At the end of February we are launching the latest version of our online 
community - Academic Practice Options - which is run in Blackboard.  Full 
details are given beneath this message which you are welcome to forward to 
any colleagues interested in participating.
 
The format is the same as last semester although the areas covered are 
slightly different.  We are again supporting a community exploring the 
creation of online resources.  We also have a new community focussing on 
learning, teaching and assessment.  The latter is targetted at either:-

* Colleagues new to the higher education sector seeking a means of 
exploring the theory and practice of their teaching; or
* More experienced colleagues wishing to explore the theory related to 
their practice.

There is the option to gain M level recognition of participation in the 
community and colleagues eligible for Higher Education Academy membership
(www.heacademy.ac.uk) will find the community useful in the individual 
accreditation process.  If you have any colleagues interested in 
participating in Academic Practice Options, please get in touch by Monday 
11 February.
 
Cheers,

Tony Churchill | Joint Acting Director

Staff Development Centre | 9th Floor Charles Wilson Building | University 
of Leicester | University Road | Leicester | LE1 7RH | UK   

T: +44 (0)116 223 1876 | F: +44 (0)116 2231815 | M: +44 (0)7748 677724

Staff Development updates | http:/www.le.ac.uk/staffdev

Academic Practice Options 
 
Your are invited to join the Academic Practice Options communities 
developed by the University of Leicester.  These are designed to support 
colleagues interested in developing their academic practice and awareness 
of online learning and teaching over a 9 to 12 week period.  In the coming 
months the communities will provide the chance to share ideas and practice 
with colleagues engaged in work-based projects.  From a common starting 
point introducing you to learning online, the communities help you explore 
either of the following areas... 

1. Learning, Teaching & Assessment – a chance to explore both theory and 
practice with colleagues.  For further details see below; or 

2. e-Learning - Develop an online resource to support your students or 
colleagues. 

Participants also have the option to submit a portfolio based on your work 
in the community.  This can be used for accreditation at M level (see 
below) and to work towards recognition by the Higher Education Academy 
(for UK staff).  Both communities (and their associated modules) are 
primarily online and will be launched on Wednesday 25th February 2008.  
They consist of a series of online activities to help you work towards 
your objective, sharing thoughts with colleagues as you go.  Anyone 
participating throughout will be invited to take part in a version of the 
Barefoot e-moderator programme (developed by Professor Gilly Salmon's 
Beyond Distance Research Alliance). This is intended to give further 
insight into ways of developing online support for your resource or entire 
programme. 

A key part of the design of these communities is to make them relevant to 
colleagues whatever Virtual Learning Environments (VLE) they use (or 
indeed if they have no VLE). Whilst the communities will take place in the 
Blackboard VLE, most of the sharing will be using wikis, blogs and 
discussion boards. These are features that are familiar in other VLEs 
(such as Moodle) and are even available to colleagues who don't have 
VLE's. 

These courses are primarily intended as practical opportunities for 
personal (and course) development. There is also the option of submitting 
additional evidence to earn 15 or 20 M level credits as part of our 
Academic Practice modules to get formal recognition of your work.  
Participation in the community is free to with a charge of £150 for 
assessment of the additional work to earn 15 or 20 M level credits for 
this pilot (normally £410).  The structure of the online Academic Practice 
award consists of 3 modules of 20 credits each:-

1. Learning, teaching & assessment - 
http://www2.le.ac.uk/uol/offices/staff-development/course-
directory/teaching-and-research/teaching/sdctr055; 

2. e-Learning: Resource development & student support - 
http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/staff-development/course-directory/teaching-
and-research/teaching/sdctr048;  and 

3. Curriculum 3-D (development, design & delivery) - 
http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/staff-development/course-directory/teaching-
and-research/teaching/sdctr049

If you have any queries or would like to join the programme, please get in 
touch by Monday 11 February.

 
Tony Churchill | Joint Acting Director
Staff Development Centre | 9th Floor Charles Wilson Building | University 
of Leicester | University Road | Leicester | LE1 7RH | UK  
T: +44 (0)116 223 1876 | F: +44 (0)116 2231815 | M: +44 (0)7748 677724 
 
Staff Development updates | http://www.le.ac.uk/staffdev/