TEU Update February 6 2025
Date: Tuesday, 11th February
Time: 10:30-12:00
Place: Glasnevin Campus, DG10, Bea Orpen Building
To support staff in reflecting further on the impact of GenAI on teaching and learning, this session aims to re-emphasize and discuss the ethical concerns of GenAI tools. While the issue of ethics was raised at the beginning of the emergence of GenAI tools in late 2022, it has taken time for people to learn about GenAI and how it can be used in their practice. However, ethical issues such as copyright, data security, and environmental costs have always been crucial in discussing the responsible use of AI and critical AI literacy. This session will focus on the ethical concerns and risks of GenAI, as well as how staff can respond to them in teaching and learning. You will also hear about a SATLE-funded project in the School of Music, Theology and Philosophy which helped students to explore AI ethics within their module. As this is an in-person session, space is limited. Register at this link.
Should you have any questions, please feel free to email samantha.xu@dcu.ie.
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
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.
Focus on: Feedback with students
> Engaging in consultation and feedback with students
As consultation days approach, take a look at this resource, created jointly by the TEU and the Counselling Service, which offers some advice around managing difficult consultations/feedback with students. It also offers advice on assessment design and management and student inclusivity, which might prove useful for planning assessment during the semester.
> Need help scheduling your consultation days? Try the Scheduler tool in Loop
The Scheduler tool allows you to set up time slots for meetings with students on Loop. Students can select their own time from a list of slots you provide, or you can manually assign them a particular time slot, and the Scheduler sends automatic reminders to students. Logging meetings in this way on Loop gives you an electronic record of the meetings, a place for notes, and you can also assign a grade to the meeting.
Learn more in this resource on the Loop Staff Support Page.
> Exploring a student’s performance in assessment
The My Feedback report on Loop gives lecturers a one-stop-shop of students’ continuous assessment performance.
It allows lecturers to choose a particular module and see how the class performed in relation to the module’s assessments (‘assessment breakdown’). It also showed how an individual student performed in the module’s assessments (‘student breakdown’) and their relation to the class average. This might prove useful as lecturers prepare for consultation days with students.
Access the My Feedback report from your Loop Dashboard by selecting the icon in the right-hand Quick Links block, or alternatively choose the navy My Feedback button on the right-hand side of any of your Loop module pages.
We’re excited to announce that after a hiatus in 2024, MoodleMunch will recommence this month, with four installations, concluding in May 2025.
There is a fantastic lineup of DCU and external speakers, all with interesting stories, examples and case studies of good digital learning and teaching involving Moodle (Loop) and related tools. DCU colleagues will share experiences of using generative AI to develop quiz questions, scaffolding students to engage in core academic skills training, using a group review tool to aid groupwork and using a branching scenario tool to provided personalised learning to large cohorts of students.
The dates and links to register are below.
Webinar 01 | Register to attend this webinar on Zoom
Tuesday 25 February 2025, 13:00-14:00 (Dublin/Europe)
In this webinar, Dublin City University (DCU) and Maynooth University (MU) will deliver presentations:
1. DCU will share experiences and insights of using a generative artificial intelligence (genAI) tool to directly create quiz questions in Moodle courses (DigCompEdu competence 4.1 'Assessment strategies')
2. MU will share experiences and insights of using genAI tools to create assets to aid Moodle course experience and navigation for learners (DigCompEdu competence 3.2 ‘Guidance’)
Webinar 02 | Register to attend this webinar on Zoom
Tuesday 25 March 2025, 13:00-14:00 (Dublin/Europe)
In this webinar, Dublin City University (DCU) and the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) will deliver presentations:
1. DCU will share a scaffolded and gamified approach to supporting new students to develop academic skills to succeed in their studies (DigCompEdu competence 3.1 ‘Teaching’)
2. The GAA will share how they use Moodle to provide targeted learning for different cohorts (coaches, players, parents, etc.) across the country (DigCompEdu competence 3.1 ‘Teaching’)
Webinar 03 | Register to attend this webinar on Zoom
Tuesday 29 April 2025, 13:00-14:00 (Dublin/Europe)
In this webinar, Dublin City University (DCU) and another speaker will deliver presentations:
1. DCU will share their experiences and insights of using a Moodle tool for students to rate each other’s performance in groupwork scenario, catering for individual contributions to a group output, and giving opportunities to voice issues with group dynamics a scaffolded and gamified approach to supporting new students to develop academic skills to succeed in their studies (DigCompEdu competence 3.3 ‘Collaborative learning’)
2. Second presenter to be confirmed.
Webinar 04 | Register to attend this webinar on Zoom
Tuesday 27 May 2025, 13:00-14:00 (Dublin/Europe)
In this webinar, Dublin City University (DCU) and another speaker will deliver presentations:
1. DCU will share their experiences and insights of using the Moodle Lesson activity to provide personalised learning for large cohorts of students (DigCompEdu competence 5.4 ‘Differentiation and personalisation’)
2. Second presenter to be confirmed.
Further information about MoodleMunch, including recordings of past webinars, can be found on our webpage, dcu.ie/moodlemunch.
Please feel free to circulate this email to any DCU or external colleagues who may be interested in munching on Moodle (Loop) with us!
Nominations are now open for the DCU President’s Awards for Excellence in Teaching, recognising the excellence, innovation and commitment of those who teach and those who support teaching at DCU. This year, the excellence in teaching awards also include, via the Graduate Studies Office, the inaugural President's Award for Excellence in Doctoral Supervision. This award highlights and celebrates exemplary contributions in doctoral supervision and is open to nominations from both research students and staff.
Applications for the awards will close on 14 March. Details and nominations process available here.
The ‘Conversations on Academic Integrity Drop In Sessions' is running every Wednesday from 12pm-1pm. The sessions will provide an opportunity for staff to discuss academic integrity in their planning for teaching, learning and assessment with our academic integrity officer. Topics can include anything related to Academic Integrity or GenAI and its impact on Academic Integrity. These conversations may be particularly helpful for Programme Chairs but are open to all staff. You can also get in touch before the session by contacting samantha.xu@dcu.ie Details can be found in the TEU Events Calendar with a Zoom link.
Many thanks to all of those who have responded to The Sipping Point call for contributions around sharing of practice. Events are currently being scheduled for this semester and dates will be announced in the coming weeks. Please contact noeleen.okeeffe@dcu.ie with any questions.
Places are still available for in-person attendance at the “Education after the Algorithm: Co-designing Critical and Creative Futures” symposium in St Patrick’s Campus on Friday February 21st. There are over 40 practice and research presentations and workshops, including many from DCU staff and researchers. The full schedule, and links to register, are available on the conference website.
Registration is also open for the online component which runs on Thursday February 20th including a keynote talk and conversation with Professor Punya Mishra on “Metaphors of AI in Education” at 16:00. Sign up via Zoom here.
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.
