Technology-Enhanced Learning Project

We spoke to Teresa Ironside (Head of CSE Online Learning Development and Bayes Director of Education) to find out more about a new strand of College-wide activity known as ‘The Technology-Enhanced Learning Project’ which is working to transform and prepare our teaching delivery in response to Covid-19.

Could you tell me what the Technology-Enhanced Learning Project is?

The College’s technology-enhanced learning project involves preparations for what we’re expecting to be an uncertain start to the next academic year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We’re working with Schools and others within the College Office to ensure a positive learning experience regardless of whether students will be on campus or not. We’re also considering some of the social distancing requirements that might be put in place and the impact that might have on face-to-face teaching.

Why not just call it online learning?

There’s a difference between this project and the standard online learning programmes that currently exist, and those will continue to run. Those tend to be taken by part-time students who might be employed and studying online at the same time. What we are doing with the technology-enhanced aspect is building a hybrid approach to ensure students can access the same content whether they are able to be on campus or located elsewhere. We’re making sure that the technology and the online tools enhance their courses and making sure that what students are accessing is a high-quality University of Edinburgh experience.

Why is it important that this project succeeds?

There is very limited time in order to build this capacity into the existing courses we offer so the project is important because of the timescales involved. Additionally, it’s very important to ensure that the students have an engaging overall experience regardless of their location.

What is your role in it and who else is involved in the work?

I’m leading on this project working closely with Victoria Dishon and Neil McGillivray who form part of the leadership team. I chair the Curriculum Development Group while Victoria chairs the Implementation Group and Neil provides business planning support and resilience coverage. I am also one of the College members of the Student Advisory Group within the University’s Adaptation & Renewal Group where I can escalate questions on behalf of the College. Senior staff within the CSE Academic Affairs and Student and Recruitment teams are members of the Groups as are the CSE Deans related to teaching and student support to ensure links to established governance routes within the College. The Bayes Education team are heavily involved in the facilitation of this work, coordinating at College level in support of all CSE Schools. Fraser Pullar, Kirsten Phimister, and Kate Robertson have re-prioritised other projects to ensure capacity to support Schools and will be providing some project management support to Schools throughout the project. Other members of the Bayes Operations team have also been redeployed to provide continuity of business support in the related core areas.

What are the other Colleges doing?

They are taking a similar hybrid approach which is consistent across the University. I believe they are reviewing their curriculums as well. Some have slightly different structures so we’re aware that they might be pausing some programmes that are on the smaller side, whereas others might have existing online content that they’re drawing on to support the students.

When will this project finish?

We’re aiming to have as much of the material as possible developed for the whole of semester one by the start of semester in September. Some of that will continue into the semester and the media production might be developed as we go but a lot of that will depend on how the pandemic evolves and if there are additional lockdowns. We expect that a lot of the technology enhanced learning elements will continue to support students beyond the end of the pandemic and this will then be built into the way that the College delivers a lot of its courses after the pandemic.

What has impressed you the most since the project started?

I think it’s been impressive to see how the tools are being enthusiastically adopted. There’s an increasing number of people seeing the benefits of using technology to support the way that courses can be taught. The interest from the academics in wanting to ensure the best possible learning for the students is something that comes up at every single meeting. They are really thinking not only about the way that the courses are built but also about the community around them as well. Students have really been at the heart of this work.