Graduates for our Future: post-conference notes and reflections

Have a look at these personal notes and reflections from Lis Parcell on Graduates for our Future, promoted as the first learning and teaching conference for Higher Education in Wales.

Around 170 participants packed out the Catrin Finch Centre at Glyndŵr University on 26 April for sessions linked to one of the three Welsh Higher Education enhancement themes: Students as Partners, Learning in Employment and Learning for Employment. For a press release summarising the day, including the keynotes, see the Academy website.

Establishment of a Review of Digital Classroom Teaching Task and Finish Group

 22 September 2011

Education Minister, Leighton Andrews, has announced a task and finish group to review the use of digital classroom teaching. The scope of the review will be to consider:

a) How high quality, accessible digital classroom content could be developed;

b) How the NGfL is used, and whether there is a more effective way to deliver the aims of NGfL;

c) Whether and how a cloud-based content delivery system (e.g. iTunes university model) would work alongside a VLE for Wales;

d) How high-quality English and Welsh language content could be generated;

e) How to develop Welsh Intellectual Property which can be used to deliver digital teaching content;

f) How teachers might develop the digital teaching skills to use ICT to transform schools.

The full written statement can be found here

Andrew Green, Chair of WHELF and Librarian of the National Library of Wales, is a member of the task and finish group.

Enhancing Learning and Teaching through Technology: refreshing the strategy

HEFCW have now published “Enhancing Learning and Teaching through Technology: refreshing the strategy”
http://www.hefcw.ac.uk/documents/publications/circulars/circulars_2011/W11%2032HE%20Enhancing%20Learning%20and%20Teaching%20through%20Technology.pdf 

Shortened, updated and with some revised longer-term indicators. 

“In publishing the strategy for enhancing learning and teaching through technology for higher education (HE) in Wales from 2007/08 to 2016/17 we recognised that it would need to be reviewed at regular intervals. This circular provides an update to the strategy to take account of changes in technology, the policy context and the HE funding regime.”

Future Directions: Learning & Teaching and Widening Access Strategies workshop

HEA workshop – presentations now online: http://bit.ly/i5EOwO

Tara Brabazon: The invisible support network

Librarians remain an often unseen and unappreciated element of good teaching and research. Tara Brabazon interviews an extraordinary one about the challenges the profession faces at the front line of scholarship in the 21st century:

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=414491&c=2

HEA Wales Newsletter – Spring 2010

Keep up-to-date with the latest news from the Higher Education Academy in Wales by reading their Spring 2010 newsletter.