2014 Events

13 Nov 2014 - Integrating digital literacy into the curriculum - Read More
Link to video recording and PowerPoint slides of this presentation

The world out there needs graduates who are 'producers of information and knowledge' rather than 'consumers of information and knowledge'. This means that graduates must be able to find and evaluate information; understand and use digital tools to collaborate, solve problems, and create and effectively share information. Without these 21st century digital literacy competences, graduates struggle to thrive in the knowledge-based economies and technology-driven world. The vast amount of information, for instance on the Internet, and the rapid development of information and communication technology (ICT) that is used for information and knowledge communication, make it compelling for higher education students to be digital literate.
 
In this session, we will share ideas of how academics could integrate digital literacy into the curriculum in order to produce graduates who have ICT, information and learning/academic capabilities. This seminar will be presented by Tabisa Mayisela from the Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching.

6 Nov 2014 - Why ePortfolios in your course for 2015?​
Link to video recording and PowerPoint slides of this presentation

Are you teaching a course where students need to compile evidence of their learning? Perhaps to showcase collections of work to stakeholders outside of the University?

ePortfolios allow students to curate different forms of evidence using a variety of media in an online space. What makes ePortfolios unique are their portability and the ability to tell a story about one’s learning journey in a time-stamped way that a paper portfolio is often unable to do. They can also be shared online with an audience beyond the University, such as with potential employers. This seminar will locate ePortfolios within a broader continuum of online evidence of learning, explore these as a tool for a variety of purposes and how these purposes interface with course objectives and assessment.

ePortfolios have been used in Higher Education for more than a decade for course assessments and to support the accreditation of professional degrees. More recently, ePortfolios have been used to prepare students for the workplace and allows them to showcase graduate attributes. Notably, the successful use of ePortfolios are most often derived from careful curriculum design and cannot be seen as a ‘tacked on’ technology.

By the end of the seminar, you will have a better sense of some of the myths, issues, questions and practical realities surrounding the use of ePortfolios in Higher Education. You will have a clearer idea about whether or not ePortfolios could be a relevant component of your course and the teaching and learning challenges they can and cannot address.

9 Oct 2014 - Bridging the gap: The use of video conferencing to support higher education
Link to audio recording of this presentation

The world of video-conferencing is changing rapidly. The move to software endpoints and to virtualised backend infrastructure, as well as the near ubiquity of consumer V-C tools (Skype, FaceTime, etc.) together with development of new more efficient video-conferencing CODECs allows conferencing to move out of the meeting room to everywhere. While there are good examples of the use of conferencing tools in higher education, the fact remains that most conferencing vendors are still focussed on the business user. It is perhaps more difficult to understand the affordances of the various tools available and to make the appropriate choice to support higher education use cases that can include teaching and learning, research collaboration, and more traditional management functions. Some time will be taken to place the various conferencing and collaboration tools in context and to discuss the selection of the appropriate tool for the task in hand.

This seminar will present an overview of some of the recent developments in video-conferencing that may have a relevance to an academic setting, and will showcase some examples of these new approaches in action. In particular, the seminar will highlight the work of networks in physics and mathematics research and teaching which are leveraging the power of these tools to enable programmes and collaborations that would be impossible without them.

Finally the seminar will offer some thoughts for discussion on what it may make sense to offer to the SA HE sector going forward in the way of centrally procured and delivered video-conferencing services.

This seminar will be presented by Robert Bristow who is the Senior Co-Design Manager at Jisc (and currently working with Tenet).

25 Sep 2014 - What is happening with ICTs in a high school in the Western Cape? Teaching with Teachnology at Norman Henshilwood High School
Link to video recording and PowerPoint slides of this presentation

What digital skills do first year students have when they arrive at university? How do they use technology for learning? How has technology changed their view and expectations of being taught?  What will characterise the digital divide in the near future?  These are some of the questions tertiary institutions are grappling with in an ever changing environment.

To provide input into some of these questions we have Shandre Otto, the deputy principal of Norman Henshilwood  high school, who will talk us through the school’s  ICT  journey over the last three years. She will also discuss where they currently are with their teaching practice relating to ICT’s in the classroom.

All questions relating to the technical aspects of this ICT project will be handled by Mr van Heerden from the school’s IT Department.

11 Sep 2014 - Virtual Clickers for Engaging Students - A quick lunchtime SlamShop

A classroom response system allows a lecturer to rapidly collect and display responses from students in a class session. This session will very briefly outline possibly approaches to using virtual clickers as well a snapshot of current virtual clicker options. Participants will have an opportunity to experience using virtual clickers as well as ask questions and share experiences. If you have a web enabled mobile device please feel free to bring it along. Please ensure that it is set up for web access. This SlamShop will be led by Ian Schroeder from the Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching

28 Aug 2014 - Learning Design - A step-by-step guide to designing an online course
Link to video recording and PowerPoint slides of this presentation

Most of us have a system for designing an on-campus programme. There are forms to fill out, materials to prepare and schedules to create. Even if you get stuck, there is usually a colleague with sufficient experience of the process who can help and advise. But when you make the decision to offer your course in an online format, where do you start? How do you design an online course that will be pedagogically sound? This presentation will introduce you to the field of learning design, and provide you with an overview of designing an online course for the first time.

This seminar will be presented by Robbert Paddock, the co-CEO of GetSmarter, a specialist online education company.

21 Aug 2014 - Stop MOOCing about! Time to get serious about online learning!
Link to video recording and PowerPoint slides of this presentation

iTunes U offers the world's largest catalog of educational content from top education institutions worldwide (32 countries), with over 7,500 public courses across all disciplines. From the likes of Harvard, Cambridge, Oxford, the Museum of Modern Art, London School of Economics, Kyoto University and more; to hundreds of K-12 schools, museums and art galleries, including the Smithsonian Institution to the British Film Institute via the Aquarium of the Pacific.

But there is another side to iTunes U. The ability for any educator to create courseware for their students which, unlike a MOOC which requires the learner visit the relevant website on a regular basis, actually pushes content to a learners iPad. And with the ability to link to existing content in the form of MS Office docs, iWork docs, PDF’s, movies, audio, web links, links to existing courses in iTunes U, Apps from the App Store, ePubs and more, anyone who can create a Facebook post is capable of creating an iTunes U course. No programming required.

This seminar explored the capabilities and potentials of iTunes U for higher education and was presented by Alan Goldberg, the director for educational implementation of Apple technology at Digicape.

14 Aug 2014 - Assessment of Online Conversations
Link to video recording and PowerPoint slides of this presentation

The use of online spaces (forums, conversation spaces, and the like) as a platform for students to engage in the content and process of learning is growing. Whilst these spaces are often used relatively informally – as opportunities to allow students to share insights about concepts; discuss ideas about course content; respond to particular challenges presented to them by lecturers – it might also be possible to use them more formally. Questions then arise about whether it is desirable and possible to develop ways of assessing the contents of these conversations. This seminar introduced and grappled with the possibilities and challenges presented by the process of assessing online conversations. Sub-topics that were explored were: (1) formal and informal approaches to this kind of assessment; (2) the impacts of assessment on this kind of learning; (3) the possible focuses of the assessment; and (4) the design, development and mediation of assessment feedback.

This seminar was presented by Alan Cliff from the Centre for Innovation in Teaching and Learning

7 Aug 2014 - Understanding the Language of Video
Link to video recording of this presentation

Video has fast gained popularity as an education tool but are we using it effectively? How much thought and process is going into our preparation for video-recorded lessons? Can we emulate the classroom setup on video? This presentation looked at the visual styles and framing that video often takes, specifically looking at the composition of the frame and the content that the educator chooses to show his/her audience at any given point during the runtime and its suitability to a fast-paced and easily irritable audience. What does the ‘You’ on ‘Tube’ really look like? 

This seminar was presented by TinaShe Makwande (Digital Learning Materials Designer) from the Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching (CILT) at UCT.

6 Jun 2014 - Online Presence & Learning Networks in a Connected World - Read more
Link to video recording of this presentation

What is your digital footprint? Are you aware of your digital shadow? Trying to stay current in your areas of research? Busy finding and collecting the needle in the connected haystack?

These questions are very much a product of the connected world that we live in. This seminar explored ideas and tools relating to developing and maintaining your online presence. Also explored were the Professional Learning Networks (PLNs) that have become crucial tools for identifying information and building knowledge in a world awash with a multitude of information technology options. This seminar was led by Sarah Goodier (OpenUCT) and Ian Schroeder (CILT).

29 May 2014 - Pinterest: Exploring the Options for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education - Read more
Link to video recording of this presentation

Pinterest is an online platform that is making a huge buzz in the world of social media. Focusing on the visual component, Pinterest attracted a huge number of internet surfers and within a few months after its launch, its user data base counted millions. People tend to favour visual attractiveness over the textual one. This is probably understood given how the mind easily and quickly processes and stores visually encoded data compared to the written code.

Pinterest has some educational potential that we need to capitalise on in our teaching. There are several ways to use Pinterest for educational purposes. The seminar explored the different ways in using Pinterest for collaboration, resources, conversation and following the latest trends e.g. learning and teaching.

The seminar was presented by Rondine Carstens from the Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching at UCT.

21 May 2014 - Digital Storytelling in Higher Education - Read more
Link to video recording of this presentation

Digital storytelling has entered Teaching and Learning in Higher Education as a way of engaging the 21st century learner, to deepen reflection, promote digital literacies and to provide an authentic way to knowledge acquisition. Digital stories are short digital movies, combining narration, text and images. From a small pilot in the School of Education and Social Sciences in 2010, digital storytelling has now been integrated in more than 15 courses across all Faculties at CPUT. In this seminar Daniela Gachago introduced some of the models of digital storytelling developed at her institution, including content-based and personal narratives, differing widely in terms of topic, support, time spent, and technologies used. She shared research findings emerging from this project and discussed some of the lessons learnt.

This seminar was presented by Ms Daniela Gachago, Senior lecturer Educational Technology Unit, Fundani CHED, Cape Peninsula University of Technology.