Conference 2026 Update

Be a Friendly Face for a First-Time Attendee

One of the best things about ASCILITE is the people, and this year we’re inviting members to volunteer as a Conference Buddy for first-time attendees.

Being a buddy is simple: introduce yourself before the conference, meet for a coffee, share some tips, or simply be a friendly face to say hello and help someone new feel part of the ASCILITE community. There is no formal commitment or set expectations, and depending on demand, some buddies may be matched with more than one first-time attendee.

If you’d like to volunteer, please email conference@ascilite.org with the subject line “Conference Buddy Volunteer”.

Thank you for helping us make ASCILITE 2026 a welcoming and connected experience for everyone.

A reminder: Art.Intelligence – collaborative creation for ASCILITE 2026

As we look ahead to ASCILITE 2026 and our theme The Future is Connection: Collaboration, Creativity and Compassion in a Digital Society, here’s a reminder about a slightly different kind of conference contribution!

Art.Intelligence invites you to bring along a human-created artwork, up to A4 size, responding to the theme About AI without AI. Your creation will join a collaborative exhibition at the conference, designed simply to spark expression, conversation and connection.

Draw, paint, print, stitch, collage, sculpt with found objects – whatever takes your fancy. The only rule is no digital art or GenAI. There are no prizes and no judging – just an opportunity to step away from the screen and make something by hand.

More information will be coming soon via the conference website. Art.Intelligence is being organised by the ASCILITE TELedvisors Network SIG in collaboration with the Conference Organising Committee.

Silver Sponsor Spotlight – Schoolyear

This week we’re delighted to introduce Schoolyear, a new Silver Sponsor of ASCILITE 2026.

Schoolyear provides a secure digital exam workspace designed to help institutions protect academic integrity while still enabling students to undertake digital assessments on their own devices. Its approach supports secure BYOD exams as well as more authentic skills-based assessments using real-world applications such as Excel, SPSS, R and Python.

With higher education continuing to grapple with the implications of GenAI for assessment and academic integrity, we’re pleased to welcome Schoolyear to the ASCILITE community and look forward to having them join us in Brisbane.

Find out more from the Schoolyear website.

2026 ASCILITE Awards: Open for Nominations

Nominations close 16 September 2026

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 award categories available to members in 2026 are as follows:

• Innovation Award 
  • 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.
    • The Allan Christie ASCILITE Innovation Award (selected from Innovation Award nominations) recognises the most outstanding innovation. Named in honour of Allan Christie, a long-serving ASCILITE member, Life Member, and Executive Committee member, the award celebrates his significant contribution to the Society and higher education.
• Anthology Educational Designer of the Year Award, in memory of Allan Christie
  • In recognition of Allan Christie’s lifelong contribution to the sector, this award is professional staff member who has made significant contributions to learning and teaching. The award is sponsored by Anthology, to the value of $1,000.
• Emerging Scholar Award 
  • Has made a noteworthy contribution in the exemplary use of ore research into technologies for learning and teaching in tertiary education.
• Community Fellow Award 
  • Recognise the outstanding contributions of individual ASCILITE members in the exemplary building of connections in the wider community and into the ASCILITE community.
• ASCILITE/CAULLT Award for Outstanding Leadership in Digital Learning in Higher Education
  • Recognises evidence of an individual’s innovative and effective leadership in the broad use of digital technologies to enhance teaching, learning, and overall performance in higher education.
• ASCILITE Research Grants
  • Three ASCILITE research grants valued at $5,000 each – totalling $15,000, will be offered as follows – one Early Career Researcher, one General Academic and one Professional Staff Member. All investigators must be members of ASCILITE. These ASCILITE Research Grants will be offered for an 18-month period.
• Student Bursary Award 
  • Available to full-time PhD/EdD or equivalent students.
• Life Member Award
  • A prestigious award that recognises the significant service and/or sustained contribution of an ASCILITE member to the Society.

For further information on each award, refer to the specific award criteria and nomination form on the ASCILITE website.

Michael Cowling, Elaine Huber, & Karine Cosgrove
ASCILITE Awards

Nominations for the ASCILITE Executive 2026 elections

Current ASCILITE financial members are invited to stand for election to the ASCILITE Executive Committee.

The positions being elected this year are Treasurer and 4 members of the executive.

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 closing date for nominations is 15 September 2026. 

Voting will be open to all financial members from 17 September to 15 October 2026.

Results of this ballot will be announced at the ASCILITE Annual General Meeting at ASCILITE 2026 in Brisbane.

PLEASE NOTE:  Election campaigning is limited to word-of-mouth only. Mass emails, posters, and social media posts by candidates or proxies are not permitted.

Nominate online here.

ASCILITE Secretariat and Election Returning Officer

Webinar EOI: AI Productivity Hacks in Higher Education

ASCILITE LIVE! is exploring a webinar on practical AI productivity hacks for people working in higher education and we’d love your input! Do you have a favourite tool, workflow, AI tip, or time-saving strategy that helps you work smarter? Whether it’s Microsoft Copilot, task management, automation, email tips, or simply better ways to stay organised, we’re interested in sharing strategies that help people work more effectively and efficiently.

We’re seeking expressions of interest from colleagues who would be interested in:

• Presenting practical tips, tools, or approaches that have improved their productivity
• Sharing examples of how they use technologies such as Copilot, AI tools, or automation in their work
• Participating in a panel discussion on productivity in higher education

Interested? We’d love to hear from you! Please send your expression of interest to presentations@ascilite.org

Karine Cosgrove
ASCILITE Webinar lead 

Latest AJET Issue Out Now

Volume 42, Issue 3 of the Australasian Journal of Educational Technology brings together research on several emerging directions in educational technology, with a particularly strong focus on generative artificial intelligence (GenAI).

Across several studies, a consistent message is that GenAI use does not automatically translate into better learning. Productive engagement depends on how students use these tools. At the same time, AI-supported personalisation needs to be sensitive to different learning purposes and student needs rather than adopting a one-size-fits-all approach. The issue also foregrounds the role of educators. Effective technology integration requires professional knowledge that extends beyond technological competence to include pedagogical, disciplinary and contextual understanding.

AJET Lead Eds
Linda Corrin, Chris Deneen, Feifei Han, & Henk Huijser

Wavelength is back!

The ASCILITE Wavelength Podcast is back, providing a platform for voices, ideas, and conversations shaping technology-enhanced learning across Australasia and beyond.

Whether it’s an interview, panel discussion, solo reflection, vox pop, creative audio piece, or Gen AI-supported podcast, Wavelength welcomes contributions that share research, practice, innovation, experiences, and thought leadership from across our community.

Please refer to this page for more information about the submission types and process.

We’d love to hear your voices. Individuals interested in submitting a podcast segment should consult the ASCILITE Wavelength Submission Guidelines.

Tune in. Contribute. Share your wavelength.

Vickel Narayen & Karine Cosgrove
Podcast Leads

Apology regarding recent Mailchimp subscription emails

I sincerely apologise to ASCILITE individual members for the unexpected Mailchimp subscription emails that you received recently.

ASCILITE is currently exploring an online membership solution and testing how it integrates with Mailchimp. During this process, a subscriber flag was set in the system; however, Mailchimp then generated emails asking members to subscribe.

Please be assured that no action is required from you in response to those emails. If you received one, you can simply disregard it.

I understand that unwanted or unexpected emails are frustrating, and I regret any confusion or inconvenience this may have caused.

Thank you for your understanding and patience as we work to improve ASCILITE’s membership systems.

ASCILITE Secretariat