Learning Solutions News

DIDACTICS & TEACHING eAssessment - Online examination and evaluationThe subject of assessment in times of lockdown and distance learning is also on the agenda of all universities this semester (and probably beyond). How can assessment be designed and technically implemented so that the student performance can be assessed in a dislocated manner? How can academic integrity be maintained?By exploring different assessment formats (e.g. Open Book Exams), online proctoring and online assessment systems (TCExam and Sakai Tools), you will find a number of ways to design assessment in your course. On the Teach Online site you will find guidelines and video tutorials. Click here to learn more about eAssessment and online proctoring.  If you would like to read more about the topic, you can find a reading tip here: “Assessment Strategies for Online Learning” by Conrad and Openo (2018).    LEARNING & COMMUNITY CORNER This was the virtual conference 2020 of MCI Learning Solutions The pandemic has not only changed how we learn at work in the short term. The future is digital.  However, how should methods of teaching, continuing education and work in companies develop to remain successful in the digital age? Experts explored this question during the virtual conference at the MCI on "Digital Learning - New Forms of Learning and Working". 65 participants, mostly from the field of human resources in German-speaking countries, took the opportunity to gather inspirations from experts to exchange ideas in this virtual network. The highlight of the conference was the keynote speech with Luis Pinto, Director of Business Development EMEA at Udemy Government. According to Luis Pinto, to remain successful in a dynamic environment, companies need to make continuous learning within organizations and online learning a fundamental part of their operations. Here is a short summary of the virtual conference - also behind the scenes:  Link to the conference website: https://www.mci.edu/en/virtual-conference   INNOVATION & INITIATIVE Life Science | Interactive The Life Science | Interactive program is an online learning offer for high school students (and other interested parties) who want to learn more about various topics in biotechnology and food technology and are interested in studying at the MCI in these fields. Participants register via the homepage and gain access to various online modules, which they can work through individually or in class. At the end of each module there is a test which, if successfully completed, leads to the award of a digital badge. The badge will be credited as part of the first year's study performance if the learner is admitted to MCI. The two modules "Insulin" and "Bread" are already available, others are being added continuously. The modules are structured in a combination of different content formats (text, graphics, videos) and short quizzes to consolidate learning. The modules can be started at any time and worked on at a flexible pace. The project was developed in cooperation between the Bio- and Food Technology department and the Learning Solutions team, and was supported by IT Services and the Marketing Team. After completion of the first two modules, these will now be tested with partner schools in the near future and then marketed on a larger scale. The model itself (online learning modules with a final test and digital badge that can be credited in the course of a study program) could also represent an interesting model of further engagement with schools for other departments.   PRME News The last quarter has seen a number of PRME initiatives. Further information is available on the PRME website. Carbon Literacy TrainingIn September, the MCI PRME team organised a Carbon Literacy Training program (with Professor Petra Molthan-Hill from Nottingham Business School) in cooperation with Scientists4Future (Tyrol & Vorarlberg). Over 30 participants from higher education institutions across the DACH region participated in the training. Digital badge "Responsible ManagementThe digital badge "Responsible Management" is now in its 4th year and is still enjoying good completion numbers and increasing registrations (in the current academic year with 25 participants). MCI Earth Day" Ideas CompetitionA number of student teams have submitted event concepts for a student competition to design the "MCI Earth Day 2021" on 22 April next year. The winning team will be chosen by a jury at the beginning of December and their concept will be implemented over the next few months. MCI Community ProjectsThis initiative gives MCI students in all MCI programs the opportunity to participate in projects for a good cause. External partner organizations can submit project ideas via an online form. These are then passed on to the individual study programs and carried out depending on capacity and topic. In the 2019/20 academic year, around twenty community projects were implemented. CommunicationThe PRME website has been expanded to include a news section where events, updates and announcements can be found.

DIDACTICS & TEACHING Online resources sites for staff and student: Teach Online and Learn Online We would like to remind you of the two online hubs Teach Online and Learn Online, where lecturers and students can find online support materials for the transition to the online learning environment. In addition to training and direct support from MCI Learning Solutions, it is essential to have a platform where the most important areas of online teaching and MCI's digital campus can be found. The Teach Online site has grown from a lean webpage that provided an overview of the most important features about MCI’s learning environment to a full-blown online self-help center for lecturers and teaching support staff alike. The Learn Online site provides an overview for students on their MCI eCampus, including the various tools in Sakai, information about accessing Adobe Connect and participating in a webinar. On Learn Online you will find important pointers to online communication and collaboration as well as tips and support information to help them manage their time, their learning environment, and a range of further resources.   INNOVATION & INITIATIVE New Look for MCI PRME With a refreshed look, voices from the MCI community, and a News section, the MCI PRME website is coming to life. Ever wondered where to find up-to-date information about PRME at MCI? Wonder no longer! With the help of the PRME Task force and the Marketing team, the MCI PRME Website is now a central information hub for news, resources, activities and information about PRME at MCI. Stop by and have a look – you might find you are interested in getting involved in one or the other activity. https://www.mci.edu/prme   MCI „Gives Back“: community projects for a good cause During the last academic year, MCI students completed a whole series of successful projects for a good cause within the the MCI Community Projects initiative.  MCI Community Projects are practical projects in which students across all MCI degree programs work for and with external partners on projects for the common good. In addition to the goals achieved with the projects, the aim is to sensitize students to the needs of socially disadvantaged groups and individuals and to win them over to social commitment. These projects enable MCI students to apply and develop their knowledge and creativity on the basis of concrete questions and problems in cooperation with non-profit organisations and other partners who pursue initiatives in the area of society, environment, diversity, social entrepreneurship, etc. Congratulations to all student teams for their hard work on the projects and a big thank you to all supervisors and partner organizations. An overview of the projects completed in the last academic year is available at https://www.mci4me.at/en/mci-community-projects   LEARNING & COMMUNITY CORNER NEW! Video-Turorial (only available in German at the moment) How to interpret the Turnitin similarity report correctly? Some of you will already have experience with the plagiarism software Turnitin. The software for creating similarity reports of written student assignments is integrated into Sakai's Assignment Tool and can be activated when creating an assignment, if required, before students submit their work in Sakai. The following tutorial will help you to review and correctly interpret the Turnitin similarity reports:  

DIDACTICS & TEACHING Online Teaching Facts & FiguresThe need to maintain teaching in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic has led to a rethinking of teaching and learning in the minds of all those involved (lecturers, course organisation, etc.). The field of online teaching and the E-Learning sector in general have experienced an immense upswing in this area. This is also reflected in the following figures (data from MCI Designer database): A total of 1180 webinars in May 2020 (for comparison: 174 webinars in May 2019) 44 webinars per day on average in May 2020 (for comparison: 8 webinars per day on average in May 2019) 37 trainings (Sakai, Adobe Connect, eAssessment, didactics in online teaching) with a total of 164 training participants since the beginning of the complete transition from the MCI campus to the eCampus. A new pool of resources for staff and student: Teach Online and Learn OnlineDuring the sudden move to online teaching over the past months, access to online support resources – alongside training and human support – has been essential. In order to cater for the needs of staff and students who found themselves having to teach and learn online without much notice, the Learning Solutions team has created online hubs for both groups, where they can find a range of resources to enable them to get up and running with online teaching and learning quickly. Both are freely accessible without the need to log on in order to reduce any barriers. The Teach Online site has grown from a lean webpage that provided an overview of the most important features about MCI’s learning environment to a full-blown online self-help center for lecturers and teaching support staff alike. It includes - information about the various tools and design options in Sakai (including a range of video tutorials, fact sheets, and checklists)- key information about using Adobe Connect for webinars- guidance and resources for online assessment- an overview of the options regarding development and use of online learning materials- an overview of different online teaching formats as well as- an FAQ section. The Learn Online site provides an overview for students on their MCI eCampus, including the various tools in Sakai, information about accessing Adobe Connect and participating in a webinar, as well as important pointers to online communication and collaboration (including a Netiquette) and tips to help them manage their time, their learning environment, and a range of further resources. Both sites are being continually extended and will be available as resource hubs into the future. INNOVATION & INITIATIVE How our lecturers have made the transition to online teaching/distance learningThe conversion from traditional classroom teaching to an online format has been a great challenge for lecturers for several weeks now. Not only the competence in dealing with learning technologies is an essential factor when conducting online courses. Many lecturers have had to realize that they have to turn their entire didactic concept upside down in order to be able to convey their content in the online format according to the learning objectives. Here are a few statements from MCI lecturers: "I have really enjoyed the online formats." (a lecturer from the B&M department) "I am very surprised how creative I could still make it online using as many tools as possible." (a teacher and language trainer) "the crash introduction to Adobe Connect on Friday last week - it was just what I needed in the time available and helped me get started right away! Yesterday and today I completed the first part of my LV completely online, everything worked out great. Even though I couldn't completely change my concept didactically in the short time available, I still managed to create a mixture of input, individual work (reading) and discussion. Partly it was even really interactive :-)." (a teacher from the M&R department) "... In the meantime, I have completed my entire lecture and also the examination using Sakai and Adobe Connect. Everything has worked perfectly and I have received positive feedback from many students. I also felt comfortable and secure during the web conferences, and the training was very beneficial. …„  (a lecturer from the UVET department) We at MCI Learning Solutions are delighted with the positive feedback. We are particularly pleased that so many lecturers have been able to gain good experience with online teaching in recent months and weeks and are now motivated to use learning technologies more in their teaching in the future as well and to develop further in the field of media didactics. We are happy to provide support in the form of training and personal coaching. LEARNING & COMMUNITY CORNER In the Spotlight interview with Dr. Karin Sixl-Daniell on her long-time experience in online teachingIn the following impressive In the Spotlight interview, Dr. Karin Sixl-Daniell (professor and former colleague in the department Business Administration online) explains how her role as a teacher has changed in teaching online and how she is preparing for online teaching. It is also interesting to hear what she says about the supposed lack of closeness to online students. Look and listen: E-Learning Training ProgramMCI Learning Solutions, in coordination with HR department, is currently working on another comprehensive training program for lecturers for the summer months to equip lecturers with the necessary digital skills for the winter semester and make them fit for online teaching. What we would like to point out again is the Digital Summercamp 2020, which will start on June 15th with a kick-off webinar and will then be conducted as an 8-week asynchronous online course. Information and registration at PE Sharepoint and here. If you would like to consolidate and expand the digital skills like digital collaboration you have gained in the past weeks - we would be happy to have you participate.In addition, you will find references to further training from external providers in the training program on the Teach Online page (in the training program at the very bottom). The training courses and events are partly in German and partly in English.  

DIDACTICS & TEACHING Podcast Launch of the "Learning Solutions Talks": Interview with Wendy Farrell, PhDWhat does it mean to teach online and how do you manage the relationship with online students? Wendy Farrell, PhD answers these questions and more in the first episode of the podcast series "Learning Solutions Talks". Put on your headphones with your next cup of coffee or on your way home, press the play button and immerse yourself in this exciting and personal interview! INNOVATION & INITIATIVE Research Ethics WorkshopOn 11 February 2020, the Learning Solutions Team organised a workshop on "Research Ethics", where the 20 motivated participants discussed the various aspects of research ethics at individual stations in the format of a "World Café". The aim of the event was to create a space in which the common understanding of research ethics and the associated processes and practices at MCI could be discussed. The following topics were dealt with at three stations: - MCI Research Ethics Assessment Process (facilitated by Madgalena Posch)- Academic Standards (facilitated by Anita Zehrer)- Joint evaluation of student reflections on ethical aspects in their master thesis (facilitated by   Claudia Mössenlechner) In open reflection rounds (fishbowls), the participants highlighted and discussed critical perspectives, problem areas and questions regarding ethical aspects in the practice of supervising scientific student work. A small insight into the workshop is available in the following short video.  LEARNTEC 2020This year we had the opportunity to visit one of the biggest digital forums in Europe – the LEARNTEC 2020! LEARNTEC is an international trade fair in the area of digital teaching and learning. During the 3 days of the event, experts from the fields of e-learning and knowledge management presented their projects to more than 11,000 visitors and discussed the most important learning trends and important research findings from this area. The topics varied between education management, e-learning content, knowledge management and digital tools for online teaching and learning. Here you can find a presentation of the highlights of the trade fair as well as a short video from the visitors' perspective.   LEARNING & COMMUNITY CORNER NEU - Sakai Basic self-paced courseFrom now on, the Sakai Basic training will be offered exclusively as a self-paced course on Sakai. This applies to the Sakai Basic course as part of the onboarding process as well as the staff development program. An exception is the Sakai Basic training in English, which will continue to be offered as a webinar (see training program). The self-paced course consists of video tutorials, which are also available as digital learning resources for everyone on the Sakai Showroom site. The registration for the self-paced course can be done via pe@mci.edu.   Online-Conference Virtuelle PH: Universities in the digital (Climate) ChangeFrom 09 March 2020 to 05 April 2020, the online conference of the Virtual PH on the topic of the university digital.innovative | #digiPH3 will take place again. Meeting the challenges and opportunities of digitisation is the task of every university. University lecturers must acquire the corresponding digital skills and keep them up-to-date: this online conference intends to provide the opportunity to do so in a variety of ways. Link to website: https://www.virtuelle-ph.at/digiph/#auftakt