The Keele Education Conference 2021 took place virtually earlier this year, and reflected on an extraordinary 12 months, and the shift in educational delivery achieved.

The theme of the conference was ‘Education: Then. Now. Next’, and presentations and talks mapped the ways we have adapted and enhanced our learning, teaching and student support throughout the pandemic, and helped to distil and preserve the innovations we might embed in our future curriculum.

The recordings from the day are now available to view on the conference web pages, including a keynote conversation between Honorary Professor Lawrie Phipps and Dr Rafe Hallett.

The conference also referenced the Flexible Digital Education resources, built to create a foundation of educational delivery and support, and explored Keele’s Curriculum Design Framework, recently published to underpin Social Learning, and shape future module and programme design.

Reflecting on the event, Terry Dray, Director of Employability and Employer Engagement commented:

“It was interesting to see such honest and open presentations of innovation and adaptability, particularly in finding ways to deliver interactive high quality student learning experiences, necessitated by the pandemic.”

Over 180 delegates joined the conference to hear presentations from colleagues across the University, exploring a wide variety of subjects, from exploring hybrid learning, developing communities, and future structures of education.

Matt Street, Head of Digital Projects, commented:

“The presentations throughout the conference brought into focus both broader questions and challenges in Higher Education but were also balanced with pragmatism, containing valuable insights from the experience of the presenters about what was working and what was not. This honest dialogue created valuable discussion and challenged the audience to reflect and consider how to develop their own practice.”

The conference drew together a breadth of examples of education practice and innovation from across the University, ranging from developing rich digital stories, developing engaging and creative online school inductions, approaches to Decolonising the Curriculum, the impact of language on inclusivity, and authentic approaches to assessment, to select a few.

Explore all of the presentations from the day.

---