Vale Professor Helen Farley
28 June 1968 to 9 July 2025

It is with great sadness that we share the passing of Professor Helen Farley, a deeply valued member of the ASCILITE community and a pioneer in digital education. Helen was known to many far and wide and crossed many people’s paths and hearts. Helen was an active member of ASCILITE, joining in early in 2005, was elected to the Executive in 2015, served as Vice President in 2017, and returned in 2023 after becoming Professor and Director of Criminal Justice at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand.

Helen was twice honoured by ASCILITE, receiving the Innovation and Excellence Award in 2013 and the Innovation Award in 2015. She described herself as “an educator and a researcher of higher education, technology-enhanced learning, blended learning and the innovative use of technologies for learning, especially virtual and augmented reality.” Her research also focused on digital equity, prisoner education, mobile learning, and the educational application of virtual and augmented reality.

A passionate advocate for access and justice, Helen led the $4.4M Making the Connection project bringing digital education to Australian prisons. She was President of the Australasian Corrections Education Association and an advisor to the UN on prisoner rehabilitation.

Helen passed suddenly and unexpectedly on 9 July 2025. Her warmth, intellect, and unwavering commitment to social justice will be missed by colleagues, friends, and the wider community.

Rest in peace, Helen.

Read more about the wonderful life of Helen here

ASCILITE NEWS

ASCILITE 2025
Conference Update

Registrations

Now Open – click HERE to read more

Program Overview

Click HERE to view the Program

ASCILITE Spring into Excellence Research School 2025 – Registrations Closing Soon

We are very happy to announce that the 2025 ASCILITE Spring into Excellence Research School will be held at Torrens University, Brisbane campus, Fortitude Valley (90 Bowen Tce, Fortitude Valley QLD 4006)

Dates: 2 – 4 September 2025 (Tuesday lunch time through to Thursday Lunchtime)
Cost: $650 (members), $800 (non-members – includes 12 months membership)

More information about the Research School can be found here.

Sue Gregory
Research School lead

LA-SIG July Webinar: Unlocking Indicators of Learning in AI-Assisted Education

Date:Thursday 24th July
Time:1:30-2:30pm

Introducing the “Figuring out AI Learning Processes” Discovery Workshop Series presented by the Learning Analytics SIG

In three interactive online workshops, educators, researchers, learning designers, and developers will collectively explore how we can make learning visible and interpretable in AI-mediated environments.

The first workshop will focus on this critical question: What are the actual learning processes in AI-assisted environments?

How do we understand learning when it emerges from a dynamic interplay between the learner and an AI system?
Are students passively absorbing content, or actively regulating and negotiating their engagement?
What new cognitive, metacognitive, and even epistemic skills are required to learn with AI?

The second workshop will explore the types of LA data available to educators and researchers in AI-supported environments and the third workshop in the series will focus on what we should be measuring. The series will conclude with a session at this year’s ASCILITE conference where we will present the findings from the online workshops and discuss how we can move the discussion forward in 2026.

Linda Corrin, Hazel Jones, Srecko Joksimovic
LA-SIG Leads

TELedvisors July Webinar : Beyond Agile: Stop Iterating, Start Prototyping

Date: Thursday 31 July 2025
Time: from 12:00 pm AEST

Agile project management has become the default in educational innovation, but its iterative model often clashes with the fixed timelines and limited user feedback cycles of real-world education contexts. In contrast, Rapid Prototyping offers a more responsive and pragmatic approach for Third Space teams, emphasising quick experimentation, structured decision points, and early engagement with stakeholders.

Dr Nikolai Alksnis has extensive experience leading curriculum transformation and innovation across education. Drawing on engineering and software design principles, he’ll show you how prototyping can be adapted for learning design, curriculum innovation, and student support tools. Nik will introduce a decision-based framework his team has used to scope, prioritise, and build prototypes that avoid waste while accelerating delivery.

By reframing your existing practices through a prototyping lens, this session will help you deliver projects faster, smarter, and with greater space for innovation.

Colin Simpson, Wendy Taleo, Penny Wheeler
TELedvisor leads

OEP SIG monthly meeting

Date: Tuesday 5 August 2025
Time: 12 noon AEST
Register to attend here

The Open Educational Practice Special Interest Group (OEP SIG) is open to practitioners of any level of engagement or experience. New members are always welcome. Monthly meetings are an opportunity to share practice, find new collaborators, trouble-shoot your challenges, and connect with current research and practice.

In this meeting, our special focus topic discussion will be Creative Commons Signals: what are they, and what do they mean for OEP?

See you there!

Ash Barber, Claire Ovaska, Jenny Wallace and Steven Chang
OEP SIG Convenors

ASCILITE August Webinar: Marking ‘On-the-Fly’: Insights into Interactive Oral Assessments in Business Education

Date: Tuesday Aug 5, 2025
Time: 11:00 AM-12PM AEST
Register here

Join us for an insightful webinar exploring the dynamics of interactive oral assessments (IOs) in business education. Based on the research article “Marking ‘on the fly’ in interactive oral assessments in Business” by Alison Casey and colleagues, this session will shed light on the pedagogical rigor and authenticity of IOs, discuss the unique skill sets required for effective ‘on-the-fly’ marking, and address the challenges and benefits of implementing IOs in large business courses. Join us to gain practical insights and strategies for enhancing assessment practices in the evolving landscape of higher education.

Kwong Nui Sim and Karine Cosgrove
ASCILITE Webinar leads

Enhance Teaching Quality and Gain Recognition through TELAS: Apply for your course or program to have a TELAS Review

Are you looking to enhance the quality of your online or blended learning?

The Technology Enhanced Learning Accreditation Standards (TELAS) offers a rigorous, evidence-based framework to review and improve the design of digital learning, whether at the unit, course, program, school, or institutional level.

TELAS reviews provide valuable, structured feedback and benchmarking aligned with national standards. Reviewed learning packages receive a TELAS digital badge, which can support promotion, award applications, or internal quality assurance processes. Most importantly, the process helps ensure that students benefit from a more coherent and high-quality learning experience.

We currently have capacity in our review schedule and invite expressions of interest. If you’re curious about how TELAS could be applied in your context or would like to explore a School or institution-wide approach please contact us on admin@telas.com for a conversation with the TELAS team. You can also review the accreditation fees here.

Elaine Huber, Chris Campbell and Lisa Jacka
TELAS leads

Educational Technology and Practice Exemplars for Contextualising Horizon 2025

ASCILITE’s Contextualising Horizon project seeks nomination for exemplars of the 2025 educational technology and practice trends. The trends identified by participants in this year’s workshops are:

Integrating AI in curriculum and systems responsibly and inclusively
Empowering educators: Digital literacy, and capability for a human-centred future
Evolving valid and authentic assessment practices
Bridging the industry–education gap
Balancing workflows and wellbeing during technological change

Exemplars illustrate the application of these technologies and practices across the sector. To nominate an exemplar created by a colleague or to lodge a self-nomination, complete the online nomination form. The form asks for contact details as well as a brief overview (350 words) of the nominated exemplar or case study. A URL for the exemplar project website, publication, or other artifact is also welcome.

OTHER NEWS

CFP: Serious Games Analytics in the Age of AI

Christian Sebastian Loh (Southern Illinois University), Yanyan Sheng (University of Chicago), and Dirk Ifenthaler (University of Mannheim/Curtin University) invite proposals for a new Springer edited volume on the intersection of Serious Games Analytics (SGA) and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Building on their 2015 volume, this new edition explores how AI—especially machine learning and large language models—is transforming serious game design, performance assessment, and training applications. Chapters grounded in research or applied studies across sectors like education, healthcare, defense, and workforce development are welcome.

Sample topics include:

AI-enhanced game systems, assessment, and learner modeling
Conversational AI, NPCs, and adaptive tutoring
Visualization, engagement, and ethical considerations

Proposal deadline: August 1, 2025
Chapters: (max 8,000 words) due March 15, 2026
More info & submission: here
Full details: here

eLearn 2025 conference, Final Call for papers and participation

Dates: 13 – 16 October
Location: Conrad Hilton, Bangkok ThailandE-Learn–World Conference on E-Learning is an international conference organized by the Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE) and co-sponsored by the International Journal on E-Learning.

This annual conference serves as a multi-disciplinary forum for the exchange of information on research, development, and applications of all topics related to e-Learning in the Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education sectors.

E-Learn, the premiere international conference in the field, spans all disciplines and levels of education and is expected to attracts many leaders in the field from 70+ countries around the world.

More information is available here

Join the (Re)Launch of the HERDSA Academic Development SIG

Date: 08 August 2025
Time: 13:00–14:00 AEST (Sydney time)
Register now: here

At this (re) Launch, YOU will:

Have your say about the HERDSA SIG’s focus and mission, meeting frequency and event formats
Meet colleagues from multiple universities who work in similar roles
NO HERDSA membership required (anyone is welcome to join!)
Bring your questions, ideas, and energy!

Spread the word and invite your academic-dev friends. Let’s build a supportive community together!

Further enquiries email Olga Kozar or Kelly Shoecraft.

Vale Professor Helen Farley 28 June 1968 to 9 July 2025