Bridging the digital skills gap for teaching online

Guidance from academics and learning designers on the digital skills needed to teach and learn effectively online, and how to build them

Spotlight offering advice on the digital skills needed for effective online teaching and learning

To teach and learn online successfully, academics and students must acquire a whole host of new digital and pedagogical skills. This set of resources from academics and instructional designers looks at what these skills are and how to develop them within institutions, to ensure high quality digital education.

Building durable links between faculty and educational development teams

Learning designer Alexandra Mihai on how to build bonds between faculty and educational developers that translate into high-quality learning experiences

Alexandra Mihai

University College London

Upskilling faculty for digital instruction

How academics can foster digital skills in their students and themselves for better online learning outcomes

Bringing teaching and digital together: skills needed to teach online

Sean Morris talks about how academics can foster digital skills in their students and themselves for better online learning outcomes

Sean Morris

University of Colorado Denver

Design online courses from a student's point of view for better user experience

UX for teaching: designing online courses from a student’s point of view

Gearoid O’Suilleabhain explains how academics can improve the ‘user experience’ of their online courses by looking at the design from a student’s perspective

Gearoid O'Suilleabhain

Munster Technological University

Where to focus training and resources upskill staff for digital teaching

Your greatest asset: how to focus efforts to upskill staff

Online teaching demands new pedagogical and digital skills among faculty, so universities need to consider how best to focus training and resources, as Susanna Kohonen explains

Susanna Kohonen

University of Eastern Finland

Tools to engage students in online courses

Training students to learn successfully online

Universities need to help students develop a whole new set of skills to ensure they get the most out of remote learning, says Nikita Hari

Nikita Hari

University of Oxford

Improving students' digital literacy for remote learning

The natural tech savviness of Generation Z doesn’t necessarily extend to remote learning tools. Here are three tips from the Open University of Hong Kong to train students to use collaborative working platforms

Heidi Cheng, Maurice Choi, Sylvia Sze, Candy Law, Kan Cho, Samuel Hong

Hong Kong Metropolitan University

Practical advice on building equitable communities when teaching online

Lessons in developing digital capability courses for students

Gunter Saunders explains how to design courses that engage and incentivise students to gain the digital skills they need to flourish in the online learning environment and beyond

Gunter Saunders

University of Westminster

Developing students’ digital skills through online learning

Digital skills are key to the future employability of most graduates. Jo Coldwell-Neilson advises on how to embed digital literacy training into all aspects of online higher education

Jo Coldwell-Neilson

Deakin University

Digital pedagogy skills

Design an online course that promotes interactive learning

How to design an online course centred around interactive learning

Interactive learning is an effective way to keep remote students engaged with online courses. Sara Wolfson offers four tips on how to design classes with a strong focus on interactive elements

Sara Wolfson

The Open University

Research on effective digital course design and implementation

A guide to effective digital course design and delivery from four online teaching experts

Chrysi Rapanta consolidates the knowledge of four online teaching experts to produce guidance on what pedagogical content knowledge faculty need in order to develop effective digital courses

Chrysi Rapanta

NOVA University Lisbon

Using the Community of Inquiry to improve online learning outcomes

Making the implicit explicit: improve online learning through ‘presence’

Dara Cassidy explains how the Community of Inquiry provides a framework to help translate teaching strategies that come naturally in the classroom to the online learning environment where they require more deliberate planning

Dara Cassidy

RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences

Advice on designing online classes

Using visual media to enhance online learning

Nataša Lacković presents a pedagogical approach to using visual media to activate student learning, rather than simply decorating course content

Nataša Lacković

Lancaster University

Asynchronous discussions – how and why

Asynchronous discussions facilitate deeper reflection and critical thinking about course content. Paul Moss explains how to ensure such online discussions benefit all students on their learning journey

Paul Moss

The University of Adelaide

Making the most of digital tools

Selecting digital tools that support your pedagogy and teaching strategies

Tech tools to help enhance online and blended learning

With thousands of educational apps all promising to enhance online learning, choosing the right technology is a challenge. Miral Gibson explains why how pedagogy and teaching strategies should inform these decisions

Miral Gibson

Roehampton University

Illustration of a person using a laptop

How to create an engaging online experience using Microsoft Teams

Learn how to use Microsoft Teams to offer students an engaging online learning experience with David Kellerman, senior lecturer at UNSW

David Kellerman

UNSW Sydney

Advice on how you can use virtual reality in your online teaching to enhance the digital learning experience

Using virtual reality to enhance learning

Neil McDonnell explains how academics can use virtual reality platforms to enhance student learning experiences now and post-pandemic

Neil McDonnell

University of Glasgow