Category Archives: Teaching & Learning

Stories & Streams: Collaborative Learning, Collaborative Journalism – free event on 6th June 2013

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During the 2011-12 academic year we undertook a piece of experimental teaching and learning that we called Stories & Streams:

‘Stories & Streams’ is a case study in delivering student-led, problem-based and peer-to-peer media education. The case study focuses on an experimental teaching and learning programme in which two groups of students, working towards different learning outcomes, negotiate their learning in a common problem space.

This structure was proposed as a way of addressing issues of motivation and engagement with learning and as a response to the instrumental consumption of media education framed by the employability agenda; in action the structure actually enabled deeper learning of soft skills which are known to contribute to employability of graduates.

(from HEA Networks magazine)

Over the year we spoke about the project at a number of conferences, and Paul has produced a teaching resource that you can download for free from LeanPub. We received a lot of interest in the ideas that we were unpicking and so this summer we are hosting an event on 6th June where will discuss “collaborative learning, collaborative journalism”.

The event takes place at BCU’s City North Campus, Perry Barr. If you’d like to discuss our project or share ideas for collaborative learning and collaborative journalism please book a place via the HEA website.

Business Incubation in Birmingham School of Media, 2012-13

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Deadline for applications: 8th June 2012

Please note this scheme is for students who are graduating from Birmingham School of Media in 2012.

Have you got an idea for a media enterprise? Would you like support in developing your ideas?

The School of Media incubation scheme can help you to develop your ideas, and can help you to access other support within BCU.

Successful applicants will receive a package of support and development that will include:

  • up to 12 months business accommodation (at Perry Barr)
  • access to other incubation activity within BCU (including opportunities to apply for funding for your ideas)
  • support for further study
  • opportunities to work with academic staff as mentors
  • opportunities to work with current students
  • opportunities for paid work within the School of Media and the University (teaching and media production)

Placement is subject to a competitive and transparent process. Individuals and groups are invited to apply via an application form. Staff from the School of Media will then invite a shortlisted group of proposals to a pitching event before a final decision is made on providing support for the 2012-13 academic year.

Terms of Incubation

  • Support is available to individuals or groups from successful completion of BA or MA programmes in 2012.
  • Support will be subject to a brief review panel at 3 and 6 months to ensure that applicants are engaging with the opportunity appropriately.
  • Supported projects will be expected to support learning and teaching and promotional activities within the School of Media during their incubation period.
  • There are opportunities for support for international students, subject to additional processes – please email for further information.

Conference report: Exploring Collaborative Learning In Media Studies Programmes

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Paul Bradshaw and I have spent the day at Exploring Collaborative Learning In Media Studies Programmes, a one day seminar hosted by Winchester University, funded by the HEA.

This one day seminar will allow for academic staff from different higher education institutions across the UK to convene and to discuss the benefits and problems in collaborative learning, how social media – and other technologies and practices – can be used and to share good practice in facilitating collaborative teaching and learning in undergraduate media studies programmes

We attended to present a paper on ‘Stories & Streams’, a teaching and learning research project we have been running this year, with financial support from BCU’s Centre for Enhancement of Learning & Teaching. Stories & Streams is a response to observations we have made about instrumental ways in which students consume learning based on their expectations of job roles. We have developed a response that is problem-based, peer-to-peer and student-led; the initial findings suggest that students have engaged with learning at a deeper level and produced work of a higher standard (although there are also new problems still to address).

The teaching and learning activity has been delivered by Caroline Beavon, Paul Bradshaw, and Jennifer Jones. The evaluation of the project and the research outputs are being prepared by Jennifer, Paul and me. The article which accompanies today’s presentation will be available in a collection to be published on the HEA website.

Paul’s slides from today
Project blog

Flip cameras in the classroom – paper published

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If you’re a regular visitor to this blog you might remember that several years ago we were working with colleagues from BCU’s PGCE programme on a project which used Flip video cameras in teacher training as part of academic practice.

The project ended some time ago, but Dave Kane and I developed the project report further, taking it to an internal and an external conference, and finally we submitted it as a journal article which was published earlier this month by EducationalFutures.

If you’re interested in technology in teaching and learning or just Flip cameras, do give the article a read – it’s free to download here.

Media Education Summit 2010

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Last week was a busy week, event-wise, what with the digital publishing seminar, the Pecha Kucha night, and the zine festival. In the middle of all that, several colleagues from the centre attended and presented at the CEMP Media Education Summit.

Students, scholarship, and our KT work

Oliver Carter gave a presentation, on behalf of himself and Faye Davies, entitled Student to scholar: developing vital academic skills on the journey from FE through HE. This paper discusses how, in the School of Media, we start instilling academic research skills from day one of year one. As part of our approach students are now engaged in producing and publishing support materials for our course textbook. The support website is part of a further project managed by Dr. Simon Barber and hosted at Interactive Cultures where we’re trying to rethink what a text book support website should actually do. It’s a nice case study in what we do here, as you can see the clear link between research, knowledge transfer, and teaching and learning, and it all links thematically back to our growing interest in digital publishing.

Web 2.0 in media education

Dave Kane and I gave a paper titled Student led design of Web 2.0 learning and teaching practices in media education. This paper builds upon our previous research into the uses of web 2.0 technologies within teaching and learning. As with our previous work, our hypothesis is that there is often a rush to adopt new technologies, primarily because of their ‘newness’, rather than as a result of a considered analysis of how they assist in the learning and teaching process or with little consideration as to what a learning culture wants to achieve through the use of technology. We looked at a small case study (interviews with students on the MA Social Media at BCU) to understand some of the issues at play in designing e-learning support materials. The work has prompted a number of new directions which we are actively exploring and we look forward to sharing more of this work in the future.

Bookaholics competition

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The Bookaholics competition organised by doingmediastudies.com offers a chance to win a free hard copy of the book Media Studies: Texts, Production and Context by Paul Long and Tim Wall. Five copies of the book will be awarded to lucky winners.

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Launch of new Media Studies Text Book by leading Interactive Cultures academics

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The Birmingham School of Media played host to the launch of a new text book aimed at students studying on media courses that has been edited, and mainly written, by two key Interactive Cultures staff. Paul Long and Tim Wall, along with contributions from Vian Bakir (University of Glamorgan), Andrew McStay (University of the Arts), Oliver Carter, Faye Davies, and Andrew Dubber (who are also based at BCU) have developed the book over the last few years based upon their approaches to teaching first year studies.

Media Studies: Texts, Production and Context is published by Longman.

Here’s what the authors and publisher had to say at the launch.

Book Launch: Media Studies: Texts, Production and Context from Jon Hickman on Vimeo.

Order your copy now

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This is a busy week for publications from Interactive Cultures.

Dubber has contributed to the timely, if optimistic, ‘After the Crunch’ edited by John Holden, John Kieffer, John Newbigin and Shelagh Wright (free to download). He is also one of the team who contributed to ‘Media Studies: Texts, Contexts and Production’, a textbook which is published this week by Pearson Longman.

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New Approaches to Developing Professional Studies Through Research and Dissemination Using Online Technologies

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A rather lengthy title for an exciting project that the Interactive Cultures team are currently undertaking!

Andrew Dubber and Jez Collins are leading on a project that uses research and industry knowledge skills and how, as lecturers and academics, we can transfer that knowledge back into the classroom and use innovative approaches to teaching and learning by using online technologies to enhance student studies and professional understanding of the creative sector in Birmingham.

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Interactive Technologies for Active Learning- Phase 1 Round Up

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Phase 1 of our “Interactive Technologies for Active Learning“project has just come to a close.  During Phase 1 we considered how student teachers might adopt Flip video cameras within teacher training. This week Nick Webber & I met with BCU colleagues Dave Kane & James Williams (from Centre for Research into Quality) and Anita Reardon (from the School of Secondary and Post-Compulsory Education) to debrief on the project so far and to look at opportunities for Phase 2.

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