LLInC’s First Open House

Marijne Scherjon
Author: Marijne Scherjon

On the 28th of May, we were delighted to welcome approximately 50 visitors to our first ever LLInC Open House event in our Leiden PLNT office.  All attendees joined us from the in-faculty Teacher Support Desks (TSDs), keen to learn more about the variety of services we have to offer and to strengthen our ongoing collaboration.

What did we do?

The afternoon began with a Serious Lego exercise in which participants, divided into small groups, imagined and built their own Teacher Support Desk. As they did so, they were encouraged to consider the role which LLInC could play within its operations. Afterwards, all had the opportunity to join one or more of the following interactive demos:  

  • Supporting Impactful Innovation 
  • Immersive Tech 
  • Futures Thinking 
  • Learning Analytics 
  • Inclusive Classroom 
  • Serious Games 
  • The New Video Editing Tool 
  • Evaluations 
  • Workgroup AI in Education (AIED) 

Following these experiences, the groups rebuilt their Lego structures, bearing in mind what they learned and observed. Afterwards, they then connected with other Teacher Support Desks to discuss the similarities, differences, and motivations inherent to their visions.  

Experiences of the Open House 

Both throughout and after the day, we were thrilled to hear the positive feedback and suggestions for follow-up from those who joined us. Amongst these were the following: 

”My image of LLInC has changed a lot during this event, I see now that LLInC is more focused on the educational society and has a broader view of education, innovation, and society”. 

”I met a few colleagues from other faculties, which was perhaps the biggest benefit. We have already exchanged materials”. 

”I missed administrators during the event, it is important that the entire university, and certainly at a central level, see and experience the added value LLInC has”. 

”A follow-up open house could be organised at a faculty with other faculties. It was very interesting to see what is happening now, and it would be nice to see a follow-up”. 

”I’m very positive! This afternoon made me proud of the university and, in particular, the role that LLInC plays in it. LLInC has broken away from the old organisations and with LLInC there is now a diamond in the university that we must cherish”.  

What comes next? 

Following this feedback, we hope once again to organise a similar event in the future, next time with different demos on offer and for alternative groups within the university. 

Stemming from their experiences at our inaugural Open House, several participants have made suggestions regarding how we might structure such a future event, potentially addressing themes such as knowledge transfer between TSDs, DLO-design, skills, and portfolios. For this, we would like to thank you – we will review all these suggestions and hope to see you there! 

In the meantime, if you have questions about one of the demos or our other services, please contact us via your faculty coordinator or hello@llinc.leidenuniv.nl 

Thank you to all involved for making this event a great success! 

Image credit to Joasia van Kooten and Sebas Muñoz.

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