Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education

15-03-2021 Bulletin

ASCILITE NEWS

New issue of AJET published, Volume 37 (1)

We’re very excited to announce that the first issue of AJET (Australasian Journal of Educational Technology) was released for 2021. The editorial contains information about the new Lead Editors and other changes to the team of Associate Editors as well as bibliometric data about the journal during 2020. The articles contained in Volume 37, Issue 1 include interesting research about the implementation of many different types of technology in a variety of higher education contexts. You can find all the articles (open access) on the AJET website.

Kate Thompson, Linda Corrin, Gwo-Jen Hwang, and Jason M. Lodge
Lead Editors

Final Reminder: Call for AJET Special Issue 2021

The purpose of this special issue on Emerging Technologies – Innovative Pedagogies and Competency Development is to provide an opportunity to share these experiences of researching, evaluating and implementing emerging technologies in HEI and to collate the lessons learned from the intersection of emerging technology, innovative pedagogies and competency development. Our vision is geared toward state-of-the-art technologies that drive innovative approaches for teaching and learning.

The topics relevant to this issue include but are not limited to:

  • Adaptive and personalized
  • Innovative pedagogical
  • Ethics in education.
  • Competency development and assessment.
  • Role of technology in instructions and learning
  • Artificial intelligence: Chatbots, virtual assistants or intelligent tutoring system.
  • Digital accreditations (free and paid digital diplomas).
  • Gamification and serious games to foster student’s engagement and
  • Learning
  • Open educational resources and
  • Remote and hybrid lecture tools (video conferencing, cloud-based whiteboards, and etc.)
  • Robotics in the classroom to enhance student motivation

The deadline for author submissions is 1 April 2021 and decisions will be returned to authors after the peer review is complete on 1 July 2021. Final amendments and final papers will be due 1 September 2021 with publication expected around October 2021.

You will find manuscript focus, submission instructions and other details on the AJET website.

ASCILITE Live! Webinar on rethinking assessment – influences and strategies

Date & time: 22 March @ 11:30 am – 12:30 pm AEDT, 8:30am Singapore & 1:30pm New Zealand. For additional time zones visit this link.

Rethinking and transforming assessment have been topics in higher education learning and teaching for some time. COVID-19 and the pivot to online delivery in many instances accelerated institutions toward new ways of assessing student learning. Our expert panel will discuss why we need to rethink assessment and practical strategies for addressing 21st Century challenges through assessment redesign.

  • Margaret Bearman, Deakin University
  • Roseanna Bourke, Massey University
  • Christopher Deneen, University of Melbourne
  • Matthew Hillier, Macquarie University

Join the session with this login.

Business Education SIG Webinar on professional accreditation and online assessment

Date & time: 29 March @ 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm AEDT, 3pm Singapore & 8pm New Zealand. For additional time zones visit this link.

Throughout 2020, the academic community has engaged in significant discussion around the role of invigilation and online assessment.

Join Dr Amanda White (UTS Business, Deputy Head, Education – Accounting) for a panel and workshop discussing professional accreditation requirements in Business Schools and the tension between academic standards and integrity, invigilation, university budgets and academic workload.

Join the session with this login.*

*Note that this is the correct login to the “Business Education SIG Meeting Room” and that an earlier URL published in the member bulletin directed users to the “ASCILITE Meeting Room” by mistake.

Call-out for Proposals to Host the 2022 or 2023 ASCILITE Conference

ASCILITE is seeking expressions of interest from institutions that may be interested in forming a conference organizing committee to host either the 2022 or 2023 ASCILITE annual conference.

ASCILITE conferences are a central aspect of ASCILITE and provide opportunities for delegates to meet with international and national peers to exchange ideas, research and practice in educational technology.  They also provide a forum for the presentation of refereed papers, short concise papers, symposiums, posters and workshops. The conferences also provide memorable opportunities for social interaction and networking.

There are a number of expectations of conference organising committee proposals and conference planning, including:

  1. Justification for the conference location and a brief explanation as to why the proposed venue would attract delegates.
  2. Identification of strategies for marketing and attracting 300 – 400 delegates to the conference.
  3. Ongoing communication and collaboration with the ASCILITE Executive.

The deadline for proposals is Monday 5 July 2021 although preliminary proposals are welcome prior to that date. As a first step, potential conference organizers should read the ASCILITE Hosting Proposal Guidelines, and review the Hosting Proforma and then contact the ASCILITE Secretariat or the ASCILITE President (Chris Campbell) with any questions.

Since the geographical location of the conference is an important consideration, you may wish to view past conference locations on the ASCILITE website here. The 2021 conference is being hosted by the University of New England in Armidale, NSW, Australia.

Reminder: Join the ASCILITE Learning Analytics SIG series on the ethics of Learning Analytics

Ensuring that learning analytics are used in an ethical way is a concept that learning analytics practitioners, teachers, designers, and researchers continue to grapple with as data becomes more prevalent in education. Building a shared understanding of how we can bring together research on this concept with policy and practice is key to being able to address this challenge.

In response, the ASCILITE Learning Analytics (LA) SIG team have put together a series of activities to explore the ethics of learning analytics in more detail. The series starts with a discussion of a recent white paper on the ethical use of learning analytics in Australian higher education.

Throughout March the LA SIG will host an asynchronous discussion of the key issues that arise from the paper, followed by a panel of experts discussion (webinar) in mid-April. The LA SIG will then convene an online workshop focused on a topic that emerges from these conversations and the outcomes of the workshop will inform the development of a resource for the ASCILITE community. The series as a whole is designed to allow the LA SIG membership to delve into an important topic in greater detail than a single webinar may allow.

If you would like to be part of this series please email Hazel Jones to be added to the new Learning Analytics SIG Microsoft Teams space where the ongoing conversations as part of this series is being held.

OTHER NEWS

CONNECTed – EdTech & Strategy for Higher Education online certificate course

There are big innovations happening in Higher Ed – how ready are you to seize the abundant opportunity brought about by the accelerating pace of change?

CONNECTed | Crowdsourced Education has built an innovative short course for Higher Education professionals to improve their working knowledge of the sector and to build strategies for success. The course is peppered with insights from a raft of thought leaders including Paul LeBlanc, Whitney Kilgore, Brandon Busteed, Michelle Weise, Michael Horn, David Blake, Terri Givens, Ryan Craig, Josh Jarrett, Liz McMillen, Greg Fowler, Patrick Brothers and many other leading minds.

Each of the eight modules challenges you to interrogate your organisations status quo, forcing the question: how can your institution move from ‘what could be’ to ‘what should be’?

The course starts on 25 March and discounts are available for ASCILITE members.

For further information, visit the Getconnected website.

FLANZ webinar conversation: Open educational resources (OER)

FLANZ (Flexible Learning Association of New Zealand) is hosting a webinar conversation on OER.  Join Wayne Mackintosh, the founding director of the OER Foundation (Otago Polytechnic) for a rich discussion about how OERs could widen access to more affordable education.  The webinar on this topic is scheduled for 26 March. Read more

Invitation to submit projects to the 2021 Horizon Report

Note that you will need to complete the simple submission form below by 15 March 2021 if interested in contributing to the report!

As you might be aware, EDUCAUSE has been working closely with the international expert panel to prepare the 2021 Higher Education Horizon Report. We have recently concluded the voting for the six most important technologies and practices for teaching and learning in higher ed.

For 2021, we are continuing the long-standing tradition of reaching out to the community for projects that illustrate these technologies and practices in action. I know that our colleagues throughout ASCILTE have some stellar projects across a number of the six emerging technologies and practices listed below. I thought to reach out to you to seek your assistance to encourage the various teams to submit their projects and initiatives via the below-linked form. They are welcome to submit more than one project.

This work can be in almost any form: production or pilot programs, research projects, faculty undertakings, emerging technology trials, or evaluation/assessment projects. The intent is to give readers a more concrete sense of how these technologies and practices are playing out in higher education. We include three such exemplary projects for each of the six technologies and practices highlighted in the EDUCAUSE Horizon Report. We will also be inviting a subset of the authors of the submissions to write up their work in the post for the EDUCAUSE Review Teaching and Learning channel, or present this work in other venues including conferences or webinars.

The six emerging technologies and practices selected by the expert panel are:

  • Artificial intelligence (AI)
  • Growth of micro-credentialing for educators and students
  • Learning analytics
  • Open educational resources (OER)
  • Proliferation of blended/hybrid modes/teaching models
  • Shift from remote teaching to quality online learning

The URL for the submission form is https://forms.gle/XQYYRtMyenSTGSXB7

The deadline for submission is 15 March 2021. These exemplar projects are the heart of the Horizon Report.

Kind Regards,

Danielle Logan
SFHEA | Learning & Teaching Consultant (Design)
Griffith Business School

Institutional Members