All staff are invited to join us at our E-Learning Networking and Social Event where you can talk to others engaged in e-learning over a glass of wine and light nibbles.

Details are as follows:

Date: Wednesday, 7th December 2011
Time: 4:00pm-6:00pm
Venue: The Senior Common Room, Queens Building, Mile End Campus
RSVP: To assist with catering, please register by completing the form below

This is an opportunity for you to hear from and share ideas with other colleagues around the University who use various technology tools as part of their teaching (including the VLE, Q-Review lecture capture, BOS surveys, Turnitin, Clickers, Camtasia screen recorder, Youtube, Twitter and others).

Find out how others are using e-learning to enhance the student experience and get some practical tips and best practice advice.

For more information, please email us at: elearning@qmul.ac.uk

You can also subscribe to our E-Learning Practitioners’ mailing list by entering your email address via this link: http://www.lists.qmul.ac.uk/sympa/subscribe/elearning-practitioners

Photo Credit:
oooh.oooh on Flickr

Launched in the summer of 2010, the E-Learning Production Service provides funding for members of Queen Mary staff embarking on e-learning activities that benefit students.  We appreciate that academic and other staff don’t always have the time or technical skills to bring good e-learning ideas to fruition and whilst we don’t have the resource to complete projects ourselves, we were keen to plug this apparent “production gap”.

The resource we provide is in the form of dedicated E-Learning Assistants.  These are Queen Mary students recruited for specific projects and given the necessary technical training.  Given that all students will graduate into an increasingly competitive employment market, we are delighted to provide an opportunity for them to develop their professional skills, work closely with academic staff and earn money.  We pay the students well, expect them to work to a high standard and support them throughout their work with a mentor from the E-Learning Unit.

Since its launch, the production service has funded seven projects in five departments – both academic and professional services – and there are more proposals due to start during 2011/12.  E-Learning Assistants were recruited from all three faculties and worked on a wide range of initiatives, including:

• supporting lecture capture on a distance learning programme in post-graduate medicine
• an online course to improve students’ awareness of what makes an effective job application
• a learning resource to support Medical students in their preparation for “Short-Answer-Question” (SAQ) exams
• audio recordings in the VLE to supplement teaching on a Czech History module

So far, staff and student response to the service has been overwhelmingly positive.  In 2010, Dr Hoda Wassif had been making significant enhancements to the way clinical skills are taught in Paediatric Dentistry.  We recruited PhD student Hanadi Lingawi as an e-learning assistant to work with her to develop electronic flash cards as part of this project.  Talking about the project, Dr Wassif says:

I had the idea to use a “Question Box” that included various points, questions and scenarios on index cards – students pick a card at random and we discuss its content.   With the e-learning assistant, we were able to have the resource available for students online. The format was the same; however, students were offered hints and key points at the end of each case… the aim is not to answer a simple question at the end of each case, rather think about the topic, the patient and the management in general…

Each project we fund enables a student to gain technical skills and enhance their employability as they are presented with the challenge of working with professionals in an area which is new to them.  Alice Middleton is a 4^th year dental student who worked as an e-learning assistant during the summer of 2011, developing a short online module on Clinical Governance.  She found the experience particularly rewarding, working with a subject she was due to study in her final year:

I’m really proud of the e learning tutorial we produced and learnt a lot whilst doing it.

I think the scheme is brilliant and I’m now going to try and convince another tutor at the dental school to apply for a project to help students understand oral pathology!

To find out more and to apply for resource for a project of your own, please see:

www.learninginstitute.qmul.ac.uk/elearning/service/production

Photo Credit

GrowWear on Flickr

Here at the E-Learning Unit, we regularly talk to academic and support staff who are enthusiastic about the impact technology can have.  Sometimes it’s about introducing audience voting systems into large lectures… exploring the possibilities of shared notes and reading lists… designing online tests to improve academic writing.  All of these are great initial ideas that could have a real impact on teaching and learning here at Queen Mary.

However, not everyone has the time or the technical skills needed to turn bring these ideas to fruition.  As learning technologists, my colleagues and I are always happy to advise on technologies, or the direction a project might take, and can provide some training.  But to kick-start a new initiative takes time, and that’s where the E-Learning Production Service can help.

Through the scheme, we will recruit and train a Queen Mary student to work with you as an E-Learning Assistant.  All we ask is that on completion, you share your experiences of the project and its impact through either a case study or presentation.

To find out more and  to apply for funding, please see:
http://www.learninginstitute.qmul.ac.uk/elearning/services/production

Photo Credit

Russ Morris on Flickr

How to Podcast

Using the Wimba Podcaster

The implications for e-learning are wide reaching and cover such issues as the format of material that is posted online; video and audio materials in the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE); the use of different software and how it is evaluated. The following document is a brief introduction for QM staff and provides web links for further reading.

Introduction to Accessibility in E-Learning

I’ve tried (and usually failed) several times over the last year to try and explain it in simple terms without coming across like something of a web evangelist.

However we’ve recently happened upon a video at youtube which explains the concept brilliantly. So here it is:

An extra three hour workshop is probably also going to be included on the Wednesday evening focussing on different types of e-portfolios in terms of both applicaiton and technologies.

What I’m really looking forward to is the keynote address onE-learning 2.0… which is a rather glib word du jour to describe the changes in learning and teaching brought about by the current growth in social software and communication technologies online. I think this is an interesting and important topic and I’m looking forward to hearing some thoughts about it.

In any case the link to the event is here: http://www.ilta.net/

-Eoin