Written by : Kat Beljutina Customer Success Manager
Lt mini event in Birmingham
Last week, Dr Andrew Coney from the University of Birmingham and Aisha Nadeem, our Lt support manager organised a local meeting between different Universities in the local area who use our online learning platform, Lt in their teaching. There were connections made, ideas heard and teaching resources shared. And if you can’t tell from the photos above and below, we had a fantastic time with plenty of jokes too.
Read on to find out how you can benefit from attending meetings like this…
These little local events offer the opportunity to meet in a small group, actually learn everyone’s names and spend more time getting to know each other than you otherwise would in a large scale conference with hundreds of attendees. From what it seems, different universities do not talk to each other all that much at times, and it can be too easy to get stuck in an internal bubble when trying to form new connections or figure out ongoing teaching dilemmas that go round in circles between the same colleagues year on year. New people will always bring fresh perspectives and if you really ‘click’ with a peer or two at these events, collaborating and maintaining that connection will surely be easier when you work and live locally!
As a result of these mini-events, there have been concrete collaborations formed that are mutually beneficial to everyone. For example, one University has started creating cases in Lt with real NHS patients from the local area that include patient videos, test results and quizzes designed for Medical students. This University has created these resources completely from scratch but were willing to share it with others in attendance at the mini-meeting last week to improve teaching quality for everyone. A different example is two Universities that have started using Lt as a platform for cross-university student projects: the cloud-based element of Lt allows the students to complete parts of the work remotely but they also travel to each other’s universities to collaborate and experience what student life may be like outside of their own university bubble. In attending these events, you not only have the opportunity to benefit from the resources others are willing to share, but you will also have a chance to share your own methods that may have a real impact for another educator at a different University, who might just happen to be down the road…
First Lt mini event
This was our first local mini-meeting back in 2024 and it’s safe to say that by now, this has become a tradition for the Universities in this area. Every year since - we have received the same feedback from those that have attended - making connections with new peers locally has a real impact on teaching. And in a world where AI and smartphone technology is running rampant, sharing a meal together in person and forming a stronger local community is more important than ever for all of us.
“The Lt mini event was a wonderful opportunity to meet other academics, discover how they use Lt and explore new ways to use it in our teaching. I particularly valued being able to share our challenges and hear how others had overcome similar difficulties. The small group size made it easy to have meaningful conversations and really learn from one another.” - Jaimy Saif, Aston University.
“This annual Lt mini event hosted at the University of Birmingham provides a great opportunity for current Lt users from different institutions around the region to swap ideas on how they use the Lt platform. It also provides an easy introduction for those new to Lt wanting to get insight into how they may develop their own learning resources and with the support of AD Instruments promotes a good sense of community.” - Andy Coney, University of Birmingham.
“The Lt mini-events provide an excellent opportunity to share good practice and aspirations with fellow users, in a relaxed and friendly environment.”activities." - Dawn Collins, University of Warwick.
“It's a pleasure to attend events like that as it provides an opportunity to network and learn more about the really interesting ways colleagues are utilising the software and learning a bit more about the hardware outside what I do presently. It's something I will always try to make time for where possible and hope these events continue as I end up leaving inspired, full of ideas and food too🙂."- Ellis Baderwina, Coventry University.
