Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching Effectiveness

A series of Plymouth University brief case study videos created by educators describing various personal good practices in teaching and learning inclusively. Additionally are provided a series of written case studies, to further explore inclusivity in teaching.

"In any discipline or field, a key goal as well as challenge is supporting the learning of all students despite their many differences. Through programs, consultations, and resources, CRLT supports teachers in creating learning environments where students of all identities and backgrounds can flourish." This website provides an endless supply of fresh resources regarding inclusivity, with one page of invaluable articles or links, leading on to more and more. Spending a little or a lot of time on this site will vastly increase your understanding of inclusive teaching, provide you with tools and ideas to implement, and provide you with some of the research that substantiates all that has been included on the site.

"Provide flexibility in how information is delivered and discussed such as giving instructions verbally and visually. Use a variety of teaching strategies, activities, and assignments that will accommodate the needs of students with diverse learning needs, abilities, backgrounds and experiences."

"Whether you're a faculty member interested in using digital tools, a graduate student looking for innovative ways to communicate your research, or an undergraduate student who just wants to learn more, you're welcome to stop in to the DRC anytime. The DRC offers industry standard hardware and software, rooms for you, your class, or your research assistants, support for your project or grant application, and information about new media classes available at the U of S. One of the core principles of the digital humanities is collaboration, so come find out how we can work together to meet your goals. "

"Open-source textbooks have been developed primarily in response to the rising costs of commercial materials. Concerns over quality and effects on learning have prompted numerous studies in this area. Based on the meta-analytic findings here, there are no meaningful differences in learning efficacy between students using open textbooks and students using commercial textbooks. However, students in courses with open textbooks appear to be less likely to withdraw. There are several limitations in research on open textbooks that indicate future research should consider K-12 students, the needs of students outside of the United States and Canada, and the potential moderating factors of student characteristics."

"More than a decade after Prensky's influential articulation of digital natives and immigrants, great disagreement exists around these characterizations of students and the impact of such notions within higher education. Perceptions of today's undergraduate learners as tech-savvy "digital natives" (Prensky, 2001a), who both want and need the latest emerging technologies in all learning situations, continue to dominate the discourse in education technology research and practice. Popular yet largely unsubstantiated conceptions of digital natives are often embedded within the assumptions of contemporary research on student perceptions of emerging technologies, seemingly without regard for a growing body of evidence questioning such notions. In order to promote critical discussion in the higher education community considering potential directions for further research of these issues, especially within the Canadian context, the purpose of this review of recent literature is to analyze key themes emerging from contemporary research on the Net generation as digital natives. "

"Universal Design is a framework which removes barriers on campus in order to broaden access to university services for ALL students.  Universal Design for Learning (UDL) specifically provides a blueprint for creating instructional goals, methods, materials, and assessments that work for everyone--not a single, one-size-fits-all solution but rather flexible approaches that can be customized and adjusted for individual needs."

This blog (as part of the Chronicle of Higher Education) explores the very important question about how you define internationalization (one of the key strategic areas for the U of S in the future)?

"Yes, Facebook privacy settings can be confusing, but here are some tips:"

10 quick ideas for how to use Twitter in your teaching.

"The benefits to a Wikipedia assignment are extensive. Asking students to interact with the largest reference work in the world creates a unique educational experience: namely, a Wikipedia assignment provides a real-life application of the skills and knowledge students develop in the classroom. Asking students to participate in a Wikipedia project challenges them to examine and refine the ways in which they interact with digital resources. Students must develop their media literacy as they assess the reliability of online sources, their online etiquette as they interact with editors around the globe, and their critical thinking skills as they identify articles that need improvement. When students edit articles, they must produce material that is relavant to Wikipedia and consumed by actual readers beyond their classroom. They are confronted with immediate feedback to their work and must learn how to collaborate with writers around the globe. "

Provides examples of how and where flipped teaching is being used in higher education contexts.

"The resources listed here can provide you with some quick ideas on key teaching topics or starting points to explore various aspects of teaching. You can browse through the table of contents below or use the search box above to search our site."

"...an extensive set of materials for transformed courses in the sciences here at the University of Colorado at Boulder. All materials are available to the public on a creative commons license." Includes: 1. Course Materials Archive 2. "Framing" Materials for the First Day (and Beyond) 3. Clicker and Learning Goal Workshop Materials for Facilitator

"Fun, interactive, research-based simulations of physical phenomena from the PhET™ project at the University of Colorado." These are great simulations to use in class or to have students use at home.

"Twitter is an online social networking tool in which users post 140 character updates of what is going on in their lives along with links to things they think are interesting, funny, or useful to their followers ("following" being essentially what "friending" is on other sites). People use twitter in many ways, some as a newsfeed by following prominent people or networks, some as a pseudo-chatroom by limiting their followers and whom they follow to close friends and family, and some as a microblog for updating people about the work they are doing and their personal lives."

"I wanted to share some additional thoughts on Cliff Atkinson's new book, The Backchannel, and its implications for higher education.  As I mentioned in my earlier post, the first chapter of the book is available online and provides a very clear introduction to the logistics and possibilities of the backchannel.  What might the backchannel look like in educational settings?  Here are a couple of examples."

"This page features innovative uses of online collaboration tools (OCTs) for teaching and course management. You can browse the full list or use the search criteria to find the examples most relevant to you. Click on any title for a full description or use the Links to watch short videos of faculty describing their teaching strategies and see examples. For a summary of practical recommendations for effectively implementing OCTs in one's teaching, see CRLT's Occasional Paper No. 31: Teaching in the Cloud: Leveraging Online Collaboration Tools to Enhance Student Engagement."