The following Mind-Map demonstrates a wide range of learning technologies I have used over the years. The right-hand side of the Mind-Map show-cases some of the technology I have used in my prior institution. On the top left-hand side I have listed some OERs which I developed in my role as Effective Learning Adviser, such as a video mini-lecture with over 200.000 views, which is linked internationally and according to feedback from colleagues and students used in teaching, or an interactive research guide developed by my colleague and me after receiving Dragon’s Den funding for it. This Mind-Map is a work in progress and I keep building it. You can see I experimented with a variety of technologies, I try to design my resources as OERs where ever possible. Currently, I am acquainting myself with RealTimeBoard for managing and planning projects. This is because I am going to be teaching more online courses, some of which are planning research projects. So I am trialing this application (also available on mobile devices) to see if my students might find it useful for planning their master’s research projects. So far I like that it works like a mind-mapping programme but it permits much more free-form movement of objects and it also permits collaboration. In my courses I use artifacts (digital or analog) as part of the participants assessment. I do not tell the students in which way to present these artifacts, or what medium to use. The RealTimeBoard platform might be something the master’s students find also useful to develop their artifacts in. As these are supposed to be objects they can use in their pedagogical practice the sharing ability and integration with university (office365) suite make it practical to use. Some nice features are the handwriting tool and the bright colours. I know this sounds a bit superfluous when thinking about usability, but aesthetics are a central part of HCI that leads to meaningful engagement (Suh et al, 2017). I know that I often disregard useful tools, such as OneNote or the Mind-Mapping software that is freely available to us at work, because I find the aesthetics challenging. This is something I need to improve. Not to dismiss technology because I perceive it to be ugly, as aesthetic experiences are intrinsic to the individual (e.i.: Marcovic, 2012) and I miss out exploring appropriate learning technologies our students might find helpful.
Adventures in Academic Development
Faculty Development, Hochschuldidaktik, Play and Creativity in Higher Education, SoTL
Adventures in Academic Development 