TEACHING AT AARHUS UNIVERSITY GOT A DIGITAL BOOST
The Aarhus University board of directors has approved a new digitisation initiative aimed at integrating more digital technologies into teaching – also known as Educational IT. DKK 60 million has been allocated to the initiative.
The ambition is to contribute to improving both the quality of teaching and of the time teaching and research staff spend with students, in order to create more space for dialogue, student guidance and feedback, and to make learning more active, participatory and differentiated.
Examples of teaching based on educational technologies include online exercises in ancillary subjects, podcasts, group exercises in online forums and flipped classroom. For example, students at Aarhus University can already practise basic maths skills using an online learning tool, and they can take parts of a methodological course online which includes instructional videos.
Educational IT relates both to digital tools and training in incorporating them into how students and teaching staff work, and the aim of the initiative is to systematise and promote both aspects at the university. In collaboration with the academic environments and the four teaching development centres, an educational IT hub will be established to direct the cross-university initiative. The hub will function as a laboratory for the development of new forms of teaching, in addition to providing video production facilities, technical support and an experimental classroom.
Berit Eika, pro-rector at Aarhus University, is heading the initiative. She highlights ensuring more student engagement and time on task, improved retention and better learning outcomes as benefits to be achieved by integrating technology into teaching. She also emphasises that expanding the digital learning space is a supplement to physical classroom teaching on campus.
Read the entire announcement