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If you teach for long enough (or test for long enough) you will have had the experience of accidentally designing inappropriate assessments. These are easier to see in hindsight - those where half the students misunderstood the question or where disabled students worked twice as hard due to inaccessible platforms or resources. Or those where poor task design invited easy cheats from essay mills or ChatGPT. So this month's Future Teacher session is early enough in the academic year to help you think ahead and consider appropriate assessment that is inclusive, manageable and robust. Our speakers include: University College Cork - Catherine O'Mahoney on the work she and her colleague Laura Lee have done on creating a badged course on Inclusive Assessment and helping staff navigate issues of academic integrity, course revalidation etc. University of York - Eddie Cowling, assessment lead at the International Pathway College, on the principles of good assessment. Speakers from the Universities of Manchester (Miriam Firth) and York (Jan Ball-Smith) on research into assessment optionality (along with UCL and Imperial College). As always there's plenty of scope for interacting with speakers via text chat or in live discussion towards the end. Come and share your own experiences and learn from others. Register for the session (Thurs 28th Sept 13:00 - 14:00 UK time) or pass on to a colleague who might be interested. Alistair McNaught, Lilian, Ron, Rosemarie, Teresa (Future Teacher volunteers)

At the recent Learning & Teaching Day held at the Greenock Campus, Raymond Moir, the Innovative Learning Manager, and Emma Hanna, the Learning Technology Team Leader, delivered a presentation titled "Artificial Intelligence in Education." This presentation covered a broad spectrum of topics, designed to provide a comprehensive understanding for those with limited or some prior knowledge of AI in education: Current AI Generative Tools. Limitations and Implications. Academic Integrity. Best practices for integrating AI into educational settings. Assessment Strategies. The presentation delved into tactics for assessment and approached the challenges associated with using AI, which include avoiding, outrunning, and embracing AI. Source: JISC, 2023 One of the key focal points of discussion was the idea of embracing AI within the classroom, especially in the context of authentic assessment. In an era where students have access to generative AI tools, ensuring academic integrity is a significant challenge. Dan Fitzpatrick, author of "The AI Classroom: Teaching & Learning in the Artificial Intelligence Revolution" emphasises the importance of preparing students for a world enriched with advanced AI. Fitzpatrick stresses the need for educators to create engaging authentic assessments that emphasise: Student voice Analytical thinking Personalisation Ethical AI practices By doing so, educators can foster an environment that encourages critical thinking, effective collaboration, and student ownership of their learning journey. These approaches not only hold students accountable for their education but also equip them for a future shaped by AI. Fitzpatrick advocates that educators are encouraged to teach students how to responsibly collaborate with AI tools, striking a balance between individual creativity and leveraging technology for innovative problem-solving. Dan Fitzpatrick's guide, "10 Ways to Design Dynamic Assignments for Authentic Learning" provides a valuable resource, complete with a helpful rubric covering various assessment methods, including: Collaborative Projects - ensures individual contributions. Real-World Problem Solving – requires application of knowledge. Scaffold Assignments – encourages independent learning. Peer Review and Feedback – promotes accountability. Reflective Assignments – foster metacognition. Multimedia Presentations – requires original content creation. Gamification – engages students in active learning. Debate and Socratic Seminars – requires critical thinking and reasoning. Authentic Assessments – mimics real-world tasks. Self Assessment – promotes self-awareness and growth mindset. Dan Fitzpatrik’s, AI Educator website also houses a searchable directory of AI Educator tools. On the subject of authentic assessment in the era of Artificial Intelligence, Advance HE offers a range of valuable resources. These resources include insights into the implications of AI in the education sector, student perspectives on learning and working in the AI era, and a webinar recording that explored: Practical examples of how AI is being used and its impact on authentic assessment. Practitioner responses: integrating AI tools into teaching, learning and assessment. Reflections on short and long-term responses for policies and practices. While Advance HE primarily focuses on UK university education, the topics discussed are highly relevant to Scottish colleges. You can access these AI and authentic assessment resources on the Advance HE website.

Email and social media are a way for us all to connect with loved ones, meet new people, discover local news, share knowledge, and more. However, failing to consider the accessibility requirements of a diverse audience while sharing content online can unintentionally create barriers and exclude people from digital social spaces. To help ensure that your digital content is accessible to all users, here are 5 useful resources from AbilityNet: Blog: 4 ways to make emojis accessible Blog: Creating accessible emails Blog: 5 golden rules for compliant alt text Video: How to do accessible social media content Case study: Accessible social media and language guidelines at TransPennine Express

Welcome to the WCS Centre of Learning Technologies website - CoLT - designed to support all aspects of learning technologies, including working and teaching online. Why not start by viewing our News, Hints, Tips blog. Sign up with your WCS email account to get new posts sent straight to your inbox so you don't miss out on training and support plus much more. ​ Use the new enhanced menu and search bar above to discover Tools that will help you enhance your digital skills, and for staff your students learning! Check out the MS Teams area under Office 365 for all things Teams. ​ If there is an area you would like to write a blog piece for or if you have examples of best practice please do not hesitate to contact us at learningtech@wcs.ac.uk . Have questions? - see our FAQs Search the Library An easy way to search across the wide range of resources available from your campus libraries. Sign in below with your usual Office 365 login. Contact library staff with any access issues. Library_Search Designing appropriate assessments - Future Teacher free webinar - Thurs 28th Sept (13:00 - 14:00) Revolutionising Education: Embracing the Power of Artificial Intelligence and Authentic Assessment Resources for creating accessible content Socrative: Interactive Quizzes and Surveys Coming soon for Moodle 4 - Ally Accessibility Toolkit! New features and improvements to question banks in Moodle New features in Moodle assignments! Clearer Activity Completions in Moodle Finding your way around Moodle 4.0 Recent Blog Posts Contact Us learningtech@wcs.ac.uk

Skype for Business UPDATE: Microsoft Teams is now the standard communication tool at WCS. Our WCS standard communication tool which enables calls, online meetings, instant messaging, document sharing, voice over, voicemail, file transfers, video conferencing, web conferencing and email. Up to 250 people can join a meeting/class at any one time, although only 6 faces can be seen on the screen at one time. Why use Skype rather than any other platform? ​ Skype is essentially a telecommunications application, all calls are made from your college account and appear to originate from inside the organisation, ideal for calling colleagues or students. Screen share facility allows remote members of meeting to work on same document at the same time. Explore the numerous capabilities of Skype to aid you in your day to day work here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_c4zVJ739M enjoy! If you have difficulties with this, please click on the link here to contact General - WCS Digital Strategy Group

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