Pre-Conference
Workshops

Get ready to unlock the potential of PebblePad!

We’re thrilled to share the details of our upcoming Pre-Conference Workshops.

view programme

Morning Workshop (option 1)

Change is the only constant: Exploring the untapped potential of PebblePad to transform measures of success for all things employability (skills, career development and professional identity)

3 Hours

1

Facilitators:

Gayle-B

Gayle Brent

Senior Fellow Higher Education Academy (SFHEA)
Learning and Teaching Consultant (Employability)
Griffith Sciences
Griffith University, Australia

This workshop is discussion-based and very hands-on. It will involve consensus decision-making to facilitate the contribution of aspirational ideas to embed employability-based learning (EBL) narrowing to an achievable set of practical actions (centred on the use of PebblePad). Participants will work individually and in small groups to develop practical, evidence-based solutions that are achievable within their context, to suit diverse student cohorts, with the core goal to enhance student engagement in meaningful career development learning (CDL) throughout their degree, including measures of success for the student, the educator, and the university.

In this workshop an innovative example use of PebblePad will be (briefly) demonstrated to stimulate discussion and decision-making. Participants will explore the diverse dimensions of ‘employability’ and will then generate practical steps to embed employability (and/or CDL) in the curriculum. Purposeful, practical and “out of the box” uses of PebblePad to intrinsically capture measures of success that do not rely on employment outcomes will be a core focus of the outcomes.

Morning Workshop (option 2)

A key to the map: Onboarding users to ATLAS

3 Hours

2

Facilitators:

Susan

Susan Bonham

Ed Tech Advisor
Education Technology Department
Langara College, Canada

The Educational Technology Department (EdTech) at Langara College supports the institution’s core learning tools, including PebblePad. Since we launched PebblePad in 2001, it has been used mostly for authentic assessment and guided experiential learning. The Faculty of Nursing uses PebblePad for all clinical courses, and we have multiple programs using PebblePad for practicums, including Library Technology, Recreation Studies, and Supply Chain Management. In these courses, both the ongoing formative assessment and the high stakes summative assessment is done in ATLAS. As such, instructors who teach in a course using PebblePad need to get comfortable using ATLAS very quickly, even if they are new to the entire platform. ATLAS has a reputation for being challenging, but EdTech has found that by knowing what functionality each course or program will be using and then focusing faculty training on what they will need to know and nothing else, we are successfully and efficiently onboarding ATLAS users each semester. 

This workshop will provide a hands-on overview of the approach used to successfully onboard faculty to ATLAS at Langara.  Participants will then be invited to share the hurdles and pain points they have experienced when onboarding new users.  Facilitated discussion will aim to uncover new ways of approaching these challenges, equipping participants with strategies to implement within their own organisations.

NOTE:  This is NOT an ATLAS training session.  The focus is on identifying approaches to the successful onboarding of new ATLAS users.

Morning Workshop (option 3)

Beginners: Unlock Your Digital Potential: Beginner's Guide to Mastering PebblePad

3 Hours

3

Facilitators:

PebblePad Learning Services and PebblePad Academy staff members

PAUL-2

Paul Duvall

Head of Learning Services and Senior Solutions Consultant
PebblePad

Jane 2

Jane Bradley

Learning Developer & Academy Lead
PebblePad

1617912892057

Jenny Masters

Learning Support Specialist
PebblePad

New to PebblePad? Come along to our Basic PebblePad Sessions! Designed for beginners, these interactive sessions will guide you through the essentials of using PebblePad, from creating content to adding it to a workspace, testing it out and adding feedback.

Our expert trainers will provide personalised support to help you confidently navigate the platform and make the most of its features. Join us to enhance your digital skills and take your work to the next level with PebblePad!

🥪LUNCH

afternoon Workshop (option 1)

Positive planning: Using appreciative inquiry to support eportfolio advancement

3 Hours

1

Facilitators:

Leeann-W

Dr. Leeann Waddington

Associate Vice President, Teaching & Learning
Teaching & Learning Commons
Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Canada

NishanPebblePad

Dr. Nishan Perera

Director, Learning Technologies & Education
Teaching & Learning Commons
Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Canada

The successful adoption and implementation of ePortfolios in complex higher educational contexts can have some core challenges, including resistance to change and buy-in, lack of clarity and alignment with institutional plans, unclear roles and responsibilities, insufficient communication with key parties, and gaps in the needed technological and pedagogical resources to support success. Instead of being paralyzed by these numerous challenges, imagine a process that utilizes the institution’s strengths and builds on what works well to move toward the desired future. Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is a strengths-based, positive approach to organizational change that can support strategic planning and the successful implementation of ePortfolios in higher educational contexts.

This three-hour experiential workshop will guide participants through an Appreciative Inquiry (AI) process to catalyze the design of their own institutional ePortfolio advancement plan. Participants will leave with practical knowledge to construct an ideal implementation plan and create sustainable positive change in their setting using an AI approach.

afternoon Workshop (option 2)

SLICCs:
powerfully reflective, student-centred learning at scale

2

3 Hours

Facilitators:

Dr-Gavin

Dr Gavin McCabe

SLICCs Co-lead (reflection, student development and employability)
Careers and Employability Manager
Careers Service
The University of Edinburgh, Scotland

Simon-Riley

Professor Simon Riley

SLICCs Co-lead (academic)
Personal Chair of Experiential Learning
Edinburgh Medical School
The University of Edinburgh, Scotland

Student-Led, Individually-Created Courses (SLICCs) offer a reflective learning and assessment framework for students to gain academic credit for experiential learning.  Portfolio-based, SLICCs reward students’ learning journey irrespective of the perceived success or failure of their activity.  They are highly flexible and used widely used at scale across the University of Edinburgh as:  

  • Summer SLICCs – Available to all first- and second-year undergraduate students to support and recognise their summer activities.  
  • Cross-disciplinary – Open to students that allow them to work Enabling students to work across disciplinary boundaries, with the SLICCs reflective learning framework used to guide, structure and recognise diverse experience.  
  • In schools – Schools across all three colleges are using the SLICCs framework to provide course structure and materials, tailored to a specific activity or wicked problem, from pre-honours to integrated PhDs.  
  • External – A growing number of partners are also using the SLICCs framework to support their activities, individually or in groups to recognise inter-institutional student activities.  

This workshop is facilitated by Professor Simon Riley and Dr Gavin McCabe – co-creators of SLICCs and highly experienced in helping others understand and implement the SLICCs model and approach.  

This workshop will provide you with the ideas, tools and insight to make SLICCs work for you, and your institution.  

For more information about SLICCs, see www.ed.ac.uk/sliccs 

afternoon Workshop (option 3)

Master PebblePad: Advanced Scenarios for Experts

3 Hours

3

Facilitators:

PebblePad Learning Services and PebblePad Academy staff members

PAUL-2

Paul Duvall

Head of Learning Services and Senior Solutions Consultant
PebblePad

Jane 2

Jane Bradley

Learning Developer & Academy Lead
PebblePad

1617912892057

Jenny Masters

Learning Support Specialist
PebblePad

Are you a PebblePad Expert? Come along to our Advanced PebblePad Sessions! Perfect for experienced users, whether you’re looking to enhance your knowledge or streamline your institutional processes.

These in-depth sessions delve into advanced workflows, including scenarios to solve and complex workflow management. Led by expert trainers, you’ll gain insider tips and hands-on experience to fully customise and optimise your PebblePad usage. Join us to master PebblePad and unlock its full potential!

Mission Possible: The DNA of a bespoke professional development program

Talk description: The diversity of students in higher education dictates that there cannot (and should not) be a single ‘silver bullet’ approach to address the complex challenge of career readiness learning. However, the reality of modern university structures is that delivering bespoke experiences for each student is a challenge in and of itself.  And yet, all things are possible with creative use of PebblePad to streamline delivery (for the university) and make it highly personalised (for the student). 

Bio: Gayle Brent is a Learning and Teaching Consultant (Employability) at Griffith University, Queensland, Australia. Gaye’s specialist area of interest is developing and implementing strategies to enhance staff and student understanding of employability in both curricular and extra-curricular contexts. She completed a Master of Education and Professional Studies Research to explore the potential barriers and challenges to embedding employability-based learning in higher education curriculum and is currently completing a Doctor of Philosophy exploring the impact of an extra-curricular employability program on the individual student experience.

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Gaining CPD with PebblePad

PebbleBash 2024, a biennial international PebblePad conference, to be held in Edinburgh, Scotland, in June 2024.  PebbleBash brings together PebblePad practitioners from around the globe to share practice and discuss the opportunities and challenges that the use of a learning and teaching platform like PebblePad presents.

As many of PebblePad’s customers are undertaking initiatives to reshape the curriculum, PebbleBash provides an opportunity to exchange insights, best practice and renew ideas for creating exceptional learning experiences, aligned with evolving student needs.

Attendees will benefit from the opportunity to:

  • Learn about methods from expert practitioners who have overcome similar challenges
  • Learn how PebblePad is being used to help education institutions tackle some of the key themes in the HE sector: Authentic assessment and feedback, Flexible learning design, Belonging, wellbeing and success, Employable and future-ready and Professional identity and capability
  • Learn about strategies for implementing PebblePad at scale, resources and processes for training and support, reporting and learning analytics, integrations and administration.
  • Network within the community and meet and speak with the PebblePad leadership, implementation and development teams.

Education is an Experience That Should Be Designed

Talk description: We have any number of problems and opportunities as universities, and universities must adapt to help students from diverse backgrounds develop the knowledge and skills they need to thrive and make a positive impact in the world. Key to those adaptations is understanding that we provide students with an experience. We ought to design them with intention and purpose. This talk with take up this argument and ground it within a large educational transformation project at the University of Leeds.

Bio: Jeff Grabill is Deputy Vice Chancellor for Student Education at the University of Leeds. Prior to joining the University of Leeds, Grabill was at Michigan State University (MSU) in the United States for nearly 20 years. He served Michigan State University as the Associate Provost for Teaching, Learning, and Technology. In that role, he was responsible for facilitating innovation in learning and educator professional development via his role as Director of the Hub for Innovation in Learning and Technology. Grabill’s research focuses on how digital writing is associated with citizenship and learning. That work has been located in community contexts, in museums, and in classrooms at both the K-12 and university levels. Grabill is also a co-founder of Drawbridge, an educational technology company.

Curriculum Transformation at the University of Edinburgh: co-creation and the relationship between local innovation and institutional change

Talk description: I will use the themes of reflection and experiential learning, skills development and assessment (including programme level assessment and changes in assessment practice) to explore this process in more detail. This includes the link between disciplinary and institutional curriculum reform, learning from local innovations and changes, and using this to inform University level changes and support.

Bio: My current position is leading the University wide Curriculum Transformation Project. This is a major and long term initiative for the University considering all areas of the University’s undergraduate and taught postgraduate curriculum. Prior to this Jon set up and led the Institute for Academic Development (IAD) at the University of Edinburgh. The IAD provides University level support for teaching, learning and researcher development, including direct support for students and staff, and support for enhancement and innovation in curriculum development, the student and researcher experience. Jon has a PhD in petroleum geology.

Dr Melissa Highton. Assistant Principal, University of Edinburgh

Talk description: A journey through the stories told by wicca data. How a neglected research data set was used by students to overturn historic injustice and shed new light on the lives of women in Scotland.

Bio: Melissa has worked for many years in higher education at some of the UK’s finest and most ancient institutions. In each place she enjoys discovering the hidden histories and less heard voices which can be surfaced in new ways using the most up to date and open technologies. She is a champion of playful and curious approaches to engagement with audiences on campus and online, and is an invited speaker at events about dangerous women.

Disclaimers

The event agenda is correct at the time of publishing. As with all events, we may need to alter or modify aspects of the agenda.

While we take every precaution to ensure the safety and security of our events, Pebble Learning Ltd recommends you review insurance policies to ensure adequate coverage, especially in the realm of business travel.

We will be recording (audio/video) the presentations during the event. A conference photographer will also be capturing moments for our highlights reel. The video and photography will be used to share insights and market PebbleBash to the wider HE community. We do not give automatic refunds, please see the cancellation policy in the FAQs.