ASCILITE NEWS

Latest TELall blog post: On-Demand Exams to Support Scalable Personalisation

In our latest blog post, Brent Gregory (Lecturer, University of New England Business School) posits that as our higher education environment becomes increasingly competitive, especially from non-traditional players, we face pressure to both improve the student experience and do this for a lower utilisation of resources.

Scalable Personalisation is a way of achieving these seemingly conflicting outcomes because it is where we tailor the learning journey to better align with student needs and we do this in a way that is highly sensitive to effective resource use. My journey to scalable personalisation has been a long and challenging road littered with disappointments, detours, dead ends and unfulfilled premises. The implementation of On-Demand exams has become a major enabler to support scalable personalisation.

Business Education SIG webinar: On-Demand Exams to Support Scalable Personalisation

Date & Time: 29 September @ 10:30 am – 11:30 am AEST (Australia). You will find session start times in other domestic and international time zones here.

Abstract: We are delighted to invite you to the second of our webinar series presented by the ASCILITE Business Education SIG.

In this webinar, Brent Gregory will share insights from his rich experience of offering On-Demand Exams. The introduction of Online Exams to UNE was an enabler for new thinking about how we structure units that are exam dependent. UNE is no longer constrained by the exam timetable straightjacket and is able to mould the whole learning journey to better match the rich tapestry of skills, experiences and circumstances that its students bring to the learning environment. On-Demand exams supported by the progression pipeline enables greater control to students and helps academics better understand the most effective pathways adopted by students.

Be sure to read the Brent’s blog that covers “on-demand exams” in detail. You’ll find it here.

Presenter: Brent Gregory is a lecturer at the University of New England Business School and a Chartered Accountant whose pre-academic professional career focused on helping business owners improve their returns. He is now applying those skills to developing learning environments that enhance and personalise the student learning journey, while being sensitive to effective resource utilisation. This is referred to as Scalable Personalisation. His progress in this field has been recognised by a number of awards in recent years, including the UNE Faculty of Science Agriculture Business and Law Educator of the Year, an ASCILITE Innovation and Excellence Award, and an Australian Award for University Teaching Citation.

Please join this Blackboard Collaborate session using the following link. The session is free and no pre-registration is required: https://au.bbcollab.com/invite/2cd516a72cee4e549f01e451b9d278f5

ASCILITE 2020 Virtual Conference Registration is Open

Registration is open for the ASCILITE virtual conference (30 Nov – 2 Dec 2020). The registration fee for ASCILITE members is $25 for virtual attendance only and $175 for non-members. The non-member rate includes one year ASCILITE membership valued at $150. Don’t miss this great Technology Enhanced Learning event.

Reminder: Call for Proposals for a Special Issue of AJET in 2021/22

The editors of the Australasian Journal of Educational Technology (AJET) welcome expressions of interest from individuals or teams interested in guest editing a special issue of the journal in late 2021 or early 2022.

Expressions of interest of up to 500 words should include the following information:

Names and affiliations of guest editor(s), including experience and brief biographical details
Proposed special issue theme, including possible topics
The relevance of the theme to the scope and coverage of the journal
The significance of the theme in advancing the field of educational technology in higher education

The proposals will be reviewed by the AJET Lead Editors and members of the Editorial Board. Full proposals will then be requested from shortlisted EOIs.

Please email your expression of interest to the AJET Editors. The deadline for EOIs is 5 October 2020.

Reminder: 2020 ASCILITE Awards Open for Nominations

Each year, ASCILITE members are invited to apply or nominate for the ASCILITE awards and to consider nominations that they believe meet the criteria set for each award.

The four award categories available to members in 2020 are as follows:

Innovation Award
Emerging Scholar Award
Community Fellow Award
Life Member Award

Full details of each award along with the criteria and nomination forms for each award are avaialable on the ASCILITE website here.

Reminder: Call for Nominations to the Executive Committee

Current ASCILITE financial members are now invited to stand for election to the ASCILITE Executive Committee.

ASCILITE members who value the services and professional community engagement offered through our not-for-profit Society, and who believe they have the time, commitment and dedication to work in a voluntary capacity to contribute toward a variety of ASCILITE activities, are invited to nominate for election to the Executive Committee.

You will find details of current Executive Members here. A summary of Executive roles and the work of the Executive is outlined in the document Prospective Executive Committee Member Information.

For further information on the work of the Society or the Executive Committee please contact the President, Vice-President or any Executive Committee member. You may access committee member email addresses from the Executive Committee listings on the ASCILITE website. Committee members will be happy to answer your questions by phone or email.

The Call for Nominations is open to all financial members from 7 September to 29 September 2020 and voting will be open to members from 30 September to 21 October 2020. Members will be sent candidate information with an online voting link on 30 September and the results of this ballot will be announced at the ASCILITE Annual General Meeting at ASCILITE 2020.

You will find further details of the election schedule, positions available and nomination forms on the ASCILITE website here.

OTHER NEWS

ICDE Quality Network webinar series: International reflections on lessons learned during the COVID-I9 pandemic

The is the second in a series of webinars from ICDE (International Council for Open & Distance Education) that will look specifically at quality assurance in assessment, showcasing two speakers. The free session is scheduled for Tuesday 22 September at 16:00 CET.

For more information and to register visit the ICDE website here. The Webinar is organized by the global ICDE Quality Network . Feel free to share widely with your colleagues!

Strategy for Higher Education Course Starts Soon

Hi friends and contributors,

I hope this note finds you very well under these challenging circumstances.

Our innovative program starts on the 30 September. We are looking forward to building a community of thought leaders that will go on to bring about favourable reform in our sector.

I recently wrote a LinkedIn article here that adds colour to the project and speaks about our commitment to those affected by Covid (among several other things).

Covid has decimated budgets, depleted savings and been unusually unkind to everyone.

At CONNECTed, we’ve never been motivated by money, as such and if needed, participants pay what they can afford for the upcoming intake (no questions asked). Fees mustn’t be an obstacle to us collectively making the biggest impact possible in the sector we know and love (and depend on!).

If anyone in your team is interested in enrolling in the course, please have them email me directly. If there are special requests for those that have been left destitute but are committed to a career in Higher Education, we are happy to consider a couple of complementaries in these situations.

Again, our sincerest thanks for your support, curiosity and enthusiasm for the project.

Everything of the very best to you and your family at this challenging time.

Warren Elliot Kennard
Founder, CONNECTed
+61 401 407 207
www.getconnected.co