Swansea Academy of Learning and Teaching

Researchers at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) launched the Innovative Learning Environments project to turn an academic lens on the project of identifying concrete traits that mark innovative learning environments. They sifted through and categorized the research on learning science, documented case studies, and compiled policy recommendations they hope will transform the current system.

Aside from providing innovative, industry-focused programs delivered by highly qualified professionals and academics, there are five main areas to consider when creating an online course.

RubiStar is a free tool to help teachers create quality rubrics.

Webinar Date: February 19, 2013 17:00am - 17:45am While Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU) is the third largest school in the state, it covers more ground than any other university. The entire eastern part of the state, to be exact. In the dean's quest to make education accessible to the region's traditional, non-traditional and dual-enrollment students (high school students taking college courses), she had to think outside the traditional classroom experience.

The Report identifies key challenges for effective policy making and implementation in a rapidly changing, globalised, technology-rich, and densely networked UK. It focuses on implications for: crime prevention and criminal justice; health, the environment and wellbeing; skills, employment and education; preventing radicalisation and extremism; social mobility; and social integration.

E-learning and Digital Cultures Jeremy Knox, Sian Bayne, Hamish Macleod, Jen Ross, Christine Sinclair This course will explore how digital cultures and learning cultures connect, and what this means for e-learning theory and practice. Follow this course at #edcmooc.

 Building student engagement and belonging in higher education at a time of change: final report from the What Works? Student Retention and Success programme  Thomas, L. (2012) Building student engagement and belonging in higher education at a time of change: final report from the What Works? Student Retention and Success programme . Building student engagement and belonging in higher education at a time of change: final report from the What Works? Student Retention and Success programme, . (.). pp. 1-100. Abstract Analysis and evaluation on the most effective practices to ensure student retention and success in higher education, in particular for those students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

 Building student engagement and belonging in higher education at a time of change: final report from the What Works? Student Retention and Success programme Thomas, L. (2012) Building student engagement and belonging in higher education at a time of change: final report from the What Works? Student Retention and Success programme . Building student engagement and belonging in higher education at a time of change: final report from the What Works? Student Retention and Success programme, . (.). pp. 1-100. Abstract Analysis and evaluation on the most effective practices to ensure student retention and success in higher education, in particular for those students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Tool for gathering and collating informal leaning 

Featuring four towering limestone columns and classic Flemish-bond brickwork, the century-old Mackay School of Mines Building at the University of Nevada, Reno, has long served as a bastion of Silver State history. Named after Irish immigrant and "Comstock Lode King" John Mackay, notable touches such as a cast bronze statue designed by Mount Rushmore sculptor Gutzon Borglum just outside the building helped it earn a spot in the National Register of Historic Places. Within its oak doors, however, are the makings of an intriguing experiment that's decidedly more new school. Like a mini museum, a collection of 3D-printed models are displayed within the building's sunlit, three-story atrium -- attracting a mix of students and teachers. Even more popular than the displays of plastic gears and molecule models, however, are the two 3D printers that made them: a professional-grade Stratasys uPrint SE Plus and a hobbyist 3DTouch machine by 3D Systems Corporation.

This is the project blog for a JISC funded project - Evaluating assessment diaries and GradeMark at the University of Glamorgan. This project is part of the JISC Assessment and Feedback Programme. The programme has three strands. Our project is in Strand B where we will evaluate assessment and feedback related innovations which are already underway in a faculty or institution, and report on lessons for the sector.

"The Assessment and Feedback area of the Design Studio gives access to existing and emergent work on assessment and feedback of significant interest. Under a series of themes, you can explore what we currently know about enhancing assessment and feedback practice with technology, find links to resources and keep up to date with outputs from the Assessment and Feedback and other current JISC programmes."

Open textbook produced by JISC funded DFTE project and introduced during activity week at JISC e-Learning Conference 2012.

Facilitating the provision of detailed, deep and useful feedback is an important design feature of any educational programme. Here we evaluate feedback provided to medical students completing short transferable skills projects. Feedback quantity and depth were evaluated before and after a simple intervention to change the structure of the feedback-provision form from a blank free-text feedback form to a structured proforma that asked a pair of short questions for each of the six domains being assessed. Each pair of questions consisted of asking the marker 'what was done well?' and 'what changes would improve the assignment?' Changing the form was associated with a significant increase in the quantity of the feedback and in the amount and quality of feedback provided to students. We also observed that, for these double-marked projects, the marker designated as 'marker 1' consistently wrote more feedback than the marker designated 'marker 2'.

A Marked Improvement has been developed by a group of experts, working with the HEA to provide a strong rationale for transforming assessment in higher education. It includes an assessment review tool, offering a practical method to take stock of current practice and look to a targeted approach to strategic change. The publication also includes further resources for staff, which can be used to support changes to assessment policy and practice.

After six years of study, more than 3,000 student surveys, nearly 40 interviews, close to 700 anonymous written responses, and numerous observations of students in classes across four disciplines, Dr. Angel Hoekstra knows a thing or two about how to use clickers in the classroom

Course Builder is our experimental first step in the world of online education. It packages the software and technology we used to build our Power Searching with Google online course. We hope you will use it to create your own online courses, whether they're for 10 students or 100,000 students. You might want to create anything from an entire high school or university offering to a short how-to course on your favorite topi