This document summarizes Bite Size Technology Sessions held at the University of Sheffield to support research, teaching, and collaboration. The sessions are short, informal presentations on various technology topics, run by university staff and students. They aim to introduce new tools and developments in a short format with time for questions. Evaluations found the sessions to be an effective way of learning about new technologies and that the 20 minute duration with time for questions was appropriate. They have covered over 70 topics in the past few years.

1. Bite Size Technology Sessions to
Support Research, Teaching and
Collaboration
Andy Tattersall
University of Sheffield
a.tattersall@sheffield.ac.uk
03/02/2014 © The University of Sheffield

2. ScHARR
• The School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR)
specialises in health services and public health research
• ScHARR concentrates on postgraduate teaching and delivers a
teaching and learning portfolio based on research-based,
international, multi-disciplinary and world-class curricula
03/02/2014 © The University of Sheffield

3. A growing problem
• Too much choice – which one is best?
• Too little time – too much time wasted
• Lack of awareness – lack of application
03/02/2014 © The University of Sheffield

4. The importance of managing your references
and other information sources for your
research bid and project

5. “Insanity is doing
the same thing
over and over
again and
expecting
different results”.
Albert Einstein
03/02/2014 © The University of Sheffield
Image used under a Creative Commons By Attribution licence Some rights reserved by thematthewknot

6. It’s all in the timing
A Solution?
Used under a Creative Commons By Attribution Licence Some rights reserved by Akash_Kurdekar
03/02/2014 © The University of Sheffield

7. Location
Location
Location
03/02/2014 © The University of Sheffield
Used under a Creative Commons By Attribution Licence © Some rights reserved by Grey World http://bit.ly/MpUiVr

8. “All mankind is
divided into three
classes: those that are
immovable, those that
are movable, and those
that move.”
– Benjamin Franklin
03/02/2014 © The University of Sheffield
Used under a Creative Commons By Attribution Licence © Some rights reserved by DonkeyHotey http://bit.ly/MQTDNH

9. The Ingredients
Informal promotion via
email, blogs, Google+
and in house posters
Informal interactive
presentations from a mixture
of academics, technical,
clerical and professional
staff
Staff, PGR and PGT
students welcome
and…
cakes
03/02/2014 © The University of Sheffield

10. Planting seeds
03/02/2014 © The University of Sheffield
Image used under a Creative Commons By Attribution licence Some rights reserved by John Tann

11. 03/02/2014 © The University of Sheffield

13. 03/02/2014 © The University of Sheffield
Copyright Go!Animate.com
http://goanimate.com/movie/0RhjoHpSyveg/1

14. 03/02/2014 © The University of Sheffield

15. Structure
20 minute session 10
Minutes for questions
Guest speakers from across
the university
Slides made available and
recordings uploaded to
Google Site, YouTube,
iTunesU and Vimeo
03/02/2014 © The University of Sheffield

16. 03/02/2014 © The University of Sheffield

18. The story so far
• Started in Autumn 2010
• 70 previous Bite Size sessions - including
Google Docs, Prezi, PowerPoint tools, professional social
networks, uSpace, Echo360, Pubget, Research Net
Contribution, Assessment Methods, Screencasting,
Wikis, Electronic Voting Systems, Senate teaching
awards, Google Scholar, Mendeley, rss, social media,
Google Apps, voice works, data copyright and the
Cloud, MOLE 2, mobile phone apps, video capture.
03/02/2014 © The University of Sheffield

19. The Research Excellence Framework, supervising
PhD students, what the Teaching Support Unit
can do for you, Scirus scientific search engine,
Google Maps for Research, Plagiarism, Medline,
Cinahl, what ScHARR Library can do for you,
interactive whiteboards, creating effective posters,
how to give a memorable presentation, research
costing, Google Drive, data security, iTunesU,
Blackboard Collaborate, CMS, digital copyright,
marketing, research data management, open
access, information overload and many more
03/02/2014 © The University of Sheffield

20. Elsewhere

21. Feedback
The evaluation
54 Respondents, including a few PGT and PGR students (25% staff approx)
03/02/2014 © The University of Sheffield
Image used under a Creative Commons By Attribution Licence - Some rights reserved by kev.flanagan

22. Do you think attending short sessions such as Bite
Size is an effective way of learning new ways of
working?
Yes: 50
Not Sure: 4
No: 0
03/02/2014 © The University of Sheffield

23. Has attending a Bite Size session helped you
with your work, research or teaching?
Yes: 35
Not Sure: 14
No: 5
03/02/2014 © The University of Sheffield

24. What do you think of the duration of the
sessions?
Too Short: 7
Just right: 47
Too long: 0
03/02/2014 © The University of Sheffield

25. How important is it for you to learn about new
developments, tools and websites for your job or
study?
Not Important: 0
Partially important: 17
Very important: 37
03/02/2014 © The University of Sheffield

26. They are good, quick intro to a new
tool. Because they're given in person
you have the chance to ask questions.
I like the social (cake and tea) aspect
of it. meeting other colleagues you
might not know
Short, focused,
interactive,
entertaining
I really like dipping
into a topic I would
otherwise not have
learnt about.
FEEDBACK
It's short, there is cake,
and if the topic isn't of
immediate use to you
then you don't feel
like you have wasted
time learning about it.
03/02/2014 © The University of Sheffield
Great idea, like the cakes,
wish I'd thought of it,
but reassured to see
that it is genuinely not
easy to get researchers
to take time out.

27. The model elsewhere
03/02/2014 © The University of Sheffield
http://minimasterclasses.wordpress.com/ [Last Accessed 03/02/2014]