The iTeach Online Podcast

In the last episode of the current series we have something a little different for you. Dr Lisa Yon from the Vet School leads the Elephant Welfare International project and she chats with Simon about the project, its work on creating positive care for elephants both in wild and in captivity as well as the experience of final year veterinary students that choose to work with animals in zoos and the wildlife.Claire then sits down with Dr Sobia Qazi from the Faculty of Engineering to discuss how Mahara is helping students studying degree apprenticeships and foundation degrees with their ongoing learning and recording their own competencies. Hosts  Ben Atkinson, Nicholas Cameron, Claire Storr and Simon Barnett  Guests  Lisa Yon and Sobia QaziRunning Order  00:00 Welcome back 00:56 Lisa Yon interview 26:14 Sobia Qazi interview 44:05 Wrap Up  Links  Read more about the Learning Technology Section in ⁠our blog⁠. Visit our ⁠SharePoint site⁠ (University of Nottingham only)  We'll be back in 2026 with more episodes, bringing you more stories of teaching and research is intersecting with technology here at the University of Nottingham.  Production elements in this podcast provided by ⁠Music Radio Creative⁠ and ⁠Pixabay⁠.  

Students and tech. That age old conundrum. Are today's students digital natives or something else entirely? First up, Simon is chatting with Dr Denise Sweeny from the School of Education about her recent research paper, “Students’ experiences of educational technology use to facilitate university learning: factors influencing their mediation of learning” and the different ways that students can be observed with technology in their pursuit of knowledge. Then David McMahon and Steven Galloway from the School of Life Sciences, join Simon to discuss their unique way of facilitating group work when it comes to creating a digital magazine with their students. Hosts   Ben Atkinson, Nicholas Cameron and Claire Storr   Guests   Denise Sweeney, David McMahon and Steven Galloway Running Order   00:00 Welcome back  01:02 Denise Sweeney discussion  20:17 Thoughts on what Denise had to say  23:32 David McMahon and Steven Galloway chat with Simon  46:38 Wrap Up   Links   Read more about the Learning Technology Section in ⁠⁠our blog⁠⁠  which is currently undergoing a bit of facelift and the new site is coming shortly.  Visit our ⁠⁠SharePoint site⁠⁠ (University of Nottingham only)   Don’t forget to add us to your podcast feed, we have another episode in 2 weeks time.      Production elements in this podcast provided by ⁠⁠Music Radio Creative⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Pixabay⁠⁠.  

Welcome back to the podcast. In this episode we are looking at two different types of media assessments. First up, Simon talks with Dr Will Paterson about using podcasts as a group assessment, two years ago, Will moved from an individual poster assessment to a group podcast recording. Why use audio, what do the students think of this assessment and looking back, how has Will found the whole process?In the second half of the episode, Simon chats with Dr Niamh O'Sullivan from the university Business School about a rather unique module. Niamh explains how Masters students are given a real world simulation where they need to pitch a new business plan to a Board of Directors made up of practicing business professionals all while dealing with a simulated media crisis and a press conference with journalists.Thanks to the work on this module, Niamh was invited to the United Nations in New York earlier this year to receive an award from UN Prime, you can find out more information about the awards and read an interview with Niamh.Hosts  Nicholas Cameron, Claire Storr and Simon Barnett  Guests  Will Paterson and Niamh O'Sullivan  Running Order  00:00 Welcome back 0:53 Will Paterson interview26:13 Nicholas and Claire reflect on Will's interview 28:24 Niamh O'Sullivan interview 52:342 Wrap Up  and congratulations to NiamhLinks  Read more about the Learning Technology Section in ⁠our blog⁠  which is currently undergoing a bit of facelift and the new site is coming shortly. Visit our ⁠SharePoint site⁠ (University of Nottingham only)  Don’t forget to add us to your podcast feed, we have another episode in 2 weeks time.   Production elements in this podcast provided by ⁠Music Radio Creative⁠ and ⁠Pixabay⁠. 

Welcome back to the pod! In this first episode of the new run we are starting our look at assessments.First up, Ben, Claire and Nicholas are joined in the studio by Dave Corbett, the Learning Technology Consultant for Medicine and Health Sciences. Dave has recently completed a secondment where he was looking at assessments across the university. Dave reflects on the secondment, highlighting some of the work that is already underway as well as looking ahead to what might be coming.Ben then sits down with Keith Benedict, Deputy Head of School of Physics and Astronomy and Teaching Assistant Chris Briggs to talk about the School's pilot of using Graide. Graide is a piece of AI software that helps improve marking for academics while aiming to improve feedback for students.Hosts Ben Atkinson, Nicholas Cameron and Claire Storr Guests Dave Corbett, Keith Benedict and Chris Briggs Running Order 00:00 Welcome back01:03 Dave Corbett discussion24:33 Graide pilot discussion49:23 Wrap Up Links Read more about the Learning Technology Section in our blog  which is currently undergoing a bit of facelift and the new site is coming shortly.Visit our SharePoint site (University of Nottingham only) Don’t forget to add us to your podcast feed, we have another episode in 2 weeks time.  Production elements in this podcast provided by Music Radio Creative and Pixabay. 

Welcome back to the podcast! In this latest episode, we are back with something a bit different. In this live episode recorded at the University of Nottingham’s Teaching and Learning Conference in April 2025, Nigel Owen (Associate Director for Learning Technology) chairs a roundtable discussion that looks at the future of Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs). The discussion centered around several questions: Where do we expect platforms to be in five years, and what will students want from their VLE experience?”  The panel, consisted of Professor Peter Stockwell from the School of English, Scarlett Zhang, the Student Union Education Officer for 2024/25 and the podcasts own Ben Atkinson, a Learning Technology Consultant. Hosts Nicholas Cameron and Claire Storr Guests Nigel Owen, Peter Stockwell, Scarlett Zhang and Ben Atkinson Running Order 00:00 Welcome back 02:01Round Table Discussion 38:35 Nicholas and Claire reflect on the live discussion share their own thoughts. 49:23 Wrap Up Links Read more about the Learning Technology Section in our blog Visit our SharePoint site (University of Nottingham only) Don’t forget to add us to your podcast feed, we have another episode in 2 weeks time.  Production elements in this podcast provided by Music Radio Creative and Pixabay. 

Surprise! We are back with a bonus episode just before Christmas.  In the final episode of 2024, the podcast is looking Degree Apprenticeships. A relatively recent introduction to the Higher Education landscape but here at the University of Nottingham is a growing area of study and an area where the university recently won the Training Provider of the Year award at the Derbyshire & Nottinghamshire Apprenticeship Awards 2024.  Simon chats with Elizabeth Bishop from the Department of Foundation Engineering and Physical Sciences about the inner workings of the Degree Apprenticeship Programme while Ben visits Experian to talk to Luca Smith who won the award for Technology and Digital Apprentice of the Year at the Derbyshire & Nottinghamshire Apprenticeship Awards 2024.  While at Experian, Ben also caught up with Taniqua Wint and Early Careers Trainer to hear about the benefits of the Progamme for an employer before finally talking to Dr Ria Symonds, the Programme Lead for the Data Science Degree Apprenticeship Programme at the University.  Hosts  Ben Atkinson, Claire Storr, Nicholas Cameron, Simon Barnett  Guests  Elizabeth Bishop, Luca Smith, Taniqua Wint and Ria Symonds  Running Order  00:00 Welcome back  01:10 Elizabeth Bishop  17:38 Ben is off to Experian  18:50 Luca Smith & Taniqua Wint  27:08 Ria Symonds  30:50 Wrap Up  Links  Read more about the Learning Technology Section in our blog  Visit our SharePoint site (University of Nottingham only)  Don’t forget to add us to your podcast feed, we’ve got more episodes coming in 2025.    Production elements in this podcast provided by Music Radio Creative and Pixabay. 

It’s the final episode of the series and we are leaving 2024 via the Virtual door.  Simon talks with Simon Harrison, the Digital Learning Director of the Faculty of Engineering, about the Virtual Reality Lab at Nottingham, how it was a world first, how the technology works and how teaching a class of 40 students who are potentially looking at something different can be conquered.  Have you ever thought about using Roblox as a vehicle for teaching? Stefan van der Vyver from Learning Technology has been creating worlds in the Roblox multiverse for different audiences as part of his role as a Developer in Learning Technology. What could this type of platform do to help scale up teaching?   Hosts  Ben Atkinson, Claire Storr, Nicholas Cameron, Simon Barnett  Guests  Simon Harrison and Stefan van der Vyver  Running Order  00:00 Welcome back  01:38 Simon Harrison  19:12 Ben Nicholas and Claire think about Virtual Reality  23:17 Stefan van der Vyver  49:21 Wrap Up  Links  Read more about the Learning Technology Section in our blog  Visit our SharePoint site (University of Nottingham only)  Don’t forget to add us to your podcast feed, we’ve got more episodes coming in 2025.    Production elements in this podcast provided by Music Radio Creative and Pixabay. 

In this episode, Nigel Owen and John Horton delve into the transformative impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on higher education. They explore how AI tools like Microsoft Co-Pilot and others are reshaping the educational landscape by automating some tasks that traditionally required human intelligence while highlighting that students still need to use skills like critical thinking alongside the use of technology.  Then Sally talks with Kristina, Noemi and Shialing from the university’s Language Centre about the benefits of using AI within their teaching and how it can help students to learn a language.  Hosts  Ben Atkinson, Claire Storr, Nicholas Cameron, Simon Barnett and Sally Hanford  Guests  Nigel Owen, John Horton, Kristina Nothoff, Noemi Cedillo and Shialing Kwa  Running Order  00:00 Welcome back  02:01Nigel Owen and John Horton  27:31 Ben, Nicholas and Claire share their own experiences of AI  31:29 Kristina Nothoff, Noemi Cedillo and Shialing Kwa  48:25 Wrap Up  Links  Read more about the Learning Technology Section in our blog  Visit our SharePoint site (University of Nottingham only)  Don’t forget to add us to your podcast feed, we have another episode in 2 weeks time.    Production elements in this podcast provided by Music Radio Creative and Pixabay. 

In this episode, Ben, Nicholas and Claire all back in the studio as the iTeach Online Podcast once again shines alight on Digital Accessibility.  Simon talks with Julian Tenney, the first returning guest on this run of the pod, getting an update on things since the Digital Accessibility Conference 2024. There’s talk about where next for Nottingham, the sector as a whole, as well as news about potential awards and the conference in 2025.  Sally then talks with Lisa Mott and Thomas Wicks from the School of Mathematical Sciences about their work around notations, formulas and equations and making them accessible for all via HTML   Hosts  Ben Atkinson, Claire Storr, Nicholas Cameron, Simon Barnett and Sally Hanford  Guests  Julian Tenney, Lisa Mott and Tom Wicks  Running Order  00:00 Welcome back  02:36 Julian Tenney  22:48 Ben, Nicholas and Claire reflect on the interview with Julian  24:18 Lisa Mott and Tom Wicks 44:29 Wrap Up  Links  Read more about the Learning Technology Section in our blog  Nottingham Accessibility Practices SharePoint site (University of Nottingham only)  ALT Special Interest Group on Digital Accessibility  Follow us on X  Visit our SharePoint site (University of Nottingham only)  Don’t forget to add us to your podcast feed, we’ve got more episodes coming in 2024.    Production elements in this podcast provided by Music Radio Creative and Pixabay. 

In the second episode of this run, the iTeach Online Podcast is shining a light on students and preparing them for work through schemes at the University.  Claire Storr sits down in the studio with Rebekah Thirlwall and Vidushi Rijuta to talk about a recent Student As Change Agents (SACA) project in the Faculty of Social Sciences. The project looked at the Digital Accessibility of some learning materials across the Faculty. Students like Vidushi were employed to help improve these materials while also improving their own skills to make them more work ready.  Rebekah and Vidushi along with Gaia Tracey and Sana Javed spoke about this project at the Digital Accessibility Conference in June 2024. You can watch the recording of their paper on the Conference webpages. Their session was in Room 3 at 10am.  Host  Ben Atkinson  Guests  Rebekah Thirlwall and Vidushi Rijuta  Running Order  00:00 Welcome back  01:24 Rebekah Thirlwall and Vidushi Rijuta talk with Claire Storr about the SACA project.  27:59 Wrap Up  Links  Read more about the Learning Technology Section in our blog  Follow us on X  Visit our SharePoint site (University of Nottingham only)  Don’t forget to add us to your podcast feed, we’ve got more episodes coming in 2024.    Production elements in this podcast provided by Music Radio Creative and Pixabay. 

Welcome back! Now that term has begun and teaching is well underway, the iTeach Online Podcast is back with five more episodes to take you to the end of 2024.  We are starting this run talking about teaching online, something that has become much more relevant to many people over the last few years.  However, we have two people at the University of Nottingham that have been involved in online teaching for a bit longer.   Dr Alice Doherty from the School of Psychology is the Course Director for the MSc Psychology by Distance Learning and she chats with Simon about the differences of teaching by distance and how teaching face to face is not too dissimilar.  Dr Sarah Stubbings is the Online Learning Manager for the Learning Technology Section and she chats with Ben all about the university’ s partnership with FutureLearn. Sarah discusses the beginnings of the partnership, some of her favourite courses and what courses are coming soon.   Hosts  Ben Atkinson and Simon Barnett  Guests  Dr Alice Doherty and Dr Sarah Stubbings  Running Order  00:00 Welcome back  02:03 Dr Alice Doherty  17:38 Ben and Simon Catch up and reflect on the interview with Dr Alice Doherty  21:00 Dr Sarah Stubbings  35:22 Wrap Up  Links  Read more about the Learning Technology Section in our blog  Follow us on X  Visit our SharePoint site (University of Nottingham only)  Don’t forget to add us to your podcast feed, we’ve got more episodes coming in 2024.    Production elements in this podcast provided by Music Radio Creative and Pixabay.   

We’re back! After a lengthy absence, the iTeach Online Podcast is back with new presenters and new interviews.  To celebrate the Digital Accessibility Conference 2024, we have a special episode that focuses on the digital accessibility and digital usability work here at the University of Nottingham.   The Learning Technology section within the Library at UoN have been working on creating more accessible content for students and staff for the last few years, in this episode the team responsible for the work sit down for a discussion that shows how far they have come with both content and usability of technology.  Hosts  Ben Atkinson, Claire Storr and Simon Barnett  Guests  Nicholas Cameron, Julian Tenney, Amanda Hill, Theresa Morely and Christopher Ward  Running Order  00:00 Welcome back to the podcast  03:05 Digital Accessibility at Nottingham – Part 1  24:32 Making Moodle more usable and accessible for the Faculty of Science  47:55 Digital Accessibility at Nottingham – Part 2  1:08:19 Wrap Up  Links  Sign up and read more about the Digital Accessibility Conference  Find out more about the Nottingham Accessible Practices NAPS  Read more about the Learning Technology Section in our blog or follow us on X  You can also visit our SharePoint site (University of Nottingham only)  Don’t forget to add us to your podcast feed, we’ve got more episodes coming in 2024.    Production elements in this podcast provided by Music Radio Creative and Pixabay. 

Sally Hanford from the Learning Technologies Team shares some insights on media assignments

Simon Paterson, Assistant Professor, Department of Music, talks to us about giving his students the opportunity to feedback on his teaching and  content of his course.

In this Episode, Sarah Grandage from the School of English, University of Nottingham, addresses the use of webcams in online teaching.

In this episode, Claire Storr and Paul Bryant outline the key differences between breakout rooms and channels in MS Teams.

Marilena Minoia, Melanie Bhend and Mikiko Kurose share their experience with using Talis Elevate for their language classes.

In this podcast Gaby Neher, Associate Professor in Art History at the University of Nottingham, describes how she uses technology to take first year students with her (virtually) on site visits. Gaby describes how she has adapted a practice from social media (gimbal tours) to stream high quality video to her students so that they can see and interact with objects, sites and spaces. She describes how the practice has led to opportunities that she might previously not have been considered.

Ewa Szypula, Lecturer in French Studies, gives recommendations for creating a sense of community in online teaching.

Tara Webster-Deakin, Widening Participation and Outreach Manager and Teaching Associate in the School of Cultures, Languages and Area Studies, University of Nottingham, gives practical tips for building a relationship with students taking an online course. 

Terry Willmer shares information and tips on the Automatic Speech Recognition feature in Echo 360.

Professor Helen Lovatt explore the combination of platforms like Padlet and Talis Elevate to support teaching and learning online. 

Claire Storr and Paul Bryant feature in this iTeach Online Podcast episode explaining recent changes to Microsoft Teams and how you can customise Meeting Options to meet your and your students’ needs.

Doug Ingram talks about his experience with MultiFlexing. He gives several good practical tips and addresses some of the challenges that MultiFlexing presents. If, after listening to Doug, you want to know more about MultiFlex Teaching, visit: www.nottingham.ac.uk/toolkits/play_25202

Welcome and brief introduction to the podcast