Manager for the University of the West Indies (UWI) Open Campus British Overseas Territories, Dr. Phyllis Fleming-Banks was among more than 150 academics and other professionals in attendance at The UWI conference on Institutionalising Best Practice in Higher Education, from 24 to 26 June.
The Conference which was held at the St Augustine Campus in Trinidad, was hosted by The UWI’s Quality Assurance Unit and Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning and sought to address some of the current challenges faced by regional higher education institutions.
Over the three days a mix of regional and international subject matter experts shared experience and practical solutions for infusing best practice principles. Session topics ranged from transitioning to online teaching, flipping the classroom and exploring foreign language teaching in the online environment to strategies for financing higher education, and using peer assessment as a learning tool. Selected UWI best practices were also presented.
Vice-Chancellor of The UWI, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles delivered the feature address at the formal opening of the Conference, calling for a culture of innovation, cost reduction and diversity in higher education, in order to foster best practice. His message was echoed by other speakers including former UNESCO Representative, Office Director and Education Advisor in the Caribbean and Southern Africa, Dr. Claudia Harvey, Professor Dan Butin of Merrimack College in the United States and Dr. Paul Kim of Stanford University, who highlighted the importance of mobile technologies and social learning environments in the future of higher education. Other speakers included Principal of the UWI St Augustine Campus, Professor Clement Sankat who focused on programme and institutional accreditation as a best practice in quality assurance, Deputy Principal, Professor Rhoda Reddock, Chief Executive Officer, of the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Commerce Catherine Kumar, Ms. Teresa White, Group Human Resource Director, ANSA McAL Group of Companies, Director of the Open Campus Country Sites, Dr. Francis Severin and former President of the Guild of Students from The UWI Cave Hill Campus, Damani Parris, who called for greater attention to the development of 21st century student services that meet the needs of millennials.
Dr. Fleming-Banks, who is also a Master Tutor and Trainer in the UWI Open Campus, along with colleagues, Dr. Florence Gilzene-Cheese, Ms. Claudia Drakes and Mrs. Sharon Gilzene co-presented a research paper on Improving Teaching Through Online Faculty Development Training at the Conference.
The conference received the support of sponsors such as Huawei Technologies (T&T) Limited, United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), National Institute of Higher Education Research Science and Technology (NIHERST) and the Accreditation Council of Trinidad and Tobago (ACTT).
– Press Release
(Published without editing by The Anguillian newspaper.)
