Stream 1

N-TUTORR is committed to developing a HyFlex Access HE Foundation Programme, Micro-credentials (to include regional needs), and a HyFlex Student Support model. Areas in development in ATU include:

An evaluation of micro-credentials in the Technological University sector – a green paper.

Digital enhancement of the ATU Access Programme.

Development of Access Learning Support Resources and Career Assessment Services with MyCareerPath.ie – Higher Education For All.

Design and piloting of two digital badges including HigherEd for All and a Strengths Profiling Tool to support access to higher education and successful student outcomes.

ATU Certificate in Transversal Skills for Industry.

To empower students to become change agents, 131 N-TUTORR ‘Students as Partners in Innovation and Change’ Fellowships were made available to provide an opportunity for students and staff to collaborate on small scale enhancement projects that will have an immediate impact on the student experience within ATU. These projects may focus on a specific module, programme, or discipline to include a particular campus or institute wide.

All successful project fund recipients of the N-TUTORR Partners in Innovation Fellowship Programme will be awarded a N-TUTORR project engagement Certificate and a Digital Badge recognising their project achievements at a Fellowship Celebration and Showcase Event planned for April 2024.

Learn about the N-TUTORR Partners in Innovation Fellowship projects in development at ATU and about other N-TUTORR Fellowship projects across the TU sector. Additional Sustainability in Innovation Fellowships were awarded to students and staff to support creative and innovative projects that focus on embedding sustainability across the ATU. 

My Digital Backpack is an online platform, developed by N-TUTORR, for students across our partners in the TU sector, allowing them to complete short courses to earn Digital Badges, build skills and display their achievements which might otherwise remain out of sight. This project is a major part of N-TUTORR’S Stream 1 programme of work, focused on empowering learners across the technological university sector, led by Dr Carina Ginty (ATU) and Moira Maguire (DkIT).

The Technological University sector recruited 100 Student Champions for the N-TUTORR national project. The N-TUTORR Student Champion Programme offers students the opportunity to learn and develop skills in one of the key priority areas (Academic Integrity, Digital Transformation, Employability, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion, Education for Sustainability, Universal Design for Learning) in addition to developing leadership, collaboration, and communication skills. Student Champions will be expected to:

• Support the activities of the ATU N-TUTORR Project Team.
• Participate in and provide feedback on various training events and resources and promote relevant events and resources to their peers.
• Contribute to a Community of Practice with ATU N-TUTORR Academic Champions and Fellows by creating connections, developing ideas, and co-designing activities and resources.
• Collaborate with and act as a member of ATU’s N-TUTORR project team, including attending and contributing to Student Champion meetings.

The AREA framework is a national deliverable under the N-TUTORR Transforming Learning Programme under the Student Empowerment work stream led by Dr Carina Ginty (ATU) and Dr Moira Maguire (DKIT). The AREA framework integrates digital and sustainability competences into every module and programme, transforming awareness into action and guiding students towards lifelong success in an evolving world. 

AREA framework design team: The AREA framework was designed in collaboration with the Student Empowerment sector leads, the Student Empowerment research team, the N-TUTORR Student Empowerment Co-ordinators across 5 technological universities and 2 institutes of technology, and the N-TUTORR student and academic champions and academic developers from across the technological university sector. 

The key frameworks informing the design of the AREA framework include: 

• DigComp Digital Competence Framework
• Jisc Digital Capabilities Framework
• Next Education AIComp
• UNESCO Framework

Green Comp European Sustainability Competence framework