ASCILITE NEWS

ASCILITE Webinar: Thanks for the feedback!

Topic: Explore the innovative emoji-based reaction toolbar, awarded the ASCILITE Innovation Award in 2023
Date:13 March 2024
Time:12.00–1.00 pm AEST (Qld time).
Webinar Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9572954127?pwd=WTBycVVYTjJQOWxlM0RVS2EwenY3dz09Join 2023 Innovation Award Winners, Dr Lauren Humby (Lecturer, Criminology), Dr Trisha Poole (Academic Developer), and Mr Alex Charchar (Project Lead) to learn how the reaction toolbar has transformed online student feedback using emojis, mirroring social media interactions for immediate student reactions. This webinar will highlight the toolbar’s design and its significant impact on enhancing digital learning experiences by creating opportunities for students to provide real-time, candid feedback. Discover how this innovation fosters a more engaging and responsive online learning environment. Don’t miss this chance to learn about a pioneering approach that redefines feedback in digital education, making it more intuitive and effective.

ASCILITE Learning Analytics SIG 2024 Series: Leveraging learning analytics for insights into motivation

Topic: What is the context for learning analytics and motivation?
Date: Wednesday 27th March 2024
Time: 2pm (AEDT)

Motivation plays a big part in how students engage with learning in higher education. However, there is a recent perception that student motivation is declining and, as a result, student engagement levels are also trending downward. In the 2024 ASCILITE Learning Analytics Special Interest Group series, we will take a look at how learning analytics can be used to interrogate the concept of motivation to develop insights that can help teaching staff to support student learning. Building on the ideas presented in our webinar last year by Dr Paula de Barba, across the series we will examine different theories, perspectives, and practical approaches to exploring the role of motivation in learning environments. The topics for our interactive series will include:

1. What is the context for learning analytics and motivation?
2. How do we apply motivational theories to improve student engagement?
3. What is the relationship between motivation and behaviour change?
4. How does staff motivation impact student motivation?
5. Does resilience play a role in motivation?

The series will involve interactive webinars, in-person events, and culminate in a workshop at the ASCILITE Conference in Melbourne which will give participants an opportunity to tie together the concepts discussed across the year, and focus on practical strategies to take back into their own learning design/teaching roles for harnessing the insights learning analytics can uncover for supporting motivation.

You can register here for this webinar.

ASCILITE Learning Design SIG Webinar

Topic: Using open wikis for teaching and learning
Date: Friday 15 March 2024, 12-1PM AEDT
Webinar zoom link: https://une-au.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAtfuirrzwsE9Mrql_f06WJC0Tk1iZgVYbO
Special guest: James Neill, Assistant Professor, University of Canberra

A wiki is the simplest webpage that anyone can edit. The aim of this presentation is to illustrate the educative potential of using open wikis in education. Open wikis offer several pedagogical advantages and practical affordances for teaching and learning, yet are surprisingly underutilised. The best-known wikis are supported by the Wikimedia Foundation, including Wikipedia and its sister projects such as Wikiversity. These wikis can be used to curate open educational resources and conduct open research, as well as to engage students in learning how to work collaboratively to contribute to the knowledge commons. Student wiki projects can be conducted in any discipline and adapted across educational levels. This presentation will explore the educative potential of involving students in real-world wiki projects for learning and assessment, with case study examples.

Bio: James Neill is an Assistant Professor in the Discipline of Psychology with a passion for educational technology, open education, and experiential learning. James has been using open technologies, particularly Wikiversity, in his teaching for over 15 years and is a Bureaucrat on English Wikiversity with over 70,000 edits.

ASCILTE OEP SIG Newsletter

Read the latest national and international news from the OEP SIG here.

TELAS Reviewer Certification workshop on campus at The University of Sydney – April 12

The Technology Enhanced Learning Accreditation Standards (TELAS) are a set of internationally benchmarked standards designed to assess the quality of online learning, particularly in relation to the tertiary sector. They provide institutions with the means to assess and evaluate the affordances of their online learning environments and thereby guide quality enhancements.

The next on-campus TELAS Reviewer Certification Workshop is now open for registration.
Location: The workshop will be conducted at Sydney University
Date: Friday April 12
Time: 9-4.30pm (AEDT)
Cost: $330(members);  $480 (non-members – includes 12 month ASCILITE membership fee).

Cost includes food.

For further details and to register, visit the TELAS website.

Please direct any queries and/or expressions of interest to admin@telas.edu.au.

Join the Contextualising Horizon Technology and Practice Workshops

ASCILITE’s 2024 Contextualising Horizon initiative continues in March with the Technology and Practice Workshops. These sessions build upon the work of the February STEEP Workshops, in which community members and affiliates identified the social, technological, environmental, economic and political trends impacting Australasian higher education sector. Participants will work collaboratively to brainstorm and identify the technology and practice trends likely to be of significance in the next 12–19 months.

We have two upcoming sessions for the workshops. You need not have participated in the STEEP workshops to participate in the Technology and Practice Workshops. Attendance at both technology and practice sessions is encouraged, but it is not required:

Register for Technology and Practice Session 1: Tuesday 19 March 12–2 pm AEDT
Register for Technology and Practice Session 2: Tuesday 26 March 12–2 pm AEDT

Contextualising Horizon is an ASCILITE initiative. Find out more and read the reports on ASCILITE’s Contextualising Horizon page.

CMALT Australasia

CMALT Australasia is a certified membership scheme offered in partnership with the Association for Learning Technology (ALT) UK. The scheme is a form of professional accreditation which enables people whose work involves learning technology to have their experience and capabilities certified by peers, and to demonstrate that they are taking a committed approach to their professional development.

As a certified member of ALT you can increase the impact of your professional record or CV and use “CMALT” as post-nominal letters.  The basis of the accreditation process is a portfolio which contains both evidence and reflection in relation to a number of key criteria.

CMALT certification means you obtain professional recognition and attain Certified Membership for your experience and capabilities in the field of learning technology.

Please watch the page here for upcoming events.

OTHER NEWS

Open Polytechnic of New Zealand – Research project: Contemporary issues in digital assessment

A Delphi technique-based research study is investigating what experts consider as contemporary issues in digital assessment. The project will involve three phases, each further identifying the main themes of research priority in digital assessment.
You are invited to take part in this research if you meet these criteria:

• an assessment decision-maker at the organisational level,
• a published researcher with peer-reviewed journal outputs on an assessment-related theme published in the previous five years, or
• an active PhD researcher in the field of assessment.

The first phase will capture key themes in digital assessment across the categories of Compliance, Innovation, Practices, and Technology. The second and third phases will refine these themes into a ranked series of priorities.

For more information and to participate: http://tinyurl.com/delphicida

UTS Open education week 2024

Join UTS for Open Education Week 2024! This year, they are thrilled to present an exceptional lineup of national and international speakers, each bringing a wealth of experience that intersects across open education and the areas of social justice, accessibility, H5P, learning design, and AI. Share the message and come and join in to engage with experts in these fields and broaden your perspective.

Save the following dates and be part of the conversation that is growing here at UTS:

• 4 March – Fostering inclusive education through Open Educational Practices
• 5 March – Accessibility in Open Education with H5P
• 6 March – From Concept to Classroom: Creating an Open Textbook in 12 months
• 7 March – OEW x Learning Design Meetup: Synergising sustainability with OERs in Higher Education
• 8 March – Navigating the impact of GenAI disruption with Open Educational Practices

EDEN 2024: Call for papers

Dates:16-18 June 2024
Venue: University of Graz, Austria
Conference Theme: Learning in the Age of AI: Towards Imaginative Futures

We invite you to join us in a thoughtful exploration of the rapidly evolving landscape of education, as we adapt to the ever-increasing presence of AI and digital systems.

Our experiences in the journey with AI are still young and can be described as stories of trial and error, so sharing our experiences, expectations and hopes is vital. The digital revolution has ushered in exciting, promising, and imaginative changes, but it is also testing our beliefs about learning and education.

More information available here.

FLANZ Conference 26-28 August 2024

Dates: 26-28 August 2024
Venue: Grafton Campus at the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences
Keynote speakers: A/Prof Michael Cowling (CQU, ASCILITE President) & A/Prof Rhys Jones (UoA)

Conference streams:

• Evolutionary practice, flexible methods and pathways
• Technologies and models
•  Professional development and training
• Sustainable practices
• Diversity, equity and inclusion

More information available here.