Digital Ed

Reimagine Education - A Microsoft Education Digital Event
2023-02-09 17:00 - 17:45 (Europe/Dublin) | Virtual
Hear from innovative schools and educators around the globe, along with Microsoft leaders, including CEO Satya Nadella, on how we can empower every learner to achieve more.
In this event, we will showcase how schools are using technology, including some new tools to improve reading, writing, math and communication skills to prepare students for their future.

IELOL (2023 Cohort) Informational Webinar
2023-02-09 19:00 - 20:00 | Virtual
This webinar, co-hosted by Dylan Barth and Katie Schuster of OLC and J. Garvey Pyke and Lynn Wahl of UNC Charlotte, will highlight the cohort-based professional development program designed for new and experienced leaders in the field of digital and online learning. The session will provide an overview of the program and its faculty, the format of the program’s four phases, time commitment, program objectives, and participant experience will be discussed. Participants will learn about the application process and timeline to prepare a successful application submission. Questions and comments are welcomed.

MoodleMunch: Presentations on DCU's hybrid university transitions programme and ICGP's blended learning curriculum development journey
2023-02-14 13:00 - 14:00 | Virtual
In this webinar, Dublin City University and the Irish College of General Practitioners will deliver presentations:
DCU will present on its hybrid university transitions programme for all new students and how Moodle underpins it (DigCompEdu competence 3.2 ‘Guidance’)
ICGP will share its story of embarking on a blended learning curriculum development journey, with Moodle at its core to support national and regional learners (DigCompEdu Area 3 ‘Teaching and Learning’)

Cultivating Deep Learning Using Discussion Boards
2023-02-15 19:00 - 20:00 | Virtual
Asynchronous discussion boards are a common tool used by instructors in online courses. These forums can provide an outlet to foster the interaction and collaboration that are sometimes lacking in an online learning environment. When students are engaged in conversations in these settings, the asynchronous nature of discussions can provide them with time to reflect on their responses before interacting with their peers in a way that is often not feasible in a face-to-face discussion. In this way, when it is used well, the discussion board can offer the ideal blend of reflection and collaboration that promotes the construction of knowledge in an online learning environment.
However, while its asynchronous nature can have the positive outcome of promoting deliberation, it can also result in periods of inactivity as students wait for responses from their peers that then leave them scrambling to interact with one another as the discussion deadline draws near. Text-based online discussions have been critiqued for their generally antisocial and impersonal nature. Additionally, the structure of some types of discussion prompts are not conducive for supporting deep and meaningful conversations.
During this webinar, we’ll begin by reflecting on why the discussion board has become a staple practice within an online learning environment and if it is anathema to suggest abandoning it altogether. We will explore several different structures and ways to classify online discussion prompts and what research suggests that some of those structures are good for and not-so-good for. For example, which types of discussion prompts are better at encouraging students to exchange ideas? Which are better at facilitating critical thinking? Which seem to be good only at generating lower levels of thinking? We will engage in conversation around ‘What makes a good discussion question?’ before identifying the characteristics that have been shown to be successful at generating engagement and pushing students to think critically. We propose three main structures for effective discussion prompts that will each be examined in greater depth.

Online Mentoring for Faculty and Students: Building a Community of Support
2023-02-22 19:00 - 20:00 | Virtual
This session will provide insights into mentoring for faculty and students in online education programs, or for those considering a more traditional mentoring program delivered predominantly online. The presenters will discuss a variety of faculty and student mentoring programs for higher education, along with relevant best practices and examples of effective and successful implementation. This webinar will highlight the rationale for mentoring, characteristics of effective mentors and mentees, how to structure or organize programs, and will detail the core elements for setting up and running online mentoring programs. This presentation is largely based on the presenters’ book “Best Practices for Mentoring in Online Programs: Supporting Faculty and Students in Higher Education (2022)” as part of Routledge’s Best Practices in Online Teaching and Learning series.

Yes, You Can! How to Successfully Contribute to the EDEN Conference
2023-03-01 15:00 - 16:00 | Virtual
This interactive webinar is designed to show that “Yes, you can” submit a paper for this year’s annual EDEN conference (18-20 June). We begin by introducing participants to the overarching conference theme of “Yes, we can” and five related sub topics. News is also shared of our exciting keynote and spotlight speakers and how they will contribute to the conference theme. The main part of the webinar is then designed to offer prospective authors and presenters an inside track on the different paper categories and how to successfully prepare their own conference submission. Members of the conference team share key tips and advice on what makes a great conference paper and how you can ensure your submission is accepted for the Dublin conference. This advice will be particularly helpful for doctoral students and those relatively new to preparing conference submissions. Finally, members of the local team offer practical information on the conference venue and provide travel and accommodation advice to help enhance your visit to Dublin. There will be an opportunity for participants to ask questions relevant to the conference throughout the webinar.

Beyond Belonging: Creating Online and Blended Spaces for First-Generation Students to Flourish
2023-03-01 19:00 - 20:00 | Virtual
Although first-generation students—those first in their families to pursue higher education—comprise a sizable portion of gateway (or general education) course enrollment, little, if any, attention has been given to the pedagogical approaches that might be used to meet the needs of this diverse student population (Baldwin et al., 2021). This webinar will focus on strategies and approaches that can be used to go beyond belonging to create inclusive academic experiences for first-generation students.
The webinar will begin with a focus on existing research on (and with relevance to) first-generation students and their academic experience (e.g., Baldwin et al., 2021), including contemporary research on levels of “first-generationness” (Darrah, Humbert, & Stewart, 2022), and theoretical frameworks (e.g., Yosso’s Community Cultural Wealth Model, 2005). Information about gateway courses and the gateway course impact on students identifying as first generation will also be discussed. This part of the presentation will include several reflective questions aimed at helping participants understand the nuances associated with first-generation student identities.

Open Education Week 2023 – “What Is the Future of Open Education?”
2023-03-06 16:00 - 17:30 | Virtual
In this panel session with policymakers and experts on open, online and distance education we will reflect on the present situation regarding open education. Open education is a philosophy, a way of carrying out education with the aim to widen access and participation to everyone by removing barriers and making learning accessible, abundant, and customisable for all. Open education is becoming ever more important in European higher education and on the global level as well due to the fact that digital technologies are one of the main driving forces behind education modernisation. So, why do we still need to discuss the benefits of open education? How pandemic, AI developments (especially chat GPT) and all other issues in the context of open education affected open education in a good or poor way? How can we make open education more visible and actual and did it become mainstream? We do have numerous examples of best practices, great projects on open education, initiatives, documents and policies. Nevertheless, numerous teachers are still unaware of open educational resources and open educational practices and educational institutions do not implement the principles of openness in education or research. Join us and share your views on this topic.

NTUTORR SDG Drop-In Clinic
2023-03-07 09:00 - 10:00, 2023-03-14 09:00 - 10:00, 2023-03-21 09:00 - 10:00, 2023-03-28 09:00 - 10:00 | Virtual
NTUTORR SDG Clinics are available to support educators who are interested in participating in the Teach-In campaign.

Open Education Week 2023 – “Hybrid and Virtual Learning Spaces”
2023-03-07 13:00 - 14:30 | Virtual
The webinar builds on the work conducted by members of the Education Innovation Working Group of the Coimbra Group on innovative learning spaces. Hybrid and virtual learning spaces are increasingly planned, designed and evaluated for their rich instructional potential, especially in the context of transnational teaching and learning initiatives, but also as an effect of post-pandemic developments in higher education institutions.

Open Education Week 2023 – “Open Educational Practices as a Catalyst for Innovation”
2023-03-08 13:00 - 14:30 | Virtual
This webinar provides an introduction to the concept of open educational practices (OEPs) as a catalyst for innovation. Participants will gain an understanding of how open educational practices can be used to increase access to quality educational resources, foster collaboration, and encourage innovation. We will discuss the benefits of OEPs, the challenges associated with them, and the ways in which they can be implemented in educational contexts. Participants will also learn about the opportunities for educators to create and share open educational resources, as well as the potential impact of OEPs on educational institutions, communities, and society. Finally, we will explore how open educational practices can be used to promote equity, inclusivity, and diversity in education.

Open Education Week 2023 – “Sustainable Models of Education Post-Covid: The Case of Extended Squared (Exten(DT)2)”
2023-03-09 13:00 - 14:30 | Virtual
In this webinar, we are going to introduce and discuss the project “Extending design thinking with emerging digital technologies” funded by Horizon Europe and Innovate UK. Exten(DT)2 aims to enhance the pedagogical value of design thinking through the use of expressive digital media that are integrated with emerging technologies such as AI and analytics, AR and 3D printing. The project adopts a co-design and co-production approach closely working with teachers across six European countries (Sweden, Greece, UK, Norway, Ireland, Belgium) to design, test and tailor educational interventions that are sustainable and enable development of students’ 21st century skills. The four presentations of this webinar focus on: a) introducing the Exten(DT)2 project, 2) a critical perspective to design thinking, 3) presenting emerging digital technologies and how they can be used to digitise teaching, and 4) discussing how co-designing with teachers can bring innovation to educational curricula.

Open Education Week 2023 – “Applying and Translating Learning Design and Analytics Approaches in Your Institution”
2023-03-10 10:30 - 12:30 | Virtual
This interactive workshop delivered by the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Organisation and Informatics (UZ), School of Medicine, and the Open University UK (OU) will build on several large-scale implementations of learning design and learning analytics, and how you could potentially implement similar approaches in your institution.
For example, the OU has been implementing learning design for over 15 years as a structured design, specification, and review process for blended and online courses. The learning design is focused on “what students do” as part of their learning, rather than on “what teachers do” or on what will be taught. Building on this work, UZ has recently developed the Balanced Design Planning (BDP) tool specifically for educators working in hybrid and blended contexts. The tool (www.learning-design.eu/) is more focussed on intended learning outcomes and automated learning analytics and is currently developed and tested with 700+ practitioners from 25+ institutions as part of several European projects (eDesk, Teach4EDU, RAPIDE, iLED), and is publicly available for other institutions to use for free.
In this EDEN workshop we aim to showcase what we have learned from implementing the BDP concept and tool, and how we have further updated and fine-tuned the approach based upon both feedback from end users as well as participating institutions.

MoodleMunch: Presentations on Moodle and graduate mentorship and student peer review
2023-03-14 13:00 - 14:00 | Virtual
In this webinar, Dublin City University and Ilia State University, Georgia will deliver presentations:
1. DCU will present on how it uses Moodle to support a graduate mentorship programme involving internal and external users, drawing on the flexible Database activity (DigCompEdu competence 3.3 ‘Collaborative learning’)
2. Ilia State will present on its approach to using the Moodle assignment activity and rubric to facilitate student peer review (DigCompEdu competence 4.1 ‘Assessment strategies’)

Is the Learning Experience Significant? Using Fink's Taxonomy to (Re)Design and Evaluate Asynchronous Distance Learning Courses
2023-03-15 19:00 - 20:00 | Virtual
Evidence-based instructional strategies provide effective frameworks for designing both in-person and distance learning experiences that effectively achieve course learning outcomes. Fink’s Taxonomy of Significant Learning (FTSL) is an evidence-based instructional strategy originally developed for in-person courses that describes six kinds of learning goals which exist in interwoven domains. When learning experiences promote interaction between different domains, a significant learning experience that lasts beyond course completion is more likely to occur. For instructors teaching asynchronous distance learning courses, how can we design learning experiences that promote meaningful and long-lasting change in the learner’s life? And, how do we evaluate and assess said experiences?
During this session, we will explore both questions using pedagogical principles that connect with FTSL, as well as insights from a recent scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) study implemented during Autumn semester 2021. In the SoTL study, we evaluated if a student’s learning experience in a 100% asynchronous distance learning course designed using FTSL contributed toward positive changes in their health promotion behaviors that lasted beyond course completion. Preliminary findings from the SoTL study demonstrate evidence of student learning gains in five of six learning domains (foundational knowledge, application, integration, the human dimension, and caring; according to Fink1). Learning gains also connect with statistically significant shifts in some student health promotion behaviors, including strengthened behavioral intentions related to safe medication use, storage, and disposal, increased likelihood to avoid medication misuse behaviors, and increased confidence toward teaching others medication safety and helping others whose use of substances has them concerned.

AHEAD Annual International Conference - Unity: How Staff and Learner Communities Drive Inclusion in Tertiary Education
2023-03-23
The community of professionals working to support equity and inclusion of people with disabilities in further and higher education, and to promote the wider concepts of universal design and UDL, is growing at a rapid pace. Equally, the welcome trend towards increased student partnership in tertiary education is providing more opportunities for learners to contribute meaningfully to this community, and the dialogue about policy and practice within it.
But what does all of that mean for the state of play regarding inclusion in tertiary education and the consistency of learner support? Is this growing community meaningfully and positively impacting on policy, practice and ultimately, student success? If so, how can we more closely align our communities, raise the voices of diverse staff and learners with them, and maximise their collective impact?
As Ireland moves towards a more unified tertiary education system, and more unified communities of policy makers, professional staff, educators and learners within these sectors, this conference will explore individual, institutional, national and international views on how we can leverage the power of community to drive equity and inclusion in the tertiary education system.

Think Twice about your CV!
2023-04-11 12:00 - 13:00 | Virtual
GetAHEAD are running a free online training session exclusively for students and graduates with disabilities registered on our WAMWorks Database on how to build and write your CV.
Did you know it is reported that a recruiter or an employer may spend as little as 6 seconds when they first see your CV. Those 6 seconds could be the deciding factor in whether they will look at your CV in more detail or whether you will go into the ‘NO’ pile!
To make sure you don’t go into the ‘NO’ pile, come along to our short one-hour session and where you can make a good first impression on employers.
When: Tuesday, April 11th from 12pm Noon to 1pm
Remember, you need to register and let us know if you have any accessibility accommodations for this webinar.

Universal Design for Learning National Conference - Building a Culture of Inclusion in Higher Education: Overcoming obstacles to enahnce & sustain UDL collaboration in further and higher education
2023-06-01
This year Atlantic Technological University (ATU) and Munster Technological University (MTU) have united to deliver a National UDL Conference. The conference not only explores a whole Institute approach to UDL but draws on learning and reflection from the HEA Path 4 Phase 1 Project in which both Universities partnered on a work package considering leadership approaches to supporting UD. With increased evidence available on the effectiveness of UDL creating a more inclusive environment across classrooms in Further & Higher Education, this year we explore UDL from three key perspectives: Leaders, academics, and student services.

Unlocking the Potential: Exploring ChatGPT and AI Tools in Teaching Practice
2023-06-09 11:00 - 13:00 | Virtual
This is the first of a series of hands-on workshops that will look at the functions and limitations of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools. This workshop will outline use cases and key features of Chat GPT (an AI tool that generates text in a variety of languages, styles, and formats). For this online session you will take part in workshop activities, so please be prepared to participate on your device.
Read more about this event at the booking link below.

End of Year Tasks 22-23
2023-06-12 11:00 - 12:00 | Virtual
This session will cover all of the important end of year tasks for academics to ensure all of your content is backed up and ready for the next academic year. This will cover how you can backup content on Moodle, MS Teams related to your Moodle courses and MS Stream videos not saved to your OneDrive.

Re-imagining Assessment & Feedback for student success Project symposium
2023-06-16 09:00 - 13:30
The second ATU Re-imagining Assessment and Feedback for Student Success Symposium in the ATU Galway City Campus room 994.

Chat GPT & Artificial Intelligence Tools - Workshop 1
2023-09-08 10:00 - 12:00 | Virtual
This is a hands-on workshops on Artificial Intelligence tools such as Chat GPT to explore the key features and quirks of AI tools that generate content in a variety of languages, styles, and formats. This is one of two instances of this being ran in September to provide you with an opportunity try Chat GPT and test its potential impact on your specific discipline and teaching practices.

What's new in Moodle?
2023-09-11 11:00 - 12:00 | Virtual
If you are interested in learning what is new on Moodle for the 23-24 Academic year, book your place for this session on September 11th 2023.

Chat GPT & Artificial Intelligence Tools - Workshop 1
2023-09-29 10:00 - 12:00

Introduction to Teams
2023-10-05 10:00 - 11:00
For those new or returning to Microsoft Teams, we will look at basic features and how to use for teaching an online class

Student Engagement Tools: Vevox
2023-10-05 14:00 - 15:00
A quick demonstration of Vevox polling tool and how to use within powerpoint

Moodle Assignment
2023-10-09 11:00 - 13:00
Check with K & S
