Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education

ASCILITE NEWS

Welcome to a new year with ASCILITE

For many across our community, 2026 has begun in the midst of significant change. The higher education sector continues to experience complexity, uncertainty and rapid transformation. New roles, new structures, new expectations, and new questions about how we teach, lead and support learning in increasingly digital and AI-inflected environments.

Against this backdrop, ASCILITE remains a place for connection, collegiality and critical conversation. Whether you are a long-standing member or have recently joined us. If it was for the first time in Adelaide at our annual conference in December, we warmly welcome you to the ASCILITE community.

This year’s ASCILITE Conference will be held in Brisbane at Rydges South Bank from 29 November to 2 December. In a first for ASCILITE, we are trialing a fully community-led model, hosting the conference independently with the generosity and expertise of volunteers from across our membership doing the heavy lifting. It is an exciting experiment in collective endeavour, and one that reflects the values at the heart of ASCILITE.

Across the year, you can also expect announcements about the Women in Professional Leadership (WiPL), Community Mentoring Program (CMP), TELAS workshops, SIG activities, the 2026 Research School, and much more. This biweekly ASCILITE Bulletin will continue to be the best way to stay informed about these opportunities and about activities across our MoU partner network.

As generative AI continues to reshape educational practice, professional identities and institutional priorities, ASCILITE remains committed to fostering thoughtful and human-centred approaches to educational technology.

We look forward to navigating the year ahead together.

Warm regards,
Michael Cowling & Elaine Huber
ASCILITE President & Vice-President 2026

ASCILITE 2026 Conference announcement

We’re excited to announce the 2026 Conference theme: The Future is Connection: Collaboration, Creativity and Compassion in a Digital Society. The theme invites us to explore how meaningful human connection continues to shape learning, teaching and educational innovation in an increasingly digital world.

We’re delighted to confirm our two keynote speakers for 2026: Maren Deepwell, an internationally recognised coach and consultant in digital education and leadership, and René Kizilcec, Associate Professor of Information Science at Cornell University and Founding Director of the Future of Learning Lab. Together, their work spans digital leadership, learning across networks and contexts, and the human dimensions of educational technology.

Save the date: 29 November – 2 December 2026

Elaine Huber
ASCILITE 2026 

ASCILITE Mentoring programs for 2026

ASCILITE Mentoring programs that are open for intake in 2026 include the Community Mentoring Program (CMP) and Women in Professional Leadership (WiPL).

Both CMP and WiPL will be open for expressions of interest for mentees and mentors from the 2 February 2026. The next bulletin will include more details on how to apply, plus dates for an upcoming webinar with more information on these programs.

What is the difference between CMP and Women in Professional Leadership (WiPL)? 

The CMP is a 12-month program and is for both professional and academic staff, who want to partner with a mentor to work towards professional goals such as research experience, building a professional profile or career development.

You can read more about the CMP on our website at: Community Mentoring Program « ASCILITE.

WiPL is a 2-year mentoring program and is for women who are professional staff, and in roles HEW/HEO level 7 and above. The WiPL program provides emphasis on leadership development. The mentors are often in leadership positions with their own professional staff, and who understand the opportunities and challenges in these roles.

You can read more about the WIPL on our website at: Women in Professional Leadership Program  

Karine Cosgrove & Lisa Bugden
CMP/WiPL leads

TELAS in the Age of AI

It has been five years since the operationalisation of the TELAS framework. In that time, the emergence of generative AI has transformed many aspects of learning and teaching in higher education. The TELAS team is now exploring how the framework might evolve to reflect these changes and ensure its continued relevance in an AI-enhanced educational landscape.

Our work began with a session at the conference to gather feedback and ideas for an updated version of the framework. Thank you to those who came along and contributed.

We now invite anyone with a working knowledge of TELAS to join us in an online consultation session to contribute your feedback. Registration details:

Date: Monday 23 February 2026
Time: 2pm AEDT
Format: Online (Zoom)
Register – here

The revised TELAS framework is scheduled for publication by April 2026.

Elaine Huber, Chris Campbell, Lisa Jacka & Lisa Bugden
TELAS leads

Contextualising Horizon 2026

The Contextualising Horizon Report for 2025 is now live on the ASCILITE website
here.

We encourage you to read, use and share the report widely through your networks. The strength and impact of Contextualising Horizon rests on shared responsibility across the sector, and the more this work is circulated, discussed and applied, the more powerful it becomes in shaping learning, teaching and educational technology futures.

This fourth edition reflects another year of collective horizon scanning, sense-making and generous contribution. Looking ahead to 2026, we warmly invite the community to get involved by signing up for the STEEP and Technologies & Practices scanning sessions in February and March. We look forward to continuing this shared work together in 2026 and would love to see as many people as possible help us build the report for this year.

STEEP Workshops
11 February, 12pm – 2pm AEDT  (11am -1pm AEST)  https://bit.ly/44x6P3d
16 Feb, 12pm – 2pm AEDT  (11am -1pm AEST)  https://bit.ly/48GWWCv
Technology and Practice Trends Workshops
3 Mar, 12pm – 2pm AEDT  (11am -1pm AEST) https://bit.ly/4oYqh0g
5 Mar, 12pm – 2pm AEDT  (11am -1pm AEST) https://bit.ly/457skYv

Dani Logan-Fleming, Simone Poulsen, Rachel Fitzgerald, Keith Heggart & Henk Huijser
Contextualising Horizon leads

OTHER NEWS

University of Auckland Teaching Well Symposium 2026

This signature event brings together thought leaders, educators, and innovators to explore how education can reclaim its human-centered purpose in an era of rapid technological, social, and environmental change.

Theme: Re‑humanising Education: Utopia, Provocation or New Directions?
Date: Wednesday 18 February 2026,
Time: 9:00am–2:00pm NZDT
Where: In person – University of Auckland, City Campus

Registration and further details available here.

This year’s symposium features a keynote from Emeritus Professor Ronald Barnett (UCL), alongside a cross‑sector panel exploring what it means to teach well in the context of AI, ecological challenges, policy pressures and human‑centred education.

AECT Online Conference 2026 – Registration Now Open

Theme: Joining Forces: Embedding Research into Practice
Format: Virtual
Dates: Week of March 9, 2026

Registration:
•    Member Rate: $195
•    Non-members must become members to participate
•    Includes full access to live virtual sessions plus 90-day on-demand access to all recordings

You’re invited to be part of something new.

In 2026, AECT is launching its first-ever Online Conference, designed to meet you where you are—without compromising on quality, connection, or impact. This immersive virtual experience brings together researchers, practitioners, designers, and leaders from around the world to focus on what matters: turning research into real-world practice.

Guided by the theme Joining Forces: Embedding Research into Practice, the conference highlights how collaboration across roles, institutions, and contexts strengthens educational technology, instructional design, and performance improvement.

Registration and more details here.

Paper submission and registration are now OPEN for EDEN Porto AC 2026

Theme: “Beyond Technology: Human-AI Collaboration for Learning and Teaching“
Date: 14 – 16 June
Where: Porto, Portugal

Registration, paper submission and more details here.

EDEN NAP Webinar recordings

If you missed any of the recent EDEN NAP (Network of Academics and Professionals) webinars, you can now catch up at your own pace. The recordings are available online, offering you a valuable opportunity to revisit insightful presentations, thought-provoking discussions, and practical strategies shared by leading experts in the field of digital education and learning innovation.

Watch the recordings here.

LAK26 Early Bird Registration Deadline ends January 29, 2026 at 8:00pm EST!

LAK26: April 27 – May 1, 2026, Bergen Norway.

As a reminder, you must be registered by the early bird deadline to receive early bird pricing. There will be no extensions. Don’t miss it.

Please review the registration details page on the LAK26 website for all the details and different ticket options.

Please be sure to register for your LAK26 workshops to ensure your favorites don’t sell out or don’t get cancelled due to low enrollment. To see what is available, please check out the pre-conference schedule here.

Registration and more details here

CRADLE Seminar Series: Manifesto for feedback in the age of artificial intelligence

When: Wednesday 18 February 2026
Time: 6.00-7.00 pm (AEDT) / 7.00-8.00 am (GMT)
Where: Online
Cost: This is a free event

In May 2025, seventeen researchers with expertise across higher education, health professional education, feedback and digital education came together to discuss future directions for feedback research at the University of Copenhagen.

Out of these conversations, a working party constructed a manifesto for feedback in the age of artificial intelligence, led by Professor Naomi Winstone from the University of Surrey. This always-in-progress document offers a values-led compass to guide decision making as educators and institutions are faced with as-yet-unknown futures where AI can be integrated into feedback processes.

In this panel, they will interrogate potential future scenarios, and then ‘test’ the manifesto against a series of provocations offered by these possible futures.

Introduced by Professor Margaret Bearman, CRADLE, Deakin University.

Register here

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