ONLINE LEARNING
Academics excited about being on the receiving end of
Students of the NWU are not the only ones benefiting from online learning.
NWU academics wanting to improve their teaching skills are taking advantage of the world-class Epigeum courses available to the university’s lecturers and, judging by the feedback from several academics who have participated, the courses are highly recommended.
The Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) has been offering multiple online courses developed by Epigeum since 2020. The partnership between CTL and Epigeum began when some CTL staff members travelled to the United Kingdom in 2018 to assist with the development of the University Teaching: Core Skills course.
More about Epigeum
Epigeum provides online courses designed to help universities and colleges transform their core activities in teaching and development, research, studying, and support and wellbeing.
The courses are developed through global collaboration of experts and partner universities, and shared by subscription.
MORE ABOUT EPIGUEM
We asked a few lecturers who have already completed some of the courses to give feedback on how they experienced the courses. Click on each image to read more.
Daniel Mokatsanyane
School of Economic Sciences
“The Teaching Online: Next Steps in Design and Development course equips one with tools and skills to be able to work well in online learning and teaching.
“For me, the highlights of this course were the interactive elements and the wealth of additional resources available to help improve our online teaching skills.
“I encourage you to register for this programme – the content of the modules will help consolidate and refresh your knowledge and skills.”
Dr Kezell Klinck
School of Management Sciences
“In 2020, I completed the Blended Learning course and this year I registered for the Teaching Online course.
“The interesting topics and interviews with professionals around the globe sometimes had me going through the content at three o’clock in the morning.
“I also like the flexibility: you can log in any time and go back to any module and re-do the tests. I added both courses to my performance appraisal submissions, as part of my personal development plan.”
JT Janse van Rensburg
School of Computer Science and Information Systems
“I completed the Blended Learning and the University Teaching: Core Skills courses in 2020. All lecturers should consider completing the courses as CTL's competent team goes to great lengths to ensure equal and relevant training opportunities for academics.
“These opportunities should be utilised to improve one's understanding of best practices and to remain abreast of teaching and learning approaches.”
Prof Elmari Deacon
School of Psychosocial Health
“I completed the Blended Learning and the University Teaching: Core Skills in 2020 to refresh my skills. I found the courses interesting and well structured, and I learned a lot.
“For me it was not just about the knowledge that was shared, but also about being on the receiving end of online learning. The courses used many different ways of teaching. They were also very practical and included a lot of examples.”
Florence Coertzen
School of Languages for Education
“I enrolled for the Blended Learning course in 2020 and liked that I could complete it at my own pace and when I have free time. It is very flexible and can fit into my schedule whenever I have extra time.
“It is also very professional and informative. I also like that it is collaborative, and that you can use your own experiences to personalise it.”
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The following courses are available for lecturers to complete:
(Click on each block to read more.)
University Teaching: Core Skills
This course deals with topics related to teaching at a university, such as assessment, student engagement, teaching strategies and more.
(available via eFundi)Blended Learning
This course gives a broad overview of blended learning by highlighting information on best practices from academics all over the world, as well as information on how lecturers can implement blended learning into their own modules.
(available via the Epigeum website)
Teaching Online: Next Steps in Design and Development
With the move to emergency remote teaching and learning, many lecturers had to adapt their teaching methods. This course provides steps on how lecturers can effectively teach online.
(available via the Epigeum website)