Beyond the Technology

How Nigel Francis uses the Star Wars universe to explain complicated topics like immunology  We speak with Dr Nigel Francis, senior lecturer at Cardiff University, about his project,  immunology wars , which is a series of videos and illustrations that describes the basic functions of the immune system through the Star Wars movies. Simon explains how he first came up with the idea to explain immun...

Sarah Knight chats with consultants Helen Beetham and Sheila MacNeill about their recent review of learning and curriculum design in higher education. We chat with Helen and Sheila about the findings from their review, which included a desk-based literature review, a survey of over 155 professionals and 20 interviews with staff from within higher education. Alongside this, they also share examples...

We're joined by Simon Walker, Director of programme development at University College London, to discuss how they have moved to digital assessment by default. Simon starts by talking through the challenges they have been facing with assessment, including how they had previously recognised that it was out of kilter with the student's expectations for a modern education system. The pandemic enabled...

In this episode, we are joined by Professor David Nicol, Suzanne McCallum, Lovleen Kushwah and Nick Quinn from The Adam Smith Business School at the University of Glasgow to chat about how they are using comparison based feedback to improve their assessment and feedback practices. Professor David Nicol, Research Professor: Teaching Excellence Initiative, at The Adam Smith Business School, starts b...

In this third episode of our mini-series on rethinking assessment and feedback, we are joined by Karen Barton, director of the learning and teaching innovation centre at the University of Hertfordshire. Karen shares some of the feedback they have had from students on assessment including, providing authentic assessment, providing personalised assessment where possible and changes to the workloads/...

In this episode of our rethinking assessment and feedback mini-series, Sarah Knight chats with Danny Liu and Benjamin Miller about how they are adapting their assessment and feedback practices at The University of Sydney. Danny and Benjamin start by sharing some of the issues and challenges that an institution-wide review into assessment picked up, including assessment weighting, group work and as...

As part of our 'rethinking assessment and feedback' mini-series, Sarah Knight is joined by Gill Ferrell to chat about the newly released review into the UK assessment and feedback landscape in higher education. This episode forms part of our mini-series 'rethinking assessment and feedback' hosted by Sarah Knight. Over the next few months these episodes, Sarah will chat with experts from universiti...

In this episode, we chat with Rob Blagden, director of libraries, technology & information at the University of Gloucestershire. Rob talks through the steps his university took to bring over almost all of their exams online, sharing the successes and hurdles they encountered along the way. He also goes through the feedback received from staff and students on the process. We also discuss the future...

This week we chatted with Aftab Hussain, information learning technology manager at Bolton College, about Firstpass, an automated system that helps automate the marking and feedback of open-ended questions using artificial intelligence Aftab talks through the benefits of Firstpass, sharing how the system can help reduce the burden on teachers when marking formative assessments, whilst providing st...

This week Derfel Owen, Registrar and director of student and registry services at University College London, joins us to talk about how the university moved their exams online as part of a university wide digital assessment strategy. Derfel explains how and why the university chose to transition exams to online at such scale, providing more than 20,000 students with 1200 digital exams in Spring 20...

In this episode we are joined by Clare Killen, senior consultant for the business intelligence team at Jisc, to talk about the findings from the recently released HE and FE staff digital experience insight surveys. The annual survey polls over 6,500 teaching staff in further and higher education, looking into their experiences of using technology to support their teaching. Clare provides an intere...

Our guest this week is Debs Gray, Principal of Grimsby Institute, and Jisc trustee. She joined us to talk all about the college's trailblazing industry 4.0 programme. This episode is packed with advice about how to support staff and students to prepare for the workplace of the future, in terms of digital skills and making the most out of the tools you already have. Debs maintains a strong focus on...

We're joined by Dr Jill McKay, a senior lecturer of veterinary science education at the University of Edinburgh. Jill has completed some fascinating research into lecture capture, how students use recordings, and why. The data is really encouraging, so it's worth a listen to hear some of the benefits, in particular for students from widening participation backgrounds. As you'll be able to tell, th...

Dr Phil Anthony, learning technologist from the division of natural sciences at the University of Kent, joins us to talk about his international digital teaching best practice community, where sector professionals from all around the world now engage to share advice, experiences and ideas about teaching online and digitally. Phil is a brilliant guest, full of ideas and insights from what he's lear...

Dr Rachel Bolton-King is an associate professor of forensic science, in the department of criminology, policing and forensic science at Staffordshire University. She joins us to talk about remote delivery, and how to help students to engage when working online. Rachel covers how to ensure forensics students are fully engaged when working online and how to offer a truly immersive experience to stud...

Rob Blagden, director of libraries, technology and information at the University of Gloucestershire, joins us to talk all about the environmental impact of universities, and what can be done to address the climate emergency. You'll hear all about what the university is doing in terms of sustainable technology, making physical buildings and systems more eco-friendly, and educating students and staf...

This week we're joined by the fantastic Miranda Melcher, a teacher, researcher, author, and a fellow of the higher education academy. Miranda is currently completing her PhD on post-conflict military reconstruction at King's College London's Defence Studies Department, and she joins us to talk all about engaging students when teaching online. Miranda's enthusiasm for teaching is palpable. Her abil...

Dr Swati Virmani , senior lecturer in economics at De Montfort University , joins us to talk all about the importance of continuous professional development (CPD). An Associate Member of the Association for Learning Technology , she also holds an impressive list of qualifications from around the world. To share the varied experiences of pandemic teaching had by her colleagues, Swati co-created a m...

This week's episode is all about teaching students on the autism spectrum, with the incredibly inspirational and creative Charlotte Judd, from Weston Bay College . Weston Bay is the only residential autism training environment in the UK, and Charlotte paints a brilliant picture of what it's like to work, and study there. Everything from ensuring the wellbeing of students, to improving digital skil...

In this episode, we were joined by Keith W McIntosh, vice president for information services and CIO at the University of Richmond who is a keynote speaker at this year's Digifest. Coding graphic with text on top that says beyond the technology, the education 4.0 podcast. We spoke to Keith about his extensive work in diversity, equity, and inclusion, which includes his journey launching Intersecti...

In this episode we chat with Simon Hayhoe, Digifest speaker and author of six books on disability and the arts. His work is the subject of many international academic courses, and his specialisms are impressive and varied, from culture to disability, technology and teaching. We chat about his presentation at Digifest next week: accessible technology 4.0, inclusion 2.0 - what next? , as well as whe...

Back in November 2020, we chatted to Hannah Mathias , e-learning manager at Cardiff and Vale College , where they've created a personalised learning bot for GCSE Maths and English. Hannah runs through how the bot can be used by students, how it's programmed by staff, and how it can be used to support students to complete their work. Embedded into Microsoft Teams, teachers can easily add and tag up...

Our guest for this episode is Professor Parama Chaudhury, professor in the department of economics at University College London. Edtech fanatic, and departmental e-learning champion, Parama's enthusiasm about using technology to support teaching and learning is infectious. She shares an abundance of tips, as well as stories from her time teaching in America and the UK, and what she's learned along...

This week we speak to Hayley Mulenda , all about student mental health. Hayley is an award winning international speaker, author and change agent, who speaks openly about her struggles with mental health as a student, and how best to support students who need help.

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 al...