teaching and learning. The event attracted 90 attendees who were inspired by presentations from colleagues across all three faculties presenting on a wide range of topics. The presentations focused on themes that were generated by the online COP launch event in February. They included a keynote from Prof David Leslie addressing the disruption AI is causing within the education sector. His presentation highlighted the premature arrival of the future, and education observing too much change in too short a time. The advice is that education is the future-maker, and AI will allow widening participation and a richer learner / teacher relationship.
The other presentations from colleagues focused on using the platforms that are currently supported by TELT, and covered Mentimeter, H5P, co-creating with learners, exam quality assurance using Wikis, video branching, humanising the use of technology, innovative QMplus course design, accessibility awareness using Blackboard Ally, and technology partnering.
If you were not able to attend the presentations, the slide deck can be viewed here.
A more detailed summary of the event can be found on the TELT website
The event was very engaging and thought-provoking, and allowed a deeper and wider understanding of the use cases of the functionality of our current technology, and this conversation continues within the COP Teams site. If you are not a member, please join the conversation to learn and share.
TELT were inspired by the engagement and networking opportunities that the COP afforded. Some of the initial feedback that we received showed that attendees enjoyed the time to reflect face-to-face and learn from their peers on how to use technologies to engage their learners.
Initial feedback examples:
We’ll continue the thought-provoking discussions, sharing of good and innovative practice, and inspiring each other through our Teams site.
In this article TELT Learning Technologist John Seamons explores H5P content type Accordion.
The Accordion is a WAI-ARIA (Web Accessibility Initiative – Accessible Rich Internet Applications) enabled content type which helps reduce the amount of text initially presented to users by using a responsive accordion which can be expanded and closed as the user chooses.
This is an excellent way of providing options for additional content and explanations to users.
John’s article can be found on the TELT website.
This month we sat down to meet and chat with Yanna Nedelcheva…
Yanna is the new Teaching and Learning Systems Manager who joined Queen Mary just under 2 months ago. Yanna is in the Solutions Development Team but will be working very closely with TELT to plan and implement the QMplus upgrade over the summer and she tells us about her plans for her team in the upcoming months, as well as a little more insight about her and what she enjoys doing.
It was great to meet and learn more about our colleague, Yanna. Read more online.
Following a successful pilot project with the HSS Digital Learning Manager, the TEL Team have recruited 3 TEL student ambassadors to revamp our TEL student induction programme over the summer. Work has already started and we hope to have a new student induction programme ready for September 2023 – co-created by our own QM students.
We are excited to introduce you to Ella, Vandy and Keenal...let's learn more about them in the full article.
In November 2022, we worked with the Digital Learning Manager for HSS to recruit eight (8) students from HSS to work as Student Digital Champions (SDCs) to get their input into some of our learning technologies.
We specifically looked at the following two topics as part of a pilot project:
We learned so much from these students and plan to recruit more students in the future to hear their voice and get their input into TEL at QM.
Here is what the students had to say...
We would like to give a shout out to TELT staff involved in recent training sessions who have received positive feedback.
Staff Development survey feedback:
TELT021a - QMplus Assignments: Tips and Lessons Learned – John Seamons & Alysa Bramble
TELT020 - Teaching Space Awareness – Simon Durrant
TELT012 - Getting Started with Q-Review – Simon Durrant
Question 1: When will the option to rollover be made available?
Answer 1: Rollovers can begin after the 22/23 archive becomes available which is to take place on Tuesday July 18th. Please see our 2023 QMPlus Upgrade article for further details.
Question 2: I would like to learn more about QMPlus Quizzes.
Answer 2: The Quiz is a very powerful activity that can meet many teaching needs, from simple multiple-choice tests to complex, self-assessment tasks with detailed feedback. TELT has a self-directed course on Quizzes which will allow you to learn more about the activity in your own time.
Question 3: How can I make Microsoft Word documents and PowerPoints more accessible?
Answer 3: There are several in-built features including an accessibility checker which can make a huge difference. Here is a link to the Blackboard Ally guide which includes a wide variety of useful links.