GMIT president Dr Orla Flynn has formally launched the Connacht-Ulster Alliance's first collaborative publication on digital teaching and learning practice across the three CUA institutes - GMIT, LYIT and IT Sligo.
More than 30 academics have contributed to the book, titled Building Digital Teaching and Learning Capabilities in Higher Education, featuring 20 case studies across eight themes. The book is a significant output of the iNote project supported through HEA innovation award funding.
Published by the GMIT Teaching and Learning Office, it will be available for free as an open education resource which can be downloaded from www.DigitalEd.ie/Book A limited print run is available by request by emailing [email protected].
Editor of the book is Dr Carina Ginty, GMIT DigitalEd.ie project lead, Teaching and Learning Office.
“This book is being released as we come to the end of another challenging year in higher education," said Dr Michael Hannon, VP academic affairs and registrar at GMIT. "It provides an opportunity for all us to celebrate and value teaching and the student learning experience. In this special publication, colleagues from across GMIT, IT Sligo, and LYIT share insights and innovations on their teaching and learning practice over the last two years. Many will touch on their experiences of adapting to remote learning and teaching during Covid, and will also reflect on lessons learned and plans for the future.”
Billy Bennett, VP academic affairs and registrar, LYIT, said: “This publication is the culmination of three years’ collaborative work among academics in LYIT, GMIT, and IT Sligo under the HEA-funded iNote project. The success of this project has been built on principles of additionality, innovation, partnership, and trust. The iNote project has been transformational in building digital capacity for our new technological university.”
Dr Michele Glacken, VP academic affairs and registrar, IT Sligo, added: “The book demonstrates the innovativeness and commitment of academic staff to deploy technology to modify or introduce new modes of teaching, assessment, and academic supports to enable all students achieve their full potential. This ingenuity is enabling students studying during a pandemic to have an enriching academic experience. The case studies are varied in focus and traversed academic disciplines. Case studies from IT Sligo focus on universal design for learning, English language development, and academic writing.”
The book launch was streamed live with a small number of invited guests on site. Attendees included staff from the higher education sector, book contributors, CUA registrars, and CUA staff. A media showcase from the collection of case studies was presented at the launch. The videos are available to view online at www.DigitalEd.ie/Book
