2013 ASCILITE Webinar Series
How to give a Good Conference Presentation
12 November 2013
Synopsis
This webinar was intended for anyone who was presenting at the ascilite 2013 conference. Helen and the panel helped presenters craft a great presentation for the conference.
Presenters
Helen Carter was the convenor of the ascilite 2013 conference. She has been the Manager of the Educational Design and Development Group at Macquarie University since 2011 and she has over 30 years experience working in Higher Education. Helen is also a past President of ACODE (Australasian Council on Open, Distance and e-Learning) and ascilite. For the webinar, Helen was joined by a panel from MU.
Using technology to support the flipped classroom
24 September 2013
Synopsis
Learning experiences are increasingly relying in technology. At the same time, active learning, in which students participate in activities in the classroom has been shown to increase learning gains. Flipped classrooms refer to the paradigm in which certain activities are scheduled for the students before the classroom so that the face to face time is devoted to more active ones. In this talk we will review how technology can be used to support this paradigm and the challenges and issues that need to be addressed.
Presenter
Abelardo Pardo is a Lecturer at the School of Electrical and Information Engineering, University of Sydney. He has a PhD in Computer Science by the University of Colorado at Boulder applied to formal verification of digital circuits. He is co-director of the Learning and Affect Technologies Engineering group and his research interest is in the application of software engineering techniques to improve all aspects of the well-being of humans and communities. He has experience in the use of mobile devices in areas such as behavioral analytics, social networks, computer supported collaboration, personalization, and technology enhanced learning, which he deploys in his teaching activities.
Abelardo has also participated in national and international projects funded by NSF (USA) and the European Union. He is author of more than 100 research publications in prestigious conferences and journals, member of the steering committee of the Society for Learning Analytics Research (www.solaresearch.org), and member of the editorial board of the Journal of Social Media and Interactive Learning Environments and the Journal for Learning Analytics.
Quantitative Design & Analysis for Technology-enhanced Learning Research
6 September 2013
Synopsis
This webinar will focus on quantitative methods for evaluating the effectiveness of technology-enhanced learning innovation. The most critical factor for successful quantitative research is appropriate research design and managing the delicate balance between rigour and relevance.
As a starting point, the development of appropriate research questions and operationalisation of variables will be explored. The range of quantitative designs will then be discussed as will the benefits and pitfalls of each. Some time will then be devoted to the ways of collecting and analysing quantitative data. It will be assumed that participants have little to no experience in quantitative research methods and the webinar will therefore not involve any advanced design methodology or inferential statistics.
Presenters
Jason Lodge, PhD is a psychological scientist and lecturer in technology-enhanced learning at Griffith University, Brisbane. Jason’s research concentrates on the application of the learning sciences to education. Specifically, he is interested in the cognitive and emotional factors that influence learning and behaviour and how research findings from the learning sciences can be better used to enhance instructional design, teaching practice and education policy.
Jason is also interested in the ways technology is influencing learning, particularly in terms of the impact of technology on the development of metacognition, critical thinking and expertise. He has ten years of experience in research design and analysis in psychology and education.
Digital Resilience in Higher Education
10 July 2013
Synopsis
Higher education institutions face a number of opportunities and challenges as the result of the digital revolution. The institutions perform a number of scholarship functions which can be affected by new technologies, and the desire is to retain these functions where appropriate, whilst the form they take may change. Much of the reaction to technological change comes from those with a vested interest in either wholesale change or maintaining the status quo. Taking the resilience metaphor from ecology, this webinar will propose a framework for analysing an institution’s ability to adapt to digital challenges.
This framework is examined at two institutions (the UK Open University and Canada’s Athabasca University) using two current digital challenges, namely Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and Open Access publishing
Presenters
Martin Weller is Professor of Educational Technology at the UK Open University. He chaired the OU’s first major elearning course in 1999 with 15,000 students, and has been Director of the VLE and SocialLearn projects. His research interests are in open education, the impact of new technologies, and digital scholarship. His recent book, The Digital Scholar, was published by Bloomsbury Academic under a Creative Commons licence. You will find Martin’s blogs at edtechie.net.
Good Practice Report for Technology-Enhanced Learning and Teaching
31 May 2013
Synopsis
This webinar covered good practice reporting techniques for technology enhanced learning and teaching.
Presenter
Helen Carter was the convenor of the ascilite 2013 conference. She has been the Manager of the Educational Design and Development Group at Macquarie University since 2011 and she has over 30 years experience working in Higher Education. Helen is also a past President of ACODE (Australasian Council on Open, Distance and e-Learning) and ascilite.
Engagement Strategies for Blended Learning
30 April 2013
Synopsis
Blended approaches to learning seem to offer opportunities for extra learning time and learning experiences not present in traditional face-to-face conditions. The type of media used appears to have only a small impact on effectiveness. Instead, it’s the type of strategies used to engage students in the dual context that is the key to effective learning. The challenge is to support teachers to implement principles of good practice in a blended situation. This webinar reports a study that developed a framework of student engagement strategies from the literature then tested these in a blended learning environment.
Ten key engagement strategies were identified, each of which related to a particular time frame for: capturing engagement; maintaining engagement; and, re-engaging those who have either never engaged or have become disengaged. The results indicated that the ten strategies improved student engagement levels; teachers played a critical role as gatekeepers to the student learning experience; students create their own blend of behaviours and activities that have personal relevance and efficacy for them; and, disengaged students can be retrieved.
Presenter
Lynn Jeffrey is an Associate Professor at the School of Management in Massey University (New Zealand). An important focus of her research is identifying and developing competencies to improve workplace performance, including the preparation of graduates for work. She also has an interest in improving adult and tertiary learning and the role that technology might play in achieving that end. Technology that Lynn has developed includes a computer-based, examination-on-demand system (CALES) which was used by the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority for pilot theory examinations; a learning style website that can be used by tertiary students to get advice on improving their learning and by teachers for developing more relevant teaching methods; and a learning style evaluation website for workplace training.
Her current research focuses on student engagement in blended learning environments, occupational competency identification and teaching international students.
Good Practice Report for Technology-Enhanced Learning and Teaching
26 February 2013
Synopsis
As part of the legacy of the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC), a range of Good Practice Reports were commissioned to document the projects funded by the Council. This webinar will focus on the development and outcomes of the Technology-Enhanced Learning and Teaching Good Practice Report which involved a meta-analysis of 33 related projects. Authors of the report, Mike Keppell, Gordon Suddaby with the assistance of Natasha Hard will discuss the value this report offers practitioners as well as how it and the range of other Good Practice Reports can be accessed and navigated.
Presenters
This webinar was presented by Associate Professor Gordon Suddaby, Professor Mike Keppell and Ms Natasha Hand.
Professor Suddaby is a Higher Education Consultant who for ten years acted as the Director of Massey’s Centre for Academic Development and eLearning (CADeL) prior to becoming Associate Professor: Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in the Massey’s National Centre for Teaching and Learning. He has retired from this position.
Professor Keppell is Executive Director and Professor, Australian Digital Futures Institute at University of Southern Queensland. He is also Director of the Digital Futures Cooperative Research Network (DF-CRN) a research partnership with Australian National University (ANU) and University of South Australia (UniSA).
Ms Hard works as a Project Manager and Research Assistant with the Australian Digital Futures Institute at the University of Southern Queensland. Natasha is currently working with project leads, Professor Mike Keppell and Associate Professor Gordon Suddaby to support the development of the Network of Australasian Tertiary Associations (NATA). This project aims to facilitate a sustainable collaborative network between ACODE, ascilite, HERDSA, CADAD and ODLAA with the support of AARNet, Netspot and the OLT.
