Translating education offline to online – Katie Wray on building The Enterprise Shed

The video presentation from Katie Wray (below) outlines her experience of translating classroom entrepreneurship education to an online course. We enjoyed working with Katie on delivering ‘The Enterprise Shed’, the third of our FutureLearn courses. Here she describes the process we went through and the pleasing results.

See also “A toast to post it notes” for more details on how we planned the course together as we sought to make things as collaborative as possible.

Writings on the Wall

We asked some of the Wall experts you have met during the Hadrian’s Wall MOOC to each recommend 5 books on the topic. This is what they came up with. There is duplication and difference in their choices. You can suggest other books or add thoughts/reviews on those below through the comments.

 David Breeze:

1. S. Johnson, Hadrian’s Wall, London 2004  – offers a general introduction (available on Amazon)
2. D. J. Breeze and B. Dobson, Hadrian’s Wall, London 2000 – This is the basic text book on the Wall
3. D. J. Breeze, J. Collinngwood Bruce’s Handbook to the Roman Wall, 14th edition, Newcastle 2006  –  this is a detailed guide-book to the Wall (available at www.achaeologyplus.co.uk  and Amazon  – discounts available from archaeologyplus.co.uk to FutureLearn learners – if you contact them by email or phone)
4. P. Frodsham, Hadrian and His Wall, Newcastle 2013 – examines the relationship between the Wall and its builder (available on Amazon)
5. D. J. Breeze, The Frontiers of Imperial Rome, Barnsley 2011 – places Hadrian’s Wall in its international context. (available on Amazon)

Frances McIntosh:

1. D. J. Breeze, 2006. J. Collinngwood Bruce’s Handbook to the Roman Wall, 14th edition, Newcastle (available on Amazon)
2. D. J. Breeze and B. Dobson 2000. Hadrian’s Wall, London
3. E. Birley 1961. Research on Hadrian’s Wall (available on Amazon)
4. P. Bidwell (ed) 2008. Understanding Hadrian’s Wall, Arbeia Society (available on Amazon)
5. P. Hill 2006. The Construction of Hadrian’s Wall, Tempus (available on Amazon)

Lindsay Allason-Jones:

1. D. J. Breeze and B. Dobson 2000 (4th edition) Hadrian’s Wall. Penguin
2. Richard Hingley 2012, Hadrian’s Wall: a Life. OUP (available on Amazon)
3. W. F. Shannon 2007, Murus ille famosus (that famous wall): Depictions and Descriptions of Hadrian’s Wall before Camden. C&W Tract Series XXII. Kendal (available on Amazon)
4. L. Allason-Jones 2005, Women in Roman Britain (2nd ed.) CBA (available on Amazon)
5. L. Allason-Jones 2008, Daily Life in Roman Britain (Greenwood World Publishing). (available on Amazon)

Rob Collins:

1. D. J. Breeze and B. Dobson 2000. Hadrian’s Wall, 4th ed, London: Penguin
2. P. Bidwell (ed) 2008. Understanding Hadrian’s Wall, Arbeia Society (available on Amazon)
3. N. Hodgson 2009. Hadrian’s Wall 1999-2009, SANT & C&W (available on Amazon)
4. R. Collins. 2014. Hadrian’s Wall and the End of Empire, Routledge (paperback ed – a bit of a vanity, but otherwise very little coverage of the most interesting late period of the Wall) (available on Amazon)
5. S. Johnson 2004. Hadrian’s Wall, London: History Press (available on Amazon)

We also have a downloadable reading list (pdf) of primary and secondary sources

Certainty

In the first week of this course we have been delighted have our distinguished Visiting Professor David Breeze, as a guest expert. As many of you will know, David’s jointly authored classic ‘Hadrian’s Wall’ (written with Brian Dobson) and his edition of the ‘Hadrian’s Wall Handbook’ are the most widely read studies of the Wall ever published.  You’ll see David’s contributions in steps towards the end of week 1.  We particularly liked his statement “…part of the fun of the study of Hadrian’s Wall is that certainty is difficult to achieve..” – no doubt a theme we will revisit as the course unfolds!

To hear more from David you can view the panel discussion we recorded last year on “Why build the Wall?”

Video length

On location at The Wall.

On our second run of Hadrian’s Wall we’ll be using this blog to address some of the frequently asked questions that arise on the course.  A couple of learners have asked about the length of the videos.

You’ll find that all of our videos are under 5 minutes in length. That has been done intentionally so that no single step requires too much time. While this can be disappointing for a topic you are interested in, it works very well in practice, particularly if you consider the course in full with approximately 20 steps in each of 6 weeks.  The short videos also force the educator to distil in a clear way what the main points are.

We know from research (eg this paper from Philip Guo) that when videos are longer that learners can lose interest.  If you’d like to read a little more about some of our thinking on building the course have a look at our blog post on Educational Vodka.

NUTELA Peer Recognition Awards – Winners Announced!

NUTELA is pleased to announce the winners of its 2015 Peer Recognition Awards.

The awards are designed to recognise University staff who go above and beyond the call of duty to help their colleagues, schools and units to adopt forms of TEL (technology-enhanced learning).

This year’s winners Gigi Herbert (Development Officer within the Curriculum Development team at the Careers Service) and Graham Patterson (Computing Technician with Sage Faculty IT) have both been integral to helping other staff to adopt innovative technologies in their teaching.

NUTELA Peer Recognition Award winner Gigi Herbert [Right] with Salome Bolton, who nominated her.
NUTELA Peer Recognition Award winner Gigi Herbert [Right] with Salome Bolton, who nominated her.
Gigi was responsible for helping Careers Service staff to adopt technologies such as Grademark and Turnitin in their year-long Career Development Modules.

She was nominated by her colleague Salome Bolton. Salome said: ‘Gigi has been fundamental in developing the team of six to help manage the complexities around student assessment and enhancing learning through the innovative use of technology.

‘[She] helped each team member work through these issues and address any problems using individual support and training.

‘[We] have received very positive feedback from students informally and via our student-staff committee about the additional benefits of being able to access their feedback online via this system.’

Graham has worked tirelessly helping staff in the School of Civil Engineering (CEG) to use mobile technologies in their teaching.

For this a tablet devices (Android based) were issued to each all incoming students in CEG from 2012.

Henny Mills (Senior Teaching Associate, CEG), who nominated Graham said: ‘Graham has been central to the introduction and management of the PEARL project and without him, the use of tablet devices within the teaching environment of CEG would not have been such a success.

‘When I was not able to deliver the tablet inductions sessions due to other teaching commitment, Graham run the sessions for up to 100 students, which is well beyond the scope of an IT Technician.

‘The use of these devices has revolutionized teaching delivery in CEG and improved student experiences. This would not have been possible without Graham’s support and enthusiasm for technology-enhanced learning.’

Graham Patterson
Graham Patterson Peer Recognition Award Winner

 

Graham added: ‘Using these mobile devices is great because it encourages interaction between lecturers and students and means that lecturers can poll immediate feedback during classes.’

NUTELA Chair, Laura Delgaty, who helped to choose the winners, said: ‘We had some great entrants this year and it was tough deciding on the winners.

‘I think everyone at Newcastle can be really proud of how staff are working together to support each other in using these innovative new methods in their teaching.

‘We are excited this year to offer these awards. The focus was on recognizing colleagues that have gone out of their way to help others at the University learn about or use technology.

‘We asked for peer nominations focusing on how these individuals contributed to the advancement of others using technology and how this related to NUs LTSE.’

Do you have an extra-special colleague who has helped you with incorporated TEL into your teaching practice? Do you want to recognise someone who has provided excellent support or advice on TEL to your school, unit or faculty? Watch out for details of next year’s competition on the NUTELA blog or email: nutelaops@newcastle.ac.uk for more information.

Sugata Mitra – two kinds of entrepreneur

We have had so many words of wisdom and so much great footage from the Enterprise Shed. One clip we didn’t manage to include in the course is Sugata’s explanation of two very different kinds of entrepreneur: the aggressively directed entrepreneur and the reluctant entrepreneur.

Which kind are you?

 

Jack Fisher’s story – becoming an ultra-lapse film maker

Jack

We feature clips from many enterprising people in the Enterprise Shed. We haven’t always had the opportunity to expand on their stories and how they made their ideas happen. One person featured is Jack Fisher (jackfisher.org) a Newcastle graduate who now specialises in motion-based Time-Lapse photography.

We love Jack’s work. See Newcastle in Motion for example.

Jack has always been interested in films and time lapse photography. His hobby has become his business in the last year. So how did he make it happen?

His advice is to just get out there and do it. Jack noticed that there were not many people making time lapse films in the UK and Europe. He was given a new film camera for his 21st birthday which he used to make a short film about the town he grew up in (Bath). He showed it to some city councillors who were so impressed that they commissioned a longer version which went viral. Jack has been inundated with work since then.

Jack used the Internet to research how to make these films. He says he was then in the right place at the right time, but the important things were having a go and showing people what he could do.

Social Media in Teaching – 3P workshop on 23 April 2015

2015-04-23 15_43_09-mooc-images.ncl.ac.uk_blog_nutela-poster-23-April.pdfOur fourth Pizza Pop and Practice event will be on the topic of “Social Media in Teaching”

Is social media friend or foe?

  • How can I jump into the Twitter stream?
  • Can I generate conversations and connections around blogs?
  • How can I use Facebook in teaching?

 

This workshop is focused on helping you improve your teaching practice – we provide the hands-on support and the pizza!

Print off a poster for the workshop

Hashtag #social3p

Workshop materials

Twitter

Blogs

Facebook

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

People are really getting into ShedTalk!

The Enterprise Shed: Making Ideas Happen is Newcastle University‘s third free online course on FutureLearn. It started today and runs for four weeks with around three hours a week needed to keep up. Or you can join anytime before Sunday 26 April, and work through it at your own pace.

I’d really encourage you to sign up and take part whilst the course is running though, as this course is a little different to the two we have developed and run previously. The Enterprise Shed is almost entirely dependent on learners interactions and participation.

It’s you that will make or break this course, and it has been really encouraging to see how readily people are connecting, sharing experiences, helping each other, and sharing ideas so freely and openly.

After only a day it’s turning out to be a really inspirational space to be in.

If you haven’t signed up, there’s still plenty of time. Come and join us in The Enterprise Shed, and help others make their ideas happen, as well as get support to develop and refine your own.

You never know, it might be the start or something new for you….