2 Jul 2018
The Digital Strategy for Learning and Teaching
The Digital Strategy for Learning and Teaching (which was formally approved by Senate and Council in March 2017) is focused on ensuring that our face-to-face ‘traditional’ teaching is supported by the latest and most appropriate technologies. The aim is to provide a series of tools to enhance the learning experience for students, to develop the digital fluency of students and staff, and to deliver consistent and efficient processes supporting teaching in order to streamline the user experience.
The first elements of the Digital Strategy which were delivered during this academic year included the roll out of the new lecture capture technology and associated policy. This was strongly supported by LSU and has received very favourable feedback from students, who are clearly using the ReView system to assist with understanding particular aspects of lectures and for revision purposes. The second new technology was the introduction of the mobile my.lboro app platform, which is aimed at enhancing the student experience of using our IT systems so that they can get access to highly relevant content all in one place – rapid access to all University news and information, their timetables, access to our virtual learning environment Learn, and can sign in to lectures digitally.
New initiatives have also been put in place to ensure that students are well prepared for the digital workplace and that staff are well-placed to use technologies effectively to support learning and teaching. This includes the provision of Lynda.com which is an online learning platform now freely available to all staff and students.
In addition to the more visible introduction of new technologies and capabilities, legacy systems have also been reviewed and decommissioned, and work is underway to ensure that information systems are fit for purpose and for the future. Core student information systems – (LUSI), Learn and Co-Tutor – are being develop to ensure that they can talk to each other in a seamless manner and streamline the user experience for staff.
Work is taking place to ensure that systems data are structured, sourced and managed within a robust governance framework and can provide rapid support to projects, ensuring clarity about what information is accessed where, why and how. The University is working on how it can use our information responsibly and ethically to develop a learning analytics capability to support the provision of ‘dashboards’ to staff and students to encourage and support student success.
Coming soon for the next academic year using the mobile app will be the introduction of new systems for module feedback and in class voting systems to provide opportunities for further enhancement of student engagement in the classroom. A new system, also within the mobile app, will also be launched to will allow students to reflect on and build up a record of their skills developments both within and outside the curriculum to prepare them for their future success in the workplace.