Monthly Archives: June 2018

Learning Technologists Showcase Brightspace for Large Group Teaching

CELebrate 2018 saw our fabulous team of Learning Technologists showcase what Brightspace can do for colleagues who are teaching large groups. The team focused on four main areas: formative quizzes; communication via discussion boards and chat; intelligent agents and video notes. Formative quizzes can be an excellent tool if you want to test your student’s… Read more » about Learning Technologists Showcase Brightspace for Large Group Teaching

CELebrate 2018: Pushing the boundaries on large group teaching

I was able to lead part of a session at yesterday’s CELebrate Conference on the topic of large group teaching. The source of my material on how staff are pushing their boundaries was the data collected by staff who participated in this year’s PREP activity, iVLE. From this rich source of information on how staff… Read more » about CELebrate 2018: Pushing the boundaries on large group teaching

What students really want – a CELebrate/policy event

BU hosted Dr Diana Beech from the Higher Education Policy Institute on Wednesday morning for a policy breakfast, part of this year’s CELebrate symposium.  In a packed room and despite the early start, we had a great discussion about student perceptions, value (and value for money). Diana started with a review of the HEPI/AdvanceHE 2018… Read more » about What students really want – a CELebrate/policy event

TBL 101 – The Introduction to Team-based Learning

TBL 101 – The Introduction to Team-based Learning. 10-12pm Wednesday 11th July 2018 Join us for TBL 101, the introduction to Team-based Learning (TBL), led by Dr Jonny Branney, Senior Lecturer in Adult Nursing and TBLC certified Team-based Learning Consultant-Trainer. In TBL 101 you will experience a TBL session for yourself and be invited to consider… Read more » about TBL 101 – The Introduction to Team-based Learning

Here’s how Apple is making AR objects far more believable

Apple is using machine learning to make augmented reality objects more realistic in iOS 12, using smart environment texturing that can predict reflections, lighting, and more. The new feature, being added in ARKit 2.0, uses on-device processing to better integrate virtual objects with their real-world counterparts, blurring the lines between what’s computer-generated and what’s authentic…. Read more » about Here’s how Apple is making AR objects far more believable

HE Policy update for the w/e 8th June 2018

HEPI Student Experience Survey The  Higher Education Policy Institute  (HEPI) and  Advance HE  have published a joint  report on student academic experience.  The report was launched at the annual HEPI conference and Sam Gyimah gave the keynote address. The report includes a lot of insight and is worth looking at – there are some new questions… Read more » about HE Policy update for the w/e 8th June 2018

LEGO showcases Augmented Reality play with Apple’s ARKit 2 at WWDC

Martin Sanders, LEGO’s Director of Innovation took the stage to showcase LEGO’s integration with Apple’s new revelation of ARKit 2 during the 2018 World Wide Developers Conference in San Jose earlier this week. ARKit 2 is a platform that allows developers like LEGO to integrate shared experiences, bringing together a virtual experienced tied to a… Read more » about LEGO showcases Augmented Reality play with Apple’s ARKit 2 at WWDC

CQR seminar: ‘In conversation: Building confidence through creative crafting’

On Wednesday Dr Jen Leamon from FHSS and Dr Jenny Hall from CEL facilitated the final seminar of the ‘in conversation’ season for the Centre for Qualitative Research.   Their topic was ‘Building confidence through creative crafting’ where they discussed the use of craft activities within research and teaching and learning. They described how they… Read more » about CQR seminar: ‘In conversation: Building confidence through creative crafting’

Microsoft just dropped 864 servers into the sea to run an underwater data center

As a major player in the cloud infrastructure market, Microsoft is keen on figuring out better ways to store and power its machinery. To that end, it’s now deployed a data center on the seafloor off the Orkney Islands in Scotland. The idea is part of Project Natick, an initiative to identify environmentally sustainable ways of running large-scale… Read more » about Microsoft just dropped 864 servers into the sea to run an underwater data center