We’re lucky within the Technology Demonstrators program. If you find yourself searching for inspiration, you don’t have to search for long. We are surrounded by exceptional educators whose desire to improve student learning sees them regularly seek out, evaluate, and trial new EdTech.

Dr Chris Gaviglio is one such educator. On 3 October, Chris shared his experiences with Nolej by presenting to the Pathways to Innovation SIG. Chris is relatively new to academia and, like many of us, still coming to grips with the nuances of online learning and how to ensure students have the best, and most active, learning experience. In his role as Lecturer (Strength and Conditioning) with the School of Health and Medical Sciences, Chris has been working with Professor Stephen Bird and Educational Designer Dr Isaiah Awidi in the creation of a new program. Part of this process was, naturally, learning design and course creation. Based on identified needs, all involved were looking for a time-efficient way to create learning experiences which activated the learning for students, and could create a sense of consistency across the entire program – or what they called a ‘narrative’.

Because of a long-standing interest in EdTech, Chris discovered a tool called Nolej IO. According to its own website, Nolej will allow you to: “leverage existing underutilized learning materials, such as textbooks, videos, and other online media resources, and rapidly transform them into engaging interactive material.” In short, you can upload a PDF, video, or file of any type, and Nolej will transform this into a sequence of H5P activities – and who isn’t a fan of H5Ps?

Chris is careful to introduce Nolej in a way that reminds us that we, as educators, are actually in charge, and ultimately responsible for what the tool creates. He places emphasis on the need to double check the activities Nolej creates – refining, correcting, and expanding. Part of the benefit of the tool is not the activities it builds, but the time it saves in creating the H5P activity shell.

Unsurprisingly, any EdTech that saves time and activates learning piqued the interest of SIG members. Questions abounded after Chris’s presentation:

• Any student feedback? Though there has been limited opportunity to collect feedback to date, students do enjoy this style of learning – and that this style is consistent across the courses in their program.
• Are there analytics? Yes.
• What is the quality of the outcome? (Is there too much factual recall and not enough higher order thinking?) The program produces a great number of questions. While it is important to check their accuracy and quality, within these questions you will find enough to suit your needs, writing very few yourself.

Do you have questions for Chris as well? Want to trial Nolej and see if your experience measures up to Chris’s? Good news… Because of Chris and his team’s willingness to share their experiences, and because of the quality of the tool, staff feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, and uptake has grown so exponentially, that (drum roll please) we’re piloting Nolej. Sign up by clicking here.

So there we have it – your slice of inspiration for today – a group of passionate educators, putting pedagogy and students first in course and program design. Then using this driver to balance risks and rewards in adopting a new piece of EdTech, beforing inspiring others to do the same.