Annika, has been awarded the Special Commendation by the Economics Network for acting as her department's Digital Champion, creating online training for colleagues in a variety of technologies as well as creating customised resources for students.
During the COVID pandemic, Annika has provided leadership, both with innovative practice, and providing clear leadership and support for colleagues in developing effective online and blended environments for teaching students.
As a Digital Champion within the School of Economics, Annika designed and implemented standardised virtual learning environment structures to facilitate easy transition online, designed and provided online training for all of her academic colleagues. This training included guidance on preparing asynchronous material for the VLE, effective use of live video tools, including Zoom, Blackboard Collaborate, Microsoft Teams, and more.
Over and above this, she worked tirelessly to provide individual support for colleagues in reviewing and revising the design of units’ VLEs to gain better interactivity with students.
Alongside all of this, Annika designed a wide range of digital resources, including videos, webpages, and documents, providing guidance about how to move teaching online, and how to ensure students gained interactive, blended learning experiences throughout the pandemic.
The role of the Digital Champion was over and above her standard role as a Lecturer in the School. Within her own teaching, Annika made use of a wide range of media formats, including podcasts, videos, interactive material through Excel, and where technology didn’t quite meet her requirements, would find new ways of meeting that need.
Overall, since March 2020, Annika has gone above and beyond the call of duty, and has provided leadership, guidance and inspiration for delivering excellent blended, online teaching.
Annika said: "Covid-19 forced us all to go above and beyond. I’m really grateful to have spent my early career not only supported by the Economics Network, but also surrounded by colleagues in the School of Economics at Bristol who want to ensure all students benefit from excellence in both economics education and research."
View the Economics Network 2021 Award winners.