SoSS Teaching and Learning / Resources / eLearning & Digital Technology / eLearning Champions

eLearning Champions

You can approach our champions to seek guidance and advice regarding online teaching. Each individual has highlighted a theme or tool they have used recently, and are happy to share advice on their experience of utilising these tools in online teaching. 

Information on the apps listed can be found on the eLearning Tools page.

If you would like to be listed as one of our Staff Champions, please email sosswebteam@manchester.ac.uk

 

Prof. Ralf Becker

Senior Lecturer in Economics
Email: ralf.becker@manchester.ac.uk

  • Piazza
  • Möbius

Ralf has extensive experience with Piazza discussion boards, and using Möbius to write automatically graded questions and  interactive textbook resources.  You can view Ralf’s Good Practice articles and video tutorials below.

Ralf also held a video workshop on why discussion boards work well, with useful tips and advice for students, staff and teaching assistants.

Prof. Becki Bennett

Professor of Bioethics
Email: rebecca.bennett@manchester.ac.uk

  • Adobe Express
  • Teacher presence and creating a community of learners

Becki has extensive knowledge and experience in these areas, having created the What Works in Teaching project – which encourages the sharing of good practice across the University’s Faculty of Humanities, and is also a repository of ideas and resources collected from further afield.  You can read her Good Practice case study here: Student Marking Exercises.

Becki’s short online course Creating online resources for blended learning made in Adobe Express.

She also led the “What Works in Teaching” Online Workshop in December 2021.  You can access her Adobe Express web page below and also watch a recording of the event.

What works in Teaching? Lessons learnt from the pandemic and what’s next? By Becki Bennet

Dr. Wendy Bottero

Reader in Sociology
Email: wendy.bottero@manchester.ac.uk

  • Getting started for novices in e-learning

 

Dr. Rupert Cox

Senior Lecturer for the Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology and Department of Anthropology
Email: rupert.cox@manchester.ac.uk

  • The Granda Center for Visual Anthrophology has significant experience delivering practical skills (in visual and audio media) through on-line and blended learning methods.

Ekaterina Kazak

Dr. Ekaterina Kazak

Lecturer in Economics
Email: ekaterina.kazak@manchester.ac.uk

  • Gradescope
  • Padlet

Katya is an early adopter of Gradescope and has been using this assessment tool in her Financial Econometrics course. 

She also has experience with Padlet, having written a case study for the Good Practice Library: Using Padlet for math tutorials to make classes interactive.

Prof. Claire McGourlay

SoSS Director of External Relations
Email: claire.mcgourlay@manchester.ac.uk

  • Adobe Express
  • Webinars

Nadim MirshakDr. Nadim Mirshak

Deputy Head of Sociology
Email: nadim.mirshak@manchester.ac.uk

  • Blackboard course design
  • Mentimeter
  • Padlet

Nadim has experience with Mentimeter for both polling and student discussion, and also utilising Padlet for asynchronous activities.  He has also provided some guidance/support for colleagues on designing their Blackboard module pages.

Nadim’s Good Practice case study on Mentimeter:
Using live polling with Mentimeter to increase student engagement and link theory to everyday experiences

Dan Rigby

Prof. Dan Rigby

Professor in Economics
Email: dan.rigby@manchester.ac.uk

  • Camtasia
  • Padlet
  • Piazza
  • Möbius
  • TurningPoint

Dan is the eLearning Lead for SoSS and has extensive expertise in many digital tools for teaching.

Good Practice cast studies:

Dan also hosted a Teaching Online Workshop – along with SoSS colleague Dr Alex Squires – where they summarised their experience of using three online discussion tools: Piazza, Padlet and Blackboard Discussion Boards.  They also shared some student feedback on their preferences regarding the three tools.


Chika Watanabe

Dr. Chika Watanabe

Senior Lecturer in Social Anthropology
Email: chika.watanabe@manchester.ac.uk

  • Hypothes.is

Winner of the University’s Outstanding Teaching Award in 2021/22, Chika often contributes to sharing good practice via articles and guest appearances on podcasts and workshops.

For the Good Practice in Teaching Podcast, Chika spoke to Prof. Hannah Cobb (School of Arts, Languages and Culture) to explore what students want, being inspired by Ungrading, and how to implement alternative forms of assessment.

In this article for the Good Practice Library, Collaborative Reading using Annotation Software, Chika gives us some top tips, lists the benefits and shares some student feedback on her use of social annotation tools.

Aid worker playing a boardgame as part of an ‘unessay’ assignment

Aid worker playing a boardgame about refugee resettlement that students created as an ‘unessay’ assignment (Dec 2022)

Most recently, Chika led a Teaching Online Workshop Unessays and Other Creative Assignments where she described her use of an ‘unessay’ group assignment, which are easily adapted for use in large classes.

The task also included elements of self-reflection and peer evaluation inspired by ‘ungrading’.

A video recording of this event is now available here.

 

 

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