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 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.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 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.
An interesting article which looks at the most effective way fro students to take notes and use those notes to help their learning.
Interesting comments which suggest a different strategy might be the best for students using their electronic devices to take notes. https://theconversation.com/whats-the-best-most-effective-way-to-take-notes-41961
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.
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.
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.
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….
We had a really productive meeting yesterday morning when the Lead Sheducator, Sheducators and Mentors met to familiarise themselves with The Enterprise Shed: Making Ideas Happen and how it will run when it starts next Monday on FutureLearn.
We have a great bunch of people, all experts in enterprise and entrepreneurial thinking, ready and eager to work with learners on The Enterprise Shed: Making Ideas Happen.
Perhaps you have met some of them already?
Katie Wray is a Lecturer in Enterprise in the SAgE Faculty here at Newcastle University and Lead Sheducator.
Rebecca Fisher is an Entrepreneurial Development Officer, also at Newcastle University and is both a Sheducator and Mentor.
Jane Nolan, MBE is a Teaching Fellow in Enterprise with the International Centre for Music Studies in the School of Arts and Cultures and a Visiting Entrepreneur supporting the work of Newcastle University Careers Service. She was awarded the MBE in 2000 for services to UK exports.
Dr Victoria Mountford is an enthusiastic, entrepreneurial and people-focused individual with a range of experience in (enterprise & employability) higher education, (academic & commercial) research & business development. She works as a Development Officer in the Newcastle University Careers Service.
There will be other enterprising individuals popping up throughout this highly participatory course:
Professor Sugata Mitra is Professor of Educational Technology at Newcastle University and was given the $1m TED Prize in 2013 in recognition of his work and to help build a School in the Cloud – he tells us more about that.
Most people ought to be able to become entrepreneurs if they put their mind to it. Sir Richard Branson, 3 March 2014, Northern Stage, Virgin Startup event organised by TEDCO Business Support.
There is still plenty of time to sign up and explore your enterprising side – come and join us in The Enterprise Shed!
Has someone helped you? Has another member of University staff gone out of their way to help you use technology? Would you like her/him to be recognised? If so, let us know!
NUTELA is offering two peer recognition awards this year. We are looking for nominations of staff members who have contributed to peer support or the mentoring of others learning about and/or working with technology.
It might be someone who has helped you understand the purpose of a specific learning technology, or someone who has been instrumental in progressing Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) initiatives in your unit. You are welcome to nominate any member of staff at Newcastle University.
The nomination process is simple. In 500 words or less, just answer these two questions and send your response to nutelaops@ncl.ac.uk.
How has this staff member contributed to your learning, working or development with TEL?
The deadline is April 30, 2015. NUTELA will review the applications and make a decision. All nominees will be told they have been nominated, and will be invited to present their work at the year-end NUTELA conference in June, 2015. The award will be presented by Suzanne Cholerton, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Learning and Teaching) and the winners will be invited to the Vice-Chancellor’s Celebrating Success event.
One of the great things about FutureLearn is the opportunity to work with partner institutions. For example, we have seem many synergies between our Hadrian’s Wall course and Southampton University’s Archaeology of Portus. We see learners in Hadrian’s Wall discussing and recommending Portus or referring to specific steps and activities, and even continuing dialogue with fellow learners they met through Portus.
Professor Graeme Earle (lead educator on Portus) has added links between steps in the Archaeology of Portus and other MOOCs including Hadrian’s Wall, which we have reciprocated. Learners can more easily see and follow connections between the courses (see links below the two courses below). Currently, users have to be signed up to both courses for this to work. If FutureLearn realise the plan to make individual steps more open (viewable without signing up to the course) this will become even more powerful.
![NUTELA Peer Recognition Award winner Gigi Herbert [Right] with Salome Bolton, who nominated her.](https://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/ltdev/files/2015/06/Salome-and-Gigi.jpg)
