EMLT Spring 2017 Round-up

The Spring 2017 EMLT event took place on April 5th at University of Derby around the theme of Universal Design: How learning technology can support inclusive learning and teaching. We had great attendance at the event and a jam packed agenda.

We started with an introduction to the day, helping to set the scene of the theme. The key message coming through that sometimes it is the simple things which can make a big difference.

Then we had presentations from the community. Unfortunately I forgot to record the presentations but the presenters have all kindly provided their slides to share.

Our first presentation came from Claire Chambers and Sally Hanford from the University of Nottingham on Keeping choices open.

Our second presentation was from Rob Weale from De Montfort University on Universal design for learning with technology.

Our third presentations was from Dave Foord from A6 Training who talked about inclusivity as the focus of design.

Our fourth presentation came from Dave Millichap from DigiExam who talked about Offering high stakes exams digitally.

Our final presentation came from John Couperthwaite from Echo360 who talked about Active learning the classroom and beyond.

We then had a break for tea and some more chatting before we had a go at an activity led by Johanna Westwood from the University of Derby, where we evaluated a series of resources for accessibility. This activity replicates one which is currently run with teaching staff and Johanna was looking for feedback from EMLT members about the activity and whether it could be improved. Members of the group really enjoyed this activity and could see the value of this for staff to enable them to understand why they need to consider some of the accessibility points raised within the activity. Some of the checklist resources used within the activity can be found at the Technology Enhanced Learning Blog.

We then took part in an app share around apps which people felt were useful for accessibility. Some of the apps of technologies discussed included OneNote, Office Lens, Sway, Trello, PebblePocket. There were lots more so I only managed to catch a few in my notes.

We then rounded off the session with information about ALTC, CMALT, and that the next event will take place in the summer at Loughborough University due to the kind offer to host from Philip Wilkinson-Blake. I look forward to seeing you there.