After nine months of careful planning, in July 2021 the moment had finally arrived for our first, and hotly anticipated, learning and teaching conference – billed as Bringing Minds Together and Innovation in Learning 2021.
It all started back in September 2020, when we held the Exploring Creative Ways of Teaching seminar for our academics, to help them prepare for online and dual delivery formats, as we pivoted due to COVID. That seminar was so successful it planted the seed for the idea of a virtual conference, and the more excited we became, the more we added to the action-packed programme, resulting in an incredible two-day event.
Guided by the vision of bringing together our academic community so they could share practical tips and exchange ideas on how to engage students, our aim was to uncover fresh thinking on how to respond to a disrupted and changing learning environment.
We also wanted to explore whether we could help shape the future strategy for Navitas Europe. The conference couldn’t have come at a more perfect time as were entering the first year of our new five-year learning and teaching strategy.
The seamless synergy and overlap of themes that emerged from the conference was amazing to witness; from how to make learning more inclusive and accessible to reminding ourselves about why we do our jobs.
We were privileged to have Professor Mick Healey, the foremost expert on independent and active learning. I was surprised by just how much his words resonated with everyone, setting the tone for the entire conference.
Mick did not deliver a speech, but an engaging workshop, role modelling active learning to us all. What's more, although our audience was mostly academics, we had invited anyone interested in connecting - to our students, academics and learning and teaching. Many of Mick’s activities could be used by anyone, including professional services colleagues.
Louisa Dale was our second keynote on day two. She had led the national COVID response at JISC, a membership-based body of universities across the UK providing technological support and solutions to the HE sector. Her review of how institutions were responding to COVID and the things to watch out for going forward, was insightful. Digital assessment and personalised learning were key themes for the future.
The highlight of the conference was the student panel. We heard openly from our students about their experiences of online learning - which they had found positive and rewarding - citing the amazing support they received. Each student on the panel was eloquent and articulate, talking about how they benefited from the recorded lectures and the enthusiasm of academics. They shared tips on how academics attending the conference could further support students.