Community Engaged Learning and Teaching is considered to be transformative for students and practitioners, underpinned by civic participation in community and society. One of the strategic themes of the UCD Rising to the Future Strategy is “Building a Healthy World” a core objective of which is to “continue to build our engagement locally, nationally and internationally”. Community Engaged Learning (CEL) and Teaching affords the University an opportunity to build and strengthen strong partnerships with social and community organisations in a meaningful and transformative way. It provides faculty, students and community organisations opportunities to engage in a symbiotic manner, learning from each other whilst bridging the gap between academic learning and the lived reality(ies) of society.
Enhancing the Digital Teaching Capabilities of Experienced Online Instructors and the Digital Learning Capabilities of their Students
About this initiative
Despite the growth of online education many online programmes are considered to be content centred and focused on individual work (Lehman and Conceição, 2014). This focus disregards the social and collective aspects of education and ultimate limits the potential of online higher education. Although digital technologies help to open access to higher education we optimise student learning by creating an interconnected class of students, engaged with other. The development of vibrant online learning spaces requires both students and lecturers to develop skills and behaviours which go beyond the purely technical domain. How students interact and engage with each other and build a sense of connection despite their dispersed realities and how lecturers promote student interaction and engagement without the backstop of a shared physical space are explored in this project. The project uses primary research with experienced online lecturers and graduates in Trinity College Dublin to identify the behaviours that build vibrant online learning spaces and foster online student interaction and engagement. The project will produce open access online learning resources for students and lecturers for use as part of induction and professional development programmes. Lehman, R. M. & Conceição, S. C. O., (2014) Motivating and Retaining Online Students: Research-Based Strategies That Work. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
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