EdTech 2021 - Beyond the Pandemic Emergency

About

EdTech seminar is intended to help faculty members raise the quality of their online teaching performance, as well as improve student experience and learning outcomes in online or hybrid environment.

As the pandemic restrictions around the world continue into spring 2021, universities expect online teaching to remain in place in the short term, with hopes that mass vaccinations will enable a return to campus teaching by September. Uncertainty remains as to the overall levels of population immunity, future mutations of the coronavirus, and potential further risks of infection and illness. What is certain however, is that regardless of the evolution of the pandemic, universities will have to evaluate the lasting effects of digital transformation in teaching and learning. Therefore, a number of short-term and medium-term challenges arise for faculty.

In the short term, academics are still facing the challenge of transitioning even more courses to online delivery and further improving teaching performance, learning effectiveness, and student satisfaction. Not all courses are the same and not all courses pose the same challenges when it comes to online delivery. Therefore, the discussion around the adaptations of a variety of teaching methods for online delivery remains as prescient in the coming months as ever.

In the medium term, teaching in the Fall of 2021 will not be the same as in 2019. First, because infection risks are likely to linger, with some students having to shield at home but still expecting to attend classes online. Second and much more importantly, students will be thrilled to return to campus but will also expect to keep benefiting from the convenience and other advantages of online learning to which they have become so accustomed over the past year. For academics, the challenge is to prepare for hybrid teaching methods combining the power of physical co-presence with the flexibility of online tools. For example, students will expect their campus experience to involve compelling and irreplaceable social learning while preferring digital channels for more efficient content consumption. 

At CEEMAN, we constantly monitor the dynamic evolution of teaching needs and best practices from one semester to the next and adapt the EdTech seminar accordingly. Therefore, the 2021 EdTech seminar will not be a replay of the Fall 2020 edition (you can read about it here) but a revamped program targeting specifically the current challenges and those immediately ahead of us. What remains constant is the program’s focus on interactivity and co-creation, and practical hands-on format with tangible and immediate application.

EdTech Faculty introducing the content of the seminar and guiding us through the 3 sessions:

 

Program

The seminar will take place over three sessions spanning three weeks.

SESSION 1: 20 October 2021 (9:00-12:00 CET)

Orchestrating a Synchronous or Hybrid Session
The first session begins with the key insight that it is not the sophistication of technology that makes the difference, but our preparedness to adapt our styles and methods so that we take advantage of the native capabilities of digital tools instead of attempting to replicate our long-standing teaching routines that were honed over thousands of hours of teaching in the amphitheater. The aim of the first session is to open the mind to the possibilities of online delivery by stimulating new thinking around presentation, performance, and the implementation of a multitude of teaching methods.

Topics:
• Introductions and icebreaker
• Synchronous online and hybrid teaching:assumptions, scope and goals of the Seminar
• Solving for presence, attention, and engagement
• Strategies towards students at risk (peer learning, collaboration assignments, communities and grading solutions)
• Orchestrating synchronous and hybrid sessions
• Revisiting our assumptions and goals for online teaching
• The challenge for Session 2

SESSION 2: 27 October 2021 (9:00-13:30 CET)

Innovating online teaching methods
The second session aims to set the playground where participants experiment with different approaches, styles, and methods in the process of addressing their own teaching needs and challenges. By sharing experiences and test-driving new approaches, participants will begin crafting their own online personas and ways of conducting their teaching.

 Topics:
• Exploring innovative teaching methods
• Revisiting and augmenting our own teaching
• Adapting and adopting unfamiliar methods
• Different types of assignments in hybrid settings and tech solutions to support them
• The challenge for Session 3

SESSION 3: 3 November 2021 (9:00-12:00 CET)

Rethinking teaching
The third session will tackle specific advanced topics that participants will have identified as having particular interest or urgency for them. We will address topics such as assessment, socialization, or asynchronous learning. In a hackathon-like exercise we create collaboration and co-teaching opportunities that will go beyond the course. This session is all about creating a productive outcome for your own development as an instructor. The seminar culminates in a celebration for most inspiring online/hybrid teaching formats.

 Topics:
• Advanced topics based on participants’ demand
(e.g. asynchronous extensions, pre-recorded video, lab teaching, performative classes, virtual collab classes, creating productive outcomes in executive programmes, project-based collaboration)
• Hackathon-like exercise “Redefining courses, creating value together”
• Awards ceremony for most ambitious online or hybrid teaching format

Faculty

Guest speaker

Fees

• EUR 490 for CEEMAN members
• EUR 650 for non-members

In some cases, 22% VAT might apply depending on the legal status of the applicant's institution. Payment of participation fee should be settled before the start of the seminar by bank transfer or by credit card (additional credit card charges applied) upon receipt of the pro-forma invoice from CEEMAN.

Possibility of Erasmus+ Grant Suport of 350 eur per person:

It has come to our attention that with the current international travel restrictions due to COVID-19 and most training events going online, Erasmus+ Grant Support for the Mobility of Staff could cover “organizational support” of participation of teaching or administrative staff in online events that are at least 2 days long, in the amount of EUR 350 per person.

Since all CEEMAN online events are hosted by IEDC-Bled School of Management, which is part of Erasmus Mobility program, such funding can be applied for participation of teachers and administrative staff of institutions from eligible countries. 

More information on the staff training mobility is available here and more on organizational support on page 60 of the Erasmus+ Program Guide. Please contact Erasmus Mobility office at your institution or country for more details. From our side, Mr. Rok Ramšak (rok.ramsak@iedc.si, tel +386 457 92 532) will be happy to help with necessary mobility-related documentation.

In order to benefit most from the program, stable internet connection, prior experience in teaching and a good working knowledge of English is recommended.

Logistics

EdTech 2021 will take place online. A week before the seminar, participants will receive instructions and access to MiTeam, an award-winning learning and collaboration platform. We will be co-creating a community of participants before and after the seminar, providing even more possibilities for networking and experience sharing. You can find a brief description of the platform here.

Contacts