Festival

Leiden Teachers' Academy Education Festival 2024

Date

Wednesday 12 June 2024

Time

12:30 - 17:30 hour

Address

LUMC Education Building
Hippocratespad 21
2333 ZD Leiden

Stay connected with your teaching: Navigating the Educational Landscape through Technology, Society, and Student Engagement

Join us at this year’s Leiden Teachers’ Academy Education Festival!

This year’s festival offers a unique opportunity to bridge the gap between traditional teaching methods and the evolving digital and societal landscape. Students play a vital role amidst all developments that come our way. Building strong connections with students is therefore crucial to foster a more inclusive and responsive classroom environment. This is your chance to gain teaching insights and exchange knowledge and experiences with teachers, students and other interested colleagues from across the university.

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Register

We will start with a welcome by Rector Magnificus Hester Bijl, followed by a mystery quest where you can exchange knowledge and thoughts with each other, Hester Bijl, and keynote speaker Barend Last. Following this, there will be seven workshops on topics such as 'Weighing the AI options within your education' and 'Hopeful climate education'. During ‘Connecting the dots’, we will share insightful stories about the future of education. The day wraps up with networking drinks. Throughout the day, we’ll share challenges. Win an exciting prize if you complete them!

In his talk, Barend Last will delve into 'Blended Learning as a Means to Connect'. He will explore the evolution of technology in education, and discuss how using technology can enhance connectedness with society, research and students themselves.

Barend Last (1986) started as a primary school teacher, where his passion for educational innovation arose. He was particularly interested in the question: ‘Why do we actually do what we do?’ and therefore moved on to the scientific world. He worked as a teacher, consultant, manager and educational creator, and is now a sought-after speaker and trainer in the field of blended learning, didactics, educational policy and educational design. He has written, several books. 

Programme

12:30 - 13:00

Walk-in and lunch

13:00 - 13:10

Welcome by Rector Magnificus Hester Bijl

13:10 - 14:00

Getting connected

14:00 - 15:00

Keynote Barend Last

15:00 - 16:15

Workshops

16:15 - 16:30

Connecting the dots

16:30 - 17:00

Drinks

Workshops

Speaker: Tsolin Nalbantian

When I tell my students and colleagues that the final project of my classes is the writing of a Wikipedia entry, I am often met with nervousness (from students) and suspicion (from colleagues). They both often say “That’s not ‘real’ research!” But Wikipedia is an ideal medium to get students to engage in participatory learning and gain research, writing, and digital skills. Even better, they transfer their findings to the larger public, making their training more societally relevant. By integrating Wikipedia, the world’s premier open-access encyclopedia, into the training of Leiden University BA and (Res)MA students interested in the Middle East, my students link their university education with society and make that education more dynamic and immediately relevant. Plus, for professors it is a far more interesting exercise than the often brain-numbing activity of grading. 

Tsolin Nalbantian is an Associate Professor of Modern Middle Eastern History at Leiden University. Her teaching and research interests include minorities and diasporas in the Middle East and the contemporary histories of Lebanon, Syria, and Turkey. In addition to her academic research and publications, she has been an LTA member since 2021, when she also received a Comenius Fellowship from the Dutch Ministry of Education to embark on project that integrates Wikipedia with the university classroom. 

Speaker: Michiel Dam

A great part of young people today express fear and anxiety about the future and the current climate crisis. Children and adolescents should "be at the center of these debates because they, along with future generations, will have a much greater stake in the outcome than we do" (Currie & Deschenes,  2016). The way in which the climate crisis is mostly taught is known to only reinforce anxiety and stress. To confront the impending dangers and challenges of the climate crisis, young people need hope. In this study, we propose and enact an intervention in teacher education to teach climate change from a lens of hope: `hopeful climate education'. We performed a study in teacher education institutes in both the Netherlands and Germany and studied effects on pre-service biology teachers using a mixed methods research design. Results show that many participants come up with ideas and intentions for their classes that are in line with the design principles of hopeful education (such as showing good examples, having discussions and setting up projects). Also, we found hindrances for teaching hopefully such as not having enough time or lacking curriculum coverage.

Michiel Dam is a member of the LTA and holds 19 years of teaching experience. Throughout his career, he has actively participated in innovation initiatives within both higher and secondary education. In this contribution, he shares his innovative approach to a topic close to his heart.

Speaker: Anja van der Voort

Join this workshop on designing and creating an interactive video as a dynamic educational tool for your students! You will explore the intricacies of setting didactical goals, navigate common challenges, and unlock creative avenues for effective learning. Get hands-on as I guide you through designing your very own interactive video. Please bring your own laptop and headset.
  
Anja van der Voort is a methodologist of Education and Child Studies and uses interactive videos to promote individually tailored learning paths for students. 

Speakers: Agnesa Gashi and Marijne Scherjon

During this workshop, we will explore the possibilities of AI within your education and how you can make your education more AI-proof by following steps of Learning Experience Design. These steps include analyzing your target group, learning goals, activities and testing with or without AI. During the workshop we will discuss the benefits and challenges of AI in your education.

Agnesa Gashi and Marijne Scherjon are educational trainers/advisors at Leiden Learning and Innovation Centre. By providing training and advice, Agnesa and Marijne support teachers and other university staff on themes such as educational design and digital education.

Speaker: Aayushi Shah

This workshop is designed to prepare teachers to tackle classroom discussions and situations that have the potential to be difficult or uncomfortable. It provides tools and recommendations for anticipated conversations on potentially sensitive topics, as well as for unforeseen ‘hot moments’ in class. 

Aayushi Shah is an education consultant, trainer and teacher at the Leiden Learning and Innovation Centre (LLInC), where she supports the development of meaningful, engaging and inclusive learning experiences. Aayushi has five years of experience in university teaching.

More information will follow soon. 

More information will follow soon. 

About the festival

The Education Festival is an annual event organized by Leiden Teachers’ Academy (LTA). The LTA was launched in 2014 to reward top talents in education and stimulate educational innovation. Lecturers who are selected as Teaching Fellows join the Teachers' Academy and are awarded a grant for educational innovation projects. The LTA currently consists of 25 teaching fellows. This year’s education festival is organized by LTA members Arianna Pranger and Peter van der Zwan.