About

We must spend more time talking to each other about teaching (Palmer, 2007, 148)

#LTHEchat (Learning and Teaching in Higher Education chat) was an idea conceived by Dr Chrissi Nerantzi and shared with Sue Beckingham as an opportunity for educators in higher education to discuss learning and teaching. Peter Reed and Dr David Walker were invited to join the steering group.

Dr Chrissi Nerantzi @chrissinerantzi, University of Leeds

Sue Beckingham, @suebecks, SHU

Peter Reed, @reedyreedles, now Laureate

Dr David Walker, @drdjwalker, Uni of Sussex

Inspired by the hugely successful #edchat and Sue Beckingham’s original idea to embed tweetchats into the successful cross insitutional Bring Your Own Device for Learning open course, there was an opportunity to focus conversations on learning and teaching in Higher Education (HE). The weekly chat is open to anyone interested in higher education and will provide an opportunity to share practices as well as ideas and connect with other practioners on a regular basis.

Each week the chat has a focus on a specific aspect of learning and teaching in HE. The topic of the week is communicated both here on the site and also via Twitter from @LTHEchat and the hashtag #LTHEchat.

2014/15 In the first year of running the steering group took also responsibility to organise the weekly tweetchats.

2015/16 A rotating organising team per term was introduced which operates with at least one member of the #LTHEchat steering group for one semester, visible or invisibly in the background. During this time, the organising group will be responsible for the planning, organisation and running of the #LTHEchat.

2015/16 On the 10th of February 2016 we organised our very first bilingual #LTHEchat with Julie Tardy. Languages: French and English.

2015/16 On the 16th of May 2016 we organised our second bilingual #LTHEchat with Martina Emke. Languages German and English.

2019/20 Mentors where introduced to support the rotating organising teams. These would be from colleagues who had participated in an #LTHEchat organising team in the past.

2020/21 An evaluation started on the 17 March 2021 during the 200th #LTHEchat. Thinking about the present and the future.

2021 Sue assumes full responsibility for leading LTHEchat.

2023/24 A new Open Badge scheme is launched led by Deb Baff and Teresa MacKinnon commencing with badges to recognise the contribution of members of the Organising Teams and their Mentors.

Please join us on Wednesday between 8-9pm GMT using the hashtag #LTHEchat. We are open to suggestions for alternative times.

If you would like to discuss a possible collaboration with us, please get in touch with the #LTHEchat steering group.

The LTHEchat has been added to the Official Education Chats List.

Join us!

Chrissi, Sue, Peter and David
The #LTHEchat steering group

Acknowledgements

The #LTHEchat banner and all related artwork was created by the very talented Artist Ellie Livermore. We are grateful for her creative input.

References

Palmer, P. J. (2007) The Courage to Teach. Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher’s Life, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.