Fortnightly Bulletin, 17 March 2014
ASCILITE NEWS
ascilite Announces New SIG (Special Interest Group) Initiative
The ascilite Executive is proud to announce an exciting SIG (Special Interest Group) initiative for the ascilite community. ascilite SIGs will offer ascilite members and non-members the opportunity to work together to pursue common interests in research and practice and to create a ‘buzz’ around their focus, goals and achievements both within and beyond the ascilite community.
Members are now invited to submit proposals to form SIGs that have a clear purpose and need that aligns with the ascilite Strategic Plan and which describes SIG activities that engage members towards meaningful outcomes.
Approved SIGs will have access to annual funding from ascilite and may be extended beyond the first year if they prove to be viable. SIGs will be encouraged to utilise ascilite’s webinar service to conduct their own webinars and they will have access to a dedicated presence on the new ascilite website (to be launched shortly). SIGs will be encouraged to use ascilite’s social media and networking tools to broadcast their activities and achievements to the ascilite community and beyond. SIG events at the ascilite conference will also provide opportunities to promote SIG activities to meetings, discuss and disseminate information.
To establish and lead a SIG, you must be a current ascilite member, however non-ascilite members can join your SIG.
The SIG initiative has evolved after investigating approaches in similar organisations such as ALT (UK). We are excited to be able to offer this new community building initiative with its focus on member leadership and engagement.
Full details on how to establish a SIG are available via this Policy & Procedure document. After reading this document, you may use this form to submit your proposal. (Email the ascilite Secretariat if you prefer to complete the form using a Word version of the form). There is no deadline for SIG proposals as they may be submitted at any time – however an annual budget allocation will limit the number of SIGs that can be funded in a given year.
If, after reading the policy and procedure and submission form you have any questions about ascilite SIGs then please email the ascilite Secretariat.
Kind regards
Dr Caroline Steel (ascilite President), on behalf of the ascilite Executive
ascilite Welcomes New Institutional Members
ascilite welcomes the University of New England and the Open Poytechnic Kuratini Tuwhere of New Zealand as new institutional members. UNE has taken out a 3 year membership while Open Polytechnic has taken out a one year membership.
Reminder: Call for EOI – Guidelines to Support & Advance Network Engagement
This is a reminder that Expressions of Interest (EOI) are being called for individual/s to develop Guidelines to Support and Advance Network Engagement for Members of Professional Associations and Networks.
These guidelines will be developed in response to the recommendations that came out of recent research conducted by ascilite to identify potential content that could/should go into a guide to support and advance network engagement for members of professional associations and networks in the digital age.
Full details are available for download here.
The deadline for two page responses to the EOI is COB Monday 24 March 2014. However, if you are unable to meet the deadline but would like to be considered for this initiative please contact Dominique Parrish on 0242215492 and at dparrish@uow.edu.au OR Elizabeth Greener on 0402399518 or 07 31385663 and at e.greener@qut.edu.au
OTHER NEWS
Rapid Course Design Today for Tomorrow’s Learners
Swinburne University is excited to offer a free, Open Online Course on the Carpe Diem learning design process developed by Professor Gilly Salmon.
Carpe Diem is a proven collaborative and rapid course development method for effective learning design. Whether it be adapting an existing course for online delivery or ensuring a course is designed for future learning, Carpe Diem is an essential method for those interested in improving learning and teaching.
“Carpe Diem is based on 13 years of research into collaborative design for technology enhanced learning …I am delighted that this MOOC brings Carpe Diem agile, rapid team developments for effective learning design to the broader education community” – Professor Gilly Salmon. Participants in the course will:
- Learn about the Carpe Diem process
- Apply the method to their own learning course design
- Engage and collaborate with other participants in the creation of E-tivities
- Reflect on learning design and the application of Carpe Diem to practice
Join the growing number of practitioners applying Carpe Diem and transforming the learning and teaching experience. The course commences on 10 March 2014 so seize the day and enroll now!
Further Information is available at http://tinyurl.com/ma5ufk6 and you may email inquiries to cdmooc@swin.edu.au.
ICICTE 2014 Conference
ICICTE 2014 (International Conference on Information, Communication Technologies in Education) which will be held on Kos, Greece, between 3 and 5 July, 2014, seeks to address the many challenges and new directions presented by technological innovations in educational settings.
Following in the tradition of previous ICICTE conferences, ICICTE 2014 will bring together an international community of scholars and practitioners in a forum setting. Opportunities for discussion on current thinking and practices in applications of technology to education are enhanced by the limited number of participants
The conference has already received a sizeable number of proposals and deadline for draft full papers is looming on March 28. This is also the deadline for workshop and poster sessions proposals.
Further details are available on the website.
Transforming Assessment Webinar Update
A recording is available here of the 5 March 2014 webinar, ‘Badges for Learning: a review of the formative role of badges in two open online courses‘ presented by Simon Cross, OpenU.
The next Transforming Assessment webinar session will be conducted on Thursday, 3 April and the title is Robust e-Exams: principles and practical examples.
The webinar presenters are Bill Warburton and Graham Robinson, University of Southampton, UK
In this session Bill and Graham will describe the approach they are taking to managing the robust delivery of computer-based exams (CBEs). They will present an account of the work they have undertaken to find ways of simplifying the process of starting, managing and maintaining CBEs and will illustrate the effectiveness of this approach with practical examples of how the EXAMSTART system is being used for University Examinations at the University of Southampton. They will end with some ideas for further work. Audience interaction is encouraged to make it a lively session.
The webinar will be hosted by Professor Geoffrey Crisp (RMIT University, Australia) and Dr Mathew Hillier (Teaching and Educational Development Institute, University of Queensland, Australia).
The full session listing and RSVP instructions are available at http://bit.ly/webinar3april2014
Position Vacant: Head, Technology Enhanced Learning (Associate Professor)
- Learning, Teaching and Curriculum
- Fixed Term (5 year) Appointment
The University of Wollongong is a leading Australian university with a history of outstanding achievement in teaching and learning. Learning, Teaching & Curriculum works collaboratively with the broader Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) portfolio and university community to achieve its mission of enhancing university wide education practice.
We are fundamentally committed to providing our diverse body of students and staff with an engaging world class and internationally oriented learning experience.
In this role you will provide leadership in relation to the strategic development of technology enhanced learning practice including policy development, implementation and evaluation. You will have experience in delivering best practice in learning and teaching outcomes in a technology-rich, complex, higher education environment and also be able to build UOW’s reputation in technology enhanced learning, through both good practice and research.
To apply for this position you will need to address the selection criteria as part of your application, which is located within the position description.
Position Description: http://uow.employment.com.au/dspJobView.cfm?jobID=1185
Contact: A/Prof Romy Lawson, Director Learning, Teaching & Curriculum romy@uow.edu.au.
Positions Vacant: Learning Analytics, University of Melbourne
The Centre for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Melbourne is currently seeking to appoint three people in the areas of learning analytics, eLearning evaluation and the learning sciences.
- Position Number 0032984 – Research Fellow in Higher Education
- Position Number 0032983 – Lecturer (eLearning Evaluation)
- Position Number 0032981 – Research Fellow (Learning Sciences)
For full details and position descriptions please see the University’s job page on the HR website.
ALT News Digest 294
Association for Learning Technology Fortnightly News Digest 293 was issued on 7 March 2014. ALT’s journal – Research in Learning Technology is open access. Articles from the past 20 years are available here.
