Category Archives: Academic Innovation and Possibilities

Thinking and acting outside of the box

Creative Assessment – what is it?

In higher education assessment is recognised as a driving force for student engagement and curriculum design. How does this tally with a desire for active student-centred learning? How can it accommodate the artistry in the academic practitioner who seeks to … Continue reading

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Transgressive learning – moving away from a mindset of inevitability

Transgressive learning is a term associated with sustainability. Wals (2021), for example, discusses the Power of Transgressive Learning in an excellent post. My own interest in the term, however, came from reflecting on educational work I am currently involved in … Continue reading

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Being smarter than AI – rethinking our assessment design?

The discussion channels used by educational developers have been dominated by the topic of ChatGPT since the New Year. There are two dimensions to this: concerns over academic integrity and the opportunity ChatGPT and other AI tools bring to assessment. … Continue reading

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Community of Enhancement

I keep returning to the phrase Community of Enhancement to describe my philosophy behind my staff development role. It is not astounding but, significantly for me, it is a better than Community of Practice. It reflects and models the ethos … Continue reading

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Crisis – what crisis? A time for academic innovation

At Wonkfest I attended a panel session titled Changing the Culture of Changing the Culture in which Charlotte Summers, who is Head of Commercial Development at the RSA, referred to the RSA’s excellent Future Change Framework. Admittedly, I am a … Continue reading

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Photopedagogy and photovoice

Loopmans et al. (2012) observe that photographs incite public debate about place and community. When that public context is the university course and where there is a desire for learning engagement and community building, how can photography empower the learner? … Continue reading

Posted in Academic Innovation, Academic Innovation and Possibilities, Active Learning, BYOD4L, Creativity, Digital Placemaking, Learner Engagement, Learning Space and Place, Media-enhanced learning, photopedagogy, Smart Learning & BYOD, Social Media for Learning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Simulation – storyboarding and paper prototyping #activelearning

Photo by Matt Popovich on Unsplash Educational simulation is an interesting and, in my view, underutilised area of active learning. Often associated with technology-based approaches, educational simulation is in fact a broader field. In this broad sense it creates a … Continue reading

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Conversational Learning Spaces for #activelearning

In an earlier post I referred to Learning Walks as conversational learning spaces. As such, they exemplify active learning spaces. The focus on conversation as a dimension of active learning is at the heart of the rationale for advocacy for … Continue reading

Posted in Academic Innovation, Academic Innovation and Possibilities, Active Learning, Applied Learning, Assessment & Feedback, Belonging, Co-operative pedagogy, Creativity, Digital Placemaking, Employability, Learner Engagement, Learning Space and Place, Literacies and Intelligence, PhD, Social Media for Learning, Studio and Studio-based Learning, Walking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Wrecking it with Brexit

I’m sitting in a café on La Rambla in Barcelona following a couple of days participating in an international learning spaces summit in Barcelona (#ILS2019). (nb. I use ‘participating’ not ‘attending’) We are getting really close to Brexit now and … Continue reading

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Polycontextuality, spheres and headphones

Space, including learning space, can be thought of as ‘spheres’ and ‘atmospheres’. Ash (2016) looks at the implications of this for studio studies. For me and my own interest in studio-based learning and my longstanding interest in the ‘digital voice’ … Continue reading

Posted in Academic Innovation and Possibilities, Active Learning, Belonging, BYOD, Co-operative pedagogy, Digital Placemaking, Gamification, Learner Engagement, Learning Space and Place, Literacies and Intelligence, Media-enhanced learning, PhD, Polycontextuality, Scholarship and Research, Social Media for Learning, Studio and Studio-based Learning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment