Day three of the ascilite 2008 conference offers a variety of interesting presentations commencing with a keynote presentation from Associate Professor Piet Kommers.
Please note that morning tea, afternoon tea and lunch are included in the registration fee.
Sandra Barker
School of Management, University of South Australia
Brenton Fiedler and Philip Johnson
School of Commerce, University of South Australia
The advent of technology in the 1990's was seen as having the potential to revolutionise electronic management of student assignments. While there were advantages and disadvantages, the potential was seen as a necessary part of the future of this aspect of academia. A number of studies (including Dalgarno et al in 2006) identified issues that supported positive aspects of electronic assignment management but consistently identified drawbacks, suggesting that the maximum achievable potential for these processes may have been reached. To confirm the perception that the technology and process are indeed 'marking time' a further study was undertaken at the University of South Australia (UniSA). This paper deals with the study of on-line receipt, assessment and feedback of assessment utilizing UniSA technology referred to as AssignIT. The study identified that students prefer a paperless approach to marking however there are concerns with the nature, timing and quality of feedback. Staff have not embraced all of the potential elements of electronic management of assignments, identified Occupational Health Safety and Welfare issues, and tended to drift back to traditional manual marking processes through a lack of understanding or confidence in their ability to properly use the technology.
Keywords: paperless marking, online submission, electronic assessment, feedback
Eugenia M. W. Ng, and Yiu Chi Lai
Department of Mathematics, Science, Social Sciences and Technology, The Hong Kong Institute of Education
The production of videos and sharing them on the Internet has changed the landscape of communication exchanges, and the approach to education. This change is attributed to the low budgets associated with video production and with the convenience of using the Internet as a means to disseminate the information thus processed, through technology. However, most learning and teaching resources continue to be in the traditional text format, as are the assessment modes for teachers. This study aims to describe an innovative practice of having student teachers present a summary of their final assignments in digital format, which could either be videos or other digital formats. The participants in the study are final year undergraduate and post-graduate Diploma of Education student teachers. For the purpose of the study, the virtual presentations were uploaded to a learning platform to enable the two different classes to comment on each other's work within one week. Thereafter, the data collected, was analysed from tracked statistics provided by the learning platform and students' reflections of this inter-class activity. It was found that most of the participants were positive about this new presentation approach, but they preferred to give comments to peers of their own class rather than comment on the work of the other class. It was concluded that our student teachers were ready to accept virtual presentations in formative assessments, at the same demonstrating a marked reluctance to criticise the work of their peers from a different class.
Keywords: preservice teachers, virtual presentation, reflection, peer assessment
Julia Hallas
Centre for Educational and Professional Development
Auckland University of Technology
This study explored how eight university lecturers adapted and developed their classroom based teaching and assessment strategies for the online environment. Ramsden's (2003) framework for evaluating and recognising effective teaching, which assists lecturers to reflect on their practice, was used to guide the literature review and to gather examples of online teaching and assessment strategies. The examples were evaluated according to good practice principles drawn from the literature. This is a limited study, and the results were used to inform a professional development programme in flexible learning.
Keywords: online teaching practice, online teaching strategies, online assessment
Mai Neo and Tse-Kian Neo
Faculty of Creative Multimedia, Multimedia University, Cyberjaya, Selangor, Malaysia
Wei-Li Yap
INTI International University College, Nilai, Seremban, Malaysia
While using the Web can be viewed nowadays as a new platform for delivery of course materials, there are still many educators who look to the Web as a replacement for their current teaching methods. This paper sought to investigate students' perceptions towards an interactive web-based learning environment, which consisted of using multimedia-mediated web-based learning modules, created based on Mayer's (2001) design guidelines, and the use of weblogs to capture the student learning process. Students were given pre-and posttests, and a survey to ascertain their reactions and attitudes toward this mode of learning. The results obtained were very positive and encouraging. Students generally found the multimedia-mediated web-based learning environment to be enjoyable and motivating, and were able to demonstrate their learning and skills of the subject domain via their weblogs. Results also gave strong support for the use of multimedia in learning modules that followed proper design guidelines which would better engage students in their learning.
Keywords: student-centred learning, web-based learning, interactive multimedia, malaysia
Matthew Riddle
Faculty of Law and Management, La Trobe University
Catherine Howell
Centre for Applied Research in Educational Technologies, University of Cambridge
It is clear that most university students make extensive use of information and communications technologies (ICTs). Many studies have attempted to describe the extent of this use. However, gaining a clear understanding of where, how, and why students use these technologies is more elusive. This project follows students as they use these technologies in their everyday lives, asking them to become co-researchers to take photographs, create diaries and record voice memos of their experience over a full day. Through the use of this novel qualitative approach a rich description of the perspective of student use of ICTs can be developed. The analysis of these data is also informed by a student survey on the use of ICTs. This work shows that students at the University of Cambridge are generally confident users of a number of ICTs, and suggests that students use multiple technologies in parallel to achieve a range of study, leisure and social tasks. In addition, a notably large proportion of Cambridge students reported making use of Facebook to manage their social lives. An analysis of reported locations suggests that students, and particularly undergraduates often use computers in their college rooms for extended periods. The article concludes by reflecting on the day experience method and suggesting possible adaptations for future studies.
Keywords: information and communications technology, qualitative methods, space and time, education
Shane Dawson
Graduate School of Medicine, University of Wollongong
Erica McWilliam and Jen Pei-Ling Tan
ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation, Queensland University of Technology
The trend to greater adoption of online learning in higher education institutions means an increased opportunity for instructors and administrators to monitor student activity and interaction with the course content and peers. This paper demonstrates how the analysis of data captured from various IT systems could be used to inform decision making process for university management and administration. It does so by providing details of a large research project designed to identify the range of applications for LMS derived data for informing strategic decision makers and teaching staff. The visualisation of online student engagement/effort is shown to afford instructors with early opportunities for providing additional student learning assistance and intervention – when and where it is required. The capacity to establish early indicators of 'at-risk' students provides timely opportunities for instructors to re-direct or add resources to facilitate progression towards optimal patterns of learning behaviour. The project findings provide new insights into student learning that complement the existing array of evaluative methodologies, including formal evaluations of teaching. Thus the project provides a platform for further investigation into new suites of diagnostic tools that can, in turn, provide new opportunities to inform continuous, sustained improvement of pedagogical practice.
Keywords: Academic analytics, data mining, evaluation, ICT, social networking
Geraldine Lefoe
Centre for Educational Development and Interactive Resources, University of Wollongong
Ian Olney and Anthony Herrington
Faculty of Education, University of Wollongong
The New Technologies: New Pedagogies Project is a nationally funded project to support the use of mobile learning in higher education to support student learning. We explore the staff development process of this larger project, where academics in a Faculty of Education investigate new pedagogies that are required to meet the needs of millennial learners. The staff development process addressed the need for staff to own and use mobile technology in their professional and personal contexts in order to think differently about engaging their students in pedagogically sound ways. We identified four key actions for participants which contributed significantly to the development of the authentic tasks for their pre-service student teachers to undertake as part of their assessment: an understanding of the theoretical frameworks, (authentic learning, action learning, and mobile learning); an understanding of the affordances of the technologies; active participation in authentic tasks which modeled the practice; and active participation in cycles of reflection based on the implications for the development of new pedagogies presented by the three initial understandings.
Keywords: mobile learning, faculty development, action learning, pedagogy, ipod, smartphone
Hazel Jones
Centre for Educational Development and Interactive Resources (CEDIR)
University of Wollongong
Universities are striving to provide quality learning experiences for their diverse student population and online learning is one aspect of this changing environment. This paper notes barriers that have been recognised that impede faculty uptake of online learning and examines some of the strategies that can be implemented to overcome these barriers. A plan for integrated implementation of online learning is proposed which consists of Planning & Promotion, Education, Support, Training, Encouragement and Recognition & Reward (PESTER). The elements of the plan are described in detail and an example of an implementation plan is provided.
Keywords: barriers to online learning, PESTER plan, support for staff
Stephen Bright
Bethlehem Tertiary Institute
This paper is the final report on this research project as required by the ASCILITE research grant conditions and outlines the research project background, rationale and methodology, and discusses results and conclusions. The project initiated the process of collegial development of a theoretically informed framework which enabled lecturers to retrospectively analyse what they did to create an effective online teacher presence and thereby facilitate a more productive online learning environment for their students. The project involved a pilot group of tertiary e-teachers interacting with an established theoretical framework - seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education (Chickering and Gamson, 1987). They developed, by a consensus process, using a mixture of face-to-face interaction and an online wiki, an extended version of this framework to analyse online interactions for evidence of their teacher presence. Working as a collegial group, lecturers then formulated a process which facilitated peer analysis and review of this data to identify both strengths and areas for further professional learning. Lecturers were invited to self-review an online course which contained examples of online interaction – these were discussed in triads with two other colleagues acting as peer reviewer and interviewer. Several themes emerged from the project conclusions – the framework developed had much in common with other existing evaluative frameworks, staff involved generally reported the process as a positive one, with greater commitment and ownership because of the collegial development, and one of the difficulties participants encountered was the time commitment required.
Terry M. Stewart and Mark E. Brown
Centre for Academic Development and E-Learning, Massey University
Fictional or fact-based interactive scenarios (or cases), where students are able to explore a problem, event or issue, can assists with student problem-solving, decision making and interpretation of data or observations in a real-world context. Software exists to assist with authoring and delivery of these types of learning objects, but one of the hardest tasks is the planning and storyboarding of the scenario itself. Interactive scenarios are context-based, often include elements of drama, and may be required to follow a script of sorts. They must also link back to the learning objectives of the lesson. In goal-based scenarios in particular, where students are required to form hypotheses and test them in order to get to the root of a problem, the scope (and limits) of what they can do within the scenario must be carefully thought about. This paper reports on the initial questions which need to be answered before commencing work, and outlines simple techniques such a whiteboard brainstorming and table-based schemas for developing scenario structure and content. Along with their function as planning aids, these techniques can also be useful in communicating the structure and content to other team members during development. Thirdly, they allow archiving of scenarios in an easy-to-access format, so content can be used in different authoring tools than the one they were originally designed for, and for other modes of delivery, such as face-to-face tutorials and scenario walkthroughs.
Keywords: interactive scenarios, goal-based scenarios, scenario-based learning, lesson planning, schemas, whiteboards
Janet Buchan
Centre for Enhancing Learning and Teaching, Charles Sturt University
This conference provides a unique opportunity to capture a snapshot in time of where we are in the educational technology landscape. Landscape denotes static, a snapshot in time. However, the educational technology environment is dynamic and constantly changing. While at times the technological change and demands for technological change can be overwhelming, change needs to become an accepted, integral and well managed part of our educational environment. Concepts presented here have been taken from the environment management discipline and are used as metaphors for understanding change and transformations in technology enhanced learning environments. The strong environmental metaphor and associated language has been deliberately chosen because it helps us to focus on our key role as educators which is to create the best possible learning environment for our students.
This paper introduces a social ecological systems analysis approach to understanding changes in organisations and the impact of outside factors on our learning environment.The Adaptive Cycle Framework is introduced as a predictive tool for understanding changes and transformations in our educational technology environment, and to thus determine a pathway to maximise opportunities afforded by change. This paper draws on an ongoing Ph.D. study in which the focus is on managing change in technology enhanced learning environments. The Adaptive Cycle Framework is illustrated within the context of a case study of a regional university’s changing educational technology environment as a means to better manage for the long term.
Keywords: learning environment, learning management system, management, educational technology, adaptive cycles, social ecological system
Santhakumari Thanasingam
Language and Communication Centre, Nanyang Technological University
Swee Kit Alan Soong
Centre for Educational Development, Nanyang Technological University
Chun Hu
Faculty of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney
This study evaluates the impact of the Spring Cycle Blended Curriculum (SCBC) model on students learning in an English Proficiency course for undergraduates. The model took a blended learning approach, intending to combine the best of face-to-face interactions and the affordance provided by the Internet. The model was used over one and a half academic years to teach English Proficiency at the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Pre- and post-course surveys, student focus group discussions, discourse analysis and samples of student writing were used to evaluate the impact on student's learning which in this study was their ability to write better paragraphs. The survey and focus group data on student's perceptions showed that the model helped them to gain knowledge and regulate their learning to achieve the target writing outcomes. The workshop mode of instruction enabled students to learn from systematic input and discussion with peers and tutors. The consultation mode of instruction helped students understand their mistakes. The online mode of instruction enabled them to revisit activities so they could review what they needed to learn. In addition, the online discussion forum activity provided additional student-centred feedback which enabled students to ask questions, and to clarify and negotiate their understanding of paragraph building features. Such finding was supported by the analysis of the students' written texts. There was a high percentage of students who were able to use paragraph building features taught in the curriculum to structure their paragraphs.
Keywords: blended learning, scaffolding, learner efficacy
Robert C. Dixon and Kathryn C. Dixon
School of Education, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Western Australia
Mandi Axmann
Open Universities Australia
Many universities both in Australia and overseas are increasingly transferring courses and programs at both graduate and undergraduate level into fully interactive online environments. Online learning and teaching requires different and complimentary skill sets on the part of university teachers. Very little has been documented thus far in regard to training university academics to teach effectively in these environments. This paper investigates the pilot study implementation of the Online Student Centred Discussion Program (OSCD) as designed by Axmann (2006) across the cooperating institutions engaged with Open Universities Australia. The program has been based on Wright and Shoop’s (2003) Student-Centred Discussion Model which places ongoing discussion at the centre of the learning process. The OSCD is designed to develop online protocols, peer- assessment strategies, critical thinking skills as well as promoting collaborative learning through ongoing engagement with online discussion environments. The research reports upon the results of a thirteen item questionnaire which was administered to forty nine participants throughout 2008. The findings indicated that academic staff engaged in learning and teaching online found the OSCD Program to be of value for a number of reasons. The program allowed academics to gain an authentic student experience, something which many of them had forgotten. It also highlighted the varying and different communication patterns and protocols associated with online learning and the development of quite distinct forms of language that are used in this mode of interaction. The research also revealed the need to re-conceptualise the overall instructional design of online learning environments in their own right and not as sub-sets or extensions of traditional face-to face methods of interaction.
Keywords: student centred discussion, collaborative learning, online learning
Annegret Goold
School of Engineering and Information Technology, Deakin University
Annemieke Craig
School of Information Systems, Deakin University
Jo Coldwell
School of Engineering and Information Technology, Deakin University
The research reported here is part of a project undertaken at a large Australian university in late 2005. The overall aim of the project was to identify the characteristics of student learning in an online environment. A university-wide student survey was conducted to ascertain student views of online learning and also of online teaching as part of the project. In the survey students were asked questions about their experiences of team work in online environments. The student perceptions of teams and team work are the focus of this paper.
The findings from the survey indicated that students appreciated the opportunity of working in diverse teams. They supported the view that their opinions were valued in such teams. Student views of how teaching should be conducted in units with online teams were also expressed. Concerns about team interactions, technological barriers and communication and cultural issues were also raised. The implications for teaching with online student teams are presented and discussed.
Keywords: student groups, student teams, online groups, online teams, group work, team work, virtual teams.
Abigail Watson
University of Wollongong
Teachers inexperienced in the delivery of online instruction may now be expected to teach subjects with a limited understanding of how tools in a Learning Management System can be appropriately and successfully utilised to enable the learning strategies of the subject design. How best do we develop teaching practice to facilitate the increasing use of asynchronous discussion tools in flexible and distance courses? This preliminary investigation analyses practitioner perceptions of the effectiveness of asynchronous discussion tools in tertiary education and explores some of the factors that may affect the participation of students in online discussion such as activity design and student characteristics.
Keywords: asynchronous discussion, distance education, discussion forum, participation