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Online course: Digital Leadership in Higher Education (September 2025)
The National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education are delighted to announce that the fully online Digital Leadership in Higher Education will run from September 29th, 2025. This course has been developed in partnership with the University of Galway and its partners in the CUTIE Erasmus+ project.
This free 6-week course is available to all staff currently working in tertiary education in the Republic of Ireland and to others who are interested in the EU and beyond, subject to availability of places.
The materials will also be released under an appropriate Creative Commons licence for sharing and re-use after the course is completed.
Course Schedule
| Digital Leadership in Higher Education | |||
| Dates | Week | Activities (self-study) | Webinar/Live Meeting* |
| 29/09/25 | Week 1 | Online Content & Tasks | 03.10.25 (Friday) 13:00-14:00 |
| 06/10/2025 | Week 2 | Online Content & Tasks | 10.10.25 (Friday) 13:00-14:00 |
| 13/10/2025 | Week 3 | Online Content & Tasks | 17.10.25 (Friday) 13:00-14:00 |
| 20/10/2025 | Week 4 | Online Content & Tasks | 24.10.25 (Friday) 13:00-14:00 |
| 27/10/2025 | Week 5 | Online Content & Tasks | 31.10.25 (Friday) 13:00-14:00 |
| 03/11/2025 | Week 6 | Online Content & Tasks | 07.11.25 (Friday) 13:00-14:00 |
*The Webinars/Live Meetings are optional but recommended (particularly if aiming for the digital badge), recordings or summaries will be made available to those unable to meet at the scheduled time, so please don’t be dissuaded by that!
Learning Outcomes
- Be able to use the European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators (DigCompEdu) individually and for teams.
- Develop confidence and knowledge of the potential and actual use of technologies in supporting teaching, learning, and assessment, with the emphasis on pedagogical and curricular aspects.
- Recognise the importance of developing critical digital literacy amongst staff and students as a means of empowerment in a time of rapid technological change (particularly with regards Gen AI).
- Have skills, techniques, and practical tools to facilitate reflection on the current situation within their team and institutional context in terms of the digital capability of their unit or department.
- Be able to develop action plans and strategies for enhancing the use of technologies to support teaching and learning in their programmes and for the professional development of teams.
- Explore examples of practice from institutions, research, and other projects internationally.
Learning Activities
| Activity | Indicative time (per week) |
| Reading and reflecting on online lesson content | 120 min |
| Completing the tasks/questionnaires/reflections | 60 min |
| Webinar/Live meeting/online discussion | 60 min |
| Total | 240 min |
Note that these are ‘indicative’ and depend on how on how much further reading or exploring you do. The time needed may vary per topic.
Content
| Topic | Indicative content |
| Mapping your context | An overall introduction and sets the scene, introducing DigCompEdu |
| Digital resources in your programme(s) | Covering all aspects of text, multimedia, interactive, and open licensing |
| Using technology to support teaching and learning | Consideration of the integration of pedagogy and technologies |
| Technology and assessment | Developing assessment strategy and dealing with issues of validity and integrity |
| Using technology strategy for learner confidence | Empowering learners and developing their digital skills and competencies |
| Digital Leadership & Collegiality | Highlighting the importance of developing a team and suggestions of possible practical actions. Discussion on AI impact and challenges. |
Note that, whilst DigCompEdu predates the release of Gen AI tools, such as ChatGPT, we will consider these in a number of the sections, with a final section of topic 6 devoted entirely to considering the bigger picture, context, and strategic challenges.
Registration
For more information, please contact Dr. Iain MacLaren at iain.maclaren@universityofgalway.ie (Course Facilitator).
Registration is closed