{"id":2537,"date":"2019-03-07T14:04:04","date_gmt":"2019-03-07T14:04:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/learning-technology\/?p=2537"},"modified":"2022-04-13T15:46:27","modified_gmt":"2022-04-13T15:46:27","slug":"erasmus-scheme-and-visit-at-technical-university-of-denmark-in-copenhagen-part-2-cynllun-erasmus-ac-ymweliad-a-phrifysgol-dechnegol-denmarc-copenhagen-rhan-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/LTAcademy\/erasmus-scheme-and-visit-at-technical-university-of-denmark-in-copenhagen-part-2-cynllun-erasmus-ac-ymweliad-a-phrifysgol-dechnegol-denmarc-copenhagen-rhan-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Erasmus+ scheme and visit at Technical University of Denmark in Copenhagen – part 2 | Cynllun Erasmus+ ac ymweliad \u00e2 Phrifysgol Dechnegol Denmarc, Copenhagen – rhan 2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rhan 2\/2 | Part 2\/ 2 <\/em>
*Fersiwn Cymraeg isod | Welsh version below*
Rhan 1 | Part 1<\/strong><\/a>
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Digital Education<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly to Cardiff\u2019s \u201cWay Forward\u201d education strategy, DTU\nhas their own strategy that involves some commitments for the future regarding\ndigital education. It is interesting that a technical university is only at the\nbeginning of implementing an institution-wide and complex VLE. They\u2019ve been\nusing their in house developed solution until now, but it no longer meets\ncurrent and modern requirements for online collaboration and course design. It was\ndecided to implement Desire to Learn (D2L) as a campus VLE. This year the\ncentral team is working on delivering academic workshops around module design\nand best practice adopting the approach from the University of New South\nWales<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also had an interesting chat about supporting staff digital\ncapabilities. The central team has designed a very well structured course to\nincrease staff digital literacy. The programme is very similar to Cardiff\u2019s academic\npractice programme, and is compulsory for new staff. This course extends and\nenhances digital teaching skills and is supported with best practice examples\nand pedagogical theory. They are interested in adopting the University of New\nSouth Wales model (https:\/\/teaching.unsw.edu.au\/beginning-teach-ecrs-and-hdrs<\/a>\n) to create a professional teacher development framework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DTU is also piloting a lecture recording platform called Kaltura<\/a>. As they are at the beginning of their journey, they really appreciated a little advice on some crucial issues we also faced here at Cardiff University (i.e recording policy and approaches to up-skill academic staff). Surprisingly the adoption of this platform from the student side has been much quicker. Students can use Kaltura to record voice over Powerpoint presentations in a similar way to personal capture here at Cardiff University. They can also use a designated space and PC facilities within the main library to create their presentations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regarding online MOOC courses, DTU have a partnership with Coursera\nto run their courses. DTU has a couple of courses focused on green energy and\nthe strategic aim is that every department will design and run at least one\ncourse on Coursera by 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I spent most of time with Helle, the director of the Centre for Digital\nLearning Technology<\/a>. The centre is part of the Department of\nComputer Sciences (DTU Compute) and launched two years ago as a response to the\nrole of technology within education. The Centre is looking at possible ways of\nlearning utilising technology with cooperation from students. The Centre\nsupports student projects that look to utilise technology in education (such as\nuse of predictive learning or use of VR and AR in education). Helle and I hold\nsimilar views in regard to technology enhanced learning, and we shared similar\nideas. Helle mentioned that we evaluate formal learning at University but we\ndon\u2019t pay much attention to informal learning, and I agree that University\ncould provide advice to students on effective learning pathways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had a very inspirational chat about using data and the purpose of gathering learners\u2019 data. From that discussion, I think every institution should be looking to answer basic questions, such as:
Why do we want to gather data from learners?
What kind of data we want to gather and how we will evaluate this data in the longer term? <\/strong><\/em>
We\u2019ve also agreed that there is a need for institutional policy covering the gathering, use and analysis of learners\u2019 data. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Physical Learning\nSpaces<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s always useful to see that other institutions face similar\nchallenges, so I wasn\u2019t surprised that DTU recently invested in a campus and\nphysical learning spaces renovation\/refurbishment. This was due to increasing\nnumber of students and the need for modern facilities (more power sockets,\ndisplay screens\/devices, etc.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lars (staff member from estates\/campus services) gave me a tour\nof renovated lecture theatres. He explained that establishing relationships with\nteaching staff had been key to discussing learning space design, layout and\nfacility requirements. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After visiting a few lecture theatres, I realised how the\nspaces were designed for collaboration. Even the old standard lecture theatre\nwith lines of seats and desks had been transformed into a collaborative space.\nE.g. extending the desk if required, using movable chairs with height\nadjustment allowing lower sitting students to turn around and collaborate with\ntheir peers. Another great teaching space was the combination of a traditional\nlayout (rows of desks) with designated spaces for collaboration, again with movable\nchairs to allow students to move between both spaces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A great example of student involvement and support was my\nvisit to the SkyLab. A space to make student projects a reality. Every student\ncan apply for a designated space, equipment and special facilities to develop\nand test out their projects. The space has a range of meeting rooms from small\ngroup meeting rooms to larger auditoriums to present project proposals or\noutcomes. Many of successful projects take part in university start-up scheme\nto run their own business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the successful projects developed by a former DTU student and widely adopted by other universities is a platform for peer marking and peer feedback called Peergrade (www.peergrade.io<\/a>). This platform allows academics to set up peer assessment. Designed by students in cooperation with academics, it has quickly been adopted by most universities in Denmark as a peer assessment tool. I\u2019ll definitely explore possibilities of this tool for future use at Cardiff University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion –\nreflection:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From all the conversations I\u2019ve had, I felt that\ncollaboration, group work, project work and problem based tasks are a crucial\npart of education at DTU. Student surveys showed that traditional teacher\nfocused teaching is preferred at DTU and that students appreciate collaborative\ntasks. These aspects have been considered while designing new courses and learning\nspaces and it was amazing to see how the students use the spaces to collaborate\non projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although DTU is a technical focused university with a smaller number of enrolments in comparison to Cardiff University, it was a great experience to learn how international institutions operate and deal with similar Higher Education challenges and issues. Moreover, meeting people with various areas of interest and roles is always inspirational and I\u2019ve definitely gathered a lot of new ideas. I especially appreciate their approach to group and collaborative learning. Moreover new connections can lead to interesting international projects or further partnership.
I truly enjoyed my time in Denmark and would encourage anybody to apply for a grant in this great Erasmus + scheme. If you wish to get more information on the application process, please get in touch at nosekm@cardiff.ac.uk<\/a>.
I would also like to thank again to Dewi and Nathan my line managers for their support, and Helle for her great hospitality during my stay at DTU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n