There are numerous professional learning opportunities in digital education, from conferences to webinars and blogs. Since engaging with everything isn’t feasible, we introduced a regular series to share key insights. This month, we reflect on Queen Mary Festival of Education and Research in Distance Education (RIDE) conference, focusing on employability, excellence in scholarship, and sustaining change in digital education.
Reflections on Queen Mary Festival of Education
The first day of Queen Mary Festival of Education 2025 took place on 7 March at the Mile End campus. The conversations throughout the day reinforced Queen Mary’s commitment to embedding employability within the curriculum, helping students develop the skills they need for their future careers like accepting failure and having a growth mindset. The opening panel sparked valuable discussions on the challenges and successes of integrating employability across disciplines. The introduction of Queen Mary’s graduate attributes tool highlighted its potential to increase the visibility of Queen Mary’s graduate attributes within QM Plus. Student partners working on the project agreed this helps them better understand their strong connection to the curriculum.
The afternoon continued with a strong focus on scholarship in action, reinforcing how educational excellence translates into real-world impact. Prof. Ishani Chandrasekara shared insights on demonstrating scholarship excellence through meaningful partnerships with industry and how this learning experience motivates students. Prof. Chie Adachi elaborated on excellence in scholarship in digital learning, emphasizing the importance of having a clear vision and taking actions to navigate and drive change. Finally, there was a fruitful group discussion session encouraging across-school dialogues on key scholarship themes. Participants explored topics such as AI, assessment, online learning, and employability, sharing ideas and good practices to enhance teaching and learning.
The second day of Festival of Education will take place on 10 June and will focus on Assessment and Feedback and AI. Queen Mary educators are encouraged to share their practice in the poster showcase session.
Reflections on the CODE conference 2025
The Research in Distance Education (RIDE) Conference 2025, hosted by the Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE) at the University of London, brought together educators, researchers, and learning designers to explore how institutions are sustaining change in digital education. This year’s conference focused on themes of engagement, inclusion, AI literacy, and student well-being, highlighting the evolving role of technology in fostering meaningful learning experiences.
FMD and QMA from Queen Mary made significant contributions, showcasing a range of projects that emphasized co-creation, AI literacy, student engagement, and digital transformation in learning design. Check out the presentation abstracts, with the corresponding abstract numbers of following presentations indicated in brackets.
- Professor Chie Adachi and her PhD student Thinh Huynh investigated how international students, teaching staff, and university leaders in Australian higher education perceive blended learning, revealing differing perspectives on its inclusivity, structure, and role in student outcomes. (33) Chie, along with other CODE fellows, critically analyzed the cultural and social dimensions of digital education, engaging with the JISC Report Beyond Blended Six Pillars. (41)
- Dr Jo Elliott, Dr Usman Naeem and student partners Nora Hoffman and Amina Bouhedda examined student engagement through learning analytics, highlighting how data-driven insights can help educators better understand student learning behaviours and improve course design. (129)
- Jorge Freire presented on breaking silos in online learning design through co-creation, emphasizing multidisciplinary collaboration in digital education. He discussed how our works realise the Digital Education Studio’s vision: “Care, Disrupt, and Empower.” Matt Cornock, Head of Online Learning at the University of Leeds, echoed this perspective, noting that these are active, human-centered verbs that shape the educational experience. (140)
- Lesley Howell, Prof. Chie Adachi, Dr Pedro Elston, student partners Shane Robert Dunne and Enzo Olivieri Cortes shared their work on empowering skill-based education in chemistry and medicine through Virtual Reality (VR). (77)
- Nick Fisher and Dr Maryam Malekigorji presented research on the digitalization of small-group learning and its impact on student engagement, examining how team-based learning (TBL) platforms such as LAMS can enhance interaction and student participation in medical education. (88)
- Shoshi Ish-Horowicz collaborated with Dr Martin Compton from King’s College London to evaluate AI capacity-building initiatives for educators, assessing how AI literacy training supports both students and academic staff. Learn about the Queen Mary’s Centre for Excellence in Artificial Intelligence in Education. (157)
A central theme throughout the conference was the relationship between motivation, engagement, and well-being in online learning. Several discussions emphasized the importance of fostering a sense of belonging, particularly for students in digital and distance education settings. Research on student well-being highlighted the need for personalized support systems (21), peer collaboration (40), and flexible learning models (35) to mitigate digital fatigue and disengagement in an online learning environment.
Presenters discuss active learning strategies—such as VR simulations (14), interactive analytics dashboards (129), and co-creation approaches (22)—to help students feel more connected to their learning communities. Blended learning models and peer review systems were also explored as methods for sustaining intrinsic motivation and encouraging collaborative learning.
Moving forward
A key takeaway from both was the need to embed learning innovations and scholarship into long-term institutional strategies rather than relying on one-off pilot projects. Student voice is a valuable resource for educators, providing essential feedback to drive meaningful and impactful improvements in teaching and learning. While technology—from AI-assisted learning to immersive VR experiences—can enhance engagement, it must be grounded in inclusive and student-centred pedagogical principles to have a lasting impact. Lots of good work is happening in FMD. Don’t miss our DECoP webinar exploring new AI tools for education and research and Prof. Louise Younie’s sharing on cultivating flourishing spaces for medical students.