ASCILITE NEWS

FROM SANDY’S DESK…

ASCILITE 2025 conference convenor, Dr Sandy Barker and the ASCILITE 2025 team would like to sincerely thank everyone that joined us in Adelaide for the 2025 ASCILITE conference and farewell to UniSA. We are grateful for everyone’s contributions, presenting, sponsoring or just attending, as you all played a pivotal role in the success of this year’s conference.

Our inspiring keynote speakers, Kelly and Michael, and our energetic invited speakers, Lynn and Mollie, provided a lot for us to consider as we move into another era of change in the higher education sector. For those able to attend our Community Mentor session with Dani Logan-Fleming after lunch on Wednesday, we were treated to a serious provocation about Assurance of Learning and were challenged to consider where we fit on the tolerance line. Every presentation at the conference offered us a chance to learn, grow and connect with new or current colleagues.

The enthusiasm and energy from everyone was truly contagious, highlighting our shared dedication to making a positive impact and driving innovation in technology enhanced learning in higher education.

By the numbers ASCILITE 2025 included:

225 Submissions – 167 accepted including

• 30 Full Papers
• 59 Concise Papers
• 24 Posters,
• 39 PechaKuchas,
• 9 Panels/Symposia, and
• 4 preconference workshops.

The post conference survey is open and all delegates were sent an email with the link – PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE give us your feedback.  It is all important to us.

The conference proceedings are available online here. S. Barker, S. Kelly, R. McInnes & S. Dinmore (Eds.), Future Focused: Education in an Era of Continuous Change. Proceedings ASCILITE 2025. Adelaide.

We hope to see you all again in Brisbane for ASCILITE2026.

(Save the date: 29 November – 2 December 2025)

ASCILITE Award Winners 2025

Congratulations to the 2025 winners 

Student Bursary

• Mazen Abdulwahab Mahyoub Salem Asag, Islamic University of Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh,”My Journey with Education Technologies“

Community Fellows

• Professor Henk Huijser,  Queensland University of Technology
• Penny Wheeler, University Technology Sydney

Emerging Scholar

• Dr Kashmira Dave, University of New England

Innovation Award

• Dr Alison Wong and Dr Stephen Tierney, “Empowering Women to Code: Playful Learning with Karel”

The Allan Christie ASCILITE Innovation Award

• Dr Alison Wong and Dr Stephen Tierney,The University of Sydney,  “Empowering Women to Code: Playful Learning with Karel”

The Anthology Education Designer of the Year Award: in memory al Allan Christie

• Karl McGuirk, University of Auckland, “AI, Pedagogy, and Practice: A Strategic Professional Learning Initiative”

ASCILITE/CAULLT Award

• Lynn Gribble, University of New South Wales, “Sustained innovation and leadership“

ASCILITE Grants
Early Career Researcher

•  Dr Carmen Vallis, The University of Sydney, “Face Value: Identity and Avatars in Practice”

General Academic

• Chen Zheng,  Curtin University, “Generative AI (GenAI) and Student Equity in Higher Education: Unpacking Uneven Impacts Across Equity Cohorts”

Professional Staff Researcher

• Dr Mimi Tsai, Queensland University of Technology, “From Concern to Design: Exploring Conscientious Objection to Gen AI in Higher Education”

Life Member

• Not awarded in 2025

Conference Best Full Paper

• Dr Kashmira Dave, University of New England, “Reframing the Migrant Academic Journey through Activity Theory: A Reflective Autoethnography“

Conference Best Student Paper

• Xiaoyu Zhuang, University of Queensland, “Enhancing Self-Regulated Learning with Large Language Models: A Pilot Study on the Feasibility of Local Deployment”

Best Concise Paper

• Simone Tyrell (Deakin University), Karine Cosgrove (Griffith University), Helmy Cook (Monash University), Kranthi Addanki (James Cook University), Leanne Ngo (Latrobe University), “LIFT as Leadership Practice: Cultivating Identity, Influence, and Belonging for Women in the Third space”

Sue Gregory
ASCILITE Awards lead

 Women in Professional Leadership 2026

The Women in Professional Leadership (WiPL) program will be open for a new intake of mentees/mentors in early 2026. The application form for this program will be made available in January/February.

More information about the WiPL program is available here.Lisa Bugden, Karine Cosgrove & Justine Maldon
WiPL leads

Enhance Teaching Quality and Gain Recognition through TELAS: Apply for your course or program to have a TELAS Peer-Review

Are you looking to enhance the quality of your online or blended learning?

The Technology Enhanced Learning Accreditation Standards (TELAS) offers a rigorous, evidence-based framework to review and improve the design of digital learning, whether at the unit, course, program, school, or institutional level.

TELAS reviews provide valuable, structured feedback and benchmarking aligned with national standards. Reviewed learning packages receive a TELAS digital badge, which can support promotion, award applications, or internal quality assurance processes. Most importantly, the process helps ensure that students benefit from a more coherent and high-quality learning experience.

We currently have capacity in our review schedule. If you’re curious about how TELAS could be applied in your context or would like to explore a School or institution-wide approach please contact us on admin@telas.com for a conversation with the TELAS team. You can also review the accreditation fees here.

Elaine Huber, Chris Campbell & Lisa Jacka
TELAS leads

ASCILITE Website maintenance window

The ASCILITE websites

• ascilite.org,
• blog.ascilite.org, and
• telas.edu.au (and the app)

Will be intermittently unavailable in the week of  8 – 12 January 2026. We need to conduct some overdue server maintenance

We apologies for any inconvenience caused.

ASCILITE Secretariat

OTHER NEWS

LAK26 Workshop Paper Submissions extended to December 18!

LAK26 Workshop Paper Submissions: Applications now close December 18 at 11:59pm AOE. 

LAK26 Reminders

• LAK26 Registration: Now open
• Conference Scholarship applications close on Dec. 17
• SoLAR Executive Committee Nominations are open and due January 9, 2026

Upcoming EDEN NAP Webinar: AI and Teacher Agency: Maintaining Human-Centered Pedagogy in Automated Classrooms

Date: Wednesday 10th December 2025
Time: 13:00 CET

As artificial intelligence becomes more present in classrooms, questions arise about how to preserve the central role of teachers in shaping learning. This EDEN webinar examines how AI tools can support or challenge teacher agency and student engagement. Presenters will reflect on the risks of over-automation, the importance of human judgment, and strategies for maintaining human-centered pedagogy in an AI-driven era. The session will invite discussion on how educators can integrate AI critically and ethically while ensuring that meaningful teacher-student relationships remain at the heart of education.

Register here.