As we approach the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we discuss the impact of the war on Ukrainian higher education. Many university buildings have suffered extensive physical damage, especially those in the east of the country, and online teaching, a distant memory for most, is for many Ukrainian students and teachers still a reality. Despite the hardships, learning and teaching carries on, and technology and innovative teaching techniques have helped Ukrainian education to thrive.

In this episode we talk to academics from the field of Geography: Dariia Kholiavchuk, Kate Borysenko, Liz Hurrell and Simon Hutchinson about their collaborative paper on the role of digital technology in supporting geographical education in Ukraine during the ongoing conflict. We discuss the practical applications of virtual field trips, and the implications of teaching geography under war conditions. Topics include using tools like Google Earth and ThingLink to provide remote and hybrid learning experiences, the importance of fieldwork, sustaining student motivation and mental health, and the importance of the field of Geography to the eventual reconstruction of Ukraine. Finally we also talk about how the international academic community can contribute to educational resilience in Ukraine.

Further reading

Hutchinson, S.M., Hurrell, E.R., Borysenko, K., Popov, V., Kholiavchuk, D. & Popiuk, Y. (2024) Resilient education: The role of digital technology in supporting geographical education in Ukraine. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 00, e12728. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1111/tran.12728

Guest bios

Kateryna Borysenko is Associate Professor in the Department of Physical Geography and Cartography Faculty of Geology, Geography, Recreation and Tourism at V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. She is dedicated to the development of education and science in the city of Kharkiv, is widely published in the field of Geographical training and education, and leads educational practices in her department.

k.borysenko@karazin.ua

Daria Kholiavchuk is an Associate Professor at the Department of Physical Geography, Geomorphology, and Paleogeography at Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University in Western Ukraine. As the program leader for bachelor students in Geography, she is dedicated to fostering the next generation of geographers skilled in sustainability and postwar recovery. Her research focuses on climate change and natural hazards management. Daria is involved in projects to build adaptive capacities in the Ukrainian Carpathians and promote cross-border ecological management. Currently, she participates in the resilient education and research initiative, supported by British colleagues through digital tools. d.kholyavchuk@chnu.edu.ua

Dr Simon M Hutchinson is a Reader / Associate Professor at the University of Salford. He believes that Environmental Education should be accessible to everyone and the using Digital Visualisation Tools (DVTs) can help to achieve this equity. His research on palaeoenvironmental records(e.g., peat, cave and lake sediments) in the Carpathian Mountains (mainly in Romania) mean that his own field work has taken him close to the border; he hopes one day to be able to extend this into Ukraine. s.m.hutchinson@salford.ac.uk

Liz Hurrell is a Senior Lecturer in Physical Geographer in the Department of Environment and Geography at York and an Associate Lecturer for the Open University. She has a passion for Geography Higher Education with interests in climate education, equality, diversity and inclusion, hybrid/online education as well as fieldwork. The latter opened up a conversation between York-Salford-Kharkiv on how virtual field trips can support education during the war. liz.hurrell@york.ac.uk

In this third installment of the SoTL flavoured TELSIG podcast, Phil is joined again by Lucy Turner Voakes from York's Academic Practice team, and Nick Glover from Inclusive Learning to discuss equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in higher education and its interactions with SoTL. The conversation explores the catalysts for heightened attention on EDI, such as award gaps for black students, the interplay between broader social issues and higher education, and the importance of data-driven approaches. We talk about the barriers to implementing inclusive practices, the role of scholarship, and the complexities of measuring success. The discussion also touches on the potential benefits of partnerships between students and staff in fostering a more inclusive educational environment.

Guest profile

Nicholas Glover works in the Inclusive Education Team as an Inclusive Education Adviser. He has a background in critical approaches to student engagement and student voice. He is interested in the co-creation of learning, teaching and assessment in HE, particularly the ways in which student-staff partnerships can foster and embed inclusive practices within the classroom and throughout universities. He is currently working on a number of educational enhancement projects, including the University’s new Student Success Projects Fund, which is supporting students and staff to work collaboratively to innovate aspects of learning, teaching and assessment.

• Matthews, K. (2017). Five Propositions for Genuine Students as Partners Practice | International Journal for Students as Partners
• Advance HE Framework - Student Engagement through Partnership
• University of York Inclusive Learning Toolkit

Today we take a tour of all the free, nearly free and paid-for tools that can help language teachers create lessons and materials while also helping students become more independent learners. We talk about ways in which we can work more efficiently, but also actively boost learning gains in the process.

The discussion covers practical uses of AI for generating lesson materials, and tools like Mizou for practising conversation. Also, what is ChatGPT up to these days? We get into what makes an effective prompt, and how to navigate the limitations and opportunities of free and paid-for AI tools. This episode is a must-listen for language teachers looking to explore AI technologies to improve classroom and preparatory activities.

The conversation touches on a range of online tools, all of which are listed below:

Immersive Reader https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/office/use-immersive-reader-in-word-a857949f-c91e-4c97-977c-a4efcaf9b3c1

ChatGPT https://chatgpt.com

Wordwall https://wordwall.net

Learning Apps https://learningapps.org

Diffit https://app.diffit.me

MultilingProfiler https://www.multilingprofiler.net

Photoscan https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9nblggh4s87w?hl=en-gb&gl=CL

Padlet https://padlet.com

Perplexity AI https://www.perplexity.ai

Claude https://claude.ai

Mizou https://mizou.com

AudioPen https://audiopen.ai

Magic School https://www.magicschool.ai

TurboScribe https://turboscribe.ai

Adobe Firefly https://www.adobe.com/products/firefly.html

Dan Fitzpatrick’s resource page https://www.theaieducator.io

Joe’s Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/languageteachingwithai

Guest profile

Joe Dale is an independent languages consultant from the UK who works with a range of organisations such as Network for Languages, ALL, The British Council, the BBC, Skype, Microsoft and The Guardian. He was host of the TES MFL forum for six years, former SSAT Languages Lead Practitioner, a regular conference speaker and recognised expert on technology and language learning. He has spoken at conferences and run training courses in Europe, North America, South America, the Middle East, the Far East and Australasia. He was a member of the Ministerial Steering Group on languages for the UK coalition government and advised on the Linguanet Worldwide project for The Language Company. He created ICT activities for the new Institut Français, ALL and Network for Languages Primary French Project Niveau Bleu, Blanc and Rouge courses and was short-listed for a NAACE Impact Award in 2013 too. Joe supported the Erasmus Plus project Conflict to Cooperation with 5 European countries and the Erasmus Plus Project Learning to think and live outside the box. He recently organised and co-hosted a 10 part series of webinars Saturday Tech-Talk in collaboration with the British Council in Indonesia and iTELL and worked on the Nusantara Go project for the British Council in Indonesia and PearTree Languages in 2022. He also worked on the Supporting Schools Reform in Algeria project through the British Council 2019-2020. He is currently working on the Stories on the Move project with the University of Reading. He was recently described in a Guardian article as an 'MFL guru' and 'the man behind the #mfltwitterati.'. Joe’s new Facebook group ‘Language Teaching with AI' already has over 5,300 members.