Information School News

At the Engaged Learning Conference 2017 , hosted by the University of Sheffield 6-7 July 2017, Senior Lecturer Dr Briony Birdi gave a paper on 'Engaged learning and the development of cultural awareness and social responsibility in students', as part of a session on 'Active citizenship and social change'. It has been argued that universities will become socially irrelevant unless they develop and maintain strong links with the local communities in which they are based, and unless their research is perceived by those communities as related to their real-world concerns. Although many of our degree programmes provide students with a set of vital tools to function effectively within an organisation in a particular field, are we failing to fully equip them with the skills they need to operate effectively within a broader public, societal context? What are these skills, and how can they be developed within a higher education degree programme? Firstly, Briony made...

Pamela McKinney, Sheila Webber and Peter Holdridge represented the iSchool at Sheffield University's annual celebration of Technology Enhanced Learning: TELfest .   McKinney and Webber gave a presentation Comparing use of TEL in an on campus class and a distance learning class , reporting on ways in which Technology Enhanced Learning is used in the on-campus and distance versions of the core Information Literacy module. The presentation is available here: https://www.slideshare.net/sheilawebber/comparing-use-of-technology-enhanced-learning-in-an-oncampus-class-and-a-distance-learning-class Sheila Webber (one of the educators on the University of Sheffield Exploring Play MOOC ) contributed to a panel on Learning Through Play . She talked about Dr Peter Stordy's innovative use of Lego in the Information Organisation module, and about learning playfully in the 3D virtual world, Second Life (including learning through virtual dance! ) Peter Holdridge was a panel membe...

Information School Lecturer Pam McKinney is one of only a small number of Faculty of Social Sciences staff to win a 'Teaching Excellence in Social Sciences (TESS) Award for Outstanding Practice in Learning and Teaching' this year. The award follows research-informed teaching methods she has employed, especially around group work. You can read some of her research on the topic in her paper 'The use of technology in group-work: a Situational Analysis of students' reflective writing.' Director of Learning and Teaching for the School, Dr Peter Stordy, has this to say: "Pam is an inspiring and reflective teacher who is highly respected by both staff and students. She consistently attracts glowing comments in student module evaluations and motivates students to produce a high standard of work. Her tenacious determination to provide genuine opportunities to develop students' employability and team work skills distinguishes her from other excellent teachers. ...

Professor Stephen Pinfield, Dr Briony Birdi, Dr Sheila Webber, Pam McKinney, Peter Holdridge and Paula Goodale have been awarded a Teaching Excellence in Social Sciences Award for Outstanding Practice in Learning and Teaching' by the Faculty of Social Sciences. The award recognises the team's delivery of our innovative distance learning programme, MA Library & Information Services Management. The award will be presented at the TESS End of Year Celebration event later this month.