Session 11 - What is the place of technology in research-led teaching?

Summary

Digital technologies are having a huge impact on the way research is done and the type of research question that can be addressed. They are also opening up the possibility of involving a broader spectrum of participants in the research process, including students and even the general public.

This session showcased different ways in which the use of digital technologies has enabled innovative teaching methods in different disciplines.

Participants were provided with practical demonstrations and had the opportunity to discuss what is possible through this sort of approach:

Training Paramedics in Second Life – Emily Conradi, Manager for e-Learning Innovation, St Georges University, London.

Finding it difficult to recreate paramedic work situations across different parts of the country, tutors developed an island in Second Life to allow students to work together as a paramedic team on different emergency scenes.  The scenario unfolds in response to the students’ actions and the web-based application running these decision-making scenarios is open source, enabling others to build their own training scenarios.

Teaching students with climate change models- Neil Chue-Hong, Director of the Open Middleware Infrastructure Institute UK.

Relatively small changes to advanced software can open up research to a wider group of participants, including students and even the general public. A climate change model is now available for teaching and public participation.

Relating Research to Practice – Dr Gilly Salmon Professor of e-Learning and Learning Technologies, University of Leicester.

The Beyond Distance Research Alliance researches new learning technologies and inspires lecturing staff to experiment with these technologies in the physical and virtual laboratory which is the Media Zoo.

Examples from JISC's work were shared and the session provided an opportunity for leaders from outside the UK to share their own perspectives on this issue.

Download the presentation.

The session was led by:

• Robert Haymon Collins
• Emily Conradi
• Neil Chue-Hong
• Dr Gilly Salmon
• Sheetal Kavia