InQbate: the Centre of Excellence in Teaching and Learning in Creativity

InQbate: the Centre of Excellence in Teaching and Learning in Creativity

by Diane Brewster -
Number of replies: 7
Hi all,

sorry to have been so slow to log on - this week has been mad - I can't believe it's Friday already (6.40pm!) smile.  I see JISC has been mentioned, I've been up to Bristol this week, from Sussex (Where Vivian was with us last week) to present images of our creativty zone at a JISC Pedagogy Experts group meeting.  I'm a learning facilitator in the Sussex zone  - just catching up on email after that and a 2 day creativity Workshop in the zone which ended this afternoon.

Basically we are a 5 year project, 3 left to run, which has allowed the universities of Brighton and Sussex (UK) to refit two spaces as "Creativty Zones" and staff them with people who can provide pedagogical and technological support for innovative teaching and learning.

If you go along to our website (www.inqbate.co.uk) and look at some of the movies (QuickTime) and images you will get a much better idea of what the spaces look like. 

the image below is from the workshop Vivian attended last week at an Anglo-French conference on creativity in teaching and learning - more details under "news" on our web site.

workshop in the Sussex creativity zone

Diane
In reply to Diane Brewster

Re: InQbate: the Centre of Excellence in Teaching and Learning in Creativity

by E.A. Draffan -

I can hardly believe it Diane, but I was one of the ones on the back table watching your fantastic presentation in Bristol earlier this week.  It takes a discussion via Canada to get a chance to chat big grin

Yes there was a question about JISC and the fact that it funds many research projects as well as supporting the backbone of our networks and delivery of IT systems with services for FE/HE and specialist college education.  The post also mentioned the Higher Education Academy (HEA).  I tried avoid answering this one in the hope that someone better qualified could explain the differences!  But the HEA have set up subject centres and support the teacing and learning expertise, also funding projects, but just in Higher education. 

I am not sure we always avoid reinventing the wheel because of these two organisations but i think over the last 10 years we are networking more often and have more information provision on the subject of technology enhanced learning at a subject level and for my field of usability/accessibility and assistive technologies.

Best wishes E.A. (Living in Sussex - ex Sussex Uni for 9 years!)

In reply to E.A. Draffan

Re: InQbate: the Centre of Excellence in Teaching and Learning in Creativity

by Diane Brewster -
ah,

you were the other ex-sussex person!  I spoke to Tom Brown and he said there were two of you in the room trying to work out exactly where the Creativity zone is! (the old undergrad concrete-bunker style computer lab in Pevensey 2!)

I find the whole JISC / HEA structure confusing - and add Eduserv and BECTA in to really confuse things......  I get the feeling that JISC, as the infrastructure provider, got into the e-learning funding / research side in order to inform the technology infrastructure decisions they would have to make in the future - whereas the HEA are coming at slightly from the other angle, having to take technology seriously as a tool for teaching and research. And as you say, just HE not FE and colleges which JISC includes.

We are funded by HEFCE  (Higher Education funding council for England) which decided to put some serious money into teaching and learning and created the CETL programme.

So we are one of 74 CETLs, 5 years of funding, the first year getting up and running with the building and staffing, year 2 piloting teaching and events in the zone, trying to thrash out evaluation strategies, sorting out the technical problems etc.  - hopefully by October we will zipping along.  We are a joint CETL with the university of Brighton, and I've just realised we only have a copy of their zone plan on the website, not any images from it - must get some up there.  they had a different space to work with, different issues to tackle and have some interesting dimensions we don't - they have an olfactory "gizmo" that allows different smells to permeate their space - and a very large curved back projection screen..... but like us, they have to deal with the issue of people wanting to use it "as a nice space for their presentation" - we are working hard to get over the idea that they are both spaces for innovative teaching and learning, not just nicely decorated lecture theatres....

Diane
In reply to Diane Brewster

Re: InQbate: the Centre of Excellence in Teaching and Learning in Creativity

by Carlos Ortiz -

Hello!

It's great to read al the things you've done over there. Those CETLs sound terrific. Congratulations!

I also liked the way you referred to using  Websites as spaces for innovative teaching and learning instead of just  nice spaces for a presentation. It makes a lot of sense.

Every component of a virtual learning environment needs to have an educational intention, a pedagogical direction, a didactic instrumentation and an instructional design.

I have also met people who think it all consists of just passing the classroom class onto the Internet, but it's sure much more than just that.

Regards from Colombia

Carlos

 

 

 

In reply to Carlos Ortiz

Re: InQbate: the Centre of Excellence in Teaching and Learning in Creativity

by Diane Brewster -
Hi Carlos,

Sorry - I was not clear - I was not referring to websites, our teaching and learning Zone is a physical space that teachers and students use, not a virtual one.  We are very interested in the relationship between the physical and the virtual though - and are looking at how we can use virtual learning environments within our physical creativity zone.

Diane
In reply to Diane Brewster

Re: InQbate: the Centre of Excellence in Teaching and Learning in Creativity

by Carlos Ortiz -
Hi Diane
 
Sorry I misunderstood you and thanks for your explanation. I would really like to learn more about the work you do  in that physical space you call "physical creativity zone". This way it might be easier to understand and then figure out some ideas about using virtual environments to help getting better learning results.
 
Regards from Colombia
 
Carlos
In reply to Diane Brewster

Re: InQbate: the Centre of Excellence in Teaching and Learning in Creativity

by Vivian Neal -
Hi Diane,

You said in another post, "we are planning to work with our Teaching and Learning development unit to run part of the associate tutor training and new lecturer induction in the zone - get them while they are keen!  All tutors will be invited to a series of 'Creativity cafes' in the Zone next term to explore its use."

When I visited Sussex the week before last, I was impressed with how naturally the InQbate staff worked with the TLDU staff.  Though you are two separate departments, it is notable that you gain considerably from working closely together.  Some other centres have a strong research component that is integrated with the support activities (see Chrisine's post about CAPLE at Strathclyde) and I wonder about the key characteristics that help to make each model work?