ASCILITE NEWS

If you have submitted a paper but not yet received a review: Please login in to publications.ascilite.org to check the status of your paper and if you have any queries don’t hesitate to contact us. We are happy to extend the time period for revisions if you have missed these notifications.

Announcing the Conference dinner theme: Step back in time and join us for a night of nostalgia at our upcoming ASCILITE 23 conference dinner! Our “Old Skool” theme will transport you to bygone eras – where retro games, classic clothing, and timeless tunes take center stage. No matter if you are a child of the 50s, 80s or 00s – we’ve got you covered! Get ready to groove to the sounds of the past and create unforgettable memories with a touch of vintage flair. It’s a celebration of all things old school, and we can’t wait to see you there! As always, some wild prizes for those with the best dress and best dance moves!

Reminder: ASCILITE Committee Election

Current ASCILITE members were emailed on 20 September with a private invitation to vote in the 2023 ASCILITE Executive Committee elections. If you haven’t already done so, please check your inbox for the email with subject line: ASCILITE 2023 Executive Committee Voting sent to you from SurveyMonkey. Please note that the voting link embedded in each email is unique to each recipient.

We hope that all current members can take a few minutes to participate in the poll, so please locate your email and cast your vote by 6 October.

Voting closes midnight 6 October 2023.

TELAS Reviewer Certification workshop BRISBANE Register Now

Date: Thursday November 9, 2023
Time:  9am – 3.30pm
Location: The workshop will be conducted in person in Brisbane (Venue TBC)
Cost (ex GST): $300 (members);  $450 (non-members – includes 12 month ASCILITE membership fee).

The Technology Enhanced Learning Accreditation Standards (TELAS) are a set of internationally benchmarked standards designed to assess the quality of online learning, particularly in relation to the tertiary sector. They provide institutions with the means to assess and evaluate the affordances of their online learning environments and thereby guide quality enhancements.

The next TELAS Reviewer Certification Workshop is now open for registration. To assist with confirmation of numbers please register ASAP. You may register and request an invoice.

For further details and to register, visit the TELAS website.

Please direct any queries and/or expressions of interest to admin@telas.edu.au.

ASCILITE LD SIG: October webinar – Unlocking active learning with educational escape rooms

When: 20/10/2023
Where: Online  Register here

What:
Educational Escape Rooms are highly engaging, team-based learning experiences where students work together to solve problems within a time-critical narrative. Educational escape rooms are a new frontier within game-based learning and are widely applicable across age groups and discipline domains. In this seminar we will map out what educational escape rooms are, how they can be used and a series of STEM based example puzzles for participants to stretch their minds on. We will also cover best practice for puzzle design, how to use the electronic decoder box, tips for making escape rooms run smoothly and the new frontiers we are looking towards for further research in educational escape rooms. Find out how you can integrate the next generation of educational escape rooms into your classroom and re-engage your students.

Who: Associate Professor Robert Ross, Head of Robotics and Electronics
Dr Robert Ross is an Associate Professor in the Engineering Department at La Trobe University. Robert is head of Robotics and Electronics Research, founder of the RAMPS robotics lab and has developed a collection of robots to explore wombat burrows, pruning grapevines and inspect sewers. In addition to robotics, educational escape rooms, are a cornerstone of Robert’s research which has culminated in an AAUT Citation for teaching excellence, two Vice Chancellors Teaching awards and two College teaching excellence awards. Robert’s invention of a reconfigurable decoder box facilitates an engaging escape room experience and has been used across varied discipline domains.

Register here

ASCILITE Live! Webinar – October 2023

Date: 17th October 2023
Time: 12 noon AEST (QLD) / 1pm AEDT (NSW/VIC)

Come to an ASCILITE Live! Webinar session in October where ASCILITE 2022 Student Bursary Award Winner Erica Ho (The University of Sydney) will discuss the benefits and considerations of using avatars in digital learning environments. Anyone that has an interest in virtual learning design or is involved in online teaching is encouraged to join!

Register here

Recording: ASCILITE Live! Webinar – September 2023

Check out the recording of our ASCILITE Live! Webinar session in September where A/Prof. Jason M. Lodge (The University of Queensland), presented his ASCILITE 2022 Grant winning work with Jaclyn Broadbent (Deakin University), and Paula de Barba (Monash University) talking about challenges of AI in Education, and presenting data from their Tool or peer? Self-regulated learning with technology project.

Watch the recording here.

TELedvisors Network webinar: Universal Design for Learning in action – Past, present and future directions

Date: 28 September
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm AEST

The concept of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is becoming much more well-known lately. UDL ensures educational content is accessible and effective for all learners, regardless of their backgrounds or abilities and is essential in creating inclusive and impactful online learning materials.

Join us for this presentation to discover more about what this means in practice, how we got ‘here’ and where we are going next in the UDL journey. Following presentations from ADCET symposium ‘What, Why and How of UDL’, this month’s session showcases two universities (University of the Sunshine Coast and University of New England) and taking a look towards ‘next steps’.

Followed by discussion and sharing of experiences at other institutions. We are ‘Here’ with UDL – Where are you?

More information and registration here

TELall Blog: Are the technologies you’re using really engaging students online?

In our latest blog post Dr Eseta Tualaulelei and Dr Seyum Getenet (University of Southern Queensland) provide an overview of their research into the  effectiveness of Padlet, Panopto video-embedded quizzes and Google Docs and how those technologies can be evaluated in terms of student engagement.

Read the full post here.

Reminder: 2023 ASCILITE Awards

Nominations close 2 October 2023

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 award categories available to members in 2023 are as follows:

• Innovation Award
  • Celebrates work undertaken by an individual or team of people in support of the exemplary and research informed use of technologies for teaching and learning in tertiary education. Innovation is defined as a new idea, device or process. It is something original that “breaks into” teaching and learning in the tertiary sector.
    • The most outstanding Innovation Award: “The Allan Christie ASCILITE Innovation Award” (judged from Innovation Award nominations). Allan Christie was involved with ASCILITE since its conception in 1985. He was recognised with a Life Member award in 2003 (only the fourth person to receive this honour at the time). Allan continued to serve the Society for over 36 years and was on the ASCILITE Executive for 27 years when he retired from the Executive in December 2019. Allan was well known in higher education and sadly passed away suddenly last year. He is missed greatly in the ASCILITE circles.
• Anthology Educational Designer of the Year Award, in memory of Allan Christie
  • In recognition of Allan Christie’s lifelong contribution to the sector, this award is professional staff member who has made significant contributions to learning and teaching. The award is sponsored by Anthology, to the value of $1,000
• Emerging Scholar Award
  • Has made a noteworthy contribution in the exemplary use of ore research into technologies for learning and teaching in tertiary education
• Community Fellow Award
  • Recognise the outstanding contributions of individual ASCILITE members in the exemplary building of connections in the wider community and into the ASCILITE community.
• ASCILITE/CAULLT Award for Outstanding Leadership in Digital Learning in Higher Education
  • Recognises evidence of an individual’s innovative and effective leadership in the broad use of digital technologies to enhance teaching, learning, and overall performance in higher education.
• Student Bursary Award
  • Available to full-time PhD/EdD or equivalent students
• Life Member Award 
  • A prestigious award that recognizes the significant service and/or sustained contribution of an ASCILITE member to the Society

For further information on each award, refer to the specific award criteria and nomination form on the ASCILITE website.

OTHER NEWS

Cotutelle Scholarship Opportunity – Deakin University and Coventry University

This is a doctoral cotutelle project between Deakin University (Australia) and Coventry University (United Kingdom). The successful PhD Student will be awarded a scholarship from Deakin University with the supervision team being drawn from Deakin University and Coventry University. The PhD Student will graduate with two testamurs, one from Deakin University and one from Coventry University, each of which recognises that the program was carried out as part of a jointly supervised doctoral program. The program is for a duration of 4 years and scheduled to commence in December 2023. The student will be working within the Centre for research in Assessment and Digital Learning (CRADLE), Deakin University and the Centre for Global Learning, Coventry University.

The PhD Student is anticipated to spend at least 6 months of the total period of the program at Coventry University, with the remainder of the program based at Deakin University.

For more information please see here.
Applications close 25 Oct 2023.

2023 CRADLE Symposium in October

CRADLE Symposium 2023 Keynote Presentation – Assessment ‘in-the-wild’? Understanding collaborative learning and the need for authentic assessment’.
13 October 11am – 12.30pm (AEDT)
This session will discuss the complexity of the collaborative learning process and reflect on how assessment and authenticity fit in to learning during her presentation. In this interactive session we invite the audience to make a range of contributions to this thought provoking topic. The keynote will conclude with a reflection on conceptual and methodological challenges of researching collaborative learning processes and how this research can inform the understanding of collaborative learning authentically in its complexity.
Register here

Panel Session #1 -“How can we strengthen relationships between authenticity, assessment, and future practice?”
16 October 3.00pm-4.30pm (AEDT)
This discussion will unpack the challenges of strengthening relationships between authenticity, assessment, and future practice. They will address assessment that aligns with industry and work, assessment in the workplace, and staff development in assessment.
Register here.

Panel Session #2 -‘What is the role of the digital in authenticity of assessment?’
17 October 3.00pm – 4.30pm (AEDT)
This discussion focusses on the complexities of the relationship between the digital and authentic assessment.
Register here 

Job Opportunities

1. Research Fellows – Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia

This is an exciting opportunity for two Research Fellows to work on a two year program of research ‘Assessment in a time of genAI’ at the Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning. The program consists of two distinct projects which aim to contribute to the field of higher education research, through building a theoretically and empirically grounded body of work exploring the intersection of genAI and assessment. The overall program of research aims to understand how, in a time of GenAI, higher education assessments can assure, promote and sustain learning across diverse cohorts, whilst enhancing inclusive practices.

For further information including the PD, please see here.
Applications close 18 Oct 2023

2. Senior Learning Designer Position – Flinders University

Flinders University is seeking an enthusiastic and innovative Senior Learning Designer to support the Learning and Teaching Portfolio team. As the Senior Learning Designer, you will lead learning design and project management services in the development of online and blended courses, coordinate the dissemination of good practice and lead professional development which relates to changes and additions to the suite of educational technologies with Flinders Online Learning.

For further information including the PD, please see here
Applications close 8 Oct 2023