We were delighted to be able to present a number of awards to staff members across the University in recognition of their inspiring engagement with the Coventry.Domains initiative.
Coventry.Domains provides students and staff with web hosting space and a sub-domain name of their choice, along with capacity-building opportunities and support, so they can explore the potential of the open web and take more ownership of their online presence. This enables the development of competences and capabilities that are not only core to the digital fluency pillar of our Educational Strategy, but also provides important opportunities to explore wider principles for creativity, employability and social responsibility.
There was an impressive diversity in the range of practices commended by the Coventry.Domains Awards 2016-17, which involved all faculties and presented examples of both individual practice as well as collective endeavours by a range of academic and professional services university staff.
Liz Hudson, Learning Technologists at the Faculty of Arts & Humanities, has used Coventry.Domains to experiment with different online publishing systems and build a personal site that includes a portfolio for her recent CMALT accreditation. In the case of Paula Murarescu, Lecturer at the School of Art & Design, she has used it to create her PgCert portfolio and also experiment with ways communicating useful information to students before arrival at Coventry.
James Brusey, Reader in Pervasive Computing, has used the platform to create a personal blog where he shares useful information and tips aimed at engineering and computer science PhD students. In the case of Alison Rowland, staff member at Marketing & Public Affairs and a prospective PhD student, Coventry.Domains has offered her the opportunity to build a space where she can reflect upon her research and share ideas with others interested in Activity Theory.
Likewise, Coventry.Domains has been used to share the work of teams. Caroline Parkinson, Senior Management Support Administrator, has created a space to share content produced around the School of Humanities Internationalisation Network (SHINe). Coventry University Physiotherapy Research Group has also used this platform to share their work through a site created by Glykeria Skamagki and Gerard Greene.
During the first year of activity, some colleagues also explored the possibility of embedding the so-called Domains of One’s Own (DoOO) approach into the curriculum by providing their students with the opportunity to build their own websites by means of a Coventry.Domains account. Thamu Dube and Adrienne Evans, of the School of Media & Performing Arts, made use of this platform as a core element of the MA in Communication, Media and Culture, with all students building their own site to publish assessed work and build their online presence. Similarly, working with undergraduate students in International Leadership and Management in Health and Social Care, Linda Martin redesigned assessment in one of their modules around Coventry.Domains.
Suresh George, Principal Lecturer at the Faculty of Business & Law, was one of the first colleagues to develop a project with support of DMLL: an open space for teaching and learning resources on international business and global strategy. Coventry.Domains has offered Suresh a new home for all these valuable resources.
Since the beginning of this academic year (2017-18), we have already seen a huge increase in uptake of Coventry.Domains across all Faculties and the wider Coventry University Group. We love seeing and hearing about projects and opportunities developed through use of Coventry.Domains, and look forward to recognising the work of both students and staff again later this year.