A useful definition of Blended Learning is the “combination of face-to-face learning and dynamic digital activities and content that facilitate anytime/anyplace learning.” (Jisc, 2017). This module follows on from the New forms and formats for face-to-face learning module and looks...

Knowing how to choose the right tool or app for a task is a key skill for life and work. It requires more than understanding the broad purpose and technical capabilities of tools and packages. It calls on a learner’s ability to analyse a problem, plan an activity, monitor progress and...

This module is the first of a pair, with the New forms and formats for Blended Learning module following on. This module looks at how changes in pedagogical thinking and our understanding of learning give the opportunity to renew the way we use technology in face-to-face learning.

Homework traditionally follows classwork: a teacher introduces the subject matter then homework reinforces the learning. Now that facts and information are just a quick search away, learners need to know more than ever how to evaluate, understand and apply information. Flipped learning...

Confidence in your digital practice comes from success: success in improving your teaching and learning rather than being good with gadgets. This requires the capacity for personal critical reflection and a means to share what you did with colleagues, at your workplace and in wider...

We all have a preferred set of tools, apps and software that we use for teaching and learning. Making sure you know how to use this to the best of its ability is the first step to effective teaching and learning with technology. Then, it’s time to extend your range. There are countless...

The best basis for improving practice is evidence from research. This often just confirms our own experience. This module looks at metacognitive strategies and considers how technology might support their introduction into learning.

This module looks at ways to deal with technical problems that emerge while teaching. Technical problems can happen at awkward moments in a session. There are some quick and simple ways to try to resolve them, but if these don’t work then teachers can turn the situation into pedagogical...

An increasingly important definition views learning as a change in long-term memory. Theories of effective teaching and learning focus on enabling the progressive acquisition of knowledge by learners. This module looks at Barak Rosenshine’s widely used Principles of Instruction. They...

This module looks at improving learner engagement by rethinking the use of technologies within the classroom. It examines the possibilities for involving learners actively in sessions, embedded in a carefully structured approach to teaching face-to-face through technology.

This module explores the notion of face-to-face learning in a physical space such as a classroom and the place of technology in emerging pedagogy. It describes a framework for considering the activities and intended outcomes of face-to-face interaction.

Digital technologies don't always work as they should - one of the few areas in the controlled environment of education institutions where something failing to do what you expect can be quite normal. Learners need to move from relying on teachers and technical support staff for solutions...

A portfolio is the best method for storing and organising anything and everything needed to demonstrate and narrate a tutor's Professional Learning and Development (PLD). The personal nature of an e-portfolio ensures privacy and brings with it the benefit of it being online and shareable...

Most professionals now use online media to find training resources to resolve Personal Learning and Development (PLD) needs. This could be keeping up to date with the latest development in your subject, or to further your teaching skills development. Professional and social media can be...

Well-designed mobile learning activities can deliver a range of benefits to learners. This module will look at two scenarios that describe the advantage of good design and the issues that can constrain it.

This module will look at what is meant by mobile learning. It will illustrate some of the teaching and learning opportunities that mobile phones, tablets, and small laptops can bring. Ownership of smart devices amongst the under-50s in the UK is nearing 100%, with increasing use for a widening...

Each time we contribute to the web, in public spaces and in private spaces we share, we leave a trail for others to find. The modules Digital well-being for all (Part 1) and Digital well-being for all (Part 2) explored how this is done and how we might manage it for the best outcomes. In...

When we go online we build up, piece by piece, online identities that can have positive and negative outcomes for our well-being, our sense of self-worth and for our future prospects, all based on how others react and respond to our activity. Each time we contribute to the web, we add to an...

Hashtags have become one of the most useful ways of finding and contributing to communities of practice. This module looks at what they are, how to use them and some sector groups clustered around particular hashtags.

Taking photos, making videos and creating sound recordings is easy work for anyone with access to a smartphone or tablet. Once captured, image, video and audio files can be easily uploaded and stored online, edited, mixed with other evidence, shared for assessment and annotated for feedback....

Written text remains the most common way of providing feedback to learners on their outcomes and performance in assessment. Many digital tools are now available for creating and delivering written feedback in different formats and media, annotating, overwriting, converting speech to text,...

Digital technologies have a particular value in their ability to be shared over distance and then viewed and worked on at different times. This allows content and resources to be adapted, improved, questioned, have examples added, have gaps and other incompletions filled, and so on, completed...

Synchronised working uses technology to deliver learning normally done in a classroom or workshop, without having to be physically present in the room. Learners can observe and take notes, but also engage with the teacher and fellow students. All the benefits of working together,...