Congratulations to Mike Wald (ECS) and his team for winning the EUNIS E-Learning Award this year for Synote.  Synote was presented at Learning and Teaching Week in March and gained alot of interest from those who participated.  Details about Synote can be accessed here.

The Learning Differences Centre forwaded me a useful link from the University of Nottingham, who have developed a comprehensive resource for tutors to help them adapt their practices to match the needs of dyslexic students. Such adaptations often benefit the whole cohort. The website includes advice, video case studies and documents.

Another PowerPoint template suitable for teaching has been been made available via our website. The new one has a green/blue title page and pale grey content pages, similar to the style that must be used for external presentations. Again, the design is optimised for accessibility and prints well in black-and-white.

Note that these external-use templates can be found via the SUSSED Services tab on the Communications website. Unfortunately, it is no longer possible to link to SUSSED so you’ll have to find them the hard way.

The deadline for the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Fund bids is looming ever closer.  Expressions of interest should be receieved by LATEU no later than 12 noon on Wednesday 15th October.

The funds can be used for projects of varying scale and nature. Ideally, the intention is to free up staff time for an agreed period so that effort can be focused on developing learning and teaching. Staff may collaborate with colleagues from their School, other Schools or Professional Service.

The criteria that will be used to select projects to be funded are:

• Alignment with the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Strategy
• Enhancement of the student Experience
• Transferability across disciplines
• Value for money
• Sustainability of the project
• Collaboration with other Schools
• Evaluation of Outcomes & Impact
  - a clear method to evaluate the success, outcomes and impact of the project

See our website for full details of the funds and application procedures

Staff are invited to apply for funding for projects and activities which support the achievements of the University of Southampton Learning and Teaching Enhancement Strategy and the University of Southampton E-Learning Strategy. The scheme is open to all staff involved in teaching, or learning support, and individuals or teams may apply.

There is a common application scheme for the two funds and initial applications require the completion of a one page “Expression of Interest” Form. The deadline for submission of Expression of Interest Application forms is noon on Wednesday 15th October 2008.

The funds can be used for projects of varying scale and nature. Ideally, the intention is to free up staff time for an agreed period so that effort can be focused on developing learning and teaching. Staff may collaborate with colleagues from their School, other Schools or Professional Service.

The criteria that will be used to select projects to be funded are:

• Alignment with the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Strategy
• Enhancement of the student Experience
• Transferability across disciplines
• Value for money
• Sustainability of the project
• Collaboration with other Schools
• Evaluation of Outcomes & Impact
  - a clear method to evaluate the success, outcomes and impact of the project

See our website for full details of the funds and application procedures

]]> http://lateu.wordpress.com/2008/07/03/second-life-comes-to-solent/ Thu, 03 Jul 2008 15:44:01 +0000 fionagrindey http://lateu.wordpress.com/2008/07/03/second-life-comes-to-solent/

Southampton Solent University have launched their Second Life campus.  It is not a recreation of their real life campus but a really well thought out and creative space.  More information can be accessed from here.

The adoption of a new visual identity and logo for the University in February 2008 provided an opportunity to create a PowerPoint ‘design template’ that not only matched the new style but also maximised the usability and accessibility of slides.

LATEU collaborated with Communication Services, the Learning Differences Centre and the Assistive Technology Service to produce these template.

The new template is available from the LATEU website, along with two short videos illustrating good slide design principles and showing how to install the templates.

On 23rd September 2008 LATEU will be hosting an event about the use of Second Life at the University of Southampton.  We are looking for anyone who is using Second Life for education and would be happy to talk about how they have been using it and the kind of feed back that they have received.  If you would like more details, then please contact Fiona Grindey

University Inclusion Forum Event: April 30th 12-2pm Building 67

All Students are Diverse: Investigating inclusion in higher education

Phil Gravestock, from University of Gloucestershire will be presenting his views regarding diversity and inclusion in higher education.

Phil is Head of Learning Enhancement and Technology Support at the University of Gloucestershire and has been working at a national level in the area of inclusion and disability for a number of years. He is Co-editor of Developing an inclusive curriculum: a guide for lecturers and was a project member of the Geography Discipline Network- Inclusive Curriculum Project

Abstract ” Sorry to shatter any illusions but, like the Loch Ness Monster, unicorns and Father Christmas, the ‘typical student’ does not exist. All students are diverse. Higher education is not a closed system, and all students will bring different aspects of their external experiences with them when they attend any of our sessions. To date most of the initiatives looking at diversity have focused on particular groups of students (e.g. disabled students, international students), and have considered strategies that will assist these students to participate to their full potential in higher education. The time has come to take a step back from these initiatives, and to consider how these strategies can also have a positive impact on the wider student body. This session aims to encourage participants to reflect on the nature of students in higher education, and to consider practices that might enable students’ participation.”

LATEU supports colleagues from across the University in promoting good practice in education by hosting several Good Practice Lunches across the whole of the academic year.

The next Good Practice Lunch will be on January 22nd with a presentation from Dr Jane Seale ‘Developing participatory approaches to inclusion related staff development’.

Further information can be found on our website.

In response to a review of our provision, which is still in progress, additional sessions have been added to our programme of workshops offered this year. New sessions include Employability; Internationalisation of the curriculum, Student Support (providing pastoral support to UG or PG students), Supporting students with Dyslexia and Supporting students with Mental Health difficulties.

Further information can be found on our website. If you have ideas for other sessions that you would like to see offered please contact us at LATEU@soton.ac.uk