TEU Update February 13 2025
In Spring 2025, the TEU will be facilitating a UDL Badge course locally for DCU staff. There will be a combination of short learning modules available via Loop, weekly peer meetings (via Zoom), and at the end of the course, you will submit a proposal for the redesign of a learning activity. Participants who complete the course will be awarded a digital badge recognized by the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning.
For more info on the content of the UDL badge course, see this page. The course will run from mid-March to Late May. Register your interest here.
Weds 26 February 2pm-3pm (online)
Join us at this online session where we’ll learn about the student engagement tool Vevox, which can be used during on-campus, Zoom or hybrid classes.
As we prepare our students for upcoming exams, Vevox can be a great tool for engaging students during class to check their levels of comprehension in real time. Engagement tools like Vevox can also empower students to contribute when they may feel reluctant to do so verbally. Additionally, Vevox could also be used for fun polling activities like word clouds, to quiz students during lecture, and to facilitate Q&A, which can be particularly useful in managing large classes. More information about Vevox is available in this resource on the Loop Staff Support Page.
Registration is essential. This session will be recorded and circulated afterwards.
Throughout February and March, DCU will host an exhibition looking at the climate emergency and the many ways the DCU community is responding to it.
The exhibition will open on Monday, 17th February at the O’Reilly Library on the Glasnevin Campus, before moving to the Cregan Library on St Pat's on Tuesday 18th March.
Higher Education Institutions must play a pivotal role in responding to the climate crisis. Through research, teaching, community outreach and other initiatives, HEIs can foster awareness and understanding, build essential skills and competencies, and inspire and empower people to take action.
The exhibition begins with a series of images that illustrate the severity of the climate emergency and the urgent need to take action. This is followed by examples of initiatives currently being taken at DCU to address some of the issues:
- Actions on campus that contribute to sustainability and biodiversity
- Education for Sustainable Development
- Examples of institutes, centres and projects focussed on climate justice
This exhibition is not only designed to showcase initiatives already in place. It is also a call to action. A starting point for everyone in the DCU community, staff and students, to take whatever action they can and contribute to a safe, sustainable and just future for all people and the planet.
Exhibition launch
There will be a small launch event in the Mentoring Suite, O’Reilly Library at 2pm on Tuesday 18th February. Please RSVP to barry.peak@dcu.ie
Last semester, DCU (TEU), Trinity College Dublin and the University of Limerick, in partnership with the Higher Education Authority National Forum T&L designed and ran a facilitator led digital badge in Gen AI in teaching, learning and assessment practices. This course is now open as a self paced course. Learn more here. For anyone who may prefer a facilitator-led course, the TEU will offer a DCU version of the course and badge in the coming months. Details to follow soon.
Thurs 27 February 2:00pm-2:45pm
The Loop Team is piloting an experimental quiz question generator that leverages an AI technology to create quiz questions in Loop based on simple prompts from the lecturer. This technology can both aid in the generation of quality quiz questions as well as streamline the process of populating quizzes in Loop, thus saving the lecturer the time of manual question creation. You can see an overview of how this simple-to-use tool works in this document. We will be holding an online orientation session for lecturers interested in experimenting with the tool on Thursday 27th February from 2pm-2:45pm. (Attendees can join remotely via Zoom, or in person the Bea Orpen building on the Glasnevin campus in Room DG10.)
Registration is essential. This session will be recorded and circulated afterwards. (If you are unable to attend the session but interested in experimenting with the tool, please indicate so on the registration link.)
Upcoming clinic
The next Loop Reflect clinic will take place as follows:
Thursday 13 February, 19:00
The drop-in clinic is an informal, unstructured space where any student or staff member who has a question about Loop Reflect can come and get guidance. Please circulate the details of this clinic to your students if they are using Loop Reflect this semester.
Clinic details are also in the TEU Events Calendar.
If you require assistance or guidance with teaching and learning or Loop related matters, avail of the below methods.
Support for technical issues
For Loop technical queries, go to help.dcu.ie. You can also attend one of our regular online Loop drop in clinics, details in the TEU calendar. The drop in clinics are particularly useful for more complex queries. The Loop Staff Support Page also provides a comprehensive range of resources on Loop and Zoom. For new users, the enrolment key for this page is ‘staff’.
Advice on using technology for Teaching and Learning
If you are looking for advice on developing your teaching practice, including but not limited to the application of technology, please contact the TEU team teaching.enhancement@dcu.ie. We will endeavour to respond to you as soon as possible.
Consultancy request form
Interested in requesting a workshop or more extended consultation on a specific topic? Use this consultancy request form.
TEU mailing list
Going forward, the TEU newsletter and other updates will be issued to the academic staff mail group. Anyone else who wishes to receive our communications, please follow this link and click “Join Group” to be added to our mailing list. This is particularly important if you wish to receive updates on Loop related communications; professional development opportunities such as Advance HE supported journey, etc.
