Teaching staff

Teaching staff

The Learning Design Consultancy Team provides expert technological and pedagogical support for teachers, in particular on the design of learning processes: preparing activities, applying methodologies, creating courses, formulating competencies, designing assessments, etc.

This support is provided in personalized advisory sessions addressing different programmes and through the creation and selection of resources in the following areas:
 

  • Niu challenge design
  • Teaching methodologies
  • Assessment and virtualization
  • Engagement and feedback
  • Didactic activities and sequences
  • Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the gender perspective
  • New Canvas classroom
  • Guidance on the pedagogical design of programmes
  • GRAF (competencies project)
  • Folio (portfolio)

Teacher training

The eLinC provides methodological support in the training of coordinating professors when they join the UOC. Through our eLC License programme, over 130 new coordinating professors have received training in our educational model so they can perform their teaching duties successfully from the first semester.

Affiliated teaching staff receive training in the Dive into the UOC programme, through which over 3,200 teachers have been trained. Taking the figure from late 2021, we have helped teachers convert over 700 courses to the Niu challenge model.

What is the Niu challenge model?

It is a completely new methodology for designing UOC courses. Every course is designed as a sequence formed from activities referred to as challenges. Its aims are to:
 

  • Ensure that the competency-based design model is properly incorporated in students' learning activities.
  • Contextualize learning activities using challenges and situations that relate to students' professional or daily lives, applying the principles of situated learning.
  • Implement a methodology and resource management system based on curating content that is closely linked to the learning.

What our work covers

The Learning Design Consultancy team works to support teachers in the implementation and development of the UOC's educational model from various perspectives, with a focus on the challenges facing the university.

This support can be seen in our work in the following areas:

Personalized advice for educational design

  • We launch new advisory initiatives which enable teaching staff who are experts in learning design to work autonomously to improve their teaching. 
  • We provide guidance for new members of teaching staff and/or those without experience in applying the Niu challenge learning design model.
  • We create teaching resources in order to meet design needs to improve teaching at both the course and programme level.
  • We provide faculties working on programme design with methodology-related support.
  • We design teacher training activities aimed at learning design.
  • We create and curate content and resources on this website.

Institutional projects

  • We participate in the implementation of the new LMS in the UOC's range of courses, in both teacher training and experimentation with the LMS to make methodological contributions to change management.
  • We contribute to improving teaching practice by participating in UOC initiatives and contributing our know-how in online teaching and learning. We are members of working groups seeking to meet the UOC's objectives in terms of the SDGs, organizing projects to ensure a gender perspective in teaching and designing teacher training.

 

Good practices

  • We promote the publication of meaningful experiences so that they can become a source of inspiration and offer examples for different UOC groups.
  • We lead the way in compiling good practices for classroom implementation, teaching experiences, teaching innovations, assessment, and courses involving final projects and external internships. 
  • We provide support for the activities organized by the eLearning Innovation Center in this area.

 

Teaching and learning innovation projects

We organize, participate in and lead institutional and innovation projects in areas such as the assessment and design of competencies, measures to make teaching more flexible for successful learning, portfolios, good online practices, quality in teaching assessment, MOOCs, and gamification.

Networks and connections

We represent the eLinC and the UOC in institutional initiatives and programmes that enable us to network with other university teaching communities and incorporate constant reflection and debate to improve our work, for example:

 

  • The Margalida Comas programme – working group on initial teacher training
  • Directorate-General for Universities
  • Government of Catalonia
  • International Conference on University Teaching and Innovation (CIDUI)
  • Spanish University Teaching Network (RED-U)

eLearning Kit

Every week we update the resources available via the eLearning Kit, a website set up for UOC teaching staff to support them in the design and development of courses.