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PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION | EVENT REVIEW | 09


This March marked the first year of the Jisc Digital Festival. Held at the ICC in Birmingham between 11 and 12 March, the festival showcased the latest innovations in higher education, further education and skills sectors, and proved to be the perfect meeting place for learning technologists, IT directors, heads of e-learning and college and university lecturers with a passion for the transformational power of digital technology.


T HE BE S T IN ED T E CH AT T HE JI S C D IG I TAL FES T I VA L


As someone who has been at the forefront of innovation and next generation learning, Diana Oblinger, CEO of non-profit organisation EDUCAUSE, opened the festival with a keynote speech exploring what education might be like if we used the best that technology has to offer. Delegates were also able to hear from Paul Curran, Vice-Chancellor of City University and former NASA researcher, who discussed staying ahead of digital futures from a higher education institution’s perspective. On day two of the festival, respected


educationalist and TED winner Sugata Mitra greeted delegates from Kolkata via a live video link. Leading with a discussion of his 1999 Hole in the Wall project, Sugata examined the power of a learning environment that stimulates curiosity and causes learning through self instruction and peer knowledge sharing. Closing the show in style was world leading futurologist Ray Hammond, who gave his insights on how he sees the world changing over the next 20 years and how to prepare new generations for the digital future so that they have the key skills needed to thrive. The festival also offered a wide selection


of inspiring seminars, surgeries, panel discussions and live demonstrations of the latest education technology. Here’s a glimpse at what delegates were treated to at the Jisc Digital Festival 2014:


In the purpose-built Technology Garden, a


number of the latest innovations in education and research were displayed through a series of live demonstration and talks. These included a 3D printing and scanning demonstration from The British Geological Survey (BGS) of the world’s first 3D virtual fossil collection and an interactive presentation from Matt Ramirez, technical lead on the SCARLET project from Mimas. This initiative enhances the experience of studying first-hand medieval manuscripts, landmark editions and modern literary archives using augmented reality. Microsoft Research was also present, demonstrating its Kinect sign language translator and Windows Azure for Research programme, designed to help researchers discover how cloud computing can expand work in environmental science, humanities, research data management and infrastructure. Delegates were able to participate in a


number of workshops throughout the two- day event including ‘Augmented Reality – A way to engage and empower learners?’ In this session, Judy Bloxham, e-learning adviser at Jisc RSC Northwest, discussed the current use of augmented reality (AR) in further and higher education, the pedagogy behind it and its benefits to both sectors. Having downloaded the Jisc RSC Northwest’s app, delegates were able to see AR in action via a number of posters placed around the


Ray Hammond


seminar room and were encouraged to consider questions such as: how could augmented reality be used in their institution’s context; how might their learners benefit and what areas of the curriculum could benefit; from using it. Improving the student experience is widely


recognised as one of the most important strategic drivers for universities. In the ‘Reflecting on Jisc’s Summer of Student Innovation’ panel session, delegates were given the chance to hear from the winners of last year’s competition which saw tech- savvy FE and HE students across the UK produce video pitches of their ideas to help resolve some of the issues affecting their educational lives. The panel included Matt Beveridge, undergraduate at the University of Birmingham who discussed UniBoard, an electronic notice board for students to search, buy and sell items, and PhD student Joe Chamberlain from the University of Liverpool who talked about his creation UniSocs, a peer review and self-improvement service. For those delegates interested in digital


accreditation, Grainne Hamilton, e-assessment adviser at Jisc RSC Scotland, ran a session on Open Badges, encouraging delegates to think about the types of Open Badges they could reward students with, the value for using these, the skills, understanding and attributes needed to receive an Open Badge, and how these could be aligned to their institution’s strategic drivers. ET


Martyn Harrow


Paul Curran


Sugata Mitra


Diana Oblinger


Digital dream wall


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