Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education

31-7-2017 Bulletin

ASCILITE NEWS

2017 ASCILITE Awards Open for Nominations

Each year, ASCILITE accepts applications for three awards that members are welcome to apply or nominate for and we invite members to consider nominations that they believe qualify.  The three award categories are:

  • Innovation Award
  • Life Member Award
  • Fellow Award

The ASCILITE Innovation Award, first introduced in 2011, 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.   Applications for this award are likely to include:

  • Innovative solutions which promote the exemplary and research informed use of technologies for teaching and learning in tertiary education.
  • Product development projects which promote the exemplary and research informed use of technologies for teaching and learning in tertiary education.
  • Large-scale implementation initiatives which promote the innovative, exemplary and research informed use of technologies for teaching and learning in tertiary education.
  • Major professional development initiatives which promotes the exemplary and research informed use of technologies for teaching and learning in tertiary education.

The ASCILITE Fellow Award recognises the outstanding contributions of individual ASCILITE members in the exemplary use of, and/or research into, technologies for teaching and learning in tertiary education. The nature of these contributions should cover one or more of the following categories:

  • Professional mentoring that encourages and supports the exemplary use of technologies for teaching and learning in tertiary education.
  • Professional leadership in the development, application or implementation of exemplary technology-related projects for teaching and learning in tertiary education.
  • Sustained innovations in practice in the exemplary use of technologies for teaching and learning in tertiary education.
  • Quality research in the use of technologies for teaching and learning in tertiary education leading to significant new knowledge and/or understandings.

Fellow Award recipients undertake several activities in the year following their award in order to meet the above commitments. Examples of the kinds of activities expected of a Fellow may be found in the Fellow Awards Criteria form here.  The Fellow Award can be awarded to the same person more than once; however, the award cannot recognise the same achievement more than once.

An ASCILITE Life Member Award is a prestigious award that recognizes the significant service and/or sustained contribution of an ASCILITE member to the Society. Life Member Awards are the highest recognition of achievement made by ASCILITE. This award is made only when an appropriate candidate meets the criteria. This means that the award may not be presented every year.

You can view detailed awards criteria for each award and download nomination forms from the ASCILITE website awards page. Applications are open until 17 October 2017.

ASCILITE LA-SIG Webinar: Data, analytics and learning: interdisciplinary approaches to the generation of actionable knowledge

Date & Time: 9 August at 10am (AEST)

Abstract: Much of my research has focused on understanding the complexity of learning situations so that instructors can provide more targeted support to learners. In recent years, this has been referred to as the generation of actionable knowledge, or knowledge that can be used to inform policy and practice. The collection, analysis, and translation of this knowledge into practice are distinct processes, with different tools and expertise required. Multimodal data is necessary to understand complex learning environments, some of which may be generated from ‘big’ learning data, but not all. As we develop additional ways to capture multimodal data, we also need to move towards understanding how to interpret and connect multiple data types, and identify processes and tools to inform this practice. Each data type comes with its own methodological and theoretical assumptions.

In this webinar, I will talk about the application of an interdisciplinary approach to the generation of actionable knowledge for learning, teaching and research. Interdisciplinary research connects experts from multiple disciplines, to jointly address a question that cannot be entirely answered by a single perspective. Building on research from other fields facing similar challenges, the key steps in interdisciplinary research are to: identify an appropriate research question; develop a shared vocabulary; co-create boundary negotiating objects; visualize and combine data; and produce a new model of understanding. I will discuss the challenges and potential of connecting the interpretations of researchers, designers and instructors; using multiple types of data; and multiple theoretical and methodological approaches.

Presenter: Dr Kate Thompson is a Senior Lecturer, Educational Technology, School of Education and Professional Studies at Griffith University.   The underlying focus of Dr Thompson’s research is learning sciences, specifically collaborative learning and discovering patterns of learner interaction that could be used by an instructor to indicate progress through a task. Her research in this area influences how educators design for the use of a range of digital technologies as the tool around which collaboration occurs in increasingly complex face-to-face and online collaborative environments. Kate’s research has been applied in collaborative learning and learning situations that include school students (primary and secondary), undergraduate and postgraduate students. A recent focus has been in interdisciplinary collaboration with two core groups: environmental science graduate students (USA), and STEAM (Australia). The impact of this research is widespread in the USA, through a National Science Foundation grant, the team is implementing the research-informed design of collaborative, interdisciplinary problem solving in five institutions, and another five to be added in 2017. In Australia, Dr Thompson leads teams working networks of schools looking at school change mediated by STEAM and Digital Technologies in Brisbane and Canberra.

In 2016 Dr Thompson received funding to lead the Creative Practice Lab (CPL) at Griffith University. Located in a newly constructed learning space in the School of Education and Professional Studies, the CPL combines teacher education and digital technologies, with state-of-the-art video recording and online collaboration systems. The ultimate aim of the research in the CPL is to understand pedagogical practices in contemporary learning spaces, learning analytics informed practice, and online collaboration and design.

To register: You can register for this webinar here.

TELedvisors SIG Webinar: The pluses and pitfalls of gamification in tertiary education

Date & Time: Thursday 3 August 12pm – 1pm (AEST)

Abstract: Gamification and game-based learning are hot topics in tertiary education, offering greater engagement with students that have a myriad of other media clamouring for their attention. Can it actually help or is it simply more hype?

Presenters: Our presenters have worked and researched in this field extensively and will share their (perhaps divergent) takes with us:

To Register: There is no need to pre-register.  Simply join the session via this link.

New TELall Blog Post: “ASCILITE2017: Here we come!”

In the latest TELall blog, Helen Farley, Associate Professor Digital Futures (USQ) talks about the ASCILITE 2017 conference scheduled for 4 – 6 December 2017 in Toowoomba and hosted by USQ. Helen, who is a local of Toowoomba provides a glowing expose of what the city has to offer.  You’ll be surprised at just what a hidden gem Toowoomba really is.  Check-out her post here.

Online registration for ASCILITE2017 is due to open within days, so keep your eye out and check the conference registration page later in the week.  Alternatively, subscribe to conference updates via RSS or email.

You can also expect to see the line of Keynotes at this year’s conference announced over the coming weeks.

And why not subscribe to the ASCILITE TELall blog while you’re at it.  Or leave a comment!

OTHER NEWS

Call for Papers: 12th Annual Technology, Education and Development Conference (INTED2018)

INTED2018 (12th annual Technology, Education and Development Conference) will be held on the 5 – 7 March 2018 in Valencia, Spain.  After 12 years, INTED has become an annual meeting point for lecturers, researchers, professors, educational scientists and technologists. Every year, INTED brings together over 700 delegates from 80 different countries.

INTED is an ideal opportunity to present your projects and experiences to an international audience. Also, it will offer participants an overview of the current situation of education and new learning technologies.

The deadline for abstract submissions is 30 November 2017 and all abstracts should be submitted online here.

INTED2018 Proceedings will be reviewed for their inclusion in the ISI CPCI (Web of Science). Previous editions are already indexed. Also, a DOI number will be assigned to each accepted paper.

We are sure that it will be very interesting for professionals in the area of Education, Development, Innovation and New Learning Technologies.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Yours sincerely,

INTED2018 Organising Committee
Email: inted2018@iated.org
Website: http://iated.org/inted/

Institutional Members