Ako Anamata | Future Learning and Development is excited to invite UC staff to the next instalment of our monthly Ako Anamata: EdTalks – which this month will be given by Dr Carmen Weaver from Ako Anamata and Dr Matthew Hughes from the College of Engineering.

Date: Tuesday 10 August
Venue: University of Canterbury Club (Ilam Homestead)
Time: 4pm – 6pm

The session includes:

• 4.00pm: Welcome and Introduction– Dr Brad Hurren, Kaiwhakawhanake Akoranga | Academic Developer (Ako Anamata | FL&D)
• 4.05pm: An Update on the AKO|LEARN Upgrade Project – Dr Carmen Weaver, Poutoko | Team Leader (Ako Anamata | FL&D)
• 4.20pm: DLTP Scholar Presentation – Humanitarian Engineering: Flourishing in the Anthropocene – Dr Matthew Hughes, Pūkenga Matua | Senior Lecturer (Civil & Natural Resources Engineering)
• 4.55pm: Close, followed by networking with colleagues

AKO|LEARN upgrade project

In conjunction with representatives from across the university, Future Learning and Development will be upgrading and redesigning the Learning Management System (LMS), AKO | LEARN. The need for this work is guided by:

• Adherence to Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Guidelines
• Response to student feedback (need for consistency)
• The support of te taiao ako (the learning environment)
• A need to address accessibility concerns and possible upcoming legislation
• A clear framework to allow for quality assurance of courses, and
• A need for consistent data from the LMS to better support students

We look forward to sharing current progress and the continued conversation over the coming months.

DLTP Scholar Presentation – Humanitarian Engineering: Flourishing in the Anthropocene

The Anthropocene is a new geological age characterised by industrial civilisation’s rapid expansion, accelerating from the 1950s, to consume and transform ecosystems and landscapes, a development marked indelibly in Earth’s biodiversity and rock record that will persist for aeons. Despite significant improvements in human wellbeing in recent centuries, the benefits of global development have been unequal, and consequent environmental degradation threatens to undermine progress. This project contends that Humanitarian Engineering is a useful transdisciplinary approach to support human flourishing in the Anthropocene. One definition of Humanitarian Engineering is “the artful drawing on science to direct the resources of nature with active compassion directed toward meeting the basic needs of all — especially the powerless, poor, or otherwise marginalised”. This project is developing a collaborative teaching programme to support and expand the delivery of Humanitarian Engineering based on: acknowledgement of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and mana whenua, harnessing established iwi relationships, and acknowledging Te Ao Māori and Mātauranga Māori in weaving new understanding; reciprocal, resilient and sustainable partnerships with Pasifika communities; essential conceptual and theoretical approaches to development; deeply considered ethical frameworks; meaningful and demonstrably beneficial community engagements; and recognition of social-cultural and geopolitical dynamics in a COVID-19 world.

This presentation will give an overview of the project, but the intention is to provoke discussion with attendees on how to approach inclusive pedagogies, how to meaningfully engage students on potentially controversial topics, and how to ensure students harness and maintain their humanitarian instincts in the face of civilisational risks.

DLTP monthly talks
Our DLTP (Distributed Leadership in Teaching Programme) Scholars have been successful in applying for the opportunity to secure both time and funding to explore their interests in teaching and learning. More information on the DLTP can be found here.

These monthly talks provide an exciting opportunity for DLTP scholars to showcase their work, as well as to give you a brief update on what’s happening in the wider teaching and learning areas at UC. The Ako Anamata: EdTalk is also time for colleagues and friends to get together and network in an informal setting. We look forward to seeing you there!

For more information contact Dr Brad Hurren.