ASCILITE NEWS
EduGrowth / ASCILITE webinar on empowering learners & educators through active learning
Date and Time: Tuesday 29 March @ 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm AEDT | Singapore 12:30pm | Auckland 5:30pm | Other time zones
How is Ed Tech empowering learners through active learning and engagement? In response to this question, EduGrowth and ASCILITE are pleased to present a Higher Education EdTech showcase on empowering learners & educators through Active Learning.
This program will feature an in-conversation session with Dr Philip Uys, the Adjunct Associate Professor of Education at the University of Adelaide who will discuss how active learning strategies have proven to contribute to learner engagement both inside and outside the classroom.
You can register for this session here.
Learning Design SIG webinar on the contemporary role of the Learning Designer: ideas and challenges in education and training
Date and time: Friday 18 March at 12pm AEDT | Singapore 9am | Auckland 2pm | Other time zones
Learning designers are one of the most sought after roles in tertiary, vocational and corporate education. There are dozens of opportunities available for newly graduated LDs. Yet, at the same time, the historic confusion about the role of the learning designer continues unchallenged. What does it mean to be a learning designer? How is that changing in the present – and how might it change in the future? Perhaps even more importantly, with the growth of the industry, what skills are required for a learning designer? How will learning design integrate (if it does) with learning analytics? Or virtual reality?
In this webinar, Keith Heggart, the course coordinator for the Graduate Certificate in Learning Design at UTS, will draw on his experiences developing the course to reflect on how he seeks to develop the next generation of learning designers. He will discuss both the structure and the approach involved in the course development and reflect on the kinds of skills and knowledges that are central to modern learning design.
Join the session here.
New TELall Blog: Another year of being remote doesn’t stop the positive CMP experience
In this post by Dr Kwong Nui Sim (2022 CMP Coordinator) and A/Prof Michael Cowling (2021 CMP Coordinator), we look at how the ASCILITE Community Mentoring Program (CMP) coped during the pandemic. Participant feedback is presented showing how mentors and mentees responded to the forced changes in the way they could network and collaborate along with their experience of the program during this period.
Reminder: AJET Special Issue Call for Papers: Achieving Lasting Education in the New Digital Learning World
The Call for Papers deadline has now been extended to 31 March 2022.
Guest Editors
Dr. Filia Garivaldis, Monash University
Dr. Stephen McKenzie, University of Melbourne
Dr. Danah Henriksen, Arizona State University
Dr. Sylvie Studente, Regent’s University London
We are inviting evidence-based papers, qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods studies, critical reviews, and theoretical contributions related to this topic through themes, including:
- Integrating the past, present, and future of online learning, in using existing/established theories and models, examining current examples, and considered the projected future.
- Translation and application of classical educational/learning theories and practices to the online modality
- Design processes or models that support the use and mapping of classical learning theories into online spaces
- Mindsets or approaches that help instructors and course designers to design effective and theory-driven online learning
- Supporting creativity and innovation in online learning theory and research while tapping into classical theories and proven approaches
- Navigating tensions and barriers in identifying or applying theory to effective online learning
- Learning theories that support engagement in online spaces to avoid isolation or disengagement
- Barriers or challenges to implementing educational/learning theories in the online modality
- Models of effective learning through hybrid deliveries of education
- Effective evaluation of online learning impact
- Harnessing technology to enable lasting learning
- Impactful professional development and life-long learning
For further details and submission instructions, please go to the AJET website.
Reminder: February’s ASCILITE Wavelength Podcast now available
February’s edition of the new ASCILITE Wavelength Podcast service is now available.
In this episode, Michael Cowling chats with Michael Blumenstein about the challenges of teaching in the computer sciences and if artificial intelligence will take our jobs. Amanda White continues her series on staff addressing academic integrity at the coal face. “The Student Voice” examines barriers and enablers to effective study.
You’ll find all podcast episodes on the ASCILITE website along with additional information on the service including how you can get involved. Wavelength is a community-contributed podcast, and we invite members of the ASCILITE community and affiliates to produce and contribute segments for the podcast.
OTHER NEWS
EDEN Digital Learning Europe – Open Education Week 2022 session recordings
OEW took place from 7 – 11 March 2022 with the participation of EDEN, ASCILITE’s equivalent in the EU. Below is a selection of recordings offered during the week. For additional sessions and further information, visit the OEW website.
Yes it’s Open but is it any Good? Reflections on an Open Reading Initiative of Scholarly Research
This webinar focuses on the growth of open science and the plethora of open access scholarly publications in the area of digital education—for better and worse. It begins by reflecting on the 6th edition of the NIDL “top 10” good reads in the field of digital education. This exercise identifies a collection of scholarly open access articles published over the previous year that make a valuable contribution to the literature. A panel discussion then considers the challenge of finding time to “slow” read the literature and shares critical strategies for keeping abreast of the rapidly evolving literature.
Digital experiences in technical higher education
In this webinar we are going to focus on specific digital experiences from and for the technical higher education. In these pandemic times, the higher education community has been united in facing the challenges which arose and in finding the best solutions for the transition to online learning. The digital component of the education will remain even after the pandemic ends. Moreover, the digital component was already a key factor for many universities and specialists. Such specialists are going to share their experiences and good practices, from the mentoring and training of higher education professionals, using remote and virtual labs, integrating AI in education and all of this keeping the quality of the educational process in mind.
How to become an open teacher?
The teachers in school and higher education could take better advantage of the existing open educational resources (OER), as well as of co-creation learning content and curriculum through open professional collaboration of teachers, as well as co-creation of knowledge together with students, school and university community members. This session will be dedicated to discuss the enablers of teachers to become open educators, including digital competences needed to co-create and share digital content and OER, as well as the challenges for teachers’ opening up at schools and at universities.
Now Open! – PhD scholarship in Assessment and/or Digital Learning in Higher Education opportunity with the CRADLE
CRADLE (Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning) is pleased to announce that applications are now open for a new PhD scholarship in Assessment and/or Digital Learning in Higher Education. If you are a domestic student or international student residing in Australia interested in assessment and digital learning, come and study with us at CRADLE!
What is the Scholarship?
This scholarship is open to domestic and international students (international candidates must already be in Australia or be able to gain a visa and travel to Melbourne before the end of 2022), will be awarded on a full-time basis, and will be based at CRADLE’s Melbourne CBD location, Deakin Downtown. The successful applicant will work on a project that considers assessment and/or digital learning in higher education, and will contribute evidence to inform assessment research, policy, and practice. We welcome submissions that align to CRADLE’s research themes and also encourage applicants to consult our list of proposed doctoral topics.
Our Research Team and Themes
Our team of leading higher education researchers includes Alfred Deakin Professor David Boud, Professor Phillip Dawson, Professor Margaret Bearman, Associate Professor Rola Ajjawi, Dr. Joanna Tai and Dr. Mollie Dollinger. We collaborate with all of Deakin’s faculties and divisions along with a range of industry partners and international collaborators.
CRADLE’s research program seeks to establish what works to improve learning in higher and professional education. Our current programs of research include:
- The digital world and its impact on learning and teaching;
- Feedback and feedback practices;
- Learning in and for the workplace;
- Evaluative judgement;
- Assessment security and academic integrity;
- Inclusion and belonging in a digital world; and
- Representation in and beyond assessment.
Throughout this research, we use cross-cutting approaches, including innovative methodological and theoretical approaches and knowledge transition.
For more information on what CRADLE does please visit the CRADLE website.
How to Apply
Scholarship applicants must meet Deakin’s PhD entry requirements, enrol on a full-time basis, and hold an Honours (First Class) degree or an equivalent standard Masters degree with a substantial research component. Please refer to Deakin’s research degree entry pathways for further information. The successful applicant will be enrolled through the Faculty of Arts and Education and will receive a top-up of $5,000 per annum over three years.
All Expressions of Interest (EOI) must be submitted to through the Faculty of Arts and Education; however, potential applicants should contact a CRADLE supervisor aligned with their preferred project topic prior to submitting an EOI. Further information about the Faculty of Arts and Education’s EOI process, along with the EOI form, may be found on Deakin’s how to apply page.
Applications close Monday 11 April 2022.
For further scholarship information please visit the Deakin Scholarships website.
For all other enquiries, please email CRADLE’s Research Manager, Dr Helen Walker, or call (03) 9244 5448.
2022 HERDSA Conference
HERDSA 2022, the annual conference of the Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA), will be held both on-site in Melbourne (Australia) and virtually between 27 – 30 June 2022 with early-bird registration rates on offer until 8 April 2022.
For futher details, visit the HERDSA website.
Reminder: Call for Research Participants in Conceptualising a Sense of Belonging
- Conceptualising a sense of belonging in first year undergraduate fully online courses
- PhD Candidate: Sharon Altena
- Griffith University Ref No: 2021/903
Do you teach first year fully online course/class/unit at an Australian University?
Do you design and facilitate students’ sense of connectedness and help them “fit in” as a member of your online class?
If yes, then I would love to hear from you, to participate in a Griffith University PhD research study being conducted under the supervision of A/Prof Sarah Prestridge, A/Prof Jeannie Allen and A/Prof Chris Campbell. If you are interested in participating in this study, please complete this short 5 minute confidential online survey.
Thank you for considering this request.
Sharon Altena
PhD Candidate
Reminder: CRADLE March Seminar on re-imagining exams: how do assessment adjustments impact on inclusion?
Date & Time: Tuesday 15 March 2022 @ 2.00pm-3.30pm (AEDT)
Register here for this free online event.
Join the CRADLE team for a seminar by Dr Joanna Tai CRADLE’s Senior Research Fellow, Deakin University, on exams, assessment adjustments and inclusion.
Exams and other high-stakes time-limited assessments can act as barriers to success for students with disabilities (SWD). However, a system which focuses only on making reactive accommodations is likely to become overwhelmed as more diverse students increasingly participate in higher education. Rather than continuing to view disability as a problem to address at an individual level, a shift to focus on inclusive assessment design may also hold promise for a broader range of diverse students.
In this seminar, Dr Joanna Tai will present the findings from her NCSEHE funded research project which involved colleagues at CRADLE (A/Prof Rola Ajjawi, Prof Margaret Bearman, Dr Mary Dracup & Ms Paige Mahoney) and CQU (Dr Joanne Dargusch & Dr Lois Harris). The project firstly sought to better understand SWDs’ experiences of exams and other high-stakes time-limited assessments through in-depth interviews across two universities. Then, assessment stakeholders (academics, accessibility staff, and students) participated in workshops, grappling with aspects of exam design to identify what could be modified to improve inclusion in four specific units (i.e. modules or subjects) of study.
Project findings overall suggest that, while most students had experiences that were not inclusive in relation to their high-stakes timed assessment, there was no single “easy” solution to re-imagining exams, with a combination of approaches required. The workshops were a valuable space to tackle dilemmas together. A shift to a broader understanding of inclusion underpinned actions to improve student-staff interactions, communication between stakeholders, and assessment arrangements. Changes made possible due to Covid-19 were also recognised as contributing to inclusive assessment.
Joanna will also provide an overview of the resources developed as part of the project, so join the seminar for further insights on inclusive assessment design and how everyone can contribute to improving diverse students’ experiences and success in higher education.
Read the full report here.
ALT (UK) News Digests 642 & 643
For those interested in what’s happening with technology enhanced learning in the UK, ASCILITE’s peer organisation – the Association of Learning Technologies, publishes a fortnightly News Digest. Links to their latest News Digests are as follows: Issue 642 released on 28 February and Issue 643 released on 7 March.
