ASCILITE NEWS

Conference 2026 Update

The Future is Connection: Collaboration, Creativity and Compassion in a Digital Society

Call for Papers Now OPEN

We invite all educators, researchers, learning designers, technologists, and practitioners engaged in digital education and innovative teaching practices to submit an abstract for ASCILITE 2026.

The ASCILITE 2026 Conference website is now live!. We encourage you to review the website for all the latest details on the program, speakers, registration, sponsorship and location information.

We’re delighted to announce our third keynote speaker for the 2026 ASCILITE Conference: Associate Professor Trish McCluskey, Director of Digital Learning at Deakin University. Trish is widely recognised for her human‑centred approach to integrating digital, physical, and emotional learning spaces. Her current work explores the opportunities and challenges of AI in higher education to create more engaging learning experiences.

Earlybird Registration opens soon!

We look forward to a great Conference
and hope to see you all in Brisbane!

AJET ranked Australia’s No. 1 Diamond Open Access journal

In the 2025 SciMago rankings, AJET retained its long-standing position as Australia’s top Education journal and is now also listed as Australia’s No. 1 Diamond Open Access journal.

The journal also rose to #4 overall in Australia—recognition of our commitment to high-quality, freely accessible education research that is free for authors to publish and free for readers to access.

The Executive Committee would like to sincerely thank the many past and the current editorial teams – whose hard work has made this milestone possible. 

The ASCILITE Executive Committee

TELedvisors April Webinar – Who Shapes AI in Education? Capability, Confidence, and Women Leading the Way

Date: Thursday, 30 April 2026
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm AEDT
Register here

In this month’s TELedvisors Network webinar, we will be joined by Juliana Peloche (ECU) and Nikki Meller to discuss the topic of AI and education with a focus on empowering women and underrepresented voices.

AI is rapidly transforming education, but the question is no longer if we use it, it’s who is shaping its direction. Women in AI Australia presents a practical and thought-provoking session designed for learning designers, educators, and EdTech professionals working across higher education. Moving beyond awareness, we will share strategies for embedding responsible AI into teaching, learning design, and institutional practice. With a focus on empowering women and underrepresented voices, this session explores how educators can influence not just how AI is used, but who gets to lead in an AI-enabled future, ensuring it is not only effective, but equitable and representative.

Dr. Juliana Peloche is a Senior Curriculum Designer at Edith Cowan University and co-founder of Women in AI Australia. Originally from Brazil, she has taught across three countries and holds a doctorate in AI in education. She is driven by a commitment to equity, rigorous scholarship, and work that genuinely reaches people.

Nikki Meller Nikki Meller is a female tech founder, strategist, and former higher education leader shaping Australia’s AI and data capability landscape. Founder of CREDuED and creator of DocuCRED.Ai, and co-founder of Women in AI Australia, she champions human-centred transformation, capability building, and inclusive innovation, bridging education, technology, and real world impact.

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

OEP-SIG launches new look website

We are excited to announce the launch of our refreshed OEP SIG website which makes it easier than ever to explore who we are, what we do and how we support Australasia’s open education community.

Alongside the new website, we also encourage you to explore the newly updated Open Education Down UndOER: Australasian Case Studies. Now hosted by Adelaide University, this OER brings together a rich collection of perspectives, practice-based insights and case studies from across our region. New chapters have been added, offering fresh ideas and reflections that highlight how open education continues to grow and evolve in distinctly Australasian ways.

Visit the new OEP SIG website

Explore Open Education Down UndOER from our Community Resources page.

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

ASCILITE Spring into Excellence Research School 2026

We are very happy to announce that the 2026 ASCILITE Spring into Excellence Research School will be held at RMIT Melbourne campus, (124 La Trobe Street, Melbourne VIC 3000)

Dates: 7 – 9 September 2026 (Tuesday lunch time through to Thursday Lunchtime)
Cost: $300 (members), $450 (non-members – includes 12 months membership) +GST

More information about the Research School can be found here.

Register & payments here.

Michael Cowling
Research School Lead

Strengthening TELAS: Community Insights and Latest Updates

We would like to thank the TELAS community for your generous engagement in our recent consultation process. Across four sessions (held both at the Adelaide conference and online) we heard from around 74 colleagues across Australia and New Zealand. Your thoughtful insights and discussions have directly informed the latest updates to the TELAS framework.

As a result, we have implemented a small number of refinements to the framework (now version 1.8) and more substantial enhancements to the Peer Reviewer Support Website, designed to better support consistent and high-quality review practices. We encourage all users to ensure they are working with the latest version of the framework and to explore the updated reviewer resources.

We also take this opportunity to highlight a minor structural change made earlier this year. Following feedback from Standards Australia during the process of progressing TELAS towards international standardisation, Standards 1 and 2 have been reordered. This adjustment reflects a more intuitive entry point for community engagement with the framework.

Thank you again to everyone who contributed, your collective expertise continues to strengthen TELAS and its impact across the sector.

Elaine Huber, Chris Campbell, Lisa Jacka, Lisa Bugden
TELAS Team

OTHER NEWS

The Future University: Humanising Technology for Connection and Flourishing

Hosted by the Digital Wellbeing Communities Research Hub, University of Melbourne.

Date: Wednesday 10th June 2026
Time: 9.00am-1.00pm (Melbourne, Australia | AEST, GMT+10)
Where: Online Symposium | Free to attend

How might technology help universities thrive as spaces for meaningful engagement, belonging and inclusion? We ask: What if universities valued play and connection as much as content? How might we design university spaces and pedagogies for belonging rather than delivery? And when algorithms influence who belongs, whose voices are heard — and who decides?

Register (free) here.

Interested in presenting?
Building on three years of research at the Digital Wellbeing Communities Research Hub, this symposium invites research findings, innovative ideas and real-world practices from educators, researchers and innovators.

Call For Submissions 
Submissions are welcome on any relevant topic, including:

• Playful Pedagogies in Digital Worlds: Digital platforms as spaces for curiosity, experimentation and authentic engagement.
• Designing for Connection, Not Consumption: Reimagining learning technologies to prioritise interaction and community.
• Tech-Enabled Belonging and Inclusion: Bridging divides to create equitable, connected learning environments.
• Ethical Algorithms: Reimagining Wellbeing and Belonging Online: Exploring how AI and design can foster fairness, care and inclusion online.

Submit your abstract (200 words) by 1 May 2026 (11:59pm)

If you have any questions or would like further information, please feel free to contact the Digital Wellbeing Hub.

University of Melbourne CSHE Symposium: Cognitive Offloading or Effective Practice? Exploring the Future of Learning with GenAI

Date: Wednesday 3 June

This symposium, hosted by the University of Melbourne’s Centre for the Study of Higher Education (CSHE) and Generative AI in Teaching Community of Practice, will explore the implications of cognitive offloading for higher education. When students outsource aspects of thinking to AI, what happens to learning, understanding, and intellectual development? What tasks or activities are ok to cognitively offload, and how might reliance on AI tools reshape critical thinking, creativity, memory, and disciplinary expertise?

Bringing together scholars, educators and sector leaders, the event will explore:

• The opportunities and risks of AI-assisted study,
• Implications for assessment design and academic standards,
• The implications for professional practice and lifelong learning.

Join the thought-provoking discussion on how higher education can navigate – and shape – the evolving relationship between human cognition and artificial intelligence.

More information here.

The FLANZ Conference 2026: He Tāngata

The FLANZ Conference 2026: He Tāngata, will be held 7-9 October at the Otago Polytechnic Ōtepoti (Dunedin) campus.

With technology now at the heart of distance, online and blended learning, it is through events such as the FLANZ Conference 2026: He Tāngata, that we look beyond what we currently know in order to respond to the expectations of our future learners, educators and policy makers.

The theme, he tāngata (the people), draws on the understanding that education is about our people. FLANZ is working to ensure an affordable yet fulfilling conference experience.

Register to ensure you have the latest information.