Workshop «Providing of Academic Freedom and Inclusion through Digitalization»

On April 8-10, 2024 (Portugal), the workshop "Teaching digital skills of teaching and administrative staff" took place within the framework of the ERASMUS+ AFID project "Providing of Academic Freedom and Inclusion through Digitalization", which was held by the project partner - the University of Alcalá, Spain.

Starting with defining a user profile and customizing system settings, participants were actively involved in the process. The importance of accessibility and participation of all users, regardless of their capabilities and characteristics, is emphasized.During the first day of the workshop, which lasted for a large part of the day, the participants were immersed in the information environment of virtual classrooms (MIIVC). This event was saturated not only with theoretical data, but also with practical tasks that helped to better understand the processes and capabilities of the platform.

After a short lunch break, participants came back together to learn the basics of using Microsoft Teams in education. From creating cool teams to setting up various functions for convenient training - every step was carefully thought out and explained by experts so that participants could understand the process as much as possible.

The next important stage was work with the creation of courses and classroom management. From adding students and teachers to teams to assigning roles and setting permissions, every aspect has been carefully considered and illustrated with examples.

The participants were actively involved in the dialogue, asking questions and sharing their experiences in using the platform. Working together, they were able to discover the most efficient and convenient ways to use the tools that were available.

No less important was the aspect of cooperation and interaction between the participants. They exchanged advice and recommendations, shared their plans for implementing the acquired experience in their work. This created an atmosphere of mutual help and mutual support, which helped everyone to feel part of a common mission - improving the educational process through the use of modern technologies.

Summarizing the first day of the workshop, we can say that it was very effective and fruitful. The participants received a significant amount of new knowledge and skills that they will be able to use in their practical activities. Moreover, they also established valuable contacts and relationships that will be useful in the future.

During the second day of the workshop, the participants learned in detail the process of creating a Class Notebook, learned about different types of sections, set up permissions for students and learned how to work with editor elements. They also learned the possibilities of entering external information and mastered the OneNote tool.

In the second part of the day, the participants studied in depth the practical aspects of file management and sharing. They learned best practices for organizing files and folders in Teams using SharePoint and OneDrive tools.

Next, participants focused on learning effective communication within the course. They looked in depth at creating channels for a class group, using messages for private conversations and group discussions, and learned best practices for posting to channels and integrating different tabs, such as a PDF viewer and third-party tools like Kahoot.

Finally, the participants considered the process of conducting online classes. They mastered the skills of setting up new meetings/online classes, scheduling online meetings for the course channel, considered the roles of participants in online classes and the possibility of working in groups. Participants also learned in-depth about the features of online meetings, including screen sharing, interactive voting, and engaging in dialogue, as well as best practices for post-meeting events.

The second day of the workshop was full of practical skills and useful information that will help the participants to successfully implement new technologies and methods in their educational activities.

During the third day of the workshop, the participants studied in depth the possibilities of assigning tasks to students. They considered various options for assigning tasks, tests and other activities for students. Participants mastered the skills to create rubrics and grading criteria, track assigned assignments, grade and grade student work, and create assessments or exams by integrating the Microsoft Forms application.

Participants then progressed to other integrated tools such as Reflect and Insights. They explored how students interacted with the course, using assignment analytics to track progress, keeping attendance records to follow up with students as needed. They also learned how to quantify information about communication and review in the course, and conduct surveys about the emotional and mental state of students.

The final part of the workshop was devoted to solving problems and supporting MIIVC. Attendees were introduced to the support center for common problems and common solutions, as well as MIIVC support resources, including FAQ documentation.

This day was an important step in equipping the participants with the skills and tools that will help them effectively implement virtual learning and provide a quality educational environment for their students.