Welcome Reception
Our welcome reception will be the perfect way to kick start your conferencing experience.
Share some drinks and good company while indulging in a delicious canape selection.
You will also enjoy music provided by USQ student, Ayden Roberts. Ayden is a muso on the road around SEQ. His music, described as quirky, catchy and a little bit out there, takes his naive belief that his guitar can be anything it wants resulting in live shows that are a lot of fun. A zingy journey into falling in love and rolling around in it.
All the info
Location: Exhibition (Refectory)
When: Monday 4 December, 4.30pm – 5.30pm
Get to know the ASCILITE SIGs (Special Interest Groups)
ASCILITE session
Hazel Jones
University of Southern Queensland
@hazelj59
Colin Simpson
ANU
@gamerlearner
Mathew Hillier
Monash University
Personal: @mathewhillier Transforming Assessment (e-Assessment) SIG: @transformassess
Thomas Cochrane
Auckland University of Technology
@thomcochrane
Cassandra Colvin
Charles Sturt University
@casssays
Linda Corrin
University of Melbourne
@lindacorrin
Sakinah Alhadad
Griffith University
Julie Willems
RMIT University
@Julie_Willems
Leanne Cameron
Southern Cross University
@leannecameron
Catch this session
Monday 4 December, 2.30pm - 3pm
H102
Abstract
ASCILITE supports a range of Special Interest Groups (SIGS) to provide “ASCILITE 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.” (ASCILITE, 2014). The purpose of this lighting round session will be to introduce each of the ASCILITE SIGS to delegates. SIG leaders will provide a brief overview of the purpose and focus of their respective SIGS, as well as a summary of the activities undertaken during 2017. They will also outline what their SIG considers the top 2-3 online learning/education issues/questions are for the immediate future. Following the overview presentations and a brief Q&A discussion session, attendees will have the opportunity to network in a Meet and Greet format.
About the authors
Hazel Jones
Hazel Jones is currently an Educational Designer and a PhD candidate at University of Southern Queensland Australia. Her research interests are in higher education and learning analytics, with an emphasis on support for online learning and teaching and for working with academics to provide quality learning environments for their students. She has worked in educational design and development roles at universities around Australia for over 15 years. She is currently one of the co-ordinators for the ASCILITE Learning Analytics SIG and a mentor for the ASCILITE Community Mentoring program.
Colin Simpson
Colin Simpson has worked as a Learning Technologist, Education Designer and Academic Developer since 2003 and currently works in the College of Business and Economics at ANU. He is a co-convenor of ASCILITE TEL edvisors special interest group
Colin has extensive experience in the design and development of media and interactive resources and a particular interest in game-based learning and gamification, including the use of badges. He has presented at a wide array of national and international conferences on these subjects.
He is a Certified Member of the Association of Learning Technologists (CMALT), a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) and an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA). Colin is currently undertaking PhD research at the University of Sydney into the ways that TEL edvisors can better support TELT practices in Higher Education.
Mathew Hillier
Mathew is one of two co-leaders of the ASCILITE SIG for 'e-Assessment' and in this capacity is a co-host of the Transforming Assessment webinar series along with Prof Geoffrey Crisp.
He specialises in e-assessment and e-exams and teaches into the academic staff development program at Monash University leading the 'technology and space' theme. Mathew is currently the leader of the 'Transforming Exams' project developing a tool set for authentic, computerised, high-stakes assessment (e-Exams). The project covers 10 university partners and is funded by a half-million dollar Australian government grant.
More about Mathew at http://ta.vu/mathewhillier
Thomas Cochrane
Thomas Cochrane has established an international reputation for excellence in the scholarship of technology enhanced learning (SOTEL), with an expertise in mobile learning. Thomas has a peer-reviewed research portfolio spanning 46 journal articles, 26 book chapters, and over 120 conference proceedings (http://goo.gl/maps/YxkYP). Thomas was co-lead on the national project Learners and mobile devices (#NPF14LMD): A framework for enhanced learning and institutional change funded by New Zealand's National Centre for Tertiary Teaching Excellence, AKO Aotearoa. This two-year six institution project broadly explored learners and mobile devices (Frielick et al., 2014), supported by a collaborative network of practice. Thomas has also developed a successful framework for lecturer professional development supported by the establishment of communities of practice, production of reflective practice publications via SOTEL, and innovations in pedagogy (Cochrane et al., 2013; Cochrane & Narayan, 2016). These communities of practice have collectively published over 50 collaborative research publications since 2011 (http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0192-6118).
Cassandra Colvin
Cassandra is currently Manager, Adaptive Learning and Teaching Services at Charles Sturt University. Prior to this appointment she was Manager, Learning Analytics, and Manager, Enhancing Student Academic Potential, an academic intervention program targeting first-year students who had been identified as academically vulnerable, both appointments at University of South Australia. Cassandra has enjoyed extensive experience in the international education industry, primarily in management roles supporting the needs of international students. In 2007, Cassandra led the team at Edith Cowan University which an Australian Office of Learning and Teaching program award in the category 'The First-Year Experience'. Cassandra has presented widely on themes relating to learning analytics, student support, and intercultural interactions. Particular interests include learning analytics implementations and practice in higher education, intercultural relations between students, and embedding quality and continuous improvement tenets into all aspects of her work.
Linda Corrin
Dr Linda Corrin is a Senior Lecturer in Higher Education in the Williams Centre for Learning Advancement, Faculty of Business and Economics, at the University of Melbourne. In her current role, she provides support for curriculum development, delivery and assessment to staff in the faculty. Her research interests include students' engagement with technology, learning analytics, feedback, and learning design. Currently, she is working on several large research projects exploring how learning analytics can be used to provide mean
Sakinah Alhadad
Sakinah is a psychological scientist with expertise in behavioural and cognitive science in relation to student learning and well-being, learning analytics, research methods and statistics, and academic development. She is currently the academic lead for learning analytics at the Centre for Learning Futures at Griffith University. Sakinah’s research interests sit at the research-practice nexus, with the broad goal of enhancing the practice of teaching and learning. She is particularly interested in the underlying mechanisms that support the development of expertise and flexible ways of knowing: in particular, educators developing as evidence-informed teachers; and for learners, developing as self- and socially-regulated lifelong learners. As such, her work is guided by meaningful applications and implications for educational practice in complexity. Her ultimate aim is to enable positive change for learners and professionals through transformative Higher Education practices.
Julie Willems
Dr Julie Willems holds qualifications in Nursing, the Humanities, and Education. She has worked across the Australian education sectors and, since 2004, has specialised in Higher Education. Her current position is as a Senior Lecturer in RMIT University’s Learning and Teaching Academy. Julie’s research interests include the promotion of educational and digital equity as social justice issues, and the media and technology of formal and informal learning (including social media). She was a recipient of the auDA Foundation's national 2011 research grant for the i-Survive Project investigating the use of ‘back channel’ communications via mobile technologies and social media during Australian emergencies and disasters. Julie has a community focus and has actively served on a number of committees and boards over the course of her career, and is currently in her second term on the national Executive for Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ASCILITE) (2015 – ). Julie has recently been recognised as a leader in open, online and distance learning in the Australia-Pacific region (http://jl4d.org/index.php/ejl4d/article/view/207/201).
Leanne Cameron
Leanne Cameron is currently working at Southern Cross University as Lecturer, Design, Digital & Technologies Education in the School of Education. It was over 10 years ago while working with Macquarie University’s E-Learning Centre of Excellence that her work in the area of Learning Design began. She has managed three OLT research projects researching various aspects of Learning Design and she continues to research and publish in the field. Her most recent publication, ‘How learning designs, teaching methods and activities differ by discipline in Australian universities’ was included in the final volume of the Journal of Learning Design this year.
A framework for the analysis, comparison and evaluation of e-assessment systems
Full paper
Pedro Isaias
The University of Queensland
Paula Miranda
University Institute of Lisbon
@pcrmiranda1
Sarah Pifano
Information Society Reserach Lab
Catch this session
Monday 4 December, 11am - 11.30am
Stream 3
L206
Abstract
The use of technology within the education sector affects many aspects of the learning process, including assessment. Electronic assessment presents many advantages over traditional paper based methods and it is being widely used by teachers and educational institutions. The progressive acceptance and use of e-assessment has resulted in the development of a panoply of e-assessment systems. This paper aims to propose a framework for the analysis and comparison of e-assessment systems, to support the selection of the most suitable assessment instruments. The proposed framework is composed of eight criteria: variety of design options, scalability, security, access and usability, feedback features, personalisation, cost and interoperability, which overall were validated by the viewpoints of educational experts via an online questionnaire.
About the authors
Pedro Isaias
Pedro Isaias is an Associate Professor of Higher Education Innovation at the Institute for Teaching and Learning Innovation (ITaLI), The University of Queensland, Australia. He teaches topics in Management Information Systems (MIS). He has a background in MIS, having obtained a Doctorate in Information Management (Information and Decision Systems speciality) in 2002. Previously he was associate professor at the Universidade Aberta (Portuguese Open University) in Lisbon, Portugal.
Author of several books, book chapters, papers and research reports, all in the information systems area, he has headed several conferences and workshops within the mentioned area. He has also been responsible for the scientific coordination of several EU funded research projects. He is also member of the editorial board of several journals and program committee member of several conferences and workshops. At the moment he conducts research activity focusing in Learning Technologies and e-Business.
Paula Miranda</
Paula Miranda holds a Ph.D. in Information Science and Technology from the ISCTE – University Institute of Lisbon. She is Auxiliary Professor in the Department of Informatics and Systems Engineering of the Setubal School of Technology, Polytechnic Institute of Setubal. Her areas of interest include Information Systems in general, Social Media, e-Learning, more specifically the use of Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 technologies in learning environments and the integration of technology in education.
Sarah Pifano
Sara Pífano is a Researcher at the Information Society Research Lab (ISRLab) where she conducts research on the broad field of the Information Society. She holds a PhD in Information Management from the Universidade Aberta (Portuguese Open University). At the ISRLab, she is responsible for conducting and fostering scientific research, including the design, implementation and evaluation of research initiatives addressing the use of Web 2.0 in several domains of the information society, particularly education and business, the application of social media in the context of e-Learning, learning technologies, digital literacy, and online communities.
Critical perspectives on mobile AR and VR from the ASCILITE Mobile Learning SIG
ASCILITE session
Thomas Cochrane
Auckland University of Technology
@thomcochrane
Helen Farley
University of Southern Queensland
@Helssi
Claudio Aguayo
Auckland University of Technology
@caguayoNZ
James Birt
Bond University
Michael Cowling
Central Queensland University
@macowling
Roger Edmonds
University of South Australia
@rogked
Catch this session
Monday 4 December, 3.30pm - 4.30pm
Stream 4
Room L209
Abstract
This symposium discussion is based around the special issue of AJET on mobile Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality that the ASCILITE Mobile Learning SIG has coordinated this year (published September 2017). The authors will use the articles to spark discussion around the critical issues surrounding the educational use of mobile AR and VR.
About the authors
Thomas Cochrane
Dr Thomas Cochrane has established an international reputation for excellence in the scholarship of technology enhanced learning (SOTEL), an AJET associate editor, guest editor of the AJET special issue on mobile AR & VR, and the coordinator of the Ascilite Mobile Learning SIG. Thomas has a peer-reviewed research portfolio spanning 46 journal articles, 26 book chapters, and over 120 conference proceedings (http://goo.gl/maps/YxkYP). Thomas was co-lead on the national project Learners and mobile devices (#NPF14LMD): A framework for enhanced learning and institutional change funded by New Zealand's National Centre for Tertiary Teaching Excellence, AKO Aotearoa. This two-year six institution project broadly explored learners and mobile devices, supported by a collaborative network of practice. Thomas has also developed a successful framework for lecturer professional development supported by the establishment of communities of practice, production of reflective practice publications via SOTEL, and innovations in pedagogy (http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0192-6118).
Helen Farley
Dr Helen Farley is an Associate Professor, Digital Life Lab, University of Southern Queensland.
Helen led the USQ-led Collaborative Research Network (CRN) project with ANU and UniSA to develop a Mobile Learning Evaluation Framework. She is an AJET associate editor, editor of an edited book on mobile learning in the Asia-Pacific region, guest editor of the AJET special issue on mobile AR & VR, and a core member of the ASCILITE Mobile Learning SIG.
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9511-4910
Claudio Aguayo
Dr Claudio Aguayo is the Director – Research & Development, for the App Lab, and Senior Researcher at the Centre for Learning and Teaching, Auckland University of Technology. He completed his PhD at the University of Waikato in 2014, with his thesis entitled ‘The use of education for sustainability websites for community education in Chile’. Claudio is currently undertaking research projects at the local, national and international level in mobile learning, educational App development, use of Virtual Reality in Teaching and Learning contexts, and self-organisation of learning technologies.
James Birt
James is an Assistant Professor of Interactive Media and Design in the Faculty of Society and Design at Bond University, where he runs the Mixed Reality Research Lab (www.mixedrealityresearch.com). His research spans computer science and visual arts, with an emphasis on applied design and development of interactive mixed reality (virtual reality, augmented reality, 3d printing, mobile) experiences assisting learning, skills acquisition and knowledge discovery. The distinctive contribution James brings to education scholarship is in digital media teaching and learning, where he received a 2014 Australian Office of Learning and Teaching citation for outstanding contributions to student learning. James utilises novel pedagogical approaches, curriculum and resources to balance the science and art predilections of his students, whilst supporting them with learning how to learn. His service to the university and wider community has formed around his experience in emerging technology, teaching and learning. Where he takes an active role in supporting learners and peers through mentorship, presentations and expert judging.
Michael Cowling
Dr Michael Cowling is an information technologist with a keen interest in educational technology and technology ubiquity in the digital age, and a Senior Lecturer in the School of Engineering & Technology at CQUniversity Australia. He is currently a partner in an OLT Innovation and Development grant, and is the recipient of an Australian Government Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning. He founded The CREATE Lab at CQUniversity, focused on collaborative research & engagement around technology and education, and is co-founder of The Mixed Reality Research Lab, in collaboration with Bond University, focusing on mixed reality technology research in education. He is also a regular contributor to media outlet The Conversation and is also a regular contributor in Australian radio and print media on the topics of Educational Technology and Technology Ubiquity.
Roger Edmonds
Roger Edmonds is Online Educational Designer, at the Teaching Innovation Unit, University of South Australia. He is co-leading a Digital Learning Strategy Project on 'location-based mobile learning'. This project aims to implement location-based mobile learning games in three different UniSA courses in order to inform the development of a mobile learning framework that can be later replicated in other educational contexts. The framework will be used to guide the future design and decision making for providing contextually based mobile learning in the university. It will be used by academics to complement and enrich long their standing (non-digital) teaching and learning experiences with new, genuinely effective digital educational interventions delivered in authentic contexts outside of the classroom.
Becoming an AJET author or reviewer
ASCILITE session
Michael Henderson
Monash University
Petrea Redmond
University of Southern Queensland
Catch this session
Monday 4 December, 2.30pm - 3pm
Stream 5
Room C204
Abstract
Join the editors of the Australasian Journal of Educational Technology for a session that will provide an overview of the AJET editorial process, including details of both the screening and the peer review processes and criteria. It will also encourage a general discussion of tips and tricks for publishing in the field of educational technology. The session will feature a short presentation from the editors followed by a question and answer session, with plenty of opportunity for discussion.
Old me, new me, IT: Changing prisoner behaviour through visual stories
Lightning talks 1
Rob Steer
Northern Territory Correctional Services
Catch this session
Monday 4 December, 2.30pm - 3pm
Stream 4
Room L209
Abstract
The Northern Territory prison population has grown over the last 20 years at a rate greater than other jurisdictions and recorded the highest recidivism rate with 58% of prisoners returning to prison within two years.
One of the challenges confronting the NT correctional system is the continued over-representation of Indigenous people in prisons, with Indigenous people comprising 85% of the adult prisoner population.
Indigenous people face a number of challenges reintegrating into the community and these challenges are often exacerbated by low levels of literacy, numeracy and basic skills, with many prisoners not able to understand English.
One of the initiatives introduced by NTCS is the use of visual stories, which can be translated into different languages, including Indigenous languages. Stories on work, health and safety, food hygiene and safe driving have been translated into the five most predominant Central Australian Indigenous languages. One of the most positive stories produced is titled Old Me, New Me, which assists prisoners to recognise how their previous behaviour was unacceptable and works through how they can change for the better.
NTCS has an agreement with local company, iTalk Studios, to faciliate the creation of the stories, including the provision of training to prisoners in spoken English and multi-media activities.
To date, the partnership has seen male and female prisoners produce in excess of 60 work and personal stories.
The stories produced are a new medium of communicating, transforming how we share information. The organisation can turn any written information into a visual story.
About the author
Rob Steer
• Has 25 years’ experience, across four Australian Correctional Jurisdictions.
• In 1990, responsible for establishing the first private sector factory within a Correctional Centre in Australasia.
• In 1996, established Prison Industries at Mt Gambier prison.
• During a seven year period, involved in building, constructing, commissioning and operation of Port Phillip Prison.
• In 2003, responsible for generating work opportunities for 5,500 prisoners for Corrective Services Industries NSW.
• Holds a Diploma of Export (Marketing Major) and has undertaken International Business Development program at Monash University, post graduate studies in Manufacturing Management and Graduate Diploma in Applied Management.
• Currently President of the Correctional Industries Association of Australasia.
• Awarded with Rotary “Pride of Workmanship” and “Excellence in Commitment to Skills and Education” awards.
Current Title: Director, Custodial Operations, NT Correctional Services
Using virtual and augmented reality to study architectural lighting
Concise paper
James Birt
Bond University
Patricia Manyuru
Bond University
Jonathan Nelson
Catch this session
Monday 4 December, 2.10pm - 2.30pm
Stream 1
Room H102 Allison Dickson Lecture Theatre
Abstract
This paper presents industry stakeholder insights from the implementation of a dual modality intervention using virtual and augmented reality simulation to study complex lighting theory in architecture design. Using a design based research method the aim is to evaluate these insights and inform a pilot study to educate first year architectural design students on the complexities of lighting the built environment and methods to improve architectural workflow. The aim is to enable learners to experience natural and artificial lighting methods comparatively in real-time through multiple comparative visualisation methods. This is important to make informed evaluations regarding architectural designs in terms of spatial quality, character, performance, and user-comfort levels. This in turn allows architects to rapidly modify their designs to accommodate or mitigate the environmental effects. Outcomes from the initial usability test highlight the ability to switch back and forth between the virtual and augmented reality simulation technology, and between lighting visualisation modes as a huge step forward by the industry stakeholders. Additionally, the idea of representing the physical building where the simulation took place virtually using a detailed mapping gave a real-world anchor that made the simulations easy to navigate, leading to improved satisfaction and engagement. However, the study also highlighted improvements in the delivery of the simulation is required to improve simulation learnability and efficiency.
About the authors
James Birt
James is an Assistant Professor at Bond University, where he runs the Mixed Reality Research Lab (www.mixedrealityresearch.com). His research spans computer science and visual arts, with an emphasis on applied design and development of interactive mixed reality (virtual reality, augmented reality, 3d printing, mobile) experiences assisting learning, skills acquisition and knowledge discovery. The distinctive contribution James brings to education scholarship is in digital media teaching and learning, where he received a 2014 Australian Office of Learning and Teaching citation for outstanding contributions to student learning. James utilises novel pedagogical approaches, curriculum and resources to balance the science and art predilections of his students, whilst supporting them with learning how to learn. His service to the university and wider community has formed around his experience in emerging technology, teaching and learning. Where he takes an active role in supporting learners and peers through mentorship, presentations and expert judging.
Patricia Manyuru
Patricia Manyuru is a Masters Student Bond University.
Me, Us and IT: Insiders' views of the complex technical, organisational and personal elements in using virtual worlds in education
Full paper
Sue Gregory
University of New England
Brent Gregory
University of New England
Denise Wood
Central Queensland University
Scott Grant
Monash University
Sasha Nikolic
University of Wollongong
Mathew Hillier
Monash University
Merle Hearns
Manukau Institute of Technology
Lisa Jacka
Southern Cross University
Marcus McDonald
RMIT University
Torsten Reiners
Curtin University
Sharon Lierse
Charles Darwin University
Blooma John
University of Canberra
Suku Sukunesan
Swinburne University of Technology
Emily Rutherford
University of Canberra
Jay Jay Jegathesan
University of Western Australia
Des Butler
Queensland University of Technology
Helen Farley
University of Southern Queensland
Pauletta Irwin
University of Newcastle
Catch this session
Monday 4 December, 11am - 11.30am
Stream 1
Room H102 Allison Dickson Lecture Theatre
Abstract
The adoption and pedagogical use of technologies such as virtual worlds to support teaching and learning, and research in higher education involves a complex interplay of technical, organisational and personal factors. In this paper, eighteen educators and researchers provide an overview of how they perceive a virtual world can be used in education from the perspective of themselves as individuals ‘me’, their educational organisations and as members of the Australian and New Zealand Virtual Worlds Working Group (VWWG) community of practice ‘us’, as well as the complex technology that underpins this learning environment ‘IT’. Drawing on Linstone’s (1981, 1984) Technical, Organisational and Personal (TOP) multiple perspective concept as the framework for analysis, the authors discuss their perspectives of how the personal, organisational and technical aspects of teaching through the use of virtual worlds have impacted on their teaching and research in higher education. The potential of employing the TOP framework to inform future research into the use of technologies such as virtual worlds in teaching and learning is explored.
About the authors
Sue Gregory
Associate Professor Sue Gregory is the Chair of Research, Education Scholar and member of the ICT team in the School of Education, University of New England, Armidale, Australia. She holds a Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy. Sue teaches pre-service and postgraduate education students how to incorporate technology into their teaching. She has been applying her virtual world knowledge to expose her students, both online and off-campus, since 2007. She has been involved with many national and university projects on creating and using learning spaces in virtual worlds, with over Au$1.2m in grants, including five Australian Category 1, two as lead. She received an OLT citation in 2012. Since 2009, Sue has been Chair of the Australian and New Zealand Virtual Worlds Working Group and has over 100 publications on teaching and learning in virtual worlds and also in the area of exploring various tools for online teaching and learning.
Brent Gregory
Brent Gregory is a Chartered Accountant with extensive experience in Business Management and Growth. Prior to entering Academia his key area of research related to the attributes of successful business and in particular the key success factors for owner operated businesses. As a result he has devoted much of his professional career to guiding business on how to operate their businesses to better achieve their goals. He has also served on numerous regional development and community organisations.
Denise Wood
Denise Wood is a Professor, Engaged Research Chair and Director of the Centre for Regional Advancement of Learning, Equity, and Participation (LEAP) at Central Queensland University, Australia. She had led over AU$6 million in national funded research projects focusing on learning and teaching, and the innovative use of information and communication technologies, including virtual worlds, to enhance learning outcomes and the social and educational participation of people from underrepresented groups in Australia and South Africa. One of these projects, which is of particular interest to this publication, was an Australian Leaning and Teaching funded national project, “Facilitating flexible, enquiry-based experiential learning through an accessible, three-dimensional virtual learning environment (3DVLE)”, the outputs of which included guidelines for academics teaching in virtual worlds about the affordances and features virtual worlds for learning and teaching in higher education, case studies across a range of disciplinary fields and the development of an accessible virtual world viewer.
Scott Grant
Scott Grant has taught Chinese language and culture at tertiary level for more than 20 years. He coordinates and teaches Chinese Introductory 1 & 2 and Chinese Online Media 1 & 2. He is the creator of the Monash Chinese Island virtual language learning simulation in Second Life that has been part of the formal beginner level curriculum at Monash since 2008. Scott has also conducted collaborative research and jointly published a number of papers on educational uses of 3D multi-user virtual environments covering topics including self-efficacy, cognitive skills, second language acquisition and foreign language anxiety. In 2013/14, Scott was the Project Team Leader of the OLT funded Virtually Enhanced Languages (VEL) project which aims to share the experience and resources accumulated from implementing task-based language and culture learning on Chinese Island over a period of 10 years with other tertiary language educators.
Sasha Nikolic
Dr Sasha Nikolic is a lecturer at the University of Wollongong. From the University of Wollongong he received a B.E. degree in Telecommunications in 2001 and a PhD in Engineering Education in 2017. Sasha specialises in laboratory learning and video-augmented virtual environments. He won a university Outstanding Contribution to Teaching and Learning Award in 2011. In 2012, he was awarded a Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning as part of the OLT Australian Awards for University Teaching. In 2016 he was team leader for a project that won the ASCILITE Innovation Award. He is a senior member of IEEE and member of both AAEE and ASCILITE.
Mathew Hillier
Dr Mathew Hillier is a Senior Lecturer in the Office of Learning and Teaching at Monash University. Mathew specialises in e-assessment and e-exams and teaches into the academic staff development program at Monash University leading the 'technology and space' theme. He is one of two co-leaders of the ASCILITE SIG for 'e-Assessment' and in this capacity is a co-host of the Transforming Assessment webinar series along with Prof Geoffrey Crisp. He has previously taught into Business, Information systems, Engineering and Arts programs at several universities in Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong. Mathew is currently the leader of the 'Transforming Exams' project developing a toolset for authentic, computerised, high-stakes assessment (e-Exams). The project covers 10 university partners and is funded by a half-million dollar Australian government grant. He is also leading the development of a multi-language computerised exam platform for use in national professional translator accreditation. More about Mathew at http://ta.vu/mathewhillier
Merle Hearns
Merle Hearns is a Senior Lecturer in the Tertiary Teaching Unit at Manukau Institute of Technology. She previously worked in foundation (enabling education). Merle (then Lemon) was a Lead Educator for the 2009 Second Life Education in New Zealand (SLENZ Project), funded by the NZ Tertiary Education Commission Encouraging and Supporting Innovation Fund. Merle developed a literacy game, called The Mythical World of Hīnātore, which is available on a Kitely sim 24/7, as an Ako Aotearoa/MIT jointly funded research project. Merle is currently completing a PhD in education, focussing on the transference of skills learned in virtual worlds to the real world. Merle is involved in the Virtual Worlds Working Group (VWWG) which assists in facilitating collaborative research and informing best practices in the use of virtual worlds for teaching and learning. For more information, see https://www.linkedin.com/in/merle-hearns-b81a583/; https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Merle_Hearns; https://zc.academia.edu/MerleHearns; https://eportfolio.manukau.ac.nz/view/view.php?t=2Z8cCTmou1NRx5nwgPaG
Lisa Jacka
Dr Lisa Jacka is a lecturer in the School of Education at Southern Cross University, NSW. She has been an adult educator for many years who works with pre-service and post-graduate education students to expand their knowledge and confidence to integrate innovative ICTs into their teaching practice. Lisa has expertise in virtual worlds in education having completed PhD research in this field as she introduced educators to the possibilities of virtual worlds. She has over 27 publications including book chapters, journal articles and conference papers and in 2015 was awarded a Vice Chancellor's citation for innovative design and delivery online learning experiences that facilitate education students' readiness to teach in learning environments of the future.
Marcus McDonald
Dr Marcus McDonald is a Lecturer at RMIT University. He is focused on the affordances and application of educational technologies. Concerned mainly with how student experience may effect engagement and learner buy-in. Most recently he has been taking these evaluation methods in the evaluation of health care. This focus takes evaluations of learning engagement and examines the use and experience of Health Care practitioners with a range of third party payers and schemes. The intention is that it would influence the delivery and co-operation of these stake holders.
Torsten Reiners
Dr Torsten Reiners is Senior Lecturer in Logistics at the Curtin University, Australia. His research and teaching experiences are in the areas of operations research, but include instructional design, development of adaptive learning environments, distant collaboration, and mobile learning. His PhD thesis is about adaptive learning material in the field of operations research. He has participated in multiple projects to use 3D spaces for learning support; i.e., to improve the authenticity of learning in classes about production and simulation. He is project leader on a competitive grant from the Australian Office of Learning and Teaching (www.ndive-project.com).
Sharon Lierse
Dr Sharon Lierse is Lecturer in Education at Charles Darwin University (Melbourne). Prior to her appointment, she was Associate Professor in the Faculty of Music and Performing Arts in Malaysia where she was founder and Managing Editor of the Malaysian Music Journal. Dr Lierse has also lectured at the University of Tasmania, and was Manager of Professional Learning at ACER. She has published widely and has given conference presentations around the world including keynote presentations in Europe and Asia. Her research interests include instrumental music, lecturing face-to-face and online, and the characteristics of excellence in teaching in a university setting.
Blooma John
Blooma John is Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Business Government and Law, University of Canberra. She has a PhD in Information Systems from Nanyang Technological University. Her research interests are in text mining, social question answering, learning analytics and health informatics. She has published various academic articles including journal papers, book chapters and conference proceedings in these areas. She has won the award for Excellence in Learning and Teaching 2015 at RMIT Vietnam. She had also won the best paper of the conference award at the AIS Special Interest Group in Education 2013.
Suku Sukunesan
Dr Sukunesan is a Senior Lecturer at Swinburne University of Technology within the Information Systems Department, and is an Innovation Fellow within the Swinburne Innovation Precinct. He is an experienced researcher and academic with a keen interest in edutech applications, social media, social network analysis and disruptive technologies. He has previously used Twitter, Second Life and Shoutcast servers as part of his teaching innovation.
Emily Rutherford
Emily Rutherford is an Educational Designer at the University of Canberra. She works in partnership with the academic staff from the Faculty of Business, Governance and Law on staff development projects, teaching strategies and innovation, as well as University-wide learning and teaching projects. She enjoys connecting with new ways to use pedagogically-driven technology to support teaching strategies and enhance digital literacy skills. Emily has a strong background in teaching and supporting teaching practice, as well as being a passionate enthusiast of Second Life, VR/AR and mixed reality, and how they are explored creatively in a higher education context.
Jay Jay Jegathesan
Jay Jay Jegathesan holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) degree from the University of Western Australia (UWA), majoring in management and marketing. An employee of UWA since 2004, Jay Jay is attached to the Graduate Research School coordinating an area looking after the interests of prospective PhD students in the medical field.
Des Butler
Des Butler is a Professor of Law at the Faculty of Law, Queensland University of Technology, where he served as Assistant Dean, Research (1997-2002). He was awarded his doctorate in 1996 for his thesis on liability for psychiatric injury, and is the author or co-author of 21 books and numerous articles on topics including legal education, media and entertainment law, psychiatric injury caused by negligence, and contract law. He is an Australian Learning and Teaching Fellow and a Senior Fellow of the United Kingdom Higher Education Academy. He has developed technology-based programs for enhancing the learning of law since 1990 and has received numerous awards for his work, many of which involve machinima created using the Second Life virtual world, including an Australian Award for Teaching Excellence, the LexisNexis/Australasian Law Teachers Association Award for Excellence and Innovation in the Teaching of Law (twice) and a Janders Dean/LexisNexis Legal Innovation Index Award.
Helen Farley
Dr Helen Farley is an Associate Professor (Digital Futures) at the Digital Life Lab, University of Southern Queensland. She researches the educational affordances of emerging digital technologies for learning. She is leading the Australian government-funded Making the Connection project which is introducing digital technologies into correctional centres to enhance access to higher education for Indigenous and non-Indigenous prisoners. The project has been successfully deployed in five states and territories with some 1000 students. Helen also led USQ’s Collaborative Research Network project to develop a Mobile Learning Evaluation Framework. Helen is also at the forefront of virtual world research, having led the award-winning Religion Bazaar project in Second Life. She has published extensively on the affordances of digital technologies to enhance learning and has secured around $6 million in funding. Twitter: @Helssi
Pauletta Irwin
Pauletta Irwin is a Nursing Lecturer and Simulated Learning Environment Coordinator at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Newcastle. Pauletta has a strong history in various simulation platforms in her years of employment in the tertiary sector. Pauletta’s doctoral research considers the nature of learning in a virtual world for undergraduate nursing students. She has led several innovative projects where virtual simulation has been piloted to teach nursing students skills such as holistic assessments, post graduate mental health students home environment assessments, and an international study examining a shared learning space with international students. Leadership on these projects has led to sustained partnerships with tertiary (national and international) and healthcare sectors. A committee member of the Faculty of Health and Medicine’s Centre of Excellence in Simulation, Pauletta is developing several interdisciplinary simulations that seek to improve student learning and capacity in the workforce.
A learning analytics pilot in Moodle and its impact on developing organisational capacity in a university
Concise paper
Jean-Christophe Froissard
Macquarie University
@jcfroissard
Danny Liu
Sydney University
@dannydotliu
Deborah Richards
Macquarie University
Amara Atif
Macquarie University
Catch this session
Monday 4 December, 1.30pm - 1.50pm
Stream 3
Room L206
Abstract
Moodle is used as a learning management system around the world. However, integrated learning analytics solutions for Moodle that provide actionable information and allow teachers to efficiently use it to connect with their students are lacking. The enhanced Moodle Engagement Analytics Plugin (MEAP), presented at ASCILITE2015, enabled teachers to identify and contact students at risk of not completing their units. We discuss a pilot using MEAP in 36 units at a metropolitan Australian university. We use existing models for developing organisational capacity in learning analytics and to embed learning analytics into the practice of teaching and learning to discuss a range of issues arising from the pilot. We outline the interaction and interdependency of five stages during the pilot: technology, policies, skills, culture and leadership. We conclude that one of the most significant is developing a culture and behaviour around learning analytics.
About the authors
Jean-Christophe Froissard
Jean-Christophe Froissard is a Senior Learning Designer in the Faculty of Arts at Macquarie University with a Masters in Education. His passion is to blend education and technology to improve learning and teaching. He believes that change happens when a small group of passionate people, with a common dream of a better future, work together.
Danny Liu
Danny is a molecular biologist by training, programmer by night, researcher and academic developer by day, and educator at heart. A multiple national teaching award winner, he works at the confluence of learning analytics, student engagement, educational technology, and professional development and leadership to enhance the student experience.
Deborah Richards
Deborah Richards is a Professor in the Department of Computing at Macquarie University. Following 20 years in the ICT industry during which she completed a BBus (Comp and MIS) and MAppSc (InfoStudies), she completed a PhD in artificial intelligence on the reuse of knowledge at the University of New South Wales and joined academia in 1999. While she continues to work on solutions to assist decision-making and knowledge acquisition, for the past decade, her focus has been on intelligent systems, agent technologies and virtual worlds to support human learning and well-being.
Amara Atif
Amara Atif is a PhD candidate in the Department of Computing at Macquarie University. Her research interests include learning analytics, technology acceptance, and knowledge management.
Recipes for institutional adoption of a teacher-driven learning analytics tool: Case studies from three Australian universities
Full paper
Lorenzo Vigentini
The University of New South Wales
@l_vigentini
Elsuida Kondo
The University of Melbourne
@ElsuidaKondo
Kevin Samnick
The University of Sydney
@Kevin_Samnick
Danny Liu
The University of Sydney
@dannydotliu
Deb King
The University of Melbourne
@fyimaths
Adam Bridgeman
The University of Sydney
@adambridgeman
Catch this session
Monday 4 December, 11am - 11.30am
Stream 5
Room C204
Abstract
The changing landscape of higher education is putting increasing strain on educators, leading to a diminishing ability to provide pedagogical and pastoral support to ballooning and diversifying cohorts. Learning analytics promises solutions to these challenges for educators, including by personalising learning support and experiences, streamlining data capture and analyses, and providing teachers with new, efficient teaching approaches. However, reports of these impacts, or widespread adoption of learning analytics, or even examples of cross-institutional collaboration are sparse. We argue that this may be because of a lack of educator-driven learning analytics tools that meet their felt needs, and present case studies from three Australian universities that have collaborated to implement such a tool. This tool, the Student Relationship Engagement System (SRES), empowers educators to collect, collate, analyse, and use student engagement and success data that they consider meaningful for their particular contexts. Developed by unfunded educators and widely adopted through collegiate recommendations, the SRES enables personalisation and targeting of student learning and support using relevant data, fostering positive student-teacher relationships and enhancing student engagement. Using the three case studies as a backdrop, we present a revised learning analytics adoption framework focussing on strategy, structure, support, and impact, and use this framework to systematically evaluate the adoption and implementation of the SRES at the three institutions to derive ‘recipes’ for adopting an educator-focused learning analytics platform. We also discuss three core themes emerging from the case studies, around the needs of academics, the role of academic and educational developers, and flexible and agile information technology practices.
About the authors
Lorenzo Vigentini
Lorenzo is the Academic Lead Educational Analytics in the portfolio of the Pro-Vice Chancellor Education at UNSW Sydney. Lorenzo’s background is in Psychology, Learning and Teaching in the Higher Education sector and have a lot of experience in IT/e-learning development. His expertise is into quantitative and qualitative investigations of learning processes at the crossing between cognitive psychology, differential psychology, education and human-computer interaction. His main interest is about technology, its use, its evolution, its interaction with learning and the interface between human and machines (also physical using computer vision, brain activity monitoring, the ‘quantitative self’ and IoT).
Elsuida Kondo
Elsuida is the Developer of Learning and Teaching for the Faculty of Science at the University of Melbourne. Elsuida’s background is in analytical chemistry, mathematical modelling, and Learning and Teaching development. In her current role her main interest is in learning analytics evaluation, student engagement and interactive learning development.
Kevin Samnick
Kevin is a dedicated and lifelong proponent of the value of learning. He has a background in pharmaceutical research, STEM education, and educational technology. His approach to education is fuelled by practical and tangible connections to holistic outcomes for learners and educators in their lives both in the classroom and beyond. Kevin has worked in pharmaceutical research in industry and in a University context supporting research in cancer, tuberculosis, and pulmonary drug delivery. Later he taught science, chemistry, and biology in secondary schools before moving into elearning support in the tertiary environment. Currently he is part of a team managing the migration to a new learning management system at the University of Sydney.
Danny Liu
Danny is a molecular biologist by training, programmer by night, researcher and academic developer by day, and educator at heart. A multiple national teaching award winner, he works at the confluence of learning analytics, student engagement, educational technology, and professional development and leadership to enhance the student experience.
Deb King
Deb has a PhD in mathematics and has worked at The University of Melbourne since 2002. She is the Associate Dean (Undergraduate Programs) in the Faculty of Science and Director of Teaching in the School of Mathematics at the University of Melbourne.
She leads the FYiMaths network, a national initiative to support professional development of tertiary mathematics educators and encourage innovation in education. She has been awarded institutional and national teaching awards, and has led two national mathematics education projects; Mathsassess, investigating assessment practices in tertiary mathematics and FYiMaths.
Adam Bridgeman
Adam is Director of Educational Innovation at the University of Sydney and holds a PhD in Inorganic Chemistry from University of Cambridge. He was awarded the RSC Higher Education Teaching Award in the UK in 2004. In 2006, Adam moved to the University of Sydney as Director of First Year Studies in the School of Chemistry. He became Associate Dean of Learning and Teaching in 2012 for the Faculty of Science. As well as receiving institutional and national awards for teaching in Australia, he became an Australian National Teaching Fellow in 2015. In November of 2015, he finally escaped Chemistry to take up this new role in the DVC Education Portfolio at Sydney. In this role, he is tasked with invigorating and changing the learning and teaching culture through a focus on blended, collaborative and interactive learning styles.