TEL and the TEF: does technology promote excellence?

The idea that we are moving to a more technologically-aware era of learning and teaching is, by now, well-established. More lecturers will say, if asked, that there is far more tech being used today than there was “in their day.” Some will paint this as a wonderful, shining example of a fully-connected future society, and others will point to disturbed sleep patterns, shorter attention spans, and an inability to communicate in person. The Teaching Excellence Framework aims to recognise and reward excellent learning and teaching and, regardless of the views of some organisations and people about the need for, or design of, the TEF, it will be the measure used to assess Universities for the foreseeable future. This session will explore the extent to which the use of, and reliance on, technology drives excellence in learning and teaching, and whether, in fact, excellence in learning and teaching drives the evolution of technology.