ASCILITE NEWS

ASCILITE Spring into Excellence Research School

You are invited to join us at the 2024 ASCILITE research school. Applications close 4 October.

The next School is planned for 28-30 October and will be hosted by UTS in Sydney.

Aims of the Research School
The aim of the ASCILITE Spring into Excellence Research School is to:

1. Provide support and guidance to participants in developing and progressing Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) research initiatives including but not limited to:
   – Formulating a relevant and effective TEL research project.
   – Collecting appropriate TEL research data.
   – Identifying what data is most appropriate for TEL research.
2. Assist participants to identify and plan a contemporary TEL research project.
3. Enable opportunities for participants to link with like-minded collaborators from other universities and potentially to establish viable cross-institutional research collaborations.
4. Guide participants in developing a grant application or research plan for a TEL research project. This would include both projects that have already been conceptualised as well as new projects that have not yet been conceived.

You can access the expression of interest form here and/or get more information about the Research School here.

Call for member feedback

The ASCILITE executive would like to invite all members to provide us with feedback on the activities that ASCILITE undertakes, as part of our continuous improvement processes.

The activities include:

• Webinars
• TELall Blog
• Awards and Bursaries
• CMALT Australasia
• Community Mentoring
• Contextualizing Horizons
• Special Interest Groups (SIGS)
• Research School
• TELAS
• Women in Academic Leadership
• Women in Professional Leadership
• Individual and Institutional membership

We’d like to know more about what you like, which of the activities you think we should continue, what could be improved, and whether there are other activities you want ASCILITE to add.

You can access information about these activities on the website under Get Involved or Connect.

Please complete, by 13 September 2024, the feedback form here.

2024 ASCILITE Awards: Open for Nominations

Nominations close 4 October 2024 

Each year, ASCILITE members are invited to apply or nominate for the ASCILITE awards and to consider nominations that they believe meet the criteria set for each award. The award categories available to members in 2023 are as follows:

• Innovation Award 
  • Celebrates work undertaken by an individual or team of people in support of the exemplary and research informed use of technologies for teaching and learning in tertiary education. Innovation is defined as a new idea, device or process. It is something original that “breaks into” teaching and learning in the tertiary sector.
    • The most outstanding Innovation Award: “The Allan Christie ASCILITE Innovation Award” (judged from Innovation Award nominations). Allan Christie was involved with ASCILITE since its conception in 1985. He was recognised with a Life Member award in 2003 (only the fourth person to receive this honour at the time). Allan continued to serve the Society for over 36 years and was on the ASCILITE Executive for 27 years when he retired from the Executive in December 2019. Allan was well known in higher education and sadly passed away suddenly last year. He is missed greatly in the ASCILITE circles.
• Anthology Educational Designer of the Year Award, in memory of Allan Christie
  • In recognition of Allan Christie’s lifelong contribution to the sector, this award is professional staff member who has made significant contributions to learning and teaching. The award is sponsored by Anthology, to the value of $1,000
• Emerging Scholar Award 
  • Has made a noteworthy contribution in the exemplary use of ore research into technologies for learning and teaching in tertiary education
• Community Fellow Award 
  • Recognise the outstanding contributions of individual ASCILITE members in the exemplary building of connections in the wider community and into the ASCILITE community.
• ASCILITE/CAULLT Award for Outstanding Leadership in Digital Learning in Higher Education
  • Recognises evidence of an individual’s innovative and effective leadership in the broad use of digital technologies to enhance teaching, learning, and overall performance in higher education.
• ASCILITE Research Grants (NOTE: NEW FUNDING from 2025)
  • Three ASCILITE research grants valued at $5,000 each – totalling $15,000, will be offered as follows – one Early Career Researcher, one General Academic and one Professional Staff Member. All investigators must be members of ASCILITE. These ASCILITE Research Grants will be offered for an 18-month period.
• Student Bursary Award 
  • Available to full-time PhD/EdD or equivalent students
• Life Member Award 
  • A prestigious award that recognizes the significant service and/or sustained contribution of an ASCILITE member to the Society

For further information on each award, refer to the specific award criteria and nomination form on the ASCILITE website.

Call for Nominations to the Executive Committee

Nominations CLOSES 11PM AEST 17 September 2024.

Current ASCILITE financial members are invited to stand for election to the ASCILITE Executive Committee.

We particularly seek nominations from candidates who are Professional staff. 

The positions being elected this year are Treasurer and 4 members of the executive.

You will find details of current Executive Members here and a summary of Executive roles and the work of the Executive is outlined in the document Prospective Executive Committee Member Information.

For further information on the work of the Society or the Executive Committee please contact the President, Vice-President or any Executive Committee member. Committee members will be happy to answer your questions by phone or email.

Voting will be open to all financial members from 18 September to 4 October 2024.

Members will be sent candidate information with an online voting link on 18 September and the results of this ballot will be announced at the ASCILITE Annual General Meeting at ASCILITE 2024.

You will find further details of the election schedule, positions available and nomination forms (see section “How to Nominate”) on the ASCILITE website here.

Transforming Assessment SIG Webinar: Gen AI in assessment: authenticity and feedback

Date: Wednesday 4 September 2024
Time: 6:00pm AEST
More information and registration here 

Jointly hosted with Assessment in Higher Education Network UK.

Featuring two presentations:

1. Encouraging self-feedback practices and engagement with feedback at the program level using e-portfolio by Mathilde Roger (University of Durham, UK) and
2. Reinvesting in Authentic Assessments: A Response to Generative AI by Kathleen Burrows (University of Bristol, UK).

The Third Space Symposium is an event in two parts- a free, online asynchronous event over two weeks (Friday 15th – Sat 30th November) called the Slowposium and then a 1 day in-person event at the University of Melbourne on Sunday 1st December (the day before the ASCILITE conference kicks off in the same location).

Both events will include a rich program addressing all aspects of working in the tertiary education third space. The in-person symposium will focus specifically on our corner of the third space dealing with the work of learning designers, educational technologists, academic developers and the like. Registration for this event includes morning/afternoon tea and lunch and costs $56.

This is easily the biggest event that we have put on and we think it will be amazing. Really hope to see you there.

Find out more and register here

TELall Blog Post: Are you connected? Why active membership of Special Interest Groups (SIGs) and Communities of Practice (CoPs) matter.

In our latest blog post Associate Professor Lynn Grimble (UNSW Business School) reflects on the ‘secret sauce’ in your professional development.

In various corporate roles networking and the resultant opportunities and development that can occur is well recognised, Heffernan (2020) suggests these are even more important in academe.  As academics, we often work in collegiate research or even teaching groups, but being part of a Community of Practice (CoP) or Special Interest Group (SIG) to find and connect with a group of people who share your particular interests and challenges can be the ‘secret sauce’ in your development….  Read more here

ASCILITE & AECT Affiliation Meet & Greet

Date: Wednesday 18 September 2024
Time: 9:00AM AEST
Join in here

We are excited to announce the Meet and Greet with our US affiliates  the Association for Educational Communications & Technology (AECT). It’s free to join and will be a great way to learn about the event and activities offered by AECT  After an initial general session there will be the opportunity to break into breakout rooms for a chance to chat about common interests.

We are hoping for a strong turn out of ASCILITE members!

Read more about AECT here

OTHER NEWS

ALT 2024 Conference

Date: Tuesday 3 September 2024 – Thursday 5 September 2024
Location: Radisson Blu Manchester Airport Hotel, Manchester, UK and Online

The Association for Learning Technology (ALT) is excited to be hosting the ALT Annual Conference in Manchester from 3 – 5 September 2024. ONLINE REGISTRATION OPTIONS AVAILABLE.

This unmissable event marks a significant milestone for the conference and its participants, as it is the very first ALT event offering formal CPD accreditation.

This year, the conference is Co-Chaired by Diane Bennett, Teaching and Learning Manager (Distance Learning) at The University of Manchester, and Scott Farrow, Head of Digital Learning at Edge Hill University.

Visit the ALT conference website for more details

Join the European Digital Education Hub

The European Digital Education Hub (EDEH) is an initiative of the European Commission, funded by the Erasmus+ programme (2021-2027) and operated by a consortium of eleven organisations, under a service contract with the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA).

EDEN Digital Learning Europe Knowledge Building team is actively contributing to this Hub.

Monthly innovative events are organised to discover and debate which are the current and future challenges of the digital transformation of education.

Go here to learn more about  the activities on the Hub.

UNSW Scientia Education Lecture: Improving feedback and developing student feedback literacy

Date: Thursday 5 September 2024
Time: 1pm – 2:00pm
More information and registration here 

UNSW are excited to announce an upcoming online UNSW Scientia Education lecture. Prof Phillip Dawson from Deakin University will present on the topic of feedback and student feedback literacy.

Feedback can be one of the most challenging parts of not just education but of life in general. Giving, receiving, understanding and coping with comments about our work is hard. The workload of feedback can also be a significant challenge for staff, who often report that students do not even read assignment feedback comments, let alone action them. Prof Phil Dawson will address the capabilities required for effective teacher feedback, explore how to improve student feedback literacy and their ability to seek feedback, make sense of it, and work with their emotions throughout the process.

Deakin University Postgraduate Research (DUPR) scholarship applications

This is your opportunity to undertake a PhD with the Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning (CRADLE) – Submit your application by 6 October 2024

Applications for Round 1 Higher Degree by Research DUPR PhD Scholarships for 2025 are now open! If you’re a domestic or international student specifically interested in the areas of assessment and/or digital learning, you can apply for a scholarship through the Faculty of Arts and Education to undertake your research with CRADLE.

How to Apply
If you are interested in studying with CRADLE, you must apply via the Higher Degree by Research Application Form. This requires the development of an original research proposal, which should be aligned with CRADLE’s research themes. You should contact the relevant supervisor directly with a draft of your proposal prior to submitting your application, and to discuss your eligibility and competitiveness for a scholarship.

Visit CRADLE’s blog site for further information.