Meet our MootIEUK21 sponsors: Catalyst IT EU
Who are you and how does your company help your clients?
Catalyst IT is a global team of e-learning experts. With over 20 years in developing and customising open source e-learning solutions, we collaborate closely with higher education institutions and organisations worldwide.Catalyst has a network of global offices in the UK, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
We have been working as a Premium Moodle partner for over 20 years. Our dedicated team includes learning technologists with university pedagogical backgrounds who truly understand learning requirements. We fix complex business challenges with smart technological solutions. We ensure your Moodle platform is reliable, secure and cost-effective. Our engineers have years of experience with AWS, implementing best practice processes and driving operational efficiencies.
Catalyst provides 24/7 follow the sun support. With one to one contact with any of our team members, we guarantee a real and not an automated response. Our experts will help solve your unique issues. Our partners get on with business as usual, safe in the knowledge they have a robust platform, with a wealth of expertise to support them.
We understand that setting out on our partnership journey is key to our ongoing success in collaboration. We pride ourselves on forming strong working practices from day one, always supporting our customers by going the extra mile when needed. Catalyst has a dedicated team to walk customers through the onboarding process, setting out the working practices and bedding them in. With complete transparency, we operate an open two way flow of communication. We always give clear guidance and feedback direct from our expert team. Finally, we position ourselves as an extension of your institution’s team and deliver on your elearning goals.
Have you attended a Moodle Moot before?
Yes, Catalyst attends Moodle Moot every year.
What is the title of your presentation(s) at this year’s Moot?
- Identifying the blend: Designing Masters programmes for the ‘new normal’ with Sam Taylor, Learning Technologist at Catalyst and Sa Thin Wetsandornphong, (Academic Partnership Manager) University of Bolton
- Scalable e-assessment solutions with Joey Murison, Managing Director, Catalyst IT EU
- Load testing with Richard Oelmann, Head of Business Development, Catalyst IT EU
Give us a brief description of what to look forward to.
Identifying the blend: Designing Masters programmes for the ‘new normal’
Having to shift from face-to-face to online in a very short timeframe has given academics a different perspective on how technology can enhance their delivery. This has led to a rethink about how Masters programmes could be written to suit a more blended approach, as well as the development of courses to be delivered 100% online. Hear the University of Bolton’s journey, with the support of Catalyst consultants, as they move from the more traditional lecture-based approach to one that relies heavily on Moodle to create pre and post lecture opportunities to learn and self-assess.
Scalable e-assessment solutions
Catalyst are leading the way for e-assessment and transforming traditional assessment methods in line with real life and workplace situations. to be more authentic. They specialise in creating accessible course design for those students with disabilities or mental health issues. Available access to internet/data for examinations is equally a priority. Automated marking systems, helping teacher marking workloads whilst securing academic integrity. Catalyst has implemented successful and scalable e-assessment solutions with our global partners in Monash University in Australia, Concordia University in Canada and DCU Ireland.
Load testing solutions
Many institutions’ experience over the last year has been of massively increased pressure on their internet infrastructure. Besides the obvious, how do you discover why? Where is that pressure coming from? Where are the bottlenecks? Can you just throw more memory at the problem and hope it goes away, or is there more to be discovered and refined?
Why have you chosen to present this topic?
We have chosen to present the following topics to demonstrate how we have worked with our Higher Education partners, overcoming the unique e-learning challenges during the pandemic.
The shift to online learning and its impact on educators has been huge in 2020. Moodle Moot attendees will find out which smart technological solutions work best to solve each university’s unique challenges.
Catalyst is looking to the future of higher education, post pandemic, with shared principles and visions for online learning. We are working towards a stronger engagement for remote students, whilst forging strong, robust partnerships with our educators.
Share with us one tool or technique you or your client implemented while using Moodle which has benefited you and your organisation!
H5P tool for structuring content for online delivery with University of Bolton. The H5P tool allows them to create fun and interactive content that’s engaging for both students and staff.
Discovering how to structure the learning content for online delivery, with a ‘before’ and ‘after’ live session phase, has meant that the live sessions are more meaningful to the learners, and therefore lecturers can focus on the ‘whys and whens’ as opposed to the ‘whats and hows’. For a Masters level programme this is very important in helping students deepen their knowledge and figure out how to apply it to current and future situations.
