Agenda OEB Global 2021
- Wednesday, Nov 30
- Thursday, Dec 1
- Friday, Dec 2
- Full Day Sessions
- Morning Session
- Afternoon Session
- Late Afternoon Session
- Discovery Demo
- Discussion and Debate
- Interactive Breakout Session
- Plenary
- Pre-Conference Workshop
- Presentation
- Special Focus Session
- Spotlight Stage
- Tech Lab
- Reset all
SPEEXX Exchange, Hybrid Edition
Pre-Conference Workshops -
SPEEXX Exchange, Hybrid Edition
Jo Cook
Live online learning specialist, Lightbulb Moment, United Kingdom
Jo Cook is a speaker, instructional designer and classroom facilitator who specialises in virtual classrooms, webinars and live online learning technology. Jo’s passion is in helping and supporting teams, professionals and organisations embrace the benefits of the virtual classroom. Jo’s background includes: further and higher education; the charity sector; small and large organisations, including CNN News and Bupa International. Through her company Lightbulb Moment, Jo has specialised in training learning professionals about virtual classroom design and delivery since 2013 and has spoken on various topics at conferences such as Learning Technologies, OEB and keynoted for Colleges Wales and E-learning Fusion.
Links
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jocooklight…
Laura Overton
CEO, International Speake, Analyst, Facilitator, Emerging Stronger, United Kingdom
Laura Overton is an author, facilitator and award-winning learning analyst dedicated to uncovering and sharing progressive practices that add strategic business value. She led a 15-year global research programme that explored impactful learning strategies. Her work through #Learningchangemakers and Emerging Stronger continue to support and inform the changing world of workplace learning.
Links
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauraoverto…
Armin Hopp
President and Co-Founder, Speexx
DEUTSCH:
Armin Hopp ist Mitgründer und Vorstand von Speexx, der weltweit führenden digitalen Plattform für Sprachentraining und Online-Sprachtests in Unternehmen. Außerdem ist er Präsident des International Council on Badges and Credentials (ICoBC). Seine Leidenschaft gilt der Familie, dem digitalen Lernen, EdTech, HR-Tech, Learning Transformation, Gitarren - und Speexx.
ENGLISH:
Armin Hopp is co-founder and president of Speexx, the world’s leading digital language skills testing and learning platform. He is also president of the International Council on Badges and Credentials (ICoBC) He´s passionate about family, digital learning, EdTech, HR tech, learning transformation, guitars – and Speexx.
Links
The 2021 SPEEXX Exchange is a hybrid event, with both in-person elements and a live stream.
Reskilling & Upskilling – Making Workforce Transformation a Reality
Join top industry experts and thought leaders to discuss the digital transformation in HR and L&D. Speexx Exchange is your hands-on reality check on the new normal of ed-tech and talent management practices.
Every year, we bring together HR and L&D leaders from across the globe for an in-depth reality check on learning transformation and talent management practices.
Facts & Data
Get the latest results from Europe’s leading independent benchmark research and return to work with brand-new data insights to underpin your team’s success. No future talk, just hard facts.
Digital Transformation
We look at best practices to understand how you can successfully transform your learning and HR organization to deliver real business value.
Agenda
8.30 – 9.30 am CET | Breakfast & Registration
9.30 am CET – 9.50 am CET | Welcome to Speexx Exchange
Each session in our Speexx Exchange event is all about combining great input from our contributors and great ideas from our participants.
All the sessions will include participant discussion and breakout rooms as we work on these challenges together.
Laura Overton
Jo Cook - International Speaker & Director and Digital Facilitator | Lightbulb Moment
Armin Hopp & Speexx
9.50 am – 10.35 CET | Reskilling and the Great Resignation - Reframing the Value of People Professionals
Together we will demystify the evidence behind the skills challenges of organizations and pinpoint the opportunities they create for today’s people professionals
Laura Overton – Award-winning Analyst and Speexx Exchange Moderator
10.35 – 11.00 am CET Coffee Break
11.00 am CET - 12.15 pm CET | Building the Essential Skills for the Modern Workplace
Together we will explore what skills our organizations need today and how we build them.
(Re)building Essential Skills at All Levels - To Thrive in The Modern Workplace
Jeremy Blain – Founder and CEO | Performance Works International
Rx for Learning – Building Healthy Learners
Stephanie Crowe – Head of Global Learning & Development | Chief Learning Officer | Wordline Global
12.15 pm CET – 1.15 pm CET Lunch Break
1.15 pm CET - 2.45 pm CET | Building Smarter Skills Solutions for the Skills Economy
Together we will re-examine how we design modern solutions that connect and engage with both individuals and their organizations
Working from Strong Foundations
Mehdi Tounsi - Senior Regional Director | OpenSesame
& Stéphanie Milian Martínez – People Strategy Business Partner | LIFULL Connect
Show What You Got! How to Recognize Learning Achievements with Badges and Micro-Credentials
Rolf Reinhardt – Treasurer & Member of the Executive Committee | ICOBC
Shifting from Knowledge to Capability - The Anatomy of a Skills Solution
Bernd Rüschoff – Senior Professor | Institute for Anglophone Studies
2.45 pm CET – 3.15 pm CET Coffee Break
3.15 pm CET - 4.30 pm CET | Building Skills of the Skill Builders
Together we will explore what we as people professionals need to do to be ready to respond positively to the skills challenge
Spotting the Gaps - What Questions Do We Need to Ask Ourselves?
Jeff Kortenbosch - Senior Advisor Talent Development | Volksbank
How to Tap into our Passion
Shannon Tipton - Chief Learning Officer | Learning Rebels
4.30 pm CET | Wrap up
4.45 pm CET | Cocktail Hour
Stimulating Social Learning by Playful Design & Humour
Joitske Hulsebosch
Consultant online and blended learning, Ennuonline, Netherlands
Joitske Hulsebosch is owner at Ennuonline company in the Netherlands. Ennuonline has 15 years of experience in online and blended learning. She wrote 3 books and many blogs on this subject (ennuonline.com). Ennuonline offers courses on blended learning and for leaders working with technology. She has a background in the development sector (worked in Kenya, Ghana, Ethiopia, Mali and Chile). Her clients are hence often internationally- oriented organizations like the Ministry of Defense, Wageningen University and the AIDSfonds.
Links
Ite Smit
Director, WerkLeer
Ite was over ten years in charge of the Businesschool at a social housing organization in the Netherlands. She was responsable for the learning from personal craftmanship to organizational development. Ite works also as an independant advisor for the Dutch Government on the subject of Digital learning Environments. In her spare time she follows the developments on crypto currencies and non-fungible Tokens (NFT's) because of it's impact on the society.
Links
Steven van Luipen
Director, Van Luipen Advies
Steven van Luipen is an independent consultant. He facilitates professional learning networks, learning activities and programs, mostly technology supported, online or blended.
Steven works primarily in the public domain. His approach is practice oriented. He is an expert in sharing knowledge within and across organizations about present-day themes, such as the increasing importance of technology and data.
His aim is to help his customers get a better understanding of shared issues, agree on lasting solutions and ultimately improve their performance.
Links
In this evidence-informed workshop we will explore playful design in work and learning. You will walk away with 50+ ideas to use humour and playfulness in your own designs.
We all moved to online working and learning during COVID. We learned that social connections are crucial for resilience in organisations. Without these connections to our organisations and colleagues, we experience fatigue more easily and are at a higher risk of burn-out.
We believe that the future of work and learning is blended and hybrid. So online connectivity and the capacity to stimulate social connection and social learning will be crucial. And humour/playful design will be a critical element. In this workshop you will learn what the evidence says and will start experimenting with humour/playful design.
Agenda
9.00 - 9.15 Walk-in assignment
9.15 - 9.35 Workshop introduction: humour seriously?
9.35 - 10.15 Humour styles explanation and test
10.15 - 10.40 Interactive presentation: the evidence for using humour and playful design
10.40 - 10.50 Introduction to BOB-cartoons
10.50 - 11.30 Break
11.30 - 12.05 Create your own BOB-cartoons
12.05 - 12.35 New ideas brainstorm
12.35 - 13.00 Takeaways and wrap-up
Outcomes
In this practical and evidence-informed workshop you will get to know the value of humour and playful design to increase connections. Expect inspiring examples and engage in playful design.
- Know the scientific evidence for using humour.
- Be more confident working with humour after trying and experimenting during the workshop.
- Collect 50+ ideas to use humour and playfulness in your designs.
- Be inspired to play with humour going forward
Who Should Attend?
Anyone interested in the topic. We expect people working in L&D, team leaders, HRD professionals, teachers and project managers.
Please note: make sure to bring your smartphone to this event.
As seats are limited, Pre-Conference Workshops require prior registration.
Create Your Own Digital Escape Room for Learning
Pre-Conference Workshops -
Create Your Own Digital Escape Room for Learning
Oliver Kamin
Head of Department Computer Science, Swiss Distance University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland
Willi Bernhard
Professor, Swiss Distance University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland
Willi Bernhard is a Professor at the Swiss Distance University of Applied Sciences. As an expert in digital engineering at the Department of Computer Science, he works as an engineer, lecturer, researcher, consultant and book author in the fields of computer simulation, serious games and digital education. He is a member of the board of Swiss Engineering STV Basel and head of the special interest group Digital Collaboration of the Swiss academic e-learning community.
Links
Escape room adventures are very popular all over the world. A team of 4-6 people must work together to solve thematic challenges in the form of puzzles in order to find their way out of a closed room in a certain time. Such learning adventures have also found their way into education, where the puzzles are subject-specific problems that need to be solved. In this way, knowledge related to topics is used to learn in a playful, motivated and team-based way.
Digital Escape Rooms have some advantages over the conventional original; they can be copied, scaled and only require digital resources. They can also be played alone, in teams and both online and face-to-face.
In this workshop, you will first learn what a digital escape room is and how you can use it for your learning purposes. Next, you will learn how to design a digital escape room and how to create it for your own needs.
In addition, we will show which possibilities exist to develop digital escape-rooms in different variations, to offer them in a practical way and to carry them out.
In short: join us to experience and practice how freely available digital tools can be used to design and use digital escape rooms according to your requirements.
Agenda
Introduction into digital escape rooms for educational purposes ( 40 Min) - Learn what a digital escape room is and how it can be used for educational purposes.
Designing a digital escape room (30 Min) - Learn how to design a digital escape-room for learning purposes.
Implementing a digital escape room (40 Min) - Learn which freely available tools you can use to develop and set up a digital escape-room according to your needs.
Variations and possibilities for implementation (30 Min) - Learn about the different possibilities that make up a digital escape room.
Outcomes
1 What it is: In this workshop you will learn what a digital escape room is and how it can be used for educational purposes.
2 How you design it: In this workshop you will learn how to design and implement a digital escape-room for learning purposes.
3 How you implement it: In this workshop you will learn which freely available tools you can use to develop and set up a digital escape-room according to your needs.
4 What possibilities you have: In this workshop you will learn about the different possibilities that make up a digital escape room.
Participants will know the possibilities of implementing their own digital escape room according to their needs and know which freely accessible tools they can use to put this into practice.
Audience
Level: Beginner
Teacher in Higher Education, Trainers in companies, People interested in Escape Rooms
Please note: Bring your laptop, tablet (or smartphone) to this workshop.
As seats are limited, Pre-Conference Workshops require prior registration.
Field Trip 2.0: Using the Space around You in Online Times
Pre-Conference Workshops -
Field Trip 2.0: Using the Space around You in Online Times
Emma Wiersma
Learning Experience Designer, Centre for Innovation - Leiden University
In my work as a Learning Experience Designer at Leiden University, I support teachers in redesigning their education. I provide them with technical and didactical support and I'm always on the lookout for innovative and activating teaching activities. Over the past year, our team has been doing a lot of research on playful learning and currently we are collaborating with teachers to integrate it more into their education.
Daniek Bosch
Learning Experience Designer, Centre for Innovation - Leiden Univeristy
What is your most memorable learning experience? One of mine is teaching for the first time. I had prepared my class almost word by word, only to find out I was teaching a class from the French elementary school down the road. Instead of working on my didactical skills I got challenged on my improvisation skills. This is why learning is something I enjoy greatly, something unexpected is always around the corner.
In my work I hope to challenges teachers to rethink their current practices and translate their education to online or blended learning experiences. I use positive psychology and storytelling to make academic knowledge more personal and engaging.
In this workshop you will take part in a collective fieldtrip, in the form of a podcast that allows you to wander, wonder and wind up in unexpected places.
You will either go outside and take a walk, or take yourself into your very own mind-palace right from where you’re sitting!
The aim of this workshop is to show that no matter where you are, you can still have a collective learning experience without sitting behind a (computer) screen the entire time. Change your views on online teaching and learning and get rid of your Zoom fatigue as we help you rediscover tools to learn while creating and retaining mental space.
Agenda
(20 min) Introduction
(25 min) Fieldtrip
(45 min) Return + Break
(10 min) General evaluation
(30 min) Reflection in groups
(10 min) Wrap up
Outcomes
During this hands on workshop we will:
- Provide you with new ideas for teaching and learning online.
- Help you rediscover tools to learn online while creating and retaining your mental space.
- Stimulate you to think creatively around integrating the offline world into online learning.
As a bonus we will also look at whether or not building a memory palace in the outside world is as effective as inside your mind.
Audience
Professionals who create learning experiences and/or train teachers; Teachers; anyone interested in podcasts, online learning or mindfulness.
Please note: All participants should bring a device to listen to the podcast, as well as their head-/earphones.
As seats are limited, Pre-Conference Workshops require prior registration.
Voices, Sounds and Stories. Podcasting for Online Education, Research and Science Communication
Pre-Conference Workshops -
Voices, Sounds and Stories. Podcasting for Online Education, Research and Science Communication
Workshop leader
Maria Conterno
Sound Engineer, Kaleidacoustics
Maria Conterno is a sound engineer with a passion for sound design, field recording, and live sound. But in a previous life she was a university researcher and teacher: a historian, specialised in historiography and cultural history of the Middle East. Love for history and stories is not something you get easily rid of. And if you combine it with a passion for sound you get… audio storytelling! Her academic training and sound design skills complement and enhance each other in Kaleidacoustics’ productions.
Links
Podcasts are really having a moment in the world of journalism and communication. We feel that education and research have not fully exploited the power of audio storytelling yet. Based on our experience and research on podcasting for online education and science communication, we will guide you through the full process of designing, recording, editing and sharing a podcast.
Agenda
This is a hands-on workshop. In the first part (1h and 15 minutes), after an introduction to the basic of podcasting, illustrated by some case studies of podcasts used in education, research, and science communication, we will do some exercises on active listening, interviewing, recording and editing. In the second part of the workshop (1h and 15 minutes), the participants will work at their own podcast, recording and editing interviews to other participants at the conference. We will conclude by listening together and giving feedback to the audio pieces produced.
Outcomes
In this workshop you will learn how to design, make, and publish a podcast:
- podcast design (looking at different podcast formats in education, research and science communication)
- audio storytelling
- good recording practices
- audio editing and finalising
By the end of the workshop, you will have produced your first own audio piece: it will be a lot of fun!
Audience
Anyone interested in using podcasts in education, research, and science communication.
Please note: Participants should bring their own laptop and headphones to edit their podcast, as well as their smartphone (or a recording device) to record audio files. They should also be able to transfer files from the smartphone to their personal laptop. We kindly request participants to download a free audio editing software, Audacity (https://www.audacityteam.org/download) on their laptop ahead of the workshop.
As seats are limited, Pre-Conference Workshops require prior registration.
Exploring Barriers to Change in Higher Education
Pre-Conference Workshops -
Exploring Barriers to Change in Higher Education
Workshop leader
Brian Mulligan
Head of Online Learning Innovation, Institute of Technology Sligo, Ireland
Brian qualified as an Engineer in 1978 and originally worked in mathematical modelling and simulation, and the application of IT in engineering. He is currently Head of Online Learning Innovation in the Centre for Online Learning at the Institute of Technology Sligo where he has worked as a lecturer and learning technology developer since 1984. He has been a leader in online distance learning in Ireland, initiating it in the country’s largest provider, IT Sligo, in 2002 and has contributed significantly to the growth of e-learning in Ireland since 1999 as a founding member of the Irish Learning Technology Association. His particular interests at the moment are in lean methods of content development, lowering the cost of higher education, work-based and project-based degrees.
Links
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-mulli…
The barriers to change in higher education are many and often subtle. They also vary by the type of institution and by country. The workshop will draw participants together from many backgrounds to share their perceptions of the issues that are inhibiting change in their institutions or countries. Through discussions and online voting tools, the participants will identify the most important barriers and then propose possible actions to address these barriers.
Agenda
1. Presentation by the facilitator on barriers to change in higher education (10 minutes)
2. Breakout table discussions by smaller groups (4-6) on their perceptions of barriers. Groups
contribute barriers they have identified to online Padlet that will be displayed live (20 minutes)
3. All participants are invited to score the barriers listed in the Padlet and the most important
identified. Participants are invited to speak to the full group on why they suggested certain
barriers and influence the voting. (15 minutes)
4. Break (45 minutes)
5. Facilitator presents on the types of actions that might address barriers to change (5 minutes)
6. Participants, in groups, discuss actions that might address barriers and contribute ideas to the
Padlet. (15 minutes)
7. Participants start scoring suggested actions. Participants are invited to speak to the full group on
why they suggested certain actions and influence the voting. (20 minutes)
8. Close
Outcomes
● A deeper understanding of barriers to change.
● An insight into other organisations.
● Some ideas for addressing barriers to change.
Audience
Higher education policy makers and influencers at institutional and government level, as well as academics interested in innovation within higher education.
Please note: Participants should bring a smart device that allows them to access menti.com and padlet.com
As seats are limited, Pre-Conference Workshops require prior registration.
Careers Technology Supported Learning: The Bots Are Coming!
Pre-Conference Workshops -
Careers Technology Supported Learning: The Bots Are Coming!
Graham Attwell
CareerChat (UK)
George Bekiaridis
CareerChat (UK)
In today’s world, change is occurring at an unprecedented rate. Societies everywhere are undergoing a deep transformation. The Covid-19 pandemic, Industry 4.0 disruption, climate change, and an ageing workforce have become realities impacting on the social and economic fabric of societies.
Advances in technology are creating new tipping points that can trigger new ways in which customers and practitioners can access trustworthy careers information, advice and guidance at anytime of the day or night. The deepening divide between the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ is forcing us all to consider how best to prepare for a fast-changing world of work.
Since March 2020, a team of highly experienced researchers and technology experts have worked on the creation of a unique and innovative Careers Chatbot (CiCi), powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. We believe that bots and humans can work together. You hear a lot about bots and technology being disruptive, but they do not need to be. This work is greatly influenced by the idea of social technology, of using combined human and digital resources to influence social processes – this can help individuals to prepare for possibilities rather than just simply make plans. We will set out key lessons learned and ideas for further development.
Agenda
1. Welcome Introduction to the team – 5mins
2. CiCi the careers chatbot demonstration and q &a session – 25 mins
3. Practitioner observations: technology-supported learning and training – 30 mins
Break - 45 mins
4. Design and development challenges and opportunities – 30 mins
5. Use of labour market information / intelligence – 30 mins
6. Question & Answer session – 15 mins
Outcomes
• The potential of chatbots in careers guidance and education
• Different kinds of chatbot
• How to design a chatbot
• How a chatbot gets its character
• How to use labour market data in careers education
• Ethical issues around chatbots
• How teachers, trainers and careers advisers can work alongside bots
Audience
Anyone interested in the topic from a wide range of sectors e.g., career development specialist organisations, Education and Research, NGOs and Civil Society, Government and Policy.
Please note: participants are kindly requested to bring a laptop or a mobile phone.
As seats are limited, Pre-Conference Workshops require prior registration.
Embracing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion through Design Thinking
Pre-Conference Workshops -
Embracing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion through Design Thinking
Irene Conversano
Learning Experience Designer, Butterly Works, Netherlands
Irene Conversano has a background in Strategic Product Design at Delft University of Technology. She has more than three years of experience in conducting design research and service design in Asia and Africa. Irene joined Butterfly Works two years ago, and there she holds the role of Design Researcher and Learning Experience Designer. Africa. Her activities range from design research and co-creation facilitation to concept and content development of educational tools and toolkits, both
digital and offline. She gets energized when confronted with new challenges, when she can bring creativity out of people and when she can use co-creation and Design Thinking to have a positive
impact on society.
Thais Costa
Design researcher & learning experience designer, Butterfly Works, Netherlands
Thais is a design researcher and learning experience designer, with expertise in co-creation and design thinking approach. Thais has more than 5 years of experience with human-centred research processes that provide insights to the needs of the people we design for. She believes that the key to design is to question our own assumptions and being open to truly listen. Through co-creation and participatory tools, she creates spaces where people feel comfortable to share, learn, create and innovate together. This results in solutions with a wider social impact.
We believe in the power of co-creation and Design Thinking in creating more diverse, equal and inclusive spades for communities and organisations. Co-creation is about honouring different insights and including end users in the design process. The result is a strong sense of ownership and practical, sustainable solutions.
In this Pre-conference Workshop we will share our experience using a human-centred and co-creative approach to do user research and explain how it can be used as a powerful tool to highlight the voice of people and put their experiences and needs at the centre of the process.
We will particularly focus on the topic of inclusion and diversity. We will share learnings from previous projects we have conducted in Mozambique and the Netherlands, where we engaged with people with disabilities and from diverse cultural backgrounds on a journey to together map experiences, needs and visions for the future.
With this topic in mind, during the pre-conference workshop will be focusing on the challenge:
“How might we use design research tools to empower voices of diverse and multi-cultural people and provide spaces for them to take an active leading role in designing the future they want?"
Our unique experience in working with people with these intersecting identities means we are aware of the unique ways that they may experience vulnerability and disadvantage. Engaging in a human-centred approach is crucial to acknowledging these intersections and to actively include them in the need definition and project design.
At Online Educa Berlin, we would like to further discuss what it means to be inclusive and share our learnings of using a human-centered and co-creative approach towards inclusivity and equity. We would like to open the discussion and hear from others in the room about their experience with the topics of inclusion, diversity and equity. We will then finalise the session with a practical exercise for participants to practice one of our tools of the Exploration Lab
Agenda
(20 mins) Introduction to the Exploration Lab
We will start the session with an Introduction to our Exploration Lab research process and how it has been applied in the development sector, to support the creation of more diverse and inclusive spaces. We will share specifically about how we used this process to meaningfully engage with people with disabilities and from diverse cultural backgrounds in previous projects carried out in Mozambique and the Netherlands.
We will then introduce the design challenge for this session:
“How might we use design research tools to empower voices of diverse and multi-cultural people and provide spaces for them to take an active leading role in designing the future they want?
(20 mins) Brainstorm on the topics of inclusion, diversity and equity
Next, we will facilitate a brainstorming session on the topics inclusion, diversity and equity. We would like to hear from people in the room, discuss and reflect on their experiences within these topics. A few discussion questions we will be exploring are:
• What does inclusion mean to you and/or to your organisation?
• What are the main challenges you encounter when trying to make spaces more inclusive?
• What steps are you currently taking to make spaces more inclusive for you, your organisation and/or your community?
(45 mins) Break
(40 mins) Practical exercise: Exploration Lab tool
We will invite participants of the session to review tools we use in our Exploration Lab research process in relation to the needs of 4 fictional personas. The personas will serve as fictional scenarios to ignite discussions and solutions regarding inclusion and diversity. Participants will also learn more about our design research tools and how they have been adapted to be useful for people with disabilities.
(25 mins) Share back & wrap up the session with the main take-aways.
After the practical exercise, participants will share back in plenary their experiences while working with the research tools and discussing their scenarios. We will wrap-up the talk with a reflection on the use of design thinking and a human-centred approach to the main topics of this session.
Outcomes
Participants will learn about the applicability of Design thinking and co-creation in making more inclusive and sustainable spaces for organisations, end users and communities. In this process participants will explore tools and methodologies that can be applicable in different sectors and thematics. Furthermore, participants will have an inside look at practical examples of co-creation and design research applied, encouraging them to embark on the Design thinking mindset.
Audience
Anyone from Education and Research, NGO’s and civil society and Humanitarian working field organisations.
As seats are limited, Pre-Conference Workshops require prior registration.
How to Build the Future of Teaching and Learning While Learning from the Changes and Challenges of 2020-21
Pre-Conference Workshops -
How to Build the Future of Teaching and Learning While Learning from the Changes and Challenges of 2020-21
Mary Ellen Wiltrout
Lecturer in Digital Learning/Director of Online and Blended Learning Initiatives, Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States of America
Mary Ellen has led the execution of the digital learning strategy for the Department of Biology at MIT for over seven years. As a Lecturer and Director of Online and Blended Learning Initiatives, she trains and mentors instructors, postdoctoral fellows, and students, manages the digital learning projects for the department including MOOCs and hybrid learning experiences and conducts research on the design of digital learning experiences. She and her team created two of the MOOCs on the list of the best online courses of all time according to ClassCentral. Her group received a silver award in the science of learning category at the 2019 Reimagine Education conference.
Prior to her current position, Mary Ellen earned her PhD in Biology from MIT, and then taught at Harvard University.
Mary Ellen’s broader roles at MIT include being a senior member of the Digital Learning Lab, an organizer of workshops on digital learning and has positions on committees that span all departments at MIT.
During 2020-21, higher education around the world pivoted in-person teaching and learning online in response to the COVD-19 pandemic. As campuses re-open(ed) with vaccinations, what’s the longer-term positive impact of all of the rapid changes for students, instructors, and staff? How do we take the lessons learned from difficult times and great challenges to transition to a better future rather than just a blind return to the pre-pandemic state of teaching and learning?
In this workshop, we will go beyond just thinking about the transition to more digital but also consider the increased awareness of more student-centered teaching methods during a time of great attention to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. At the time of this workshop, some participants will have already experienced a semester or two of how this new future is developing at their institute along with the hurdles and early reactions.
Agenda
In this workshop, we will discuss how the events of 2020-21 have impacted the present and future of higher education in a beneficial way. We will work through the following categories involving teaching and learning: logistics of running a course, the tools, general student services and programs, successful course examples, how we work, attitudes, and relationships from a student, instructor, and educational staff perspective. The workshop will be led from the perspective of someone involved in online course development for 7 years at MIT prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants will share the similarities and differences of what is working well within their institute and how they overcame difficulties in this transitional time for others to take what they learn back to their teams and students.
Outcomes
Reflect upon a time of change and challenge to identify beneficial impacts for the future of how students learn and how those those behind instruction work.
Strategise maintaining the good and stopping the bad practices not working for students or not based on evidence-based pedagogy.
Build systems to support instructors in higher education continuing some percentage of digital learning.
Adjust and adapt during a time of transition to the “new normal” of teaching and learning.
Audience
Ed tech staff, managers, or faculty in higher ed or institutes of life-long learning
As seats are limited, Pre-Conference Workshops require prior registration.