Three new workshops will dive into pedagogical themes and put them in a digital context. At the workshops, the focus will be on topics such as peer feedback, quizzes and automated feedback, and the use of portfolios in your teaching.

Learning technology in university pedagogical practice

"An important part of the didactic development at AU is a pedagogical reflected use of Brightspace and other educational technologies in teaching. Educational technologies can help create more flexible, engaging, and dynamic teaching," says Anders Hyldig, who is division manager at the unit for Digital Development at the CED.

The first major range of courses in connection with the roll-out of the system focused, to a large extent, on the basic functions and activities in Brightspace. The goal was to provide a quick overview of the options in Brightspace and to ensure an easy transition from Blackboard.

The new workshops will dig deeper into the pedagogical opportunities and, among other things, focus on how to strengthen students’ motivation and commitment through the design of the learning activities – both concerning functions in Brightspace and other educational technologies such as Eduflow, which is an online tool used to facilitate peer feedback activities.

Development of learning activities and individual supervision

We will focus on three pedagogical approaches and themes that can help create more engaging and dynamic teaching with a focus on student-activating learning activities. They are:

1. Quizzes and automated feedback 
   Quizzes and other forms of automated feedback can help create more interactive teaching and make it possible to see patterns in the students’ current learning. The workshop focuses on the quiz tool in Brightspace and the pedagogical potential inherent in the use of quizzes, surveys, and self-assessment in teaching.
2. Designing peer feedback activities using digital tools
   This type of feedback intends to improve the student’s ability to evaluate their own work and that of others. At the workshop, the focus will be on designing pedagogically appropriate peer feedback activities. Participants will learn to organise peer feedback activities with Eduflow.
3. Using portfolio in your teaching
   Portfolios are a useful way to support students in documenting, presenting, and evaluating their work on an ongoing basis. The portfolio can also be used as a dynamic type of examination that focuses on formative assessment. The workshop will provide insight into the research behind the use of portfolios in teaching and inspiration for the use of the portfolio tool in Brightspace.

The workshops will have a hands-on approach to these pedagogical themes with a focus on the development of learning activities and teaching. In continuation of the workshops, we will also offer individual guidance to get started with the specific educational technologies.

The CED will help you get going

The CED will continue to offer online introductory workshops for new users of the system and other interested parties who needs help with the basic functions in Brightspace.

The workshops offer inspiration for your teaching activities and introduce basic functions such as uploading semester plans, communication options with students, and the creation of documents for assignments.

For questions about the functions or technical problems, please contact the CED support team. If you need help or consulting about the development of your courses, you are always welcome to email the CED. We make sure you are matched with a consultant who can help you with your specific needs.