Producing effective online learning activities takes time, effort and creativity. This module looks at the process of creating learning resources with the intention that they are shareable resources; making them available to others, driving the concept of collaborative creation in your own...

Synchronous learning occurs when the teacher and learners are present in real time. Meeting face-to-face remains central to most statutory and higher education. Asynchronous learning allows learners to choose the time and place at which they learn. It depends on access to resources rather to a...

Running wholly online programmes has its own challenges for learners and teachers. Online learning offers flexibility in when to engage with it, and attendance in a timetabled class is not a requirement for successful completion. But for some this can be a challenging because it asks learners to...

Peer learning is learning with and from each other. Its meaning is more tightly defined as it being mutual learning between classmates of equal knowledge.

A Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) attempts to replicate in an online space everything learners might want to do and what a tutor might want to share as part of a programme of study. Learners are 'enrolled' to the course area. It contains a library, assignment and announcements areas....

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...

This module is related to the Effective teaching and learning online module because supporting learning is a feature of effective TLA. With online learning, similar to learners in traditional content, support is needed to ensure learners can be successful.

Using technology well in supporting remote learning can maintain most learning activity affected in closing the physical classroom. Some subjects, such as: joinery painting and hairdressing are harder to replace, especially, those that are lab or workshop based or programmes such as counselling...

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...

Playful learning refers to the use of games, toys and other elements of play to support learning. It can be found in all sectors of education and has been with us ever since we moved away from Victorian methods of keeping quiet and copying from the chalkboard. This module looks at ways we...

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.

The scale of smartphone ownership coupled with the transformative nature of smartphone technology and the apps and tools that it supports give it great potential as a learning technology and platform. This module explores some of the opportunities and possibilities for adopting smartphones into...

This module looks at the potential and role of mobile technology for learning, how best to make use of the affordances of mobile devices and how to ensure that appropriate support and guidance is in place for learners to succeed. It pairs with the module Using smartphones for learning.

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...

Organising learning consists of two distinct stages: deciding what you want learners to do, then managing the subsequent learning workflow from the start of each topic to its completion across an entire course or programme.

Using technology to enable and support learner-led activity is a good way to develop these skills in an engaging way. Allowing learners to direct some of their own learning can drive significant improvement in outcomes and engagement. This module pairs with and precedes the module Staff and...

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.

Stretching the efforts and reach made by learners is how teachers can express their desire for high expectations of learners and to make the most of their time in learning. Digital learning provides a platform, format or place to support these challenges. It offers new ways of providing a step up...

Immersive technologies such as Virtual Reality (VR) make a distinctive contribution to learning and to individual learners that cannot be replicated by any other media currently available to educators. What makes it special for educational content creators is its ability to fully immerse the user...

Active learning can deliver significant benefits in terms of improved learning outcomes and learner experience. This module looks at the coordination of skills, resources, planning and organisation that is required to design successful active learning and empower teachers to deliver it.

Virtual Reality (VR) is a wholly manufactured experience. Learners can use mobile devices, often worn (so as to respond to head movements), to see and interact with a visual depiction of a place, person or object. The location of the learner is not material to the experience because it is...

Augmented Reality (AR) superimposes either graphics, visual presentations or text as an overlay on a given view, looked at through a mobile device like a smartphone or tablet. Location is important for AR and where the device being used and what it is pointing at because AR is rooted in the...

Rather than faithfully represent an online version of a standard course, Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) enable you to add extra features and offer learners: - flexibility in engaging with learning material, - an opportunity to repeat a learning activity for reinforcement, and - a...

Video is a powerful tool for teaching, learning and assessment. High quality recording capability built into mobile devices make it easy to create, edit and apply video to everyday practice. The resulting footage can be uploaded, shared and accessed on a number of sites and platforms.

Productivity software (office business applications) such as word processing, presentation software and spreadsheets are amongst the most common applications most of us encounter and use on a daily basis. Continual development of functionality has taken them beyond flat text production, number...

Active learning can make a measurable improvement to learning outcomes. It’s been shown to be more effective for all learners including SEND learners. This module looks at the elements of successful active learning and the role that digital technology can play.

Digital technology and games has created the world’s largest leisure industry. This module explores how they apply to the delivery of learning activities. We look at their use to motivate and engage learners and identify areas where they might be particularly useful. This pairs with the...

This module explores the use of spoken text through devices such as e-readers and eBooks to overcome barriers to learning for a range of learners, not only those with a sight impairment.

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.

Animated images can provide a way into a complex idea, enliven content, engage attention, consolidate, reinforce and make learning memorable. It can reveal the impossible and invisible – the structure of an atom or how a virus attacks the body.

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...

This module looks the characteristics of traditional and active learning spaces, both as concepts and as practical pedagogy. It looks at ways to deliver active learning within more restricted and lesser resourced contexts. The module pairs with the Active learning: experience and outcomes...

Partnerships that bring teachers and learners together to develop digital skills can deliver real benefits to both groups. This module looks at the practicalities of developing and sustaining such partnership. It pairs with and follows on from the module, Learner-led activity.

This module expands on the guidance given in Recording teaching sessions and Digital tools for personal learning. It looks at three forms of video and video streaming where the combination of presentation, discussion and viewing open up opportunities for personal CPD and in supporting the CPD of...

Adopting digital technologies to collaborate and share practice beyond your own institution will enable you to: - find out what colleagues in other organisation's in the sector are doing in their teaching. - share, adapt and adopt good practice and learning objects and resources more...

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...

The internet is full of information and it’s not all accurate. This module looks at the different types of error to be found, from unintended to deliberately misleading and how to prepare learners to recognise and deal with them.

The diversity of learners extends to differences in their levels of digital skills, experience and confidence. This module looks at ways to ensure that our teaching does not disadvantage those with existing low levels of digital skills.

A recorded teaching session can provide real opportunities for improving your teaching practice, especially if you share it with colleagues in a quality circle or improvement group where you all watch each other's recordings to review and reflect upon them. This module looks at some of...

This module looks at how you can lead the collaborative creation of complex content covering a number of subject areas and involving several colleagues. It follows on from two preceding modules: - Creating content: adapting and editing. - Creating content: combining and mixing.

Teaching and learning quality policies often refer to the importance of high-quality resources and content. But what does that mean and who should judge it? This module looks at the issues involved in making these decisions.

This module shows you how to design learning resources from the outset to enable quick, easy and effective updating when the future brings significant change. It follows on from the paired module Future Proofing content - what does it mean.

There are a number of widely available tools to create Augmented Reality learning objects. These enable you to put together creative and pedagogically effective learning resources that fully exploit the graphical capabilities of digital technology.

EdTech enables us to deliver scenarios online and bring them to life through the application of technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) role playing and games formats. This module looks at how to create authentic scenarios and apply them to effective learning.

Teachers can achieve better outcomes by imaginative re-use, recycling and repurposing of existing content – whether it be their own, their colleagues', or resources and materials found on the internet. It also looks at the role and importance of organisations in creating and promoting...

This module looks at how to combine and mix existing resources to create more relevent content for learning. It examines how this can be used to enhance the development of your pedagogical practice with EdTech. It follows on from the module Creating content: adapting and editing.

This module looks at what is meant by future-proofing content, why it is necessary and why it is increasingly important. The principles and practice of future-proofing content together with some simple techniques are examined in the paired module Principles and practice of future proofing...

This module looks at adapting and editing existing learning materials, your own or resources you found online, for a different learning purpose. Creating new resources from old can extend the life of learning materials and is a time-efficient approach to meeting the needs of different learners.

This module looks at how to deliver the best outcomes from systematic and professional searches for suitable resources. This will include balancing the challenges of credibility, reliability, usability and suitability when assessing the worth of found resources and taking into account what...

This module looks at how to overcome or find ways around some of the technical compatibility issues you can encounter when searching for resources on the web to use with learners.

The web is awash with sources of information and resources to support teaching and learning. This module looks at ways to organise your search practice.

This module looks at the practical issues of how to build synchronous online learning into a balanced programme of online and face-to-face learning. It examines the challenges of real-time online activity (technical, social and personal) and things you can do to ensure that learner experience...

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,...

The government formally recognised digital skills as the third essential skill, together with English and Maths. This module looks at the framework and standards and considers how they might affect both ICT and other teaching staff.

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...

Developing independence in solving practical problems is an important life skill and essential for employment. This module looks at how we can go beyond reliance on chance and build some of these events into the assignments, tasks and experiences we create, making a controlled space for...

The module Developing digital problem-solving skills looked at the way one teacher develops each learner’s independent problem-solving skills through a simulation of practical difficulties arising with the digital technologies they are using. This module extends that exercise to...

This module looks at a systematic approach to assessing the reliability and validity of information that is likely to end up embedded in learning resources and teaching practice.

The module explores the practical underpinnings of good attribution and referencing. It looks at how to develop and reinforce the judgement learners need in order to avoid plagiarism. This module pairs with Dealing with plagiarism.

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...

Learner created content is a foundation stone of the shift from dependence to independence and on further to the collaborative interdependence that characterises modern employment. This module looks at ways that teachers can support development of the necessary skills, behaviours and attitudes to...

This module looks at an individual's digital context based on personal access to the appropriate technology, their awareness of it, and the digital skills to make use of them.

This module follows on from the module Creating inclusive content: Principles. It shows how the principles from Creating inclusive content: Principles can be applied to create resources that are good for all users.

The way students learn and the skills they need to progress are the same used in class, but they offer new challenges to get the best from the options they present. How learners meet those challenges at the start of a programme and what help is provided for improvement requires thought in initial...

Recall doesn't just demonstrate evidence of learning; it is an integral part of the learning process. This module identifies the core elements of recall and revision and looks at the role that technology can play in directing them to improve learning outcomes.

This module looks at what we mean by content and how teachers can help learners to develop an understanding of the tools and skills they can apply to creating it. It is paired with and followed by the module Independent learners: developing skills for content creation.

Plagiarism is wholly unacceptable in an educational context. When carried out with the intention to pass the work of others off as your own it is fraudulent; when done without that intent it is lazy or negligent. This module looks at how to ensure that learners understand the boundary between...

Digital note-taking tools exist to cover all of the situations when what you need is a platform for informal rough working: planning, preparing and structuring a task; making sketches and diagrams. They are the digital equivalents of the back of an envelope or a blank sheet of paper, but they...

Managing and organising personal and curriculum team workload is an essential task for teachers in an increasingly complex work environment. A growing emphasis on team working, with many colleagues on sessional contracts across a number of institutions can make it difficult and time-consuming to...

Digitising content has kept the language of files and folders associated with paper storage, but replaced its office-based storage into condensed, highly portable, indexed stores, that can be carried in the pocket or accessed from an online store.

A strength of learning in a classroom has been the immediacy of interaction between learners and teacher. Teachers are looking for a balance between having a culture of collective and common effort and personalised methods of achieving it. How might teachers guide, and interact with learners in...

A quality learning experience can be found in learners recognising learning that exceeds their expectations in terms of how they worked and what they learned. It leads to a desire to repeat or learn more. Digital technology used well contributes to this in both the administration and enterprise...

Technology can help find learning advantage through group working. Groups are formed around identifiable common goals or interests, in the belief that working together is more productive or satisfying than working alone and simulates real working environments.

How communities of learning can be formed and become effective through technology. Successful groups are characterised as being able to have a greater output than the sum of its parts. This principle applies to learning, which is why group learning is so common.

This module looks at how learners can be encouraged and supported to take greater responsibility for management of their own learning. This is by using widely available technology to build the self-reliance and resilience needed to succeed in employment or higher education.

Planning and developing a sequence of understandable instructions or ordered steps to solve a given problem or perform a specific task is a core skill for education and employment. This module looks at how teachers can support and develop this across a range of subject areas using different...

Surveys show that over half of the people on the planet use social media platforms. Social media are embedded into work and daily life so being able to use them is an essential vocational and life skill.

This module explores the range of accessibility assistance, from common mainstream software, apps and tools, through to the specialist or bespoke technology for complex individual needs, and its implications for teaching and learning practice.

This module shows some principles of good practice for creating content that meets the needs of learners with a disability or learning disadvantage.

This module looks at the digital components of personal learning environments, the contribution that they make to learning and at ways in which teachers can direct the full span of digital possibility to successful outcomes.

Research shows that reflection and review of learning and the processes by which it is carried out are powerful methods for improving knowledge retention, learner experience and outcomes. This module explores the role of both tools in promoting reflective learning and contributing to improved...