Ireland's technological higher education sector, combining new technological universities and institutes of technology, has formed a partnership to develop and deliver the N-TUTORR programme:

Atlantic Technological University (ATU)
Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT)
Instutite of Art, Design + Technology, Dún Laoghaire (IADT)
Munster Technological University (MTU)
South East Technological University (SETU)
Technological University of Dublin (TU Dublin)
Technological University of the Shannon (TUS)

This innovative partnership is utilising the national scale and scope of the sector to deliver a best-practice suite of initiatives and opportunities for students and for staff development, sustainably supported by enabling technologies.

The N–TUTORR project is a programme within the Technological University sector and funded by the European Union and NextGenerationEU.

The National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) has been developed by the Government so that Ireland can access funding under the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility. Ireland is expected to receive more than €900 million in grants over the lifetime of the Facility.

The Recovery and Resilience Facility is the largest component of NextGenerationEU, the European Union’s response to the global pandemic. The aim is to help repair the immediate economic and social damage brought about by the pandemic and to prepare for a post-Covid Europe that is greener, more digital, more resilient and fit to face the future.
‍

N-TUTORR is supported by the Higher Education Authority
(HEA) and co-ordinated by the Technological Higher Education Association (THEA).

N-TUTORR's programme of work is guided by six core themes:

• Digital Transformation
  Enabling transformation by implementing digital ecosystems to support teaching, learning and assessment
• Universal Design for Learning
  Supporting an improved student experience across the technological higher education sector by promoting more flexible methods of teaching and assessment
• Education for Sustainability
  Supporting a culture of change across the sector, integrating the UN Sustainable Development Goals in the delivery of the project.
• Academic Integrity
  Equipping staff and students with the tools to ensure honesty, trust and fairness in teaching, learning and assessment in the context of rapid technological advancements
• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
  Fostering an inclusive, diverse, safe and respectful culture across the technological higher education sector
• Employability
  Empowering students to be successful after graduating from their TU/IoT and throughout their working lives

N-TUTORR's programme of work is organised around three connecting streams (listed below).

These have been designed to enable the technological university sector to meet regional and national needs for digitisation, to cater for 21st century learning and research, and to ensure that the new technological sector is sufficiently equipped to deliver the returns on the National Strategy for Higher Education to 2030.

Each stream consists of a number of work packages (see below), underpinned by the guiding principle of digital by design.
‍

1. Student Empowerment
   Transforming the learner experience through student empowerment.
   
   We're doing this through a number of initiatives, including the Students as Partners in Innovation and Change Fellowships, the Student Champions programme, mydigitalbackpack.ie, a network of Student Empowerment Coordinators across the sector, and more.
   
2. Staff Capabilities
   Transforming learning, teaching and assessment by developing the capabilities of academic, management and support staff.
   
   We're doing this through our Community of Practice, the N-TUTORR Masterclass series, and more.
   
3. Digital Ecosystems
   Enhancing digital ecosystems across the sector to enable these transformations to be achieved in a sustainable way.
   
   We're doing this by procuring a number of digital platforms for the sector and supporting their implementation.

Each N-TUTORR stream (see above) is made up of three focussed, high-impact work packages.

These have been designed to maximise the benefits for students, for staff and for our partner higher education institutions in a consistent, sector-wide approach that is scalable and sustainable.
‍

• Work Package 1.1: Sustainable Pathways to Higher Education
  Building on the strong access track record in the technological higher education sector, this work package (WP) rethinks lifelong learning to transform learning and teaching through flexible pathways to higher education.
  
  These are designed to provide opportunities for engagement that include micro-credentials, part-time and blended learning programmes.
  
• Work Package 1.2: Empowering Students to become Change Agents
  Centred around student empowerment and community-building, this WP involves co-creating inclusive schemes and initiatives with students to support and enhance student engagement and partnership activities.
  
  This WP aims to build capacity for meaningful student/staff partnership across the sector and develop models of good practice to support ongoing transformation.
  
• Work Package 1.3: Academy for Sustainability, Leadership & Employability
  This WP provides opportunities for students to develop skills and literacy in sustainability and global citizenship, digital identtity and transformation, EDI and mental health and well-being.
  
  It will provide flexible, accessible and self-directed learning pathways for students to earn a "digital backpack" of credentials.
  
• Work Package 2.1: Sectoral activities to develop staff capabilities to build TU learning, teaching and assessment transformation, resilience and sustainability
  The establishment of a sector-wide Sustainable Higher Educations Steering Group, which will act as a community of practice (COP), is the core of this WP.
  
  This WP aims to foster a collaborative approach to staff development. The COP will establish the principles and values which underpin curriculum transformation, resilience and sustainability, as well as advising on the development of a toolkit for curriculum transformation.
  
• Work Package 2.2: Development of a transformational sustainable higher education curriculum framework
  This WP focuses on curriculum development and enhancement through embedding of universal design for learning (UDL) and digitally enabled content delivery and assessment. This will support the development of graduate capabilities for digital transformation, resilience and sustainability in higher education.
  
  The curriculum framework will be aligned to NextGenerationEU, the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and the National Professional Development Framework.
  
• Work Package 2.3: Developing capabilities of all staff to support transformative sustainable higher education and resilience
  This WP aims to establish a baseline of staff digital capability and, leading from this, to plan, co-ordinate and recognise staff engagment with professions development activities, both on a national and institutional level.
  
  Encompassing academic teaching staff, technologists, learning technology staff and professional services staff, this WP aims to enable all staff to holistically support the studetn experience, addressing all aspects of their engagement with learning, teaching and assessment.
  ‍
• Work Package 3.1: Sustainable Learning & Pedagogical Environment: digitally enabled examination/assessment embedding academic integrity
  The components of this WP will support higher education institutions in managing robust examination and assessment processes and methods with associated software solutions and systems.
  
  The hard pivot to remote academic delivery and assessment during the Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of (a) embedding efficient and effective quality-assured examination and assessment solutions, as well as (b) the need for training for staff and students alike in the use of such solutions.
  
• Work Package 3.2: Digital Campus
  This WP will transform the way teaching, learning and assessment services and supports are organised and provided to learners.
  
  Hybrid learning and media/delivery spaces will broaden access to campus programmes for learners who cannot, for whatever reason, commit to attending campus, while also addressing the needs of a more diverse learning group than ever before.
  
  This WP also aims to build capacity and resilience for suture emergencies which may require the full or partial physical closure of campuses, and to provide a deep sector-wide preparedness for other kinds of continuity and performance challenges.
  
• Work Package 3.3: Improve flexibility and accessibility of learning resources
  This WP aims to improve student learning experiences by improving and developing digital infrastructure that will maximise access by and engagement with learners.
  
  The heart of this WP is embedded in a digital-by-design approach ensuring state-of-the-art digital infrastructure and ICT provisons to support and equitable, sustainable, flexible and engaging experience for learners, in alignment with UN Sustainable Development Goals 4, 5, 9 and 10.