Learning Enhancement and Development
  1. About & Contacts
  2. Events
  3. Learning Spaces
  4. Qualifications & accreditation
  5. LEaD projects
  6. Academic Skills Team
    1. Designing Active Learning Initiative (DALI)
    2. Learning Analytics Project (LeAP) and Service
    3. ISLA [Inclusive Synchronous Learning Activities] Project
    4. Digital Literacies Project
    5. Educational Technology Review project
Learning Enhancement and Development

LEaD projects & initiatives

LEaD are involved in a number of collaborative projects and initiatives at City.

Digital Literacies Project

Digital literacies is a term which encapsulates not only the skills required to use technology but also confidence, appropriate use, and the various literacies associated with using technology, such as information literacy, communication and collaboration literacy and media literacy.

The project aims to understand, support and develop the digital literacies of City's staff and students to support effective use of technology.

Find out more about the Digital Literacies Project

ISLA [Inclusive Synchronous Learning Activities]

Inclusive Synchronous Learning Activities is the working title for the ISLA project, a new pedagogic and technical methodology for live teaching simultaneously to students who are situated both on campus and online.

Find out more about the ISLA project

Digital Accessibility

This is a 3-year initiative designed to review and improve City’s digital accessibility. There is an initial emphasis our teaching and learning platforms and digital resources. The initiative consists of a suite of technical projects and a range of staff development activities.

Find out more about the Digital Accessibility project

DALI - Designing Active Learning Initiative

This 5 to 7-year project focuses on the creation of technology-enhanced learning spaces that enable higher level or active learning.

Find out more about the DALI project

LeAP – Learning Analytics Project

The Learning Analytics Project (LeAP) at City is exploring how Learning Analytics can be used to improve students’ educational experience and support the institution’s education performance indicators relating to progression and attainment.

Find out more about the LeAP project

Measuring value and impact for educational developers

This project is a response to emerging trends and patterns that seek to measure aspects of academic work and the student experience. Educational Development work has not been exempted from this level of scrutiny with units increasingly required to demonstrate value for money and evidence of impact.

Such approaches are frequently metric based and rarely meaningfully capture the richness and transformational nature of Educational Development work.

Find out more about the Measuring value and impact for educational developers project

Supporting the development of new and future educational leaders in higher education

Academic leadership is an area in which Learning Enhancement and Development has had a role for a number of years, namely through the delivery of a module addressing academic leadership as part of the MA in Academic Practice. However, often those attending this module are in educational leadership roles and yet there is limited literature about this specific area and how to develop as an educational leader.

Find out more about the Supporting the development of new and future educational leaders in higher education project

Developing and enhancing the educational career of an academic

The aims of this project are to:

  • Identify why staff engage in different professional development activities
  • Explore what impact different activities have on their practice
  • Examine what activities individuals would like to support their future development
  • Develop a career guidance framework.

Find out more about the Developing and enhancing the educational career of an academic project

Evaluating staff and students’ experiences of learning from video and multimedia

This study will evaluate the use of existing educational technologies provided at City that have a substantial video and multimedia component.

Find out more about the Evaluating staff and students’ experiences of learning from video and multimedia project

Experience of academic staff in relation to educational technologies and its impact and implications on digital literacies and open practices

he overall aim of this project is to answer the following questions:

  • What is the experience of staff who use educational technologies and how do their attitudes towards digital literacies and open practices impact on their teaching?
  • How are staff currently supported to develop a good understanding of these literacies and practices as part of these two modules which form part of the MA in Academic Practice at City, University of London and what additional support might they need?

Find out more about the Experience of academic staff in relation to educational technologies and its impact and implications on digital literacies and open practices project

Educational Technology Review project

Given the pandemic situation, City has seen a rapid increase in the take up of educational technologies to support teaching, learning and assessment. To help inform requirements for any changes and improvements, Learning Enhancement and Development (LEaD) is currently reviewing the educational technologies provision at City to understand the level of staff use and satisfaction and to identify any gaps in provision.

Find out more about the Educational Technology Review project

Encouraging playful approaches in academic environments

The significance of play in relation to child development has long been accepted, but there is a growing recognition that play and games can have a key role in working environments for adults too.   Play, or games, can encourage creativity and enable greater problem solving skills as well as prompting team work and engagement.  This is potentially significant for the mission of universities to deliver high quality teaching that is research informed.  Engaging in playful practices could help engage students more successfully as well as equipping students more effectively for future employment.

Find out more about the Encouraging playful approaches in academic environments project