Monday, May 29, 2006

#1c LTA Conference (continued)

The podcast presents the last three conversations from the LTA Conference at Sheffield Hallam University.
Andrew Middleton speaks to Bob Steele about the 'Developing Games for Learning' project. This initiative was a Games for Learning awareness raising initiative, where Bob's undergraduate Visualisation students had been matched with academics across the faculties at SHU. Andrew and Bob are joined by two academics, Claire and John, who had been introduced to the project during the session. Together they discuss interprofessional learning, opportunities for commercial interest, and how the principles of student learning engagement map to game play.
Graham Holden, leader of the Assessment for Learning initiative, launched at the conference, discusses how current good assesssment practice can be developed.
Finally, Andrew meets up with Anne Nortcliffe. At the beginning of the day they had co-presented a session on Audio Notes. Andrew notes the way in which the audio files are used as 'Pre-vision' files, leading to deeper discussion in the lecture sessions that follow.

Thursday, May 25, 2006

#1b LTA Conference (continued)

More conversations from the Sheffield Hallam University LTA Conference 2006 which took place in Sheffield, UK on the 17th May.
Also a Call for Prticipation: Do you use ice breaker activities either in the classroom or online? Contribute your ideas for ice breakers to the Ice Breaker Pool being collated through this programme. E-mail lta-podcast.ac.uk with your techniques.
In this half hour podcast Andrew Middleton of the Learning & Teaching Institute speaks to academics, support staff and students attending the LTA Conference 2006. Andrew speaks to: Chris Glover (Assessment for Learning Initiative), Manny Madriaga (D&S), Andy and John (D&S students who took part in the European Challenge), Dave Crutchley (Head of LTA in HWB) and Peter Walder (D&S),Mike Bramhall (Head of LTA in ACES), Matt Spriggs (student on placement in the LTI),Viv Thom and Jackie Calkwell (both from the Learner Support Team in Student Services Centre), Dave Cotton (Careers, Student Support Services), Helen Bywater (HWB involved in the CIPL CETL), Richard Mather (LTI), Rob Appleyard (HWB), Lyn Clouder (from Coventry University, a partner in the CIPL CETL), Abbie Deeming (from Chesterfield College).
A third and final compilation of conversations from the conference will appear shortly.
The Big Idea selected from this episode was suggested by Abbie Deeming who was visting the conference from Chesterfield College. She was particularly impressed by a session she attended on 'mooting', a technique from Law practice that shows how research can be presented in an engaging way using thorough multi-participant approaches in arguing different perspectives. (An interesting site on mooting is Mooting Net at http://www.firstlight.demon.co.uk/law/mooting/ which includes instructions on getting started). Abbie's contribution is the last in this series of interviews.

Thursday, May 18, 2006

#1 Podcast launch at the LTA Conference 2006

Andrew Middleton introduces the Podcasting for LTA initiative and meets delegates at SHU's LTA Conference. Andrew set out to speak to at least 30 different people in this first episode of the podcast in an attempt to ensure the podcast provides an opportunity for anyone to contribute and share ideas and good practice.
Regular programme features are introduced including 'The Big Idea' - an ambitious promise to offer 'a big idea for LTA' for each week of the year.
Andrew succeeded in speaking to so many people that coverage of the LTA Conference has had to be split over this week's programme and an extra programme that he will slot in next week where we will hear from other delegates, including some of the Faculty Heads for LTA as well as Graham Holden, who launched the Assessment for Learning initiative at this year's conference.