Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education

ASCILITE NEWS

2021 ASCILITE Awards Open for Nominations

Each year, ASCILITE members are invited to apply or nominate for the ASCILITE awards and to consider nominations that they believe meet the criteria set for each award. The four award categories available to members in 2021 are as follows:

  • Innovation Award
  • Emerging Scholar Award
  • Community Fellow Award
  • Life Member Award

Innovation 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.

Emerging Scholar Award

Nominations for the ASCILITE Emerging Scholar Award will be assessed on merit by a sub-committee of the ASCILITE Executive.   The following criteria guides the assessment of this award:

  • Has made a noteworthy contribution in the exemplary use of technologies for learning and teaching in tertiary education in one of the categories referred to in the award criteria document; and/or
  • Has made a noteworthy contribution to exemplary research into technologies for learning and teaching in tertiary education in one of the referred to in the award criteria document; and
  • Through their contributions has promoted the strategic vision, mission and goals of ASCILITE.

Community Fellow Award

The ASCILITE Community Fellow Award aims to recognise the outstanding contributions of individual ASCILITE members in the exemplary building of connections in the wider community and into the ASCILITE community. The nature of these contributions should cover one or more of the following categories:

  • Works within the community to develop professional leadership in the development, application or implementation of exemplary technology-related projects for teaching and learning in tertiary education.
  • Encourages and supports the exemplary use of technologies for teaching and learning in tertiary education within the community.
  • Encourages innovations in practice in the exemplary use of technologies for teaching and learning in tertiary education.
  • Participates and initiates discussion in the use of technologies for teaching and learning in tertiary education in the wider community.

Life Member Award

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.

Further Information

For further information on each award, refer to the specific award criteria and nomination form on the ASCILITE website.  The closing date for nominations is 18 October 2021.


Learning Analytics SIG webinar: Digging Deeper into the Ethical Use of Learning Analytics

Date and time: 22 September @ 9:00 am – 10:00 am AEST | 7am Singapore/Hong Kong | 11am Auckland | Other time zones

Ensuring that learning analytics are used in an ethical way is a concept that learning analytics practitioners, teachers, designers, and researchers continue to grapple with as data becomes more prevalent in education. Building a shared understanding of how we can bring together research on this concept with policy and practice is key to being able to address this challenge.

In response, the ASCILITE Learning Analytics SIG team have put together a series of activities to explore the ethics of learning analytics in more detail. The series started with a discussion of a recent white paper on the ethical use of learning analytics in Australian higher education. Throughout March the LA SIG hosted an asynchronous discussion of the key issues that arise from the paper, followed by a panel of experts discussion (webinar) in mid-April. The LA SIG is currently preparing an online workshop focused on the topics that emerged from these conversations and the outcomes of the workshop will inform the development of a resource for the learning analytics and educational technology community.

In the first part of this talk, we will share some of the issues commonly raised by researchers and practitioners in the field. We will tackle topics that range from transparency and data ownership, to student agency and responsibility, as well as why privacy is instrumental in learning analytics. In the second part of the workshop, we will invite participants to join and further the conversation by exploring everyday uses of learning analytics and the ethical issues that can arise in relations to these. The outcome of this discussion will feed into the future workshop that will be held as a part of the “digging deeper” series.

Organizers: Srecko Joksimovic (University of South Australia); Hazel Jones (Griffith University) and Linda Corrin (Swinburne University of Technology).

Target audience: Practitioners, Researchers, Students

Target level: Introductory to intermediate

Registration: Eventbrite


Transforming Assessment SIG webinar: Using video in assessment and feedback

Date and time: 6 October 2021 @ 6pm AEDT | 3pm Singapore/Hong Kong | 8pm Auckland | Other time zones

This session will explore two approaches to using video in assessment and feedback and is jointly presented by Transforming Assessment and the Assessment in Higher Education Network (UK).

Presenter 1: Justin Rami (Dublin City University, Ireland) “The impact and possibilities of video feedback in higher education – towards a model of care, trust, and social presence.”

This presentation will explore the use, impact and possibilities of Video Feedback in Higher Education towards a model of care, trust and social presence. Fostering the conditions for the design of a sustainable model in which dialogical feedback/forward can develop means the function of feedback can be mutually understood and utilised.

Presenter 2: Elizabeth Hidson, Ian Elliott, Alison Griffiths, Vikki Wynn, Simon Sheard & Jemma Bell (University of Sunderland, UK) “Video-enhanced dialogic assessment of teaching practice portfolios”

Our guiding research question asks “what evidence of practice is co-constructed through the video-enhanced dialogic assessment interview process?” In this presentation, we present the Video-Enhanced Dialogic Assessment (VEDA) process and research project in the context of teacher education. VEDA can most easily be imagined as an online viva voce oral examination. We share two key case studies from the ongoing project. One focuses on the trainee teacher for whom formative video-stimulated recall, reflection and dialogue is part of their learning i.e assessment for learning. The other case study will present the summative high-stakes VEDA interview where the assessor must be confident that all the evidence presented demonstrates that the candidate meets the necessary teachers’ standards.

Further information and registration is available via the TA-SIG website.


Webinar recording available on “Students as Partners” hosting by the Business Education SIG

Students as Partners is being embraced as a teaching and learning principle across the world. This session explained what constitutes students as partners (SaP) and how it can improve and support student learning in Business. The session, conducted on 6 September, was presented by Dr Amanda White (University of Technology Sydney) and Danielle Logan (Griffith University) with a panel of experts comprising Dr Leah Coutts (Griffith University), Dr Mollie Dollinger (Deakin University), Madelaine Marie-Judd (University of Queensland) and Dr Fiona O’Riordan (Dublin City University).

You will find the recording on the ASCILITE website here.


TELAS Information Session open for registration

We are delighted to invite you to ASCILITE’s second information session on 29 September to introduce participants to the TELAS Framework and the TELAS certified reviewer process.

TELAS stands for the Technology Enhanced Learning Accreditation Standards which have been developed through peer consultation with many ASCILITE members and education leaders across the sector. The first information session, which took place on 2 September, had over 30 participants.

TELAS Information Session

The Information Session is intended for those who wish to familiarize themselves with the TELAS Framework, the peer review process and what’s involved in becoming a Certified Reviewer. The aim of the two hour session is to (1) raise awareness of good practices in the design of quality online learning, as rationalized in the TELAS Framework; (2) introduce you to the affordances for quality online learning design against the TELAS Framework measures; and (3) introduce you to the TELAS review process.  The session is scheduled for 29 September 2021 @ 10am – 12pm AEST.  You will find the session start time for other time zones here

You will need to register for this session. Please note that there is a $30 fee to cover administrative costs. The same fee applies to ASCILITE members and non-members.

TELAS Reviewer Certification workshop

We will also be conducting the first full day TELAS Reviewer Certification Workshop split across two days in October for those who wish to become TELAS Certified Reviewers. Participants will be required to perform pre-work and undertake follow-up reviews to become certified. This workshop is scheduled across the two following days:

Please register your expression of interest for the workshop and further details will be provided including payment details, pre-work and follow up review information. The cost of the workshop will be $150 for members and $300 for non-members*. The non-member fee includes a 12 month membership in ASCILITE.

If you work at a university that has an unlimited ASCILITE membership (La Trobe University, Australian Catholic University, University of Wollongong, University of Melbourne or Central Queensland University) and you are not yet a member of ASCILITE, please join for free since the cost is covered by your institution. Once you’ve done that, you may select the $150 workshop fee category when you register for the certification workshop.


Call for Applications in the 2021 – 2022 D2L / ASCILITE Research Grants

ASCILITE is pleased to continue its two year partnership with D2L and to now open the call for 2021 – 2022 Research/Scholarship grant applications.

The D2L / ASCILITE grants are only available to ASCILITE members. A maximum funding of $5,000 will be made available per project although it is possible that less funding may be made available per project in order to fund a higher number of projects. D2L contributes $5,000 per year with ASCILITE contributing the balance of $5,000. Funding was made available in 2020 – 2021 and is now available for 2021 – 2022.

Grant applicants have one year to complete their projects with a final report due in March of the following year.

Research/scholarship grants that involve more than one university are encouraged.

At least one member of the research team must be an Early Career Researcher (within five years of PhD or equivalent completion).

Full details of the grants, including eligibility criteria and an application form can be found on the ASCILITE website here.


Reminder: Call for Nominations to the Executive Committee

Current ASCILITE financial members are invited to stand for election to the ASCILITE Executive Committee and the closing date for nominations is the 21 September 2021.

You will find details of current Executive Members here and a summary of Executive roles and the work of the Executive is outlined in the document Prospective Executive Committee Member Information.

For further information on the work of the Society or the Executive Committee please contact the President, Vice-President or any Executive Committee member. Committee members will be happy to answer your questions by phone or email.

The Call for Nominations is open to all financial members from 30 August to 21 September 2021 and voting will be open to all financial members from 22 September to 8 October 2021. Members will be sent candidate information with an online voting link on 22 September and the results of this ballot will be announced at the ASCILITE Annual General Meeting at ASCILITE 2021.

You will find further details of the election schedule, positions available and nomination forms on the ASCILITE website here.


ASCILITE 2021 Conference registration is open

This is a reminder that registrations are open for the ASCILITE Conference to be held on 29 November – 1 December 2021 at the University of New England in Armidale, NSW.  In the event of lockdowns, UNE will endeavor to retain a hybrid conference with a mixture of face-to-face and virtual. However, if attendees are unable to attend in person, their registration will be converted to virtual attendance and a refund of the difference will be provided.

For further information and to register, visit the conference website. If you have any questions about registration fees and bookings, please email the conference organisers at ascilite2021@une.edu.au


OTHER NEWS

Q&A session with Professor Phillip Dawson on cheating and online learning

Date and Time: 21 September 2021 @ 2pm AEST

To celebrate the launch of the video series ‘Tackling e-cheating & assessment security with Phillip Dawson’, Deakin University’s Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning (CRADLE) and Turnitin will be co-hosting a Q&A session. Phill will be joined by Turnitin’s Chukwudi Ogoh, and they will discuss your questions about cheating.

To register and (optionally) submit a question in advance, visit this page.

CRADLE looks forward to welcoming you at this informative and compelling session. For enquiries, please email the Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning.

Dr Helen Walker
Research Manager
Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning
Portfolio of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Education

Institutional Members