Teaching Matters Edinburgh

In episode 5, Karen Howie (Technology Enhanced Learning Team Manager in Learning, Teaching and Web, Information Services) hosts a conversation about blogging to develop your professional profile. She talks with University of Edinburgh staff members, Eli Appleby-Donald (Learning Technologist at Edinburgh College of Art) and Lorna Campbell (Senior Service Manager for Learning Technology in Learning, Teaching and Web, Information Services), and PhD student, James Lamb (a Doctoral Student within the Centre for Research in Digital Education, in the Moray House School of Education), about the art of blogging, the difference between various types of blogs, frequency of posts, maintaining and promoting a blog, how to deal with 'blogger's block', and engaging with your audience.  

In this episode, student guest host, Lila Pitcher (Academic Blogging Intern in Information Services), leads a discussion with Dr Nina Morris (Lecturer in Human Geography) and Dr Hazel Christie (Lecturer in University Learning and Teaching) about the benefits and challenges of using blogging as an innovative form of assessment.  Their discussion is based on their recent Principal's Teaching Award Scheme (PTAS) research, which explores how assessed blogs are being used across the University.  

They discuss the use of blogs as a form of assessment with regards to marking criteria, course design, staff investment, technological limitations, writing style and digital footprint.  Nina and Hazel also provide some strategies and tips for teaching staff who may want to use blogging as an assessment tool, and for students working with blogs as part of their courses.

In this third episode, MSc Environmental Sustainability student, Polly Wells, returns as our guest host to continue this conversation with three University of Edinburgh staff members: Velda McCune, Emily Creamer and Hannah Chalmers. Polly asks her guests what inspired them to teach about climate change issues and their most effective ways of teaching these concerns, as well as inviting debate about the merits and challenges of interdisciplinary teaching and learning. 

 In this third episode, MSc Environmental Sustainability student, Polly Wells, returns as our guest host to continue this conversation with three University of Edinburgh staff members: Velda McCune, Emily Creamer and Hannah Chalmers. Polly asks her guests what inspired them to teach about climate change issues and their most effective ways of teaching these concerns, as well as inviting debate about the merits and challenges of interdisciplinary teaching and learning. 

This podcast complements the University’s Teaching Matters blog, and invites students and staff to engage in topical conversations. The first three episodes accompany the Teaching Matters mini-series on social responsibility and sustainability. In these episodes, University of Edinburgh staff and students debate how sustainability and environmental concerns are being tackled in today’s university. 

In this second episode, we continue the conversations from Episode 1 on climate change, which explore if students are facing climate optimism or climate fatalism in the classroom. In this episode, our guest host, masters student Polly Wells, asks her fellow students, Ryan Gilmour, Ellie Ashton and Emily Bankert, about the roles of teachers and students in tackling climate change through teaching and learning.

This podcast complements the University’s Teaching Matters blog, and invites students and staff to engage in topical conversations. The first three episodes accompany the Teaching Matters mini-series on social responsibility and sustainability. In these episodes, University of Edinburgh staff and students debate how sustainability and environmental concerns are being tackled in today’s university. In this episode, students start to discuss emotionally-charged issues around climate change, asking if they are facing climate optimism or climate fatalism in the classroom. Masters student Polly Wells is our guest host, who welcomes fellow students Ryan Gilmour, Ellie Ashton and Emily Bankert to the conversation.