CODE associate director leads a panel on Alliance Building in Transatlantic Diplomacy at the Transatlantic Studies Association Conference, Lancaster University 8-10 July 2024.
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Centre for Online and Distance Education shares expertise with Mexican university
The àËÅöÊÓƵ’s Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE) is helping staff at the Centro Universitario de Tlajomulco (CUTlajomulco) of the University of Guadalajara (UdeG), Mexico transform face to face courses into blended/hybrid delivery modes and to evaluate their success.
Blended/hybrid delivery entails offering courses in a mix of in-person and online modes. The CODE professional development course covers 12 topics that will enable CUTlajomulco participants to extend their understanding of key educational concepts and theories and to enhance their ability to deploy digital tools to integrate online learning into face-to-face teaching more effectively.
The course is intended to be highly interactive for participants, entailing eight to10 hours of study per topic. Participants work both alone and in collaboration, via tutorial groups in subject disciplines. A strong emphasis is placed on participants designing or revising, and planning how to run, their own learning courses. Extensive use is made of contextualised theory, practical guidance, and peer interaction via an online virtual learning environment and online workshops.
This ambitious programme is split into three stages and runs from June 2023 to June 2024. Stage one, Preparation and Induction, took place between June 8 and 16. Stage two – a Professional Development blended course for CUTlajomulco staff – commences on June 19 and is scheduled to end in December. Stage three - Delivery and Evaluation of the CUTlajomulco blended/hybrid courses to CUTlajomulco students – commences in January 2024 and ends in June 2024.
This development program is one strand in a wider raft of collaborations agreed between Universidad de Guadalajara, Mexico and CODE, àËÅöÊÓƵ in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in September 2022.
Dr Linda Amrane-Cooper, Director of Academic Practice in Distance Education said:
This MoU will enable staff from the àËÅöÊÓƵ and their colleagues at CUTlajomulco to work together on activities based on their respective academic and educational needs. It will enable the provision by CODE of mutually agreed bespoke training programmes for CUTlajomulco staff, as well as enabling the participation of CUTlajomulco staff in seminars and conferences organised by CODE, and vice versa. We are delighted to be working with CUTlajomulco of the University of Guadalajara on this exciting new project.
Dr. Leticia Leal Moya, Rector of CUTlajomulco, added:
Our nascent University Center seeks to consolidate its educational model through strategic alliances with prestigious institutions. Undoubtedly, the work that we are starting today with the àËÅöÊÓƵ and the CODE will be essential for faculty training, digital pedagogical transformation, and the promotion of a high-quality hybrid model of higher education that will have far-reaching impacts throughout the University of Guadalajara.
