All 29 entries tagged Research

RiA Conference Review – part two

What defines an international school?

Weeks had a long standing interest in international schooling, having been primary school educated abroad them-selves, and with teaching experience in Singapore, Madrid, and Bangkok. Their own mother in law, originally a singer, founded the Sharjah International School in the United Arab Emirates, one of the leading international schools globally.

Despite the distinct lack of quality research on the subject, Weeks gave trainee teachers an overview of what is known about the types of international school that exist, and what attracts families and teachers to them. The Independent Schools Council (ISC) predicts that by 2029, there will be 18,929 international schools educating 10.6 million children, needing double the current staff at 1.03 million teachers. This is as many as 1 in 4 teachers from the UK, Ireland, Australia, and the USA, all for international schooling. The demand for certified anglo-western teachers globally poses huge financial, social, moral, and ethical issues in the UK teaching system; interestingly, 45% of these schools adopt the English national curriculum, thanks to its easily accessible and standardised nature.

Weeks explored with us the three types of international schools, their ethics, and some of the sociocultural implications of for-profit international schooling. They also defined the phenomena of fourth culture kids, as students who find themselves not abroad, but in a foreign system which does not represent their home culture nor beliefs in the way that their home system would.

Key points to remember when considering a profession in international teaching included acknowledging the challenge of living and working abroad, researching the school, package, and cost of living, not underestimating what you have to offer, and Weeks’ concluding point: “Don’t be afraid to come back!” Students considering teaching abroad in international schools found the session hugely informative, with plenty to think about.

Teaching LGBTUA+ content in schools: an ethnographic approach

Rowan-Lancaster is an LGBTUA+ teacher educator, previous PSHE coordinator, and current teaching member on the Primary team at the University of Warwick. Their ongoing EdD research explores trainee teachers’ fears in relation to teaching LGBTUA+ content in schools, and in the talk on Monday they shared some of the potential reasons behind these fears.

Some of the data Rowan-Lancaster has begun to analyse so far shows that teacher fears include: students’ parents having an issue with the content; not having support from their senior leadership team; accidentally offending LGBT families; using incorrect terminology; not meeting their teaching and professional standards; and concerns linked to social media, such as what the consequences might be in their local communities, and whether parents will broadcast the issue on social media. Overall, teachers did not want to blur their personal and professional lives, an issue also explored in Davies’ keynote presentation.

Rowan-Lancaster hopes that their research will have a lasting impact in schools in reassuring trainee teachers that the equality act and their universities are supporting them. They would like to see less fear in teaching LGBTUA+ content in RSE, and hope that schools will start to see that leading ITT providers such as the University of Warwick have a clear focus in social justice, and will follow suit. Rowan-Lancaster acknowledges that social and structural change such as this inevitably takes time. The presentation was objective, focussed, and left students feeling optimistic about the future of teaching.

Abigail Ball : 08 Feb 2021 16:02 |  Tags: Jen Rowan Lancaster Kirsty Weeks Research Teaching |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

RiA Conference Review – part one

The show went on this year with the University of Warwick Centre for Teacher Education’s seventh annual Research in Action Conference. Unlike any before, the 2020 RiA Conference was held virtually via Blackboard Collaborate online meeting rooms, of which students could pick and mix which links to click, or rather, which talks to attend. This allowed students to explore a variety of current issues and initiatives within educational research in the comfort of their own homes (and slippers) ranging from the implications of class and colonialism in international schooling, to how teens feel when their Nan comments on their social media posts.

The conference aims were to help trainees get a feel for what educational research is, and to understand how being research-engaged can enhance our professional development. The day went smoothly and was received well by students, who felt that the talks were informative, easy to access, and refreshing at the end of a long and stressful first term. Here are overviews of the talks I attended, and what some students thought about them.

Keynote: The Trust Revolution in Schools – Jeanie Davies “We are the revolution. We are the culture […] It is in every one of us.”

Davies’ keynote presentation on building revolutionary school cultures was an excellent start to the day, with many students noticing their enthusiasm for the subject, and commenting on how informative and reassuring they found the talk. Davies’ background in international business helped train her eye to recognising toxic cultures, but it wasn’t until they progressed into teaching that they had the language to describe the experience. Davies’ upcoming book The Trust Revolution in Schools (2020) details the importance of vulnerability and the capacity to show up as we are when navigating our professional and personal relationships. As trainee teachers, some of the statistics that Davies enlightened us to were shocking; in 2017, the number of teachers leaving the profession was higher than those entering for the first time since records began, and currently, 20% of NQTs are leaving the UK state sector within their first 2 years. Davies argues that a revolution is necessary, and that it is in our hands to bring one about. It may be true that it is a British tendency to avoid the Zone of Uncomfortable Discussion, or to flee toxic cultures by calling in sick, but so long as we do not believe that growth and change are possible, they never will be. Davies calls on teachers and leaders alike to cultivate trust-based cultures in schools, promising outcomes of collaboration, up-skilling one another, improved teaching and learning, but most importantly a higher state of wellbeing for all.

Getting published: a workshop aimed at helping you to get published – Kate Mawson “You only need to do it in order to have done it”

Mawson’s workshop style event advised trainees on how to maximise their publishing opportunities, and was open to people from all areas of education, whether aiming to publish academically or non-academically. The session was constructive, with clear examples of Legitimate Peripheral Participation (LPPs) which trainees could look out for as ways to enhance their professional identity. Mawson also discussed how LPPs can help to limit imposter syndrome when facing concerns about our own experience or relevance, particularly when comparing ourselves to ‘experts’, who Mawson claims are just further along their participatory journey than we are. They encouraged the trainees by telling us that we were more experienced than we realised, and Mawson’s biggest piece of advice for students trying to get into blogging and publication was to engage socially with this environment, but also, to “Just do it!”

Abigail Ball : 05 Feb 2021 09:56 |  Tags: Jeanie Davies Kate Mawson Research Teaching |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

7th Annual Conference on Research in Action report part two – Kymberley

Teachers are the revolution!

Jeanie Davies provided an exceptional talk on the root causes of why teachers leave the profession. With a brief overview of the origins of our eight primary emotions as humans, and our deep rooted need to stay connected to one another, Jeanie highlighted the importance of social capital and the need for a shift in school culture. Workload, accountability, Ofsted and government ideologies are just a few of the pressures teachers have to face, and this has generated an increase in fear and created a lack of trust between staff.

Jeanie’s overall message set the tone for the rest of the conference: the power of using research based evidence to apply positive change within education, lies with us. We are human. We are educators and teachers are the revolution!

Supporting the engagement of disaffected and disengaged learners/those with low academic self-esteem

An in-depth look into Becki Coombe’s research highlighted the importance of creating positive learning environments to increase pupil engagement of tasks within the classroom. Obstacles to learners’ progression were considered, and different methods of motivation such as providing a supportive structure, leading by example and the 5 R’s for a positive learning environment were explored.

Teaching Early Numeracy to Children with Developmental Disabilities

This presentation by Dr Corinna Grindle detailed the ‘Teaching Early Numeracy to Children with Developmental Disabilities (TEN-DD) approach. It effectively summarised the assessment and learning framework and interestingly discussed the implications. Corinna highlighted the lack of research and resources that is currently available, but with effective use of the TEN-DD approach, children with developmental disabilities can show significant improvement in attainment of skills.

Action research: Workload reform for teachers

This talk by Dr Deborah Roberts examined the current issue of the teacher and trainee workload. It featured key policy documentation from Ofsted and the Department of Education. Deborah effectively presented her research from a yearlong project, exploring methodology and findings, of an investigation of trainee experiences of workload on the PGCE. It also included an interesting summary of their reviews on workload reform initiatives.

Empowering preservice teachers to develop personal and professional resilience

This interesting presentation given by Georgina Newton and Dr Holly Heshmati explored the strategies that preservice teachers can implement to help with the development of personal and professional resilience. The session also included an insight into relevant and current research regarding teacher well-being and how we can boost this.

Attendees were introduced to the five aspects of resilience as a multi-dimensional construct and also focused on the exercise of agency in employing practical strategies to overcome daily challenges in the teaching profession.

This presentation continued with a discussion on the possible implications this could have on trainee teachers and the ITT education programmes, including school leaders and preservice teachers. The overwhelming message of this session was the focus on building a toolkit of resilience to be used within our professional lives.

The ethical teacher: Why character matters in the teaching profession

The session by Julie Taylor placed great emphasis on the importance of character. It provided a perceptive exploration of its impact on teachers, by considering the profession through an ‘ethical lens’. We examined the meaning of virtuous practice, and the positive impacts this can have on school ethos and teacher/pupil development. This was a very enlightening discussion that all teachers should consider within their own practice.

Abigail Ball : 26 Jan 2021 09:58 |  Tags: Becki Coombe Corinna Grindle Deborah Roberts Georgina Newton Holly Heshmati Jeanie Davies Julie Taylor Research Teaching |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

A report on the 7th Annual Conference on Research in Action – Kymberley

Annually since 2014, the Research in Action conference has been running to bring together educational researchers from across the midlands to help motivate, encourage and inspire teacher trainees. With a range of presenters, from the knowledgeable staff from Warwick, teachers of local schools, academics from other universities and professional researchers from external organisations, a vast number of a topics were covered so that all trainees were given the opportunity to understand what educational research could mean to them. How could they approach it throughout their careers? How could it enhance their professional development? With such a full, action-packed programme, each trainee was able to customise their own timetable throughout the day, and select specific topics of interest. The day was an enjoyable, educational experience, and there was something for everybody.

As teachers, we are all researchers in the classroom

Dr Nicola Crossley motivated the virtual room with her awe-inducing career journey. From teacher trainee to Director of Inclusion, Council Representative and Chair of the Women Leaders’ Network, Nicola really did show us that it is possible to achieve all our goals. Sharing her experience of balancing doctoral research with a full-time senior leadership role in school, the talk highlighted research opportunities available and also suggested ways in which teachers can engage in manageable, effective educational research. The main idea of Nicola’s speech was to encourage teachers to pursue research at any point within their careers. To be curious, inquisitive and to take risks. We should embrace any research opportunity that comes our way, after all, we are all life-long learners!

Engaging teachers and leaders in ongoing critical research, through the new Frameworks in ITT/E Core Content; Early Career; Ofsted; and beyond

In this session Dr Deb Outhwaite, FCCT investigated how to undertake research and work in a system that is ever-shifting. We looked at the changing landscape, and were provided with some helpful, practical tips as to how it is possible to continue engaging in critical research, while employed in a full-time teaching post.

Feedback not marking!

Dr Liz Pyne focussed on a teachers approach to feedback, Liz offered a revolutionary way to assess pupils work within the classroom. By using the ‘Meaningful, Manageable and Motivating’ approach, we explored how to plan our feedback for classes to improve teacher workload and effectively implement strategies such as self and peer assessment to increase impact. Liz placed a huge emphasis on the importance of changing our viewpoint into ‘providing beneficial feedback’ to pupils, and not just ‘marking’ work.

Re-imagining the school; where pedagogy and physical learning space align

This thought-provoking talk by Jake Lever openly invited attendees to critically reflect upon the design of learning spaces through the use of case studies in Early Years and secondary education. When giving a consideration to how pedagogy informs the design of learning spaces, we explored the implications this could have upon learning. It contained insightful ideas for those who are seeking to create stimulating learning environments within the classroom.

This event is one that is not to be missed! Approaching topics such teacher wellbeing, behaviour management, diversity and inclusion, all attendees will have learned something new to implement within their own practice. With the variety of extraordinary research on offer, the stimulating information from knowledgeable educators, and the wide range of ideas created through discussion, you can only seek to benefit from the Research in Action Conference. Learning from each other and sharing in each other passions, is what research education is all about, and I would not hesitate to recommend this conference to all future trainee teachers. The theme of this conference is to see how research is effectively used within practice to improve all aspects of education, and that research comes from educators and from us. Teachers are the revolution!

Abigail Ball : 20 Jan 2021 10:06 |  Tags: Deb Outhwaite Jake Lever Liz Pyne Nicola Crossley Research Teaching |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

A Review of the 2020 CTE Research in Action Conference by Carl

Writing about web page https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/cte/students-partners/students/riaconference2020

Conference highlights and lessons learned

When deciding which sessions to attend, it came down to a matter of what I felt would benefit me most as an educator. I knew that, coming into the conference, I was interested in going on to do further research after my PGCE. My subject specialism, history, was also taken into consideration – I wanted something I felt would have an impact in my lessons.

As a start to the conference, I found Jeanie Davies' keynote presentation to be informative and thought-provoking. Not only did she highlight some of the current issues facing the education sector, such as the retention crisis, but she also concisely verbalised a topic that I’ve found is ofttimes hard to describe – that of culture within schools. Using her Trust Revolution Model, Jeanie Davies discussed both the rise of fear-based cultures, how they arise, and how to lead a trust-revolution to inspire change in a schools culture. She also gave helpful advice on how to assess whether a culture matches your values when applying for NQT roles.

Dr Marcelo was my most enjoyed session of the conference – it was clear how passionate he was about inspiring students and helping them be excited about not knowing. Dr Marcelo argued that the key to this is how we create the conditions that enable the children to want to learn - enthusing them to want to learn and want to know. Whilst I can’t discuss the entire session in so few words, to sum it up, it was a transformative experience that made me rethink my approach to questioning; especially the dreaded answer of ‘I don’t know!’

As a queer teacher with a passion for LGBT+ rights within education I have realised there is a limited amount of literature available – which is why I found Jen Rowan-Lancaster’s session so interesting. It was inspiring to see people within the field pushing research forward. This session was complimented greatly by Carol Wild’s presentation. I found that where Jen’s was an informative indepth study, the greater breadth of Carol Wild’s session allowed me to leave the conference with a clearer sense of direction for my academic career after the PGCE.

As a Secondary History PGCE student, I also felt that attending Dr Alison Morgan’s session allowed me to look at history education through a different perspective. The workshop style of the event was one of its strengths, especially when analysing the Peterloo Massacre through different lenses. It gave attendees the opportunity to experience the other side of the classroom beyond the teachers desk. The session did require some level of knowledge on different theories. However, whilst some pre-reading may have been beneficial, this did not stop anyone accessing the session.

The 2020 CTE Research in Action Conference was a good opportunity for trainees to experience and engage with some of the latest research. At the end of a long-term, faced with unique challenges, it re-energized me as I was able to talk and discuss exciting topics with experienced professionals.

Abigail Ball : 11 Jan 2021 11:48 |  Tags: Alison Morgan Carl Roberts Carol Wild Jeanie Davies Jen Rowan Lancaster Marcelo Staricoff Research Teaching |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

BERA blog

The BERA blog was established in 2015 to provide accessible research informed content for the wider public on important and topical educational issues. Current posts include identifying the potential impacts of Covid-19 on school-based sexuality education and the Black Lives Matter movement in education.

https://www.bera.ac.uk/blog

Abigail Ball : 16 Jun 2020 17:00 |  Tags: Bera Research |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Reading for Wellbeing – Kate Glavina

I have often shared with trainee teachers the analogy promoted by Professor Sims Bishop of books being ‘windows, mirrors, and sliding doors’ and how important these concepts are in terms of the range and diversity of books shared with pupils in school. ‘Windows’ is to do with ‘looking out’ – it is the idea that the books we give children offer views of the ‘worlds of others’, beyond their own reality. ‘Sliding doors’ is to do with stepping beyond the view from the window – enabling children to enter (albeit imaginatively) the world of the book to experience a different reality. ‘Mirrors’ is to do with book choices including texts that mirror and reflect the child’s own reality so that the pages of the book value and validate who that child ‘is’. In other words, the child is looking back at themselves. The combination of ‘mirrors, windows and sliding doors’ is a powerful way of encapsulating the different ways in which books enable children to enter new worlds, visit new places, inhabit the lives of characters and, most importantly, learn to empathise by ‘walking around ‘in someone else’s shoes’. These are surely undisputed reasons for all schools providing pupils with a rich range of texts and a wide range of reading experiences, including time in the day for independent reading and for being read to.

A further reason for parents and educators to recognise and understand the importance of encouraging children to read is the fact that research by The Reading Agency has found reading can benefit our wellbeing and help us to make social connections. Research suggest that people who read regularly are more satisfied with life and more likely to feel that the things they do are worthwhile. Reading for pleasure can improve relationships and reduce symptoms of depression. Considering these research findings in relation to children, it seems fair to suggest that emotionally, books can offer children dual benefits – they can be an opportunity for the reader to become rapt and delighted in an ‘escape’ from the ‘real world’ into a magical, fantastical one. Equally, books can be transformative for children who are feeling isolated, worried and vulnerable, in the way that they can offer children scope to share and identify with a character who is depicted as sharing similar ‘life challenges’. Jacqueline Wilson highlighted this exact point recently, emphasising the power of books to reassure children experiencing difficult times, helping them to feel that they are not ‘alone’. In terms of wellbeing, then, the world of books has the scope to provide both reassurance to children and a sense of ‘connection’. More generally, books which invite and enable children to enter the lives of others and inhabit their concerns and preoccupations – whether mirroring their own or not - can be a key antidote to the inward-looking, self-absorption which is engendered by many social media platforms which isolate and create anxiety for many youngsters in our classrooms.

At a time when the Education Inspection Framework is placing an emphasis on reading for pleasure and schools will consequently be reviewing their reading programmes, it is timely to build on the issues around diversity of text selection and opportunities for reading and to make explicit to parents and educators, the role books play in promoting emotional wellbeing. What should we be doing? What messages should we be sharing? Perhaps a key message to convey to parents is that ‘family encouragement’ to read beyond early childhood is invaluable. In areas of social disadvantage where literacy levels may be low and some parents may be holding enduring negative memories of reading themselves, teachers could invite them to share story time during the school day so they can observe ‘how it’s done’ and recognise that sharing a book is not a threatening or difficult thing to do. Class and school libraries should offer diversity in their stock so that both teachers and pupils have ready access to books which reflect important themes and highlight pertinent issues. Steadily, in these ways, it is possible for schools to develop a culture in which it is routine for staff, children and parents to reach for a book for solace, ‘company’ and understanding. That is to say, in terms of supporting children’s wellbeing, the power and potential of reading has never been more important.

Abigail Ball : 28 May 2020 13:12 |  Tags: Reading Research Teaching |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Digifest 2020 part three – Abigail Ball

Where they have been made available, the slides for the various sessions are on the link below:

https://www.jisc.ac.uk/events/digifest-10-mar-2020/programme

Exploring digital wellbeing

Alicja Shah and Heather Price from JISC ran a workshop introducing JISC’s new definition of digital wellbeing. They got workshop participants to create digital wellbeing trees looking at the challenges organisations face in this area and what the possible solutions to those challenges might be.

Practical approaches to building the digital capability of staff and students

Lisa Gray (JISC), Elizabeth Newell (University of Nottingham) and James Kieft (Activate Learning) discussed their practical experiences of building the digital capability of their students and staff. They outlined the approaches they’ve taken and identified benefits, lessons learnt and next steps. All of these presentations centred around using the JISC Discovery Tool.

Supporting student wellbeing through our virtual learning platform

Kim Blanchard and Faz Masters both from Activate Learning introduced how they have used their VLE to support their learners on their journey at the college. They explained how they have developed key dimensions of core wellness for their students:

• Occupational
• Physical
• Intellectual
• Emotional
• Social
• Spiritual
• Environmental
• Financial

And how students can gain badges for the different topics.

Making a learning environment accessible to everyone

In this session Alan Crawford a Microsoft Learning consultant, discussed how to make content accessible in Windows 10. Points discussed included:

• The mobile accessibility deadline on 23rd June 2021
• Using building blocks for coding
• Using the translator functionality – which literally translates word for word (not into meaningful phrases)
• Eye control/narrator
• Dictate
• PowerPoint Designer
• Accessibility checker
• Office accessible templates on the web
• Accessibility Insights on Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge
• Automated transcripts from videos (not as accurate as you would hope)
• Immersive reading in Office 365
• Wellbeing in My Analytics
• PowerPoint Coach
• Accessibility Insights 10
• The importance of using meaningful display names in hyperlinks

The closing keynote was cancelled.

*These notes are my own personal reflections and have not been endorsed by JISC or the individuals who presented the sessions.

Abigail Ball : 18 May 2020 16:19 |  Tags: Assessment Research Technology |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Digifest 2020 part two – Abigail Ball

Where they have been made available, the slides for the various sessions are on the link below:

https://www.jisc.ac.uk/events/digifest-10-mar-2020/programme

Digital imposter syndrome - Theresa Marriott, digital learning technologist, Bishop Grosseteste University and Kate Bridgeman, teaching enhancement officer, University of Hull

I was quite interested in this session because of the nature of my role and because I am co-lead of the WIHEA Third Space Professional Learning Circle. Many third space professionals view themselves as imposters (although interestingly not with the negative connotations that this presentation implied) so I wanted to see if the presenters had a different perspective to add to the topic. They talked about recognising the signs of digital imposter syndrome including feelings of inadequacy when faced with something new, fear of failure and avoidance. They then moved on to discuss positive steps to help overcome digital imposter syndrome including coaching, the use of a safe/neutral workspaces and drop-in and open-door policies.

Bridging the skills gap: a novel approach to delivering academic skills support

Catriona Matthews from the University of Warwick talked about her experiences of running a pilot programme in an undergraduate classics module, to bridge the student transition skills gap between school or college and university.

Leveraging tech to close student support gaps

Vygo is a mobile platform that enables peer-to-peer tutoring and mentoring for university students via what it calls ‘local tutoring marketplaces.’ Vygo has a mobile app which allows students who need support to contact other students who can provide that support. Joel Di Trapani, co-founder of Vygo and Professor Jonathan Shaw from Coventry University talked about Coventry University’s approach to student support and how they have used Vygo to enable this.

Blackboard Ally

I saw an interesting piece of software at Digifest called Blackboard Ally. This helps staff to make digital content more accessible for students. It works with Moodle; it automatically checks content against WCAG2.1 and AA rules and it generates alternative formats such as semantic HTML and audio braille. This is something that needs to be considered at an institutional level rather than at a departmental level, so I will be encouraging the central Academic Technologies team to explore this further, as I think it is important for our students, particularly in this increased time of online learning.

Digital transformation: the bear in the room – Lindsay Herbert, author of Digital Transformation

According to Lindsay, real transformation comes from tackling problems that matter, but we spend far too much time and energy on ‘elephant in the room’ type problems instead. She argues that we need to tackle ‘the bear in the room’ to create lasting innovations with wide-reaching impact.

Lindsay introduced us to the five stages of personal digital transformation (denial, fear, anger, delight and attachment) and then went on to talk about the BUILD acronym. BUILD is essentially the five stages that all successful transformations have, namely:

1. Bridge [the gaps between your institution, its stakeholders and the changes happening around it]
2. Uncover [hidden barriers, useful assets and needed resources to achieve the transformation]
3. Iterate [use short cycles, test with real users, improve gradually]
4. Leverage [use successes to access more resources, influence stakeholders and give yourself the space to scale up]
5. Disseminate [tell people what works and why]!

*These notes are my own personal reflections and have not been endorsed by JISC or the individuals who presented the sessions.

Abigail Ball : 11 May 2020 14:17 |  Tags: Assessment Research Technology |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Digifest 2020 part one – Abigail Ball

This event (which feels like an eternity ago given lockdown and all of the changes since then) took place across two days in mid-March in Birmingham. Where they have been made available, the slides for the various sessions are on the link below:

https://www.jisc.ac.uk/events/digifest-10-mar-2020/programme

Make way for Gen Z - Jonah Stillman, co-founder, author and speaker

This was an interesting keynote on day one where the very engaging Jonah, explained the difference between his generation (Gen Z) and other generations, such as Millennials or Baby Boomers. He described how Gen Z students:

1. are realistic
2. are driven (competitive)
3. suffer from FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) - which is why they always have their devices with them
4. are Phigital (yes apparently that is a real term and means they are comfortable with a blend of physical and digital experiences)
5. like to engage in hyper-customisation (which means they expect to be able to choose what they want to read/listen to/watch/eat and when they want to do this - think boxset binging and ordering take-aways)
6. Do It Themselves (are independent and happy to try give things a go)
7. are Weconomists (another new term which means they engage in a shared economy)

Whilst most of this was fairly light and quite tongue in cheek in some cases, the important point Jonah was making was that our universities are now multi-generational, and we have to accommodate these generations in our teaching practice. What works or worked for Millennials does not necessarily work for Gen Z students and we need to be much more aware of this. He did not provide answers per se, but he did raise awareness which I guess is the purpose of a keynote.

An evidence-based journey of digital transformation - Gavin McLachlan, vice-principal, chief information officer and librarian, University of Edinburgh

Due to the cancellation of the session I had planned to attend, I missed the first part of this session, but Gavin talked about the importance of digital culture and vision and how an institutional digital strategy needed to be aligned with the culture and vision of that institution. He also talked about the importance of having a digital e-safety policy and how the University of Edinburgh has developed a digital transformation programme which is composed of seven pillars:

1. Every educator is a digital educator (very apposite)
   
2. Every student is a digital student (it was almost as if he were psychic)
   
3. Every University service is a digital service
4. Every decision considers the available evidence
5. Everyone plans and updates their digital skills (particularly liked this one as Edinburgh mandates two digital skills courses per year; controversial I know but probably necessary especially given Covid-19)
6. Stop wondering about the future and start predicting the future (easier said than done)
7. Hyper-connected digital economy and digital community (again much easier said than done but a good aspitation to have)

If you would like to know more, Edinburgh have contributed a case study to the JISC website.

*These notes are my own personal reflections and have not been endorsed by JISC or the individuals who presented the sessions.

Abigail Ball : 05 May 2020 19:51 |  Tags: Assessment Research Technology |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem