20 May 2021
by Mireilla Bikanga Ada, University of Glasgow & Fiona McNeill, University of Edinburgh
The educational landscape has seen a major shift over the past 12 months. As the world starts to heal, it is important to reflect on what worked and what did not, so we can provide new insights into ways of helping both students and educators move forward and ensure efficacy in teaching/learning.
For that purpose, SICSA Education hosted an online event on the 29th April, from 14:00 to 16:30, presenting a number of talks on lessons learnt from this agile shift from across the SICSA Education network. The workshop was open to all academics from SICSA institutions and approximately 25 were in attendance. The event, organised by Marz Zarb (Robert Gordon University) and Rachel Menzies (University of Dundee) was chaired by Mireilla Bikanga Ada (University of Glasgow) and Fiona McNeill (University of Edinburgh).
There were eight papers that were selected by the SICSA Education committee. The titles were as follows:
- First year Informatics students’ experiences of learning online, Judy Robertson; Fiona McNeill; Serdar Abaci (University of Edinburgh).
- Blended courses easier to offer online during the pandemic? Think again!, Areti Manataki (University of St Andrews)
- Building accessible communities, Fiona McNeill (University of Edinburgh).
- Pair programming for collaborative learning in online computer labs, Charlotte Desvages (University of Edinburgh)
- Using Electronic “Books” in a Virtual Learning Environment to Provide a Narrated Course Journey, Syed Waqar Nabi (The University of Glasgow)
- Remote Dissertation Project Supervision : Challenges and Solutions, Imed Romdhani (Edinburgh Napier University)
- Pandemic Pivot from Blended MOOC to Fully Remote Delivery of a Functional Programming Module, Jeremy Singer (The University of Glasgow)
- PhD Students Missing Out on Casual Learning from Office Chat, Patrizia di Campli San Vito (The University of Glasgow).
The broad range of topics informed the attendees not only on the changes in teaching throughout the pandemic, but also changes to the surrounding support and admins systems. Speakers offered reflections on how the changes they had made and lessons they had learned due to lockdown might influence their teaching practice during more normal times. During the event, attendees had the opportunity to discuss the topics and learn from each other. The discussions after the talks were very informative and reflective.
The event offered a £10 voucher for catering. We hope all attendees enjoyed their meal.
