Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education

16-03-2026 Bulletin

ASCILITE NEWS

FINAL Call for Recommendations: 2026 Conference Invited Speaker

We’re currently planning our 2026 Conference and are seeking your input on selecting our third keynote speaker. We would love to hear from you:

  • Who would you like to hear from?
  • Why do you think they would be a great fit for our society and conference theme?
  • What format would you find most engaging? (Traditional keynote, Interview-style, panel discussion, structured debate, workshop or interactive session or something different?)

Your feedback will help us shape a program that reflects the interests and priorities of our members.

Please share your suggestions and presentation preferences on our Padlet here: ASCILITE Keynote Padlet

We encourage you to include a short note explaining why your suggested speaker would add value to the conference.

Submissions close COB TONIGHT

We look forward to hearing your ideas and building an inspiring 2026 program together!

Elaine Huber, Karine Cosgrove, Thom Cochrane, Vickel Narayan & Rebecca Scriven
Conference Management leads

Call for Expressions of Interest – Webinar Panelists (ASCILITE x Turnitin)

We are seeking educators who may be interested in presenting as part of a panel or discussion in an upcoming webinar series delivered in partnership with Turnitin. These sessions will explore contemporary challenges and innovations in assessment, integrity, and assurance of learning in the age of generative AI.
Session topics and dates:

  • Integrity First, Learning Always: Reimagining Assessment with Transparent Writing Processes — 5 May
  • Innovation in Teaching & Learning: Designing Authentic, Hybrid, and Scalable Assessments —14 July
  • Assurance of Learning in the Age of Generative AI: From Compliance to Continuous Improvement  7 August

If you are interested in contributing, or would like more information, please reach out to Karine or Lisa. We welcome expressions of interest from educators across disciplines and roles.

Karine Cosgrove & Lisa Bugden
ASCILITELive! Webinar leads

LA-SIG Grand Challenge: Finding the Learning in the Data

Grand Challenge: Finding the Learning in the Data 
The ASCILITE Learning Analytics SIG is launching its 2026 Grand Challenge — and we want you to be involved.

AI platforms for learning are generating more data than ever. But what does that data actually reveal about how learners learn? That’s the question we’re challenging you to explore.

What’s the challenge?
We have four real-world challenges to choose from, under the broad topic of Human-AI Co-Regulation Across Learning Contexts. Each challenge features a dataset from an AI-based learning platform. Working in small groups throughout the year, you’ll investigate what learner interaction data can tell us about learning itself. We welcome educators, researchers, practitioners, HDR students, etc. to work within a team on their chosen challenge. More detail on each of the challenges and what is involved will be provided in the kick-off meeting to help you choose your preferred challenge.

What’s involved?

  • Pick one of four challenges — find the one that excites you most
  • Collaborate with a small group of SIG colleagues over the year
  • Be guided by a dedicated mentor throughout
  • Join regular online catch-ups from April to October 2026 to share and receive feedback
  • Share your findings with the wider community at a dedicated session at ASCILITE 2026

Kick-off meeting: Mon 30 March 2026, 10.30 am (ACDT) / 11.00 am (AEDT) / 1.00 pm (NZDT) – Zoom Link

Join us to find out more! 

Srecko Joksimovic, Lisa-Angelique Lim, Marion Blumenstein, and Linda Corrin
LA-SIG leads

OEP-SIG Shut Up & Write

You are invited to the OEP SIG’s inaugural ‘Shut Up and Write’ workshop
Date: Wednesday 18 March
Time: 12pm AEST (Timezone conversion)

This session is designed to help you make real progress on a conference proposal for OpenEd26 or for any other abstract you need to prepare.

With OpenEd26 submissions due on 3 April, this is a great opportunity to develop an idea, start writing or refine a draft. The workshop is beginner friendly and open to anyone, including those unsure about submitting or who are considering submitting to another conference entirely – all are welcome!

What to expect

  • Welcome and introductions
  • Attendees briefly share their goals for the session
  • A quick overview of effective conference proposal/abstract writing
  • Focused quiet writing time
  • Opportunities to find collaborators
  • Optional group discussion on proposal ideas
  • Optional temporary chat group for feedback between sessions
  • Optional follow up session on Thursday 26 March at 12pm AEST to keep everyone on target

Learn more

Get in the mood – Check out these writing playlists on Spotify 

Register now to join us for an inspiring and productive session!

Claire Ovaska, Jenny Wallace, Steven Chang, & Ash Barber
OEP-SIG leads

TELedvisors March Webinar – Third Space identity: Learning Designers and beyond

Date: Thursday 26 March
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm AEDT
Register here

The ASCILITE TELedvisors Network SIG roars into our tenth year of webinars with an exploration of who we all are as third space practitioners in tertiary learning and teaching. The liminal nature of third space roles in tertiary education means that while we often have a big picture understanding of what is needed to facilitate better learning and teaching, our roles often poorly understood and our place in institutions is uncertain. Two TELedvisors Network members have undertaken research intended to offer some clarity.

Ingrid D’Souza – Who am I? Who are we?

As an Educational Designer for over eighteen years, Dr Ingrid D’Souza has extensive experience in the higher education context. Her phenomenological study “Who am I? Who are we?” explored the evolving professional identity of Educational Designers (EDs) in Victorian Universities. With a focus on the daily practices, her study analysed and interpreted the reflective stories of ten EDs, as well as her own journey. Given the under-representation of EDs in Australian literature at the time, this emic research provides a voice, empowerment, recognition and visibility for this professional group.

Colin Simpson – Clarifying third space roles for more effective collaboration

Colin has worked across a range of third space roles in tertiary education since the early 2000s. In his PhD research at the University of Sydney (completed in 2025), he explored and compared the nature of these roles, their contributions to learning and teaching and the factors which shape their efficacy. He proposes a new model for defining and differentiating these roles to provide clarity and credibility to the people who occupy them.

Colin Simpson, Wendy Taleo, Penny Wheeler, Olivia Rajit
TELedvisors SIG Leads

Leading digital learning? Make the quality visible with TELAS

TELAS (Technology Enhanced Learning Accreditation Standards) provides structured peer review of online and blended learning at unit, course, program, or institutional level.

A TELAS review enables you to:

  • Evidence quality against national benchmarks
  • Strengthen continuous improvement processes
  • Provide external validation for internal quality assurance
  • Recognise excellence through a TELAS digital badge

Institutions use TELAS to move beyond compliance toward demonstrable quality in digital learning.

Whether you’re reviewing a single unit or scaling quality across a program, School, or institution, TELAS offers a credible and developmental pathway.

If you would like to explore how TELAS could support your context, contact admin@telas.com for a confidential conversation with the TELAS team.

Elaine Huber, Chris Campbell, Lisa Jacka & Lisa Budgen
TELAS Leads

How Do You Recognise Cognitive Engagement in Online Learning? Contribute to an ASCILITE-Funded Study

Share your perspective in a 20-minute survey here

How do university teachers recognise when students are cognitively engaged in online learning?

Researchers from Southern Cross University and the University of Melbourne are inviting university teachers to participate in a short survey exploring how academics identify and interpret students’ cognitive engagement during online learning.

This study is funded by an ASCILITE Research Grant and aims to better understand how teachers recognise engagement during online learning. Findings will inform the development of evidence-informed professional learning for academics and improved student support in higher education.

The anonymous survey includes Likert-scale and open-ended questions and takes approximately 20 minutes to complete.

Participation is voluntary, and the study has been approved by HREC (SCU Approval No. 2022/106).

Questions?  Email Dr Polly Lai

OTHER NEWS

Design For Learning: Transforming higher education learning and teaching practice in response to rapid changes” Symposium 1st May at the University of Melbourne.

The “Design For Learning: Transforming higher education learning and teaching practice in response to rapid changes” Symposium will be held at UniMelb 1st May 2026 hosted by the Centre for the Study of Higher Education.

This Symposium showcases how design-led approaches can address the complex pedagogical challenges confronting higher education in an era of rapid global change—including the COVID19 pandemic and the accelerating use of generative artificial intelligence in learning and assessment. Positioning teaching and learning as a design science offers a pragmatic and rigorous way to respond to these challenges by generating innovations that are transferable, research-informed, and adaptable across diverse educational contexts.

The Symposium will explore collaborative, research-based design methodologies such as Design Based Research, Educational Design Research, Design Thinking, and Action Research. These approaches bring students, teachers, learning designers, and educational researchers together from the earliest stages of problem identification through iterative cycles of design, implementation, and evaluation. Such methods embrace the “messy” and fast changing realities of contemporary higher education.

Aligned with the University of Melbourne’s Framework for Educational Excellence, the Symposium highlights how design-led methodologies can be strengthened by connecting these seven dimensions to design-oriented pedagogical research. The Symposium illustrates how systematic, inquiry driven innovation can advance both theory and practice while supporting high quality, future-ready education at scale.

The Symposium will include several parallel streams of presentations, grouped thematically and will feature an invited stream of presentations in collaboration with a special issue of JUTLP – Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice (Q1) “Design-based research: Transforming higher education learning and teaching practice in response to rapid changes”.

Call For Presentation Abstracts:

Presentations should be no longer than 15 minutes, with time for Q&A.

We invite proposals (500 word abstracts due 23 March 2026) for the presentation of research aligned with the Symposium theme, including studies of higher education policy and management, teaching, learning and assessment, student experience and outcomes, and equity and inclusion.

More info here

37th Australasian Association for Engineering Education Annual Conference

The 37th Australasian Association for Engineering Education Annual Conference (AAEE 2026) is now accepting abstract and workshop expression of interest submissions via the conference website.

Hosted by UNSW’s Faculty of Engineering in Sydney from 13 to 16 December 2026, AAEE2026 brings together educators, researchers, students, and industry partners to share evidence-based ideas and innovations that strengthen engineering education across Australasia and beyond.

The AAEE2026 theme, ‘Making the Impossible, Possible’, recognises the urgency of transformation in engineering education. It calls on us to envision ambitious futures that might seem impossible, to think creatively and expansively, and to take practical steps that bring those visions to life. It is about imagining new realities and equipping future engineers with the skills and tools to build a better future.

ASCILITE members are invited to submit abstracts or workshop EOIs, with a particular emphasis on the following topics: Academic Development; Engineering Accreditation; Artificial Intelligence; Assessment and Feedback; Course/Curriculum Design and Development; Education Technology and Digital Learning; Engineering Ethics; Equity, Diversity and Inclusion; Indigenous Knowledge; Industry Partnerships; Interdisciplinary Learning; Engineering in K-12 Education; Laboratories and Makerspaces Pedagogies; Pedagogical Innovation; Professional Practice; Problem/Project Based Learning; Social-Technical Integration; Student Mobility; Sustainability; Teamwork; Transitions to University; Work Integrated Learning and Wellbeing and Belonging.

For more information about AAEE2026, please visit the website aaee2026.org or email aaee2026@unsw.edu.au.

Shaping The Future Of Teaching: In Conversation Professor Barney Glover

Date: Thursday, 19 March
Time: 12pm – 1:30pm AEST
Register here.

Shaping The Future Of Teaching: In Conversation Professor Barney Glover, Interim Chief Commissioner, ATEC

As the teaching-focused and education-focused community of academics grows across our tertiary sector—reaching a critical mass of expertise and dedication—we are seeing a long-due recognition of our central role in serving the public good. In many of our institutions, the acknowledgement of teaching as a core mission still feels like it is in competition with the prestige of research. There is an opportunity through the Australian Tertiary Education Commission (ATEC) to shift this culture. Join the conversation about ATEC with EF and TF academics from across Australia.

The Teaching and Education-Focused Academic (TEFA) Network was created to connect across institutions. Read more on TEFA here.

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