Last year the eLearning Unit (ELU) evolved into the Technology Enhanced Learning Team (TELT) and migrated to become a part of IT Services.
As part of the move, the team was structured slightly differently to encompass three strands of work:
This three-strand approach means the team engages with all stakeholders to identify quality and standards for innovation, usability, accessibility, and future proofing digital education.
Our first year of operation was a very busy one, and as we look forward at 2023's priorities, it's clear the coming year will be just as busy and demanding, with many opportunities ahead.
Here are some of the highlights.
The Enhancement strand identifies new technologies to support teaching and learning at QM, while also exploring solutions that can be provided through existing tools and platforms. In our first year the focus was on improving accessibility and implementing Blackboard Ally, to improve the accessibility of learning resources on QMplus.
A Virtual Learning Environment review was also completed. This included extensive research with other universities and an Expo Event for all university staff.
This year the Enhancement strand is developing a TEL Community of Practice. This will launch on 22nd February 2023 with a consultation event - details will follow on our Community of Practice Teams site.
The Services strand in 2023 is now looking forward to upgrading QMplus to Moodle 4.1, improving accessibility to QMplus archives, and researching a QMplus exams server. These developments come after an industrious year updating the QMplus theme to CatAwesome, to be more aligned with Moodle core functionality, moving QMplus archives onto internal servers for improved security, decommissioning Blackboard Collaborate, and moving all vidoe storage to Kaltura.
Providing training and support for all the technology systems in place at QM has led to a busy and productive year for the team. We have updated all the guides, built a range of new training courses, supported the QMplus theme update and the move from Blackboard Collaborate to Zoom and MS Teams. This strand has also identified the support for students at QM, and in 2023 we are piloting a Student Digital Champions approach within the HSS faculty, enabling the student voice to be heard about the technologies they use for their learning.
We're really excited about what 2023 will bring for TELT and the University as we focus our projects to embed effective, up-to-date and innovative practices, working with stakeholders across the whole of the University through the Community of Practice.
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