I have been invited as a speaker at a Westminster Higher Education Forum: Technology in higher education: the future of learning environments, the use of Artificial Intelligence and the impact of online courses. An short intro of this event (scheduled on Thursday, 28^th March 2019 in London) is copied below. The forum will discuss the impact of technonogies and data sciences in learning and teaching by looking at different theories and practices. I’ll contribute with our experiences with Active Blended Learning at Northampton but more importantly the on-site experiments our staff and students have done with primary and secondary schools in recent years.

And on that same note, I also became part of the programme committee for IEEE International Conference on Teaching, Assessment and Learning for Engineering (TALE 2018). IEEE TALE is “the IEEE Education Society’s flagship Asia-Pacific conference series, catering to researchers and practitioners with an interest in engineering and computing education as well as those interested in the innovative use of digital technologies for learning, teaching, and assessment in any discipline”. The conference theme this year is “Engineering Next-Generation Learning”. Any thing with engineering in it immediately sounds execiting isn’t it? My understanding is that it is engineering in very broad terms including human factors.

Westminster Higher Education Forum: Technology in higher education: the future of learning environments, the use of Artificial Intelligence and the impact of online courses.

This seminar focuses on the use of technology in the higher education sector, assessing its effectiveness and discussing ways forward for maximising its potential in both learning and teaching.

Delegates will consider the impact of technology on the learning experience and what more might need to be done to meet students’ expectations by further developing personalised teaching. They will assess the benefits and challenges of flipped and blended learning practices in delivering instructional content and improving students’ engagement.

Further sessions will discuss how technology can impact the quality of marking by supporting better standardisation processes, while alleviating pressure on lecturers by reducing academic workloads. Delegates will look at improvements already delivered in the quality of feedback provided to students and at practical issues still to be addressed.

Those attending will also discuss the latest findings on the use of virtual reality teaching, including concerns about its potentially negative effect on students’ ability to memorise quantitative data and its successful application in subjects such as science and geography.

The seminar will also look at the development of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), including key lessons that can be learnt from examples of best practice in marketing and student recruitment. Delegates will examine how MOOCs have fostered co-operation between hi-tech industry and the higher education sector, while also assessing their impact on lifelong learning and social mobility.