The “transformation” conversation is alive and well. EdTech vendors are busy “selling” the idea that a pivot from face-to-face to online is inevitable as colleges and universities face their future. They have the “answers”, but they are answers to questions no one is asking.

Join Dr. Paul Prinsloo, Research Professor in Open and Distance Learning (ODL), University of South Africa (UNISA) and Research Associate, Contact North | Contact Nord, as he hosts a conversation with Audrey Watters exploring the following issues:

• What is the future of higher education and what role, if any, will EdTech play in that future?
• How do we get past the EdTech “hype” and nonsense, and focus on what matters most?
• What actions can policy makers, institutional leaders, faculty and student leaders take to ensure higher education is not “captured” by EdTech vendors who promise” better outcomes at a lower cost for more people” but can’t deliver?
• How do we balance the opportunities, which EdTech may provide, with the need for an intensely human, relational learning experience?
• How can we prevent the excesses of EdTech in relation to surveillance, privacy and the promotion of insecurity?

Some instructors approach remote teaching with trepidation, assuming they have to be innovative in their use of synchronous technologies and produce cinema quality video and outstanding simulations.

Yet all their students want to do is learn, feel connected and feel a sense of ownership of their learning.

At the University of Cape Town in South Africa, the Centre for Innovation in Teaching and Learning developed a low-tech, high-touch approach to the challenge of remote teaching, which places the emphasis on simplicity, connectedness and directness.

In this 1-hour free webinar, Shanali Govender, lecturer and Tasneem Jaffer Senior Project Coordinator and Learning Designer at the Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching (CILT), outlines:

• 10 principles of remote teaching, ranging from “use what is available” and “be kind to yourself and empathic towards your students”.
• 12 Dos which improve the experience of teaching and learning for all.
• 12 Don’ts which are things to avoid when teaching online. Key Takeaways
• How to provide structure, focus and support for remote learners.
• Ways to use “what is available” rather than creating resources from scratch.
• How to engage learners and keep them active.
• Ten common mistakes in remote teaching (things not to do).

Zoom’s breakout rooms provide a unique opportunity to learn to create active and engaging learning experiences for students.

Join Contact North | Contact Nord’s Research Associate, Dr. Ron Owston, who describes how educators can:

• Move beyond holding ineffective, unstructured breakout room discussions
• Create distinctive breakout room roles for students to promote active participation
• Employ a variety of tools and techniques to enhance breakout room experiences
• Pre-assign students to breakout rooms or allow them to chose their own
• Design creative ways for students to report breakout room outcomes to the whole class
• Make use of breakout rooms in large enrolment courses

Participants have ample opportunity to ask questions during the webinar.

NOTE: Registrants are expected to have a basic knowledge of how to use Zoom.

How can we best use technology to help students learn well?  To answer this question, it's important to think first about learning and only then, ask how can

technology help to make this easier.

Join Professor Diana Laurillard, at UCL Institute of Education, who developed the Six Learning Types based on the Conversational Framework, to discuss these six basic types of learning that faculty and instructors can use in their online and blended courses and how to use the six types of learning in relation to different kinds of technology.

1. Acquisition (read/watch/listen)
2. Inquiry
3. Discussion
4. Practice
5. Collaboration
6. Production