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Join us at HELIX, our new digitally-enabled space to explore the world of interactive technologies at Leeds. From virtual reality to data science, podcasting and more, find out how the University is bringing a digital campus to life.
You can:
• Join tours and demos of HELIX
• Test our XR omnideck – Katie Gardner
• Watch neuro-brain mapping – Faisal Mushtaq
• Find out about improving student outcomes in the legal classroom – Steven Montagu-Cairns
• Hear from our Data Scientists on our LIDA (Leeds Institute for Data Analytics) Development Programme
• Explore Virtual Reality in a real-world application
HELIX is a brand-new digital learning hub for students, staff, the wider University and the local community.
As part of Leeds Digital Festival, we’re delighted to welcome you to this exciting space for a celebration of all things digital at the University.
Either drop-in to explore HELIX and discover the latest digital innovations across teaching and research – no booking required.
Or join a guided tour of the space or participate in a hands-on demonstration by booking a free ticket for your chosen timeslot.
11.45am-12.45pm Virtual Bee-ality: education and engagement with insects in VR
Insect education is still very much based around butterfly nets and microscopes – techniques that have not evolved much in the past century.
The Virtual Bee-ality demonstration involves a simulated learning experience using virtual reality to illustrate some of the advantages of shared, collaborative, immersive spaces for teaching. The demonstration is built on the Gravity Sketch platform that allows users to employ a range of interactive and creative tools. Learners are guided through a series of rooms that offer an opportunity to engage with 3D, fully textured insect models based on scans of real insect specimens.
12.30-1.30pm AI in the School of Computing: Software demo
More information coming soon.
1.45-2.45pm XR Omnideck
More information coming soon.
2.00-4.00pm Neuro Brain Mapping
See the rhythms of your brain in action!
In this workshop you will learn about how advances in neurotechnology are revolutionising our ability to understand the brain. During the session you will be paired up with another participant and you will each take turns to act as neuroscientist and participant as we teach you how to record EEG (electrical brain activity) from one another. You’ll get to see how your brain activity changes as you perform different actions and, in the process, you will contribute to science as the data you generate will be used to help advance neuroscience research taking place at the University.
2.45-3.45pm Improving Student Outcomes In the Legal Classroom: A Workshop on Incorporating Innovative Digital Pedagogies To Increase Student Engagement and Foster Critical Thinking
As Legal Academics we all live in fear of the dreaded ‘wall of silence’, that is the excruciatingly awkward time between the asking of an open-ended Socratic question and the eventual merciful release when that one student finally answers it for the rest of the class. Whilst the Socratic approach can be a useful educational method when we are able to establish a thoughtful dialogue, sometimes the theory does not measure up to the practicalities of the legal classroom.
The workshop will hope to achieve this by introducing the group to one such innovative pedagogy, namely, Game-based learning (GBL). GBL takes advantage of gaming technologies and techniques to create a fun, motivating, and interactive learning environment that promotes situated experiential learning. Not to be confused with gamification of learning, GBL is not just about creating games for students to play.
So, if you are curious about improving student outcomes in the legal classroom come along to the workshop and play some games!
2.45-3.45pm Makerspace: Make and Takeaway
