inspirED Seminar Series 2012-13

The Library & Learning Centre is delighted to announce this year's programme of inspirED seminars to support excellence in teaching and scholarship. In 2012-13 we will be discussing 'Social media and its role for universities'.

All seminars are open to academic, research and support staff and will be held in the EduZone, located in the Main Library. To register for a seminar please email inspirED and state the title of the seminar you wish to attend. A light lunch will be provided. (Full list of inspirED workshops and events.)

Social media and its role in universities: opportunities and challenges?

Tuesday 16 October, 12.30 - 2pm

Recent transformations in digital media mean that it is easier than ever to not only gain access to huge quantities of information published online via social media channels such as twitter, facebook, youtube and blogging platforms, it is also even easier to produce and self-publish to these environments. As the world of higher education experiences a fundamental shift and the student population are participating in the ubiquitous mobile revolution, it is crucial that academics respond proactively by developing their social media (and wider digital) literacies. Since 2007, I have been participating in research and development projects that have looked to support academic engagement and how to develop digital literacies within the academy. Social media can be a powerful tool for building learning communities and learning cultures within HE institutions, in particular how strategic innovative interventions can be used to adopt a more open and collaborative research culture that works across disciplines, departments and even institutions. In this session I will be talking about some of the projects that I have been involved in and discussing the opportunities (and challenges) of adopting, innovating and transforming learning, teaching and research practice within the University.

Jennifer Jones

Jennifer Jones is a Research Associate within the Creative Futures Research Centre and is completing her PhD on media activism around the Olympic Games within the School of Creative and Cultural Industries at the UWS. She is also a Visiting Lecturer within the Media School at Birmingham City University. She specializes in new media methods for data capture, collection and archiving, in particular around social media and mega-events, whilst focusing on the continuous link between digital practice and theory. For more information on Jennifer and her work please visit her website.

Being a "connected educator" : the role of social media in facilitating collaboration and enhancing impact

Wednesday 7 November, 12.30 - 2pm

Although initially dismissed by some as irrelevant and distracting, social media is now being acknowledged as having a significant role to play in supporting the key activities carried out in universities, ranging from marketing and student recruitment, teaching and learning and research activities. In this seminar Brian Kelly will describe social media's relevance across a range of university activities, illustrate examples of emerging best practices, discuss the role of social media metrics and suggest ways in which individuals and groups may use social media to enhance personal and groups effectiveness.

Brian Kelly

Brian Kelly is the UKOLN Innovation Support Centre (ISC) Community Engagement Manager at the University of Bath, and is a national web coordinator in his role as UK Web Focus. He has many interests including identifying ways of using innovative Web developments to support institutional activities, including the exploiting of the Social Web. He is also involved in JISC Observatory work, which aims to identify early technology trends in order to ensure that JISC and the JISC community can make appropriate plans for managing the implication of technical developments.

Webinar banner and logo

The inspirED webinar series is a programme of guest expert webinars that will run during semester one of academic year 2012/13. This year's Teaching Award recipients form the line up for this first series, providing background on their award and sharing their experiences in their respective areas of learning and teaching.

The inspirED webinars are organised by the Library & Learning Centre and open to all members of University of Dundee staff and external participants.

The webinars will take place in Adobe Connect, a real-time web conferencing environment. If you wish to participate in any of the webinars please email inspired to register. A link to join the meeting will subsequently be emailed to you 48 hours prior to the event.

Technical requirements: participants will require access to a PC, internet connection and a headset.

Angela Dunsire, CEPMLP

Capturing the lecture, not lecture capture

24 October, 12.30pm

Angela will discuss a recent project where a series of lectures were specifically delivered to camera and combined in a talking-heads format with the related PowerPoint and a pdf transcript of the actual lecture. The approach of lecturing to camera rather than simply capturing a lecture to students was designed to ensure that the lecture consistently captured the pure essence of the topic matter; the PowerPoint was then displayed inline with the lecture content, further emphasising the key points being made. This solution provided the opportunity for students who required time in advance to prepare questions leading to effective, in-depth discussion with their peers and lecturer during the actual lecture time and ultimately, a greater understanding of and insight into the material.

Gillian Howatson, School of Nursing and Midwifery

Podcasting for exam feedback

31 October, 12.30pm

Historically within nursing education, podcasts do not appear to have been used for giving assessment feedback to students, but predominantly to share patients’ healthcare experiences. The School of Nursing and Midwifery at Dundee University has recently implemented an initiative to incorporate podcasting as a vehicle for delivering effective exam feedback to large cohorts of undergraduate nursing students.

Gillian will discuss this project, which involved recording a series of short podcasts to offer students an opportunity to listen to suggested answers to the exam questions. Early evaluation of the initiative is suggestive of the podcasts being valuable learning resources for both feedback and feed forward purposes.

Lynn Boyle, ESWCE

Using Adobe Connect for a weekly tutorial to distance learning students

14 November, 12.30pm

Lynn teaches on the distance learning programme in Childhood Practice and believes passionately in supporting students who may feel isolated as distance learners. She will discuss her initiative of leading a tutorial/webinar via Adobe Connect every Monday evening, where the students can meet and foster their relationships with her and each other online. The format is usually a 30-minute lecture on a particular module, study skills or relevant news and issues in Childcare, followed by 30 minutes for questions and discussion. Student feedback has been extremely positive, with an excellent uptake and a general opinion that it enables effective peer support and reduces feelings of isolation. Lynn will also discuss her participation in individual module and whole programme discussion blogs, and the beginnings of her research into online feedback and student perception of feedback given at a distance.