Projects

TU Dublin published its first Digital Education Policy in September 2023. It sets out the philosophy, scope, and principles for the integration of digital education and flexible modes of delivery at TU Dublin to achieve our aims and objective in this space. Furthermore, the policy supports Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 ‘Quality Education’ which aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. Digitally enhanced learning also has the potential to support SDG 10 (Reduced inequalities) by facilitating universal design for learning; SDG 11 (Sustainable cities and communities) by reducing the need for commuting; and SDG 12 (Responsible production and consumption) by reducing the need for printing. 

In the Strategic Intent to 2030, TU Dublin sets out the aim of every programme having sustainability as a learning outcome. This aligns with both the University Graduate Attributes, and the University Education Model, Fundamental 7, which has the aim that learners develop a deep, practical, understanding of sustainability, both within their discipline as well as for life, that encourages positive sustainability change. 

Under the Strategic Alignment of Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund (SATLE), awarded by the National Forum/HEA, Digital Education and Sustainability Education have joined forces to offer €5,000 each to 20 programme-based projects that will commit to implementing at least one change to practice that can be aligned with either the digital education policy and/or sustainability education. Projects that combine both aspects will be viewed favourably.   

Conditions of Funding

• Applicants must submit this application form to apply for the funding.  
• The projects must begin in September 2024.  
• Conditions on spending the funding will be aligned to any conditions of SATLE 2023 funding. 
• The funding awarded to each successful applicant must be spent or committed by December 31st 2024.
• Successful projects must provide an end of project report/case study on the impact of the project. 

Proposal Evaluation Criteria (50 marks)

• The proposed plan of work for the programme-based project (20 marks) 
• The creativity and innovativeness of the proposed project (15 marks) 
• The expected impact of the proposed work on the furthering of TU Dublin’s digital education and/or sustainability agendas. Note: projects that combine both aspects will be viewed favourably (15 marks) 

Important Dates

• Proposal submissions due: April 12th 2024 
  
• Successful submissions announced: Week beginning May 6th 2024 
  
• Projects start: By end of September 2024 
  
• Monies committed (i.e. POs raised): December 31st 2024 

Please use this form to submit your application for funding.

Details of the projects funded will be provide here once the funding has been awarded in May 2024. 

TU Dublin is committed to delivering a digitally enhanced learning experience for our students and is embarking on many different projects and initiatives to unify systems and put enabling infrastructure, frameworks and professional development opportunities in place to help realise this commitment. The Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) that we provide for our students, through which they will engage with content and resources, communicate, collaborate and assess their progress, is a very important part of this enabling infrastructure. As the current licenses for our two VLEs, Brightspace and Moodle, are due to expire before September 2024, now is the time to work towards implementing one VLE across all campuses at TU Dublin.

Over semester one 2022/23 both Brightspace and Moodle were compared, contrasted and evaluated to establish which platform mostly closely aligned with our technical architecture, and could provide the flexibility and workflows that will be required by our 3,000 staff and 30,000 students when we implement our new education model. Following this evaluation, Brightspace by D2L was chosen as the VLE for TU Dublin. Brightspace proved itself to be a very robust, accessible, and cutting-edge platform that utilises AI to improve the student learning experience, and turn data into detailed insights to aid better-informed decisions. It is also cloud based facilitating continuous delivery and platform updates without the need for downtime or manual intervention and will integrate easily with our new unified Student Records Management System (Banner).  

Brightspace is a next generation platform with built-in engagement tools to help us personalise the student learning experience. If you would like to see what Brightspace looks like and what it can offer you and your students, please click on the image below to play a short promotional video.

The migration and transition from Moodle to Brightspace is currently underway. All staff and students will have transitioned to Brightspace before September 2024 and all necessary training, support and help are being provided to make that transition as smooth as possible.