Day two of the ascilite 2008 conference offers a variety of interesting presentations commencing with a keynote presentation from Dr Michelle Selinger.
Please note that morning tea, afternoon tea and lunch are included in the registration fee.
Jo Lander and Sharon Reid
School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine
University of Sydney
Recent years have seen the increasing integration of asynchronous online discussions, often embodying a collaborationist, constructivist pedagogical paradigm, into on- and off-campus postgraduate courses. This paper uses data from published research, a series of course evaluations and one study by the authors into the development of a community of practice to highlight the tensions between pedagogy and student expectations in this context, and explore possible biases in existing research methodologies. These, taken together, may mean that educators and researchers are not clearly hearing student voices when they interact online or report their experiences of asynchronous online discussions.
Keywords: online discussions, asynchronous discussions
Neil Harris and Maria Sandor
School of Public Health
Griffith University
It is important for higher education to evolve and incorporate new teaching and learning technologies as they emerge. While such technologies can offer new educational possibilities, it is vital to ensure their usage is grounded in pedagogical thinking and enriches the learning experience of students. Computer-mediated communication (CMC), and more specifically online discussion forums, is being increasingly utilised. However, how to best incorporate such applications remains modest amongst most academics. This paper presents a framework of the online discussion forum as a student centred peer e-earning environment. In particular, the paper presents research findings relating to student views on participation and interaction in these online discussion forums. Data was gathered through semi-structured interviews with students. The findings support the discussed framework in that it allows students to take an active role in their learning and enriches their learning experience. In summary, the framework provides a viable mean of implementing peer learning in an online learning environment.
Keywords: Discussion forums, peer learning, participation, student views
Chinmoy Sahu
U21Global, Singapor
Technology has for long been used as a pedagogical aid in learning. While technology has numerous ways of providing pedagogical assistance, the current paper attempts to focus on online discussion boards as a pedagogical tool in an elearning environment. The paper highlights some of the pedagogical attributes of online asynchronous discussion boards that do not exist in a traditional classroom learning environment. Based on ideas emphasised in literature, the paper lists learner centricity, asynchronous interaction, communication effectiveness and assessment facilitation as the major pedagogical attributes of online discussion boards. Even as technological innovations continue to evolve alternative pedagogical tools, discussion boards continue to play a significant role in the learning facilitation process. The paper also discusses the strategy of applying data mining techniques to aid assessment of discussion board transcripts. Text mining as an extension of data mining algorithm could be used effectively to assess discussion board transcripts with the goal of eliminating subjectivity in the assessment of discussion board contributions.
Keywords: discussion board, learner centricity, asynchronous learning, elearning, assessment, data mining Julia Thornton
School of Global Studies, Social Science and Planning, RMIT University
The purpose of this study is to understand the role played by cognitive framing in setting the parameters for teachers use of courseware. I use a small study of 10 teachers, emphasising two, to suggest that there are a number of 'frames' built up from previous teaching practice which influence the varieties of teachers' engagement style used to approach 'mixed medium' teaching. The study shows that teachers who have mastered a set of basic skills in using Blackboard are in some instances content to remain guided by an 'information transfer' episteme; they are technologically adequate but passive, while other teachers who have relatively basic technological knowledge can produce truly 'blended' teaching using both face to face and online modes to the best value of their respective strengths. I argue that the explanation of this rest in the frames teachers use to understand what they are doing when engaging online. One particular frame found in interviews also suggests that an immersion in understanding one's own pedagogical practices produces more effective teaching online than does understanding technology. This has implications for teacher educators as well as for notions of pedagogy as resident in software.
Keywords: online teaching; teaching frames of reference; blended teaching; sensemaking; pedagogy in higher education.
Elizabeth Stacey
Faculty of Arts and Education, Deakin University
Philippa Gerbic
Faculty of Education, Auckland University of Technology
There is now a new landscape in educational technology where physical and virtual environments are blended to support learning in university courses. Blended learning has potential to improve learning but there are also challenges, especially in responding to the complexity of two environments and embedding it as a legitimate learning environment. Owing to the newness of the blended learning concept in higher education, little is known about what makes a successful blended learning experience and this paper provides an overview of success factors that are starting to emerge from the literature, research and our practice. It also offers some suggestions for future research.
Keywords: Blended learning, research, success factors
Jo McKenzie
Institute for Interactive Media and Learning, University of Technology, Sydney
Lina Pelliccione
School of Education, Curtin University
Nicola Parker
Institute for Interactive Media and Learning, University of Technology, Sydney
The growth of blended learning environments in higher education has emphasised the need for better ways of describing and recognising good teaching that promotes student learning in these environments. Although the affordances of e-learning technologies have long been discussed, there has been little emphasis on developing systematic processes for recognition of good teaching in blended learning environments and developmental feedback for academics. This paper reports on work in progress on a two year ALTC project in which teams across the ATN universities are developing a scholarly framework and a sustainable process for peer reviews through a co-productive, action research approach. The peer review process is currently being developed and trialled, with team members focusing on aspects of their teaching in blended learning environments across a wide range of disciplines and contexts. The challenges encountered to date include: successfully combining formative and summative goals for reviews; balancing concerns about trust and independence; the extent to which blended learning and/or disciplinary expertise is necessary for reviewers and the ubiquitous time constraints. Peer review of learning and teaching in blended learning environments is complex. A significant challenge for this project is ensuring that the processes and resources developed are sustainable and helpful for a wide range of academics and universities, as well as useful for improving student learning.
Keywords: peer review of teaching, blended learning, action research, improving student learning
Mary Simpson
University of Otago
Although a lot has been written and said about blended learning, realising the potential that has been written and spoken about is challenging. This paper presents a case study of an initial teacher programme where a commitment to providing more interactivity, ensuring media richness and to personalising the learning experience for students led to a reconceptualisation of the delivery and a move to a blended learning approach. The nature of teacher education is explored and considered alongside the potential of blended learning and the question asked: Can an initial teacher education programme be redesigned in a way that realises the potential of blended learning? In attempting to answer this question design, development and implementation issues are explored and the responses to them outlined. The paper concludes with suggestions for other higher education institutions contemplating similar change and some initial thoughts about assessment and evaluation of the effectiveness of blended learning in the university based initial teacher education programme that provided the case study for this paper.
Keywords: blended learning, programme implementation, programme redesign, initial teacher education
Maria Northcote
Centre for Teaching and Learning
University of Newcastle, NSW
Online learning environments are as diverse as the students and teachers who inhabit them. While one person may envisage an online learning environment to be a simulated website, another may imagine a site where vast numbers of students communicate using discussion boards, email and chat. With these varied expectations and perceptions in mind, this paper begins by acknowledging why a sense of place in online learning contexts can support and enhance the quality of student learning in higher education courses which have online components. Using George Seddon's understanding of sense of place (Seddon, 1972, 2004), the paper presents an analysis of developments in online learning spaces and explores this concept in terms of online learning, identity, community and belonging. As a student, locating oneself in an online learning environment is sometimes difficult - difficult to navigate, difficult to know and difficult to ascertain one's location as an individual and as a member of a community in virtual terms. Although the benefits offered by flexible, technologically-rich learning contexts often outweigh the problems associated with this type of learning, the confusion and disorientation sometimes felt by learners during online learning experiences is thought to be worthy of acknowledgement and analysis. The paper concludes with six recommendations drawn from "lessons learned" from online educators and students, and those researchers who have investigated online learning contexts over the past decades. It is anticipated that these recommendations will assist to foster a sense of place in future online learning environments.
Keywords: online learning, sense of place, community
Roderick Sims
Instructional Design for Online Learning, Capella University
Lene Mikkelsen
School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England
Paul Iji
School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England
Programs traditionally offered through distance and/or residential models of delivery are being challenged by the value and accessibility of online learning. For the Australian Poultry CRC, the opportunity to both upgrade its foundational units and shift the delivery mode to enhance unit accessibility resulted in funding being allocated for conversion of those units to online delivery. This paper provides the background to the project, the rationale for the development paradigm, the delivery model that emerged through interactions between content and educational specialists and the outcomes of an evaluation conducted over Semester 2, 2008. The project reinforced the value of applying established online learning frameworks to the transformation of educational resources, the importance of subject matter experts collaborating with educational design specialists and the potential for specialist models such as Three-Phase Design (3PD) to facilitate emergent learning opportunities. The project also addressed three key challenges –conversion of face-to-face practical exercises to the online context, changing from a content-rich to an activity-intensive environment and building a functional online course within a short time-frame.
Keywords: poultry production, online learning, higher education, continuous improvement
Michelle Imison and Chris Hughes
School of Public Health and Community Medicine
University of New South Wales
Objectives: This paper reports on an in-progress study of low-fidelity virtual patients (VPs) created by and for medical students at the University of New South Wales. Its goals were to advance the diagnostic reasoning and patient management skills of all participating students.
Methods: Two groups of volunteers from among the University’s fifth-year medical students were trained in the use of software programs that enabled them to produce virtual patients. The cases they subsequently created were then reviewed for accuracy by clinical specialists, and are soon to be trialled with more junior student readers.
Results: Student authors, who came to the project with varying levels of technical confidence and ability, were all able to create interesting and engaging cases. Thus far they have produced eleven VPs, and qualitative analysis indicates positive impacts for their confidence in diagnostic pathways, treatment options and consolidation of knowledge. Quantitative analysis of changes in their clinical reasoning abilities is ongoing.
Conclusion: Given the success of the project, it is highly likely that student-created virtual patients will become an optional assessment task for senior medical students in the future, with the added benefit that this will develop a bank of VPs for future use in the program.
Keywords: medical education, virtual patient, peer learning, VUE, labyrinth
Iain McAlpine, Linda Pannan and Kerry Fitzmaurice
Faculty of Health Sciences, La Trobe University
A learning design based on the enquiry-based learning (EBL) pedagogical model is being used for course unit design in a curriculum change within a faculty of health sciences. The learning design is scalable to support large student cohorts spread across multiple campuses. The EBL model is used to promote high levels of student engagement and active self-directed learning with the aim of enhancing academic performance and making teaching and learning time-efficient for academic staff. The large project described in this paper uses a design-based research method and is currently in its first phase. Details of the enquiry-based blended learning design, its application across the common first year units, and processes used to achieve inclusive dialogue and orient academic staff to its use are reported.
Keywords: pedagogical models, learning designs, enquiry-based learning, curriculum change
Karen M Scott
Paediatric & Child Health, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Sydney
Joanna E MacLean
Faculty of Medicine, The University of Sydney and The Children’s Hospital at Westmead
Tracey Marshall
Department of Respiratory Medicine, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead
Peter Van Asperen
Faculty of Medicine, The University of Sydney and The Children’s Hospital at Westmead
With the rising use of elearning in higher education, an ever-increasing amount of research has been conducted into its educational value. However, such research has been found to focus on academic staff perspectives and course design, rather than student perceptions. When developing elearning resources, staff need to understand not only their academic value, but also how students use and experience elearning. This paper reports on a recent research project that evaluated medical student use and experience of an elearning formative assessment resource that was redesigned to enhance interactivity and feedback. The aim of redevelopment was to help students assimilate and build on their knowledge of paediatric asthma management and begin to apply this knowledge in a clinical context. This study investigated how students used the resource, their evaluation of its effectiveness, including the role of learning for professional competence versus preparation for assessment, and their recommendations for improvement. This research will inform the redevelopment of the resource and the design of future elearning resources.
Keywords: Student evaluation, online formative assessment
Marian Williams, Shilo Brosnan and Jenna Swan
Bond University
This paper explores the development and implementation of a structured computer-based learning tool, named a "SkillQuest", for undergraduate students studying introductory project management at Bond University. This SkillQuest, "Making sense of all the dollars" was developed as an alternative to a lecture on project budgeting. Students are placed in a real-life working environment via a project scenario relevant to their chosen degree. In alignment with the theories of Gestalt, Constructivism and Experiential Learning, the SkillQuest provides a collaborative, student-centred approach where the lecturer acts a facilitator to the learning process. Student survey responses indicate the SkillQuest was a useful learning tool, interesting and a pleasant change from lectures. Statistical analyses of exam results support the use of the SkillQuest as a teaching tool. Use of the SkillQuest to actively engage students in the learning process was deemed a success. It is the belief of the authors that this type of computer-based, collaborative learning can allow students to learn more interactively and in an environment that more closely aligns with their learning preferences. Such a tool can be used in any university discipline in place of the traditional lecture-style approach or as a complement. SkillQuests can be undertaken with the instructor present in a classroom setting or as homework, making them also useful for online studies. This was a small pilot study in a single application. The authors hope that others will adapt this tool for use in their classrooms.
Keywords: computer-based active learning tool, scenarios, project management, collaborative
Des Butler
Faculty of Law, Queensland University of Technology
Janice White
Teaching and Learning Support Services, Queensland University of Technology
Second Life is an on-line three dimensional virtual world which offers a dynamic educational technology landscape. The relationship between participants (real and virtual selves), and objects (both in terms of destinations and notions of capital/inventory) within this landscape, highlight the complex world(s) of an academy that, like the avatars that populate the virtual world, may continually transform to open up new possibilities. The communities, contexts and roles inherent to the experience are similarly integral to the professional development of academics and support staff. Staff and students at the Queensland University of Technology are now utilising the Second Life virtual environment in a variety of contexts. Although these endeavours are in their early stages, a number of themes are emerging which are instructive for future usage of virtual worlds in educational contexts. This paper examines some of the educational models that three dimensional multi-user virtual environments offer, the contexts that they operate in, and the communities they generate in order to respond to the purposes and issues that arise. It also considers the return on investment of having a place in this landscape for individuals, innovators and institutions.
Keywords: virtual worlds, Second Life, support, innovation, communities
P. Craig McIntosh
Faculty of Higher Education, Lilydale, Swinburne University of Technology
Debbi Weaver
Swinburne Professional Learning, Swinburne University of Technology
While the importance of developing and giving feedback on generic skills is widely recognised for on-campus students, this is still largely ignored for off-campus students, primarily due to the practical difficulties involved. This paper reports on a pilot project that introduced a compulsory group work project into an off-campus unit, delivered through Open Universities Australia. Wikis were used as the technical tool to facilitate the project, which was mostly successful for students, albeit stressful and time-consuming for staff. While all participating students successfully completed group projects, only one group demonstrated high levels of collaboration during the process.
Keywords: online collaboration, wikis, open learning
Gayani Samarawickrema
Institute of Learning and Teaching, Deakin University
Elizabeth Stacey
Faculty of Arts and Education, Deakin University
Colin Warren
Faculty of Business and Law, Deakin University
This paper reports on a two staged staff development exercise to help new academic staff to integrate Web 2.0 technologies including web-based communication and some digital technologies into their curricula. It involved professional development for the teaching staff in the first stage followed by these teachers providing professional development for the course participants. The teachers engaged in a blended community of inquiry with face-to-face sessions and online work while the professional development for the course participants included technical support, training and a peer group environment with formal allocation of time for the course, finally leading to an institutionally recognised qualification. Evaluations conducted through focus group interviews revealed that collegial networks and time were important for effective professional development. The paper reflects on the successes and limitations of the model and its potential for further development. It also highlights the importance of providing professional development in a safe environment for academics to adopt technologies for teaching and learning.
Keywords: professional development, social software, online community, Web 2.0 technologies
Kevin Burden
Centre for Educational Studies
The University of Hull, UK
Simon Atkinson
College of Education
Massey University, NZ
This short paper describes a small, ongoing case study exploring how the affordances of a media sharing Web 2.0 application (VoiceThread) can be evaluated for its pedagogical value. Web 2.0 technologies emerge so quickly it is difficult for educators to gauge their actual value in practical terms. In many cases the latest Web 2.0 technologies are superseded almost before they emerge from their beta testing phase. Rather than focusing on the individual characteristics or details of the technology itself, this case study uses a new learning design framework (the Digital Artefacts for Learner Engagement framework: DiAL-e) to chart the affordances and uses which educators might find valuable. The tool has been used as the basis of an on-line pilot project for the Joint Information Service Committee in the UK (JISC) in which academics from further and higher education have been learning how to harness the potential of digital artefacts and Web 2.0 tools to enhance teaching and student learning. The initial responses from participants and tutors indicate this is a useful instrument through which to evaluate the potential pedagogical value of a particular application set within a wider sociocultural context.
Keywords: voicethread; affordances; DiAL-e framework; media
Rosemary Chang
Engineering Learning Unit, The University of Melbourne
Gregor Kennedy and Tom Petrovic
Biomedical Multimedia Unit, The University of Melbourne
Web 2.0 technologies are able to support established student-centred pedagogies by enabling user-created content. However, user-created content generates some interesting challenges for educators, curriculum coordinators and designers—including issues such as academic integrity, public environments and shifting academic authority.
This paper looks at the question of how students responded to shifts in authority in the specific example of a podcasting activity using student-generated content. We report on themes that emerged from university medical students' reflections on the learning activity: resistance to shifting academic authority, hybrid teacher/student approaches to content, and the perceived benefits of peer learning. The paper concludes with a discussion of how understandings of the process of content creation, as opposed to the end product, are key to perceptions of the educational value of user-created content.
Keywords: Web 2.0, user-created content, teacher authority, student voice, podcast
Nicola Carr
RMIT University, nicky.carr@rmit.edu.au
Web 2.0 technologies including blogs, wikis, RSS, social bookmarking and a host of new and emerging applications are gaining popularity in classrooms at all levels of education globally. Such technologies are claimed to offer new ways of fostering interaction, community building, content creation and modification and knowledge building in the classroom. However, as with more traditional forms of technology that have been appropriated for the classroom, it is important that Web 2.0 technologies are not just used because they are the latest thing, but that authentic and pedagogically sound contexts are developed for applying these new applications in classrooms. This paper reports on initial attempts to integrate wiki technologies into a pre-service teacher education course as a way of fostering collaborative knowledge building networks within the classroom and to model an authentic way of integrating technology into curriculum. Pre-service teaching students were situated in a rich, problem-based learning scenario, delivered in a blended model of face-to-face and online modes, including wikis. Research into students' responses to the use of the wikis suggests that most students were highly engaged in the environment and that the use of the wiki facilitated group interaction and collaborative learning, but that there needs to be further work in instilling a culture of collaboration and collective knowledge creation to realise the full potential that wikis offer an educational setting.
Keywords: Web 2.0, ICT affordance, knowledge building networks, social software
Anthony Chan
School of Computing & Mathematics
Charles Sturt University
Catherine McLoughlin
School of Education
Australian Catholic University
This brief study was conducted as part of a project in the effectiveness of innovative pedagogies conducted in a rural state high school in 2008. The project surveyed an entire
cohort of 150 students in Year 9. Information was collected pertaining to uptake of, and knowledge of social networking tools and podcasting. In order to collect data, a survey was designed asking students to rate themselves on their ability to use tools such as wikis, online chats, blogging, online games, networking sites and electronic mail. Results showed that usage of some tools such as blogs and wikis was minimal. These outcomes provide the researchers with valuable insights into the potential for uptake of web 2.0 tools in the classroom
Keywords: net generation, digital natives, y generation, web 2.0, secondary education, regional, rural