University of Gloucestershire: Talis Aspire is central to our academic strategy

The University of Gloucestershire implemented Talis Aspire just over a year ago and have already received great feedback from academics on the way in which reading lists are transforming the way they teach. 

The University of Gloucestershire produced a video specifically to help their academics understand the value of Talis Aspire, and why they should be engaging with reading lists. In this video, you can hear from three lecturers on the way in which they provide resources to their students, and how Talis Aspire allows them to structure lists and signpost resources in an effective way. We also hear from a student on how Talis Aspire has made their learning easier: https://estream.glos.ac.uk/View.aspx?id=9725~4x~8ES68GtU (click to view as a guest)

We spoke to James Hodgkin, Associate Director and University Librarian of Library, Technology and Information Services at the University of Gloucestershire about the impact Talis Aspire is having on academics and the library:

“For the University of Gloucestershire, Talis Aspire is much more than just reading list software. It is central to our Academic Strategy and a new Learning Design project that will kick off in 19/20. Our strategy highlights the importance of guided independent learning that compliments scheduled contact time with our Tutors. As the tool that brings together learning resources from a range of sources – self-created, subscribed content, open access and copyright cleared scans – embedding them into our Virtual Learning Environment, Talis Aspire is driving our ambition for every course to have access to a “rich set of curated resources”. 

The implementation of Talis Aspire has been gathering pace and all level 4 students will have access to a list from September. The ambition is for every module to be included by the start of 20/21 but more importantly, the number of engaged academics who are regularly editing their lists has increased dramatically meaning we have “super-users” in every one of our 26 Subject Communities. The way Talis can be structured and embedded into Module templates on our VLE means that the next stage is to spread the word about how to get the most out of the system in conjunction with wider learning design principles. 

The University has been delivering mandatory training to all academics throughout June and July with Talis Aspire as the 45-minute hands-on centrepiece. At a recent demonstration to the Vice-Chancellor and Executive Committee, it was suggested that Talis Aspire could be used to embed employability resources into module teaching structures. This has led to librarians now working closely with the Your Future Plan team as part of the wider co-curation of new lists.”

Thank you to James for his input on this post.

You can find out more about the impact Talis Aspire has had on teaching and learning by watching this video. If you’d like to chat with the team about how you could be better engaging academics, please raise a support ticket.

If you’d like to find out more about how Talis Aspire could make an impact at your institution, please email sales@talis.com for more information.