At Leeds Conservatoire we strive to deliver relevant, progressive, and forward-thinking creative arts education. Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) is integral to our learning and teaching delivery, with a pedagogy-first approach that is underpinned by the conservatoire’s learning and teaching strategy. Development of our TEL approach is informed by student and academic staff consultation through the Student’s Union, Staff-Student forum and TEL research.
In short, this means we use our technology to make learning better, and we listen to what our learning community needs to make sure that happens.
Our TEL and AV teams provide and support technology enhanced learning. They are a friendly bunch, and are always up for a chat about learning and teaching, technology, or to provide support.
Institution-wide TEL
We use numerous integrated systems and technological tools to support and enhance our educational experience:
- Moodle Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)
- Panopto AV Platform
- Bespoke WordPress ePortfolio
- Microsoft 365
- Zoom Video Conferencing
These systems are deployed in the following ways:
All modules have a page on the VLE for students to utilise supportive and interactive learning materials to further the depth of their studies outside of the class environment. Our students use the VLE to engage with additional learning materials that can include readings, videos, discussion forums, quizzes, and more.
All non-practical assignments are submitted through the VLE. Our students use mixed methods to create and submit work for assessment whilst they study with us, examples of which are ePortfolio, audio, images, videos and scores. Summative feedback on all assignments is provided through the VLE, and specifically linked to the assignment criteria for each assignment.
We run Microsoft 365, giving each student access to:
- The full Microsoft Office Suite
- Minimum 1TB of OneDrive storage
- An email account
- A host of Microsoft 365 apps and services including OneNote, Teams, Forms, Word, PowerPoint, Excel.
This is available to students from their first day at the conservatoire, and can be used throughout their time here. Our staff use Microsoft 365 to communicate and collaborate with students and colleagues alongside use throughout learning and teaching.
As many lectures and seminars as possible are automatically recorded and made available for students to review and watch. This means that our students can focus on listening and engaging with academic staff during sessions, and can use the recordings to make notes, reflect, or refine understanding. Additionally, we record many workshops and masterclasses with industry leaders and guests from across the creative arts. This extensive range of content is captured and made available to students and staff by the AV team through our Panopto AV system.
Our TEL team are responsible for making sure that our software, systems and their content are accessible to as many people as possible. They lead the institutions response to the Public Sector Bodies (Website and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations legislation, and strive to increase the accessibility of all digital resources at the conservatoire.
You can read our Digital Accessibility Statement to find out more.
Student and Staff TEL Support
We want the entire conservatoire community to get the best out of the resources we have. To help make that happen, we provide a range of support in addition to the DigiMentor scheme. Here are some of the main ways we help staff and students benefit from our technology enhanced learning resources.
Our TEL team provide training and professional development to students and staff to aid them in achieving the most out of the resources we have. We actively seek and respond to feedback and suggestions raised by the conservatoire community, to ensure that the training and development we provide is fit for purpose.
We provide screencasts and instructions for all students that cover everything they need to complete their assignments using our systems. These are made available on every module page, and directly related to what students are expected to do for their assignment.
Screencasts and instructions are also available for our staff, demonstrating the many ways they can utilise the tools we have to make their lives easier and improve the experience of their students.
Digital Coaching are appointments for students where they can get support with the conservatoire systems and learning technologies from a member of the Technology Enhanced Learning team.
