Beyond the Technology

In this episode we go on a guided tour of a virtual world for students, created by Itzel Lopez, an international officer from Cardiff and Vale college. Itzel's students use the bespoke online environment to benefit both their education and mental wellbeing. The platform is complete with beach-side wellness centre and spaces to socialise. Students can also travel to art galleries and countries all around the world. Itzel explains how the teaching possibilities are endless when working with second life, sharing the benefits of highly customisable environments. Examples include psychology students looking inside visual representations of the human mind, and simulations of physical trade training, such as working on virtual construction sites. This interview is full of tips and ideas about getting started if you'd like to start a similar world for your own students, helping them to socialise and share knowledge, without leaving their homes – something that's become incredibly useful over the past year.

Our guest this week is Jamie Giarraputo, a teaching and learning coach from South Thames College Group. Jamie leapt from the music industry into teaching, and in his own words, fell in love with the whole process. Edtech, innovation, and digital skills are at the heart of his passion for teaching, and Jamie shares some brilliant tips and tech that can be used to engage learners. Initially self-isolating during lockdown, Jamie turned to Instagram to share quick, informative and accessible updates to support staff with remote teaching. The TLA team are now on Instagram and Youtube, where they gain comments from teachers all around the world. Jamie explains the benefits of using social media to support staff to upskill, and the positive impact that such social media accounts can have on staff wellbeing during situations like lockdown.

This week our guest is Dr Chris Bonfield, a technology-enhanced learning manager from the University of Bath. Chris is a once medical medieval historian-turned future gazer, who's research explores education 4.0 around the globe. Chris's experience gives him a unique perspective about the potential that technology has to enrich the educational experience. We chat all about his findings and what the UK can learn from the rest of the world, what's driving the change in employment and how higher education can react to industry 4.0.

In this podcast we hear from members sharing their journeys to realising Education 4.0. This week we chat to Daniel Dybowski Bryant, an English language and Virtual Reality Lecturer (and all-round ideas person) from Coleg Menai. Daniel uses virtual reality (VR) to create immersive and engaging learning environments for his English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) students. He explains how the technology can be used to support student and staff wellbeing, and why it's such a good fit for the current national climate, as well as sharing numerous interesting and practical examples of how to use VR in the classroom. Daniel even shares some words of wisdom from a good friend who just happens to be the creator of virtual reality.

This week we chat to Luke Rudderham-Cozier, a learning technologist from Barnet and Southgate College, all about online assessment. During lockdown, Luke worked closely with his team to successfully coordinate 17 A level exams over Microsoft Teams. We cover plagiarism, preparing students and staff for online assessment, the human side of implementing technology, and how assessment might change in the future (and much more). Luke also shares a helpful list about where to start when considering online assessment.

This week, we chat with Professor Helen James, deputy vice chancellor at Canterbury Christ Church University, about her work around inclusivity, in particular for women in STEM. We also talk about how the university has coped with the pandemic during lockdown, Helen also shares her perspective on how education may change post-covid.

This week we are joined by Dr Chris Headleand who is director of teaching and learning for the school of computer science at The University of Lincoln. We chat with Chris about the power of games to engage with and teach students, looking into the digital skills and soft skills that games can help to develop. We also talk to Chris about his pirate-themed tour game of the University of Lincoln, which is allowing prospective students to experience the campus digitally.

This week we are joined by Seima Mahmood who is an ESOL Lecturer at Bradford College. Over the course of lockdown Seima and her ESOL students have built an online portal which showcases their experience during lockdown, providing a space for them to share pictures, blogs, recipes and more. The result is a fantastic online space for students, providing them with an engaging social space during lockdown and encouraging them to use and develop their digital skills. Alongside this, Seima covers what tools have helped her and her students most during this time, how they have overcome hurdles during the transition to digital learning, and how to cope as a teacher during 'the new normal'.

In this episode we chatted with Keith Smyth, professor of pedagogy at University of the Highlands and Islands, about how the pandemic has raised awareness about the importance of accessibility, how it has shown more is possible with offering a flexible learning experience and the future of teaching post-lockdown.

We chatted with Anthony Sinnott, Access and procurement development manager at the University of York, about the logistics of libraries in lockdown, providing access to information during this time, and the positive qualities that have come from the situation.