LITEbox Event: Videoconferencing and innovative teaching in social sciences classrooms

This event has finished and there is a write up available to read

Dr Aslam has been using a blend of Twitter and Skype to organise interactive videoconference sessions with academics, students, aid-workers, social activists and journalists from across the Middle East and Asia. See below for photos taken during these sessions. The purpose of this activity has been to enable students to learn first-hand about a number of political and security issues in those regions by interacting with those living there. This has also helped students learn about a number of political and security issues concerning the two regions studied on these courses.

Within this seminar Dr Wali Aslam will discuss his utilisation of the two learning technologies within two of his recent courses and introduce some preliminary data that explores the impact of this technology enhanced teaching. This will be followed by small group discussion focused on the potential cross-institutional deployment of Twitter and Skype and ways to enhance engagement with learning technologies.

Click the links to see the Twitter discussions for the two courses mentioned above:

Why not join the discussion of this event by tweeting in advance your own thoughts, comments, questions using #LITEboxWali? View the discussion here

Dr Aslam’s research lies at the crossroads of International Relations theory, international (particularly Asian) security and United States foreign policy. His more recent research has focused on United States foreign policy for the AfPak region and on Asian security. Some of his other research projects include employing the theoretical perspectives of the English School and Constructivism to analyse the American drone strikes in Pakistan.

The following video discusses how and why Dr Aslam uses and combination of Skype and Twitter to engage his classes in conversations with students, academics, aid workers and journalists across the world.