The power of Us: Investigating the value of interaction and community in postgraduate studies
Concise paper
Oriel Kelly
New Zealand Tertiary College
@oriel.kelly
Nuhisifa Seve-Williams
New Zealand Tertiary College
Binky Laureta
New Zealand Tertiary College
Keshni Kumar
New Zealand Tertiary College
Catch this session
Tuesday 5 December, 11am - 11.20am
Stream 2
Room R113
Abstract
The power of community – of Us – has long been assumed to be important in adult learning. Student interactions on discussion forums are encouraged, and it has been claimed that they foster a learning community which makes a difference to student outcomes through collaboration and joint construction of knowledge. This paper reports on interim results of a research project to establish, firstly, if there is a correlation between student participation in forums and their overall course outcomes, and secondly, shares a matrix designed to code both social and cognitive forum activity, to support an investigation into the existence of a learning community in student forum conversations – the power of Us.
About the authors
Oriel Kelly
Oriel Kelly is the Academic Manager at NZTC. She has a Masters in Educational Administration and her tertiary background is in staff development, the uses of technology to support teaching and learning and educational leadership. She is a Fellow of the New Zealand Association for Educational Administration and Leadership and a winner of a New Zealand national Tertiary Teaching Excellence Award. Her research interests include learning technology, online communities and the NZ eLearning Guidelines. She has been teaching online now over 15 years, five with NZTC.
Nuhisifa Seve-Williams
Dr Nuhisifa Seve-Williams hails from the island of Niue but raised in NZ.
She completed her PhD in Education Sociology in 2009 from the University of Auckland. She is currently the Research Manager at NZTC.
Binky Laureta
Binky Laureta has a Masters in Family Life and Child Development and is a registered teacher in early childhood education. She has been involved in teaching for 20 years, both overseas, and in New Zealand. She started her career as a preschool teacher and then joined the tertiary sector. Currently, she is working as lecturer and Program Leader for the Graduate Diploma in Teaching ECE program at New Zealand Tertiary College. Her interests are in inclusive education, social competency, cultural diversity, multicultural education, adult/higher education teaching and learning, teacher training, online teaching and learning, curriculum and learning support.
Keshni Kumar
Keshni Kumar has a Postgraduate Diploma in Education and has 17 years experience in education. Her research interests are in science and early childhood education, and other curriculum areas. She is currently a lecturer in early childhood at NZTC.
The synergistic and dynamic relationship between learning design and learning analytics
Concise paper
Dirk Ifenthaler
University of Mannheim
@ifenthaler
David Gibson
Curtin University
@davidgibson
Eva Dobozy
Curtin University
@edobozy27
Catch this session
Tuesday 5 December, 11.20am - 11.40am
Stream 3
Room L206
Abstract
The synergistic relationship between learning design and learning analytics has the potential for improving learning and teaching in near real-time. The potential for integrating the newly available and dynamic information from ongoing analysis into learning design requires new perspectives on learning and teaching data processing and analysis as well as advanced theories, methods, and tools for supporting dynamic learning design processes. Three perspectives of learning analytics design provide summative, real-time, and predictive insights. In a case study with 3,550 users, the navigation sequence and network graph analysis demonstrate the potential of learning analytics design. The study aims to demonstrate how the analysis of navigation patterns and network graph analysis could inform the learning design of self-guided digital learning experiences. Even with open-ended freedom, only 608 sequences were evidenced by learners out of a potential number of hundreds of millions of sequences. Advancements of learning analytics design have the potential for mapping the cognitive, social and even physical states of the learner and optimise their learning environment on the fly.
About the authors
Dirk Ifenthaler
Dirk Ifenthaler is Professor and Chair of Learning, Design and Technology at University of Mannheim. His research focuses on the intersection of cognitive psychology, educational technology, data analytics, and organisational learning. Dirk’s research outcomes include numerous co-authored books, book series, book chapters, journal articles, and international conference papers, as well as successful grant funding in Australia, Germany, and USA. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Springer journal Technology, Knowledge and Learning (www.ifenthaler.info).
David Gibson
Professor David Gibson, Director of Learning Futures at Curtin University in Australia and UNESCO Chair of Data Science in Higher Education Learning and Teaching, received his doctorate (Ed.D. Leadership and Policy Studies) from the University of Vermont in 1999 based on a study of complex systems modeling of educational change. His foundational research demonstrated the feasibility of bridging from qualitative information to quantifiable dynamic relationships in complex models that verify trajectories of organizational change. He provides thought leadership as a researcher, professor, learning scientist and innovator. He is creator of simSchool, a classroom flight simulator for preparing educators, and eFolio an online performance-based assessment system, and provides vision and sponsorship for Curtin University’s Challenge, a mobile, game-based learning platform. He consults with project and system leaders, formulates strategies, and helps people articulate their vision for innovation; then helps connect people with the resources needed to fulfill their aspirations. His research has extended from learning analytics, complex systems analysis and modeling of education to application of complexity via games and simulations in teacher education, web applications and the future of learning. Dr. Gibson has also advanced the use of technology to personalize education via cognitive modeling, design and implementation.
Eva Dobozy
Associate Professor Eva Dobozy is Deputy Dean, Learning and Teaching in the Curtin Business School. She is engaged in Learning Design research, investigating the efficacy of traditional and new technology-enhanced learning and teaching offerings. Dr Dobozy is involved in the discovery, integration, application and testing of new learning design models and frameworks. Currently, she is working as part of a learning design group on the design and implementation of transdisciplinary pedagogical templates. Her research spans the intersection between learning theory, learning design, technology-enhanced learning and teacher professional development. She is the winner of a number of prestigious research and teaching awards. Her current research focuses on sustainable futures in higher education and the pedagogical modelling of novel course designs and quality assurance practices.
Us and IT: Capacity-building for blended learning - an intersection between educator, pedagogy, and technology
Concise paper
Kaye Cleary
Victoria University
Gayani Samarawickrema
Victoria University
Sally Gauci
Victoria University
Catch this session
Tuesday 5 December, 11am - 11.20am
Stream 5
Room C204
Abstract
When Victoria University (VU) Australia, adopted a new learning management system (LMS) as part of its Blended Learning Strategy and Operational Plan in 2014, it introduced a range of support structures including a staff support and training program. Complementing this, the Graduate Certificate in Higher Education (the course providing professional development for early career academic staff) offered an elective AET4010 Blended Learning Design and Development fusing the pedagogical and theoretical aspects of blended learning to foster teaching as a design science. In this study we investigate the effectiveness of AET4010 in developing participants’ capacity to design and, develop blended learning.
In this paper we report on the data from the first stage of this investigation. Data is derived from assessment rubrics. Complementary qualitative data will be collected in the second stage via interviews conducted after the participants complete the unit. We analyse our findings against the JISC Building Digital Capability Framework mapped to the UK Professional Standards Framework. This Framework identifies early career academics’ capabilities (Associate Fellows). The emerging findings indicated the value of capacity building through a structured unit of study enabling participants to experience learning from their own learner’s standpoint while reflecting on pedagogical perspectives and ‘teaching as design’.
About the authors
Kaye Cleary
Kaye Cleary coordinates Victoria University’s Graduate Certificate in Tertiary Education, one facet of her wider brief of Professional Development Coordination. She has taught online for eleven years and in a blended mode of on-campus and on-line learning for four years. Professional development initiatives for academics moving into teaching in an online environment has been a focus of her research.
Gayani Samarawickrema
Gayani Samarawickrema is an Educational Developer at Victoria University with research interests in learning and teaching with technology.
Sally Gauci
Sally Gauci is an Educational Developer at Victoria University. She is the unit coordinator of AET4010 Blended Learning Design and Development, an elective unit in the Graduate Certificate in Tertiary Education. Her recent work involves supporting university learning and teaching initiatives in the discipline area of Health and Biomedicine.
What's in a name? The ambiguity and complexity of technology enhanced learning roles
Concise paper
Kate Mitchell
La Trobe University
@katevideo
Colin Simpson
Australian National University
@gamerlearner
Chie Adachi
Deakin University
@chieadachi
Catch this session
Tuesday 5 December, 11.40am - 12pm
Stream 6
Room T125
Abstract
With the growing ubiquity of educational technology, there has been an increased need for specialised practitioners to advise on and support technology enhanced learning (TEL) within higher education. Academic developers, instructional designers and educational technologists are all examples of these skilled individuals typically working in ‘third space’ that crosses complex boundaries - between the pedagogical and technological, and the academic and professional. However, role titles and descriptions of duties are often unclear at best, with a lack of consistent terminology used across institutions and in the literature. This can lead to confusion and tensions when working with multiple institutional stakeholders and exacerbates ‘the academic/professional divide’ in Higher Education.
This paper presents a synthesis of key literature related to contemporary TEL advisor and support roles in Higher Education alongside a preliminary analysis of the 37 recent position descriptions of these roles. The application of social practice theory as our conceptual framework enables us to further explore the significance of practices in these TEL roles. This paper offers a step forward to the ways in which clarity and consistency of these roles might be sought. Future implications of this study are included for further consideration.
About the authors
Kate Mitchell
Kate Mitchell currently works as a Senior Educational Designer at La Trobe University where she supports teaching academics to incorporate blended and online learning into their practice. She has longstanding experience as a learning designer and as a teacher across secondary, vocational and higher education sectors. She is a member of the ePortfolios Australia organising committee and is a founding member and co-convenor of the ASCILITE TEL edvisors special interest group.
Kate recently completed her Master of Education research thesis exploring vocational educators’ perceptions of the factors shaping their use of e-Learning, including the relationships between individuals’ beliefs and motivations alongside institutional and external factors. Her research interests cover e-Learning integration, educational design and academic professional development and she is currently involved in research projects exploring ePortfolio use within nursing and education disciplines.
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 founder and co-convenor of the 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.
Colin blogs at http://screenface.net.
Chie Adachi
Dr Chie Adachi has a PhD in Linguistics (The University of Edinburgh) and has taught/worked at universities in Japan, UK and Australia over the past 12 years. Her current research interests lie within the areas of digital learning and teaching in higher education, sociolinguistics and intercultural education. She currently works as a Lecturer within the central Learning and Teaching unit, Deakin Learning Futures at Deakin University, Melbourne. Since 2017 she has been involved with the ASCILITE Special Interest Group, TELedvisors, as one of the co-founders serving to create a collaborative space and empower advisors working within the area of Technology Enhanced Learning.
Exploratory panel: Privacy, trust, student data, and the university
Join us for a thought-provoking, and sometimes challenging, discussion on privacy, trust, student data and the university. This important discussion will be open and free for all to attend online.
Applications such as Facebook, Gmail, Twitter, and iTunes offer users convenience, connection, and content for no perceived upfront cost, but the currency of digital citizenship is privacy. Data collection, use, and resale by global companies reinforces the perception of private information as a commodity, with ethical, legal, and technological consequences largely unexplored.
As higher education institutions increasingly collect and use data, questions arise over student privacy and the impact on a relationship of trust. This is exacerbated by the use of third-party (and often commercial) products in the curriculum; from publisher texts and online resources that require unique student log-in, to test banks that track individual student performance, to the integration of services like Google+ and Facebook into learning and teaching activities. Furthermore, questions arise when companies dealing with student data are purchased by commercial interests and the data is seen as ‘goods and chattels’ in the company sale.
This panel seeks to explore emerging ethical, legal, educational, and technological issues surrounding the collection and use of student data by universities, and the impact these strategies have on student trust and privacy.
The session will be live-streamed and accessible either in-person at the conference, or online.
Please join us for what will be a thought-provoking, and sometimes challenging, session at ASCILITE 2017.
For those not able to attend the seminar, you can follow along via Twitter using the conference hashtag #ascilite17
About the panellists
Catch this session
Tuesday 5 December, 1.30pm – 3pm
Room H102 Allison Dickson Lecture Theatre
Live streamed via Zoom
Barney Dalgarno (facilitator)
Professor Barney Dalgarno is Director of Learning Online at Charles Sturt University, leading strategic innovation for Australia’s largest online learning provider. Professor Dalgarno’s research contributions have been in three broad areas: the relationship between learning technology and learning theory; learning in polysynchronous learning environments, including 3D virtual environments; and university teacher and student use of learning technologies. He has had international influence over many years through journal editorship, conference program committee leadership, and assessing of teaching awards and research grants for international bodies. He has obtained numerous grants and consultancies for higher education research and innovation and has authored over 75 refereed publications. Professor Dalgarno has received recognition for his innovative teaching and research including ALTC Citations in 2007 and 2011 and a 2013 ASCILITE Fellow Award.
Jasmine Thomas
Jasmine holds a Bachelor of Laws (hons) (USQ) and Graduate Certificate of Art and Design (UNSW). She has lectured in e-commerce law, privacy law and postgraduate legal research methodology. Her research interests lie in the areas of technology law, privacy law and legal ethics. She investigated technology use and the priority of place in lawyers’ ethics for her PhD (USQ) thesis, awarded in 2017.
Kirsty Kitto
Kirsty Kitto (@kirstykitto) is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). She models the ways in which humans interact with complex information environments, paying special attention to the interdependencies between language, attitudes, memory and learning. She works in the Connected Intelligence Centre (CIC) where she is seeking new ways of using data to help people navigate an increasingly connected world. She is currently leading a project funded by the Australian government which is developing xAPI based solutions for instructors who want to teach “in the wild” beyond the LMS, and a grant funded by Graduate Careers Australia which is seeking to use xAPI to use learning analytics to help university students work towards developing evidence about their skills and capabilities in a chosen career. In past roles, Kirsty has worked on many projects in partial secondments to QUTs Learning and Teaching Unit, including the Learning Futures project, the creation of a new generation of teaching performance metrics, and the REAL employability project.
Kate Young
Kate Young is currently studying a Bachelor of Health( Biomedical Science Major) as a pathway to medicine (however at the same time is totally prepared to fall in love with an area and end up in research!). Kate balances mixed-mode study with work and family, and is currently the Meet-Up Leader for Chemistry 1 and Chemistry 2, and is the president of the USQ Club of Science.
Allan Christie
Allan is currently the Vice-President, eLearning for Blackboard APAC and this reflects his 30+ years of experience as both an academic and industry leader in the area of eLearning. During his academic career, Allan published extensively and presented at many national and international conferences and was recognised for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at the University of South Australia. Through his long industry association with ASCILITE he was awarded a Life Member of the Society in 2003 and currently has the role of Treasurer. Allan has taken on a “thought-leadership” role in the region which includes conference presentations, panel membership, industry association involvement and social media (blog, twitter) engagement.
