ALIEN webinar “Practicalities of and Reflections on the use of Active Learning with Large Cohorts of Overseas Students on MSc Programs”, 23/1/2020 11:00 (EET)
The webinar presented insights of Janet Read and Gavin Sims on the deployment of active learning methodologies on large groups of students. It was an insightful presentation of practical aspects on the deployment of active learning from instructors that have broad experience with both small and large groups of students. It provided valuable insight on how to design active learning activities and how to get the best results for the benefit of students in diverse educational scenarios, ranging from in-class to remote instruction.
Speakers:
Janet Read and Gavin Sims, University of South Lancashire
Janet Read has a PhD in Child Computer Interaction. A former secondary school teacher, she has been employed 
at UCLan since 2000 where she is the director of the Child Computer Interaction research group. Currently managing the usability sections of the UMSIC EU project, Dr Read has previously successfully completed the U-Think project (2008) which was a development of an educational product for disaffected teenagers and the BEAM project (2007) which was to enhance children’s museum experiences using technology. She has over 50 refereed articles, many relating to fun in the user interface, and recently published the first text book on evaluating interactive products with children.
Gavin Sim completed his PhD on the usability of e-learning systems for students and is the Chief Editor of the local UCL Journal of Pedagogical research. He has worked with Read on the design of culturally appropriate serious games and is certified as an Agile Scrum master. Since his PhD he has published work on the evaluation of fun and usability in serious games environments.
