Thinking around task design on the pre-sessional (summer of 2023)

by Grant Hartley and Tony Prince

Addressing a need

CALD’s pre-sessional courses attracted around 580 students this past year, with roughly 80% studying online, all with the hope of being better prepared for their PG or UG courses at the University of Bristol. As such, the focus of the course is on providing students with an experience where they can become more used to the demands and expectations they will meet in their disciplinary studies. With this in mind, students are taken through a weekly cycle of learning activities, starting with accessing academic texts receptively, before being asked to generate a response to that content. (more…)

Personal Learning Networks and Communities of Practice

by Blair Matthews

We are often guilty of talking about the “next big thing” in teacher development and using unfamiliar acronyms to talk about them. Such fads often tend to fade away eventually. However, one particular acronym has endured: that of the PLN – Personal Learning Network. (more…)