Write a brief summary of any work-related activities undertaken on 15th April 2011 and/or your nearest working day . In posting your reply, you consent to the potential use of anonymised extracts from this material in resources that may in future be published by the Association for Learning Development in Higher Education (ALDinHE), for educational and professional development purposes only.
Jules Dawson
On the nearest day to the 15th (the 14th) I gave an introduction to LD (what we do, how we do it and to who) to a group of new staff on our General Teaching Associates programme. A really nice bunch of eager staff asking all the right questions. Its always an enjoyable session. I had lunch with a colleague while preparing our workshop for Belfast, and then had 1-2-1 tutorials with students in the afternoon. A demanding, but also a productive and satisfying day.
paulineridley
Friday I was on my way to Belfast for a weekend break prior to the ALDinHE conference at Queens – but had a bit of work to do on our website as well. Next working day was today – sending a belated note to the LDHEN list about this blog, and helping get delegate packs ready. Lots of people arrived today for the pre conference workshops and a great buzz already at the tea breaks. Looking forward to tomorrow….
… and this week I am sadly missing the ALDinHE Conference in Belfast…
paulineridley
And much missed!
On my nearest working day to the 15th, I engaged in the normal email and admin that the job entails … then had a meeting and a staff development session.
Saw CO’R from Information and Systems Services about a multimedia resource on successful study techniques that we are building. We just need to film two more student clips then our Six steps to success interactive resource will be ready. We also discussed possibly bidding for funding from IC Tomorrow… There is a million pounds available to seed ICT enterprise in the Shoreditch area. Two minute video pitches will have to be ready for the period between the 6th and 26th May for funding pots up to £100K. Do we have ideas that are strong enough?
Derrick Welsh, currently at the University of the Arts, London, came in in the afternoon to run a ‘Drawing for teaching, learning and assessment’ session with a focus on exploiting the potential of the iPad and the vast range of creative apps. I had offered entry to the session to the LDHEN list and five list members came along plus nine internal staff. It was a really engaging and interesting session. I managed to make TWO simple animations myself… and am really interested in setting assignments that require students to produce their own teaching and learning resources, including animations. I also managed to disseminate Pauline Ridley’s excellent ‘Draw to Learn’ handbooks at the session – these were very well received.
ALAS on leaving the session I heard that the new VC is axing the majority of our Humanities Faculty. Obviously this brand new neocon world does not need working class students to have access to philosophy, performing arts, theatre studies, history, Caribbean studies… Why would you?
Sonia Hood
I am writing this as my first ever entry. This is written on Monday 18th April (nearest working day for me to the 15th)
I spent the first hour of the morning going through emails from over the weekend and replying to general queries from students and sessional staff (about pay etc) I then met a group of nursing students all struggling with an essay they had been given. We worked in a small group to identify the question and possible structures. This was followed swiftly by a one to one appointment with a student who had failed a previous essay and required guidance on her work. Followed by email support to a student seeking referencing help
The afternoon was spent writing a paper for our teaching and learning network to seek support for a project I am working on. This involves engaging students in the process of LD prior to arrival, asking them to rate their ability in a range of skills and take on-line diagnostics. I am trying to get the faculties to pick this up afterwards using personal tutors.
The next few hours were (and will be) spent researching and making resources for my workshop tomorrow on drug caluclations for nurses. Oh and trying to find out the process for getting approval to attend the workshop that’s being run in Aston
paulineridley
Welcome to the blog Sonia and thanks for your contribution!