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2013: ASCILITE 2013 Conference Proceedings. Electric Dreams

 

 

 

The proceedings of the 2013 ASCILITE Conference

Electric Dreams

H, Carter, M. Gosper, & J. Hedberg (Eds.) Electric Dreams. Proceedings ASCILITE 2013 Sydney.

Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia

December 1-4, 2013. 

ASCILITE2013 Conference Website https://ascilite.org/conferences/sydney13/

Published: 30 November 2013

ASCILITE Conference - Concise Papers

  • The Greek flip: Old language, online learning

    Martin Olmos

    The flipped classroom has generated much enthusiasm as the future of education. Past research has shown personal support from a tutor as highly effective, but uneconomical. Might flipped formats be a solution to this economic problem? This paper reports on a flipped design for teaching ancient Greek in a theological college. Students learnt the basic content through online videos and activities, and then attended a two-week intensive to interact with faculty and peers. Students were very satisfied with the online resource and agreed that it had helped them prepare to learn Greek, although they were keen to keep the personal interaction with peers and teachers. They used it heavily for an extended period of time. The proportion of students failing or achieving a simple pass decreased, although more data is required to confirm the impact on marks. Overall, the adoption of a flipped format has been validated.

    Read article: The Greek flip: Old language, online learning

  • Gamification of Tertiary Courses: An Exploratory Study of Learning and Engagement

    Varina Paisley

    'Gamification' is the implementation of game elements into non-game settings. In education, the purpose of gamification is to increase student engagement and motivation through the introduction of game elements such as leaderboards, badges and levels. Currently there is limited research into gamification in education and much of the research has focused on young children and 'play' or the implementation of gaming into classes, often technology based classes. This study explores the effectiveness of gamification in tertiary management education which may have implications for a wide range of tertiary education fields and identifies areas for further research.

    Read article: Gamification of Tertiary Courses: An Exploratory Study of Learning and Engagement

  • Designing learning spaces in higher education for autonomy: Preliminary findings and applications

    Martin Parisio

    Learner autonomy underpins many of the educational outcomes at university such as flexibility, adaptability, self-initiative and self-direction. Indeed, learner autonomy is a key to life-long learning. This paper reports on research investigating the ways designers of innovative learning spaces incorporate customisable, (re)configurable and flexible features that support and encourage learner autonomy. The research aims to elicit high-level design principles that may prove useful in design for learning more generally - including design for learning in virtual and hybrid (physical and virtual) spaces. The research involved seventeen learning spaces across eight universities, observations and interviews with educational stakeholders, and architects and interior designers of those spaces. Preliminary findings suggest designers aim to empower students by providing configurable spaces fitted out with modular furniture and ubiquitous technology - emphasising choice. The paper ends by reviewing the application of these design ideas to broader problems and opportunities in 'design for learning' research and practice.

    Read article: Designing learning spaces in higher education for autonomy: Preliminary findings and applications

  • The Reading Game: Encouraging learners to become question-makers rather than question-takers by getting feedback, making friends and having fun

    Robert Parker, Maurizio Maurizio Manuguerra, Bruce Schaefer

    The Reading Game is a question and answer game designed to engage learners in the content of their coursework. The class of student participants creates a collective learning space where every action serves to introduce, build, or clarify concepts from the curriculum. The quality of the multiple-choice questions and the contents of the quizzes are determined by the participants who receive points for their efforts in both asking and answering questions. Participants can comment on and rate questions deemed outstanding by their peers, which directly impacts the contents of review quizzes. Participants progress to the next level of the game using their accumulated points onto asking open questions to the teachers and their cohort. Writing good questions is the winning strategy of the game. The key claim in the Reading Game is that creating questions is one of the fundamental cognitive elements that guide our conscious reasoning.

    Read article: The Reading Game: Encouraging learners to become question-makers rather than question-takers by getting feedback, making friends and having fun

  • Higher Education Teachers' Understanding of Flexibility and Enhancement in a Learning Management System

    Zofia Pawlaczek, Kay Souter, Aleisha Ting

    In as much as Learning Management Systems (LMS) are environments for learning, they are also design-spaces for higher education (HE) teachers to assemble content for the coherent presentation of a course. In the age of the app, where there is software for any number of digital prosthetics, LMS have attempted design-flexibility by supporting third-party plugins to load within the LMS interface. This is not a new idea and has been mastered in audio and image editing with incredible results in terms of creativity. LMS providers have been slow to respond to digital progress, and current LMS versions seem unable to fully support third-party flexibility; despite the opportunity third-party apps provide to enable creativity and enhancement. This preliminary study has shown that HE teachers, in one institution, do not experience seamless integration of plugins, are unable to keep pace with change and are wiling to have fewer choices of tools with a greater focus on proficiency of them.

    Read article: Higher Education Teachers' Understanding of Flexibility and Enhancement in a Learning Management System

  • A new mindset for a new world: Or a return to the ideals?

    Annette Q. Pedersen

    The Internet has changed the world and it's business models, but how can universities take advantage of the new potentials for teaching, learning and research, we've only just begun to grasp the scope of? How can the traditional University of Copenhagen change our own mindset and get ready for the future? We created a vision of the university of the future as a "live university": being accessible anytime, anywhere, and open to participation and co-creation between students, faculty and staff. This is the account of how we aim to use this vision to change our perspective, raise awareness of what technology can do for us, increase our IT-literacy and get ready for the future university - when we don't yet know, what the future holds.

    Read article: A new mindset for a new world: Or a return to the ideals?

  • Exploring Connected Learning Spaces in Teacher Education

    Rachel Perry, Kimberley Pressick-Kilborn, Matthew Kearney

    This paper reports on outcomes from a study that explored how connected learning spaces, mediated by videoconference technology, enabled real-world engagement in pre-service teacher education. Student teachers in drama and science education participated in the study, which involved varied connections with school children and their classroom teachers. Key themes that emerged were underpinned by a consideration of authentic learning: student teachers' observations of teacher practices; enactment of multiple roles; and exposure to diverse and timely feedback. Implications for the design of discipline specific on-campus activities are considered in relation to how they inform effective integration of videoconference technology for real-world, professional engagement in teacher education.

    Read article: Exploring Connected Learning Spaces in Teacher Education

  • Piloting an online mathematics and statistics tutoring service

    Jim Pettigrew, Donald Shearman

    In early 2013 the Mathematics Education Support Hub at the University of Western Sydney launched a tutoring service to support students' mathematical and statistical learning in an online environment. Until the end of its pilot implementation in mid 2013, the service operated at all times as a moderated question and answer forum located within the University's Learning Management System (a version of Blackboard Learn known as vUWS). It also featured a 'virtual classroom', which allowed students to interact with mathematics and statistics support staff in a web conferencing space equipped with a wide range of digital communication tools. This paper refers to the service as it was offered in discussing a range of general issues and questions associated with its pilot implementation. Particular attention is given to the issues of pedagogy in a purely online teaching and learning context and communicating asynchronously and synchronously using mathematical language and notation.

    Read article: Piloting an online mathematics and statistics tutoring service

  • Beyond Open Access: Open Publishing and the Future of Digital Scholarship

    Xiang Ren

    This concise paper reviews the research and practice of open innovations in scholarly publishing, facilitated by the dynamics of open access, Web 2.0, and social media. Compared with traditional publisher-mediated system, open publishing not only provides a vast amount of openly accessible content, but also introduces a new communication system characterized by "publish then social filter". This paper aims to theorize the defining features of open publishing innovations and their impact on future digital scholarship. It also critically discusses the challenges for the uptake of open publishing in scholarly communication. It concludes by linking open publishing with a wider open knowledge communication system including open education and open science, from which future research suggestions are derived.

    Read article: Beyond Open Access: Open Publishing and the Future of Digital Scholarship

  • Looking back to look forward: Creating and sustaining peer connections through digital communities

    Shirley Reushle, Amy Antonio

    Digital communities provide opportunities to engage with local, national and international communities of learners or colleagues around a particular domain of practice. This paper briefly describes an adapted communities of practice model used to structure digital communities for a professional association's peer mentoring program. Methods and techniques for the facilitation and leadership of digital communities are explored and findings from two evaluations of the program are examined to identify successes and areas of improvement. Recommendations for future opportunities are also proposed.

    Read article: Looking back to look forward: Creating and sustaining peer connections through digital communities

  • Technology, identity and the creative artist

    Jennifer Rowley, Dawn Bennett

    Most tertiary students dream about their futures at some time during their studies, and the creation of a portfolio can play an important role in the formation of future identity. In today's culture, technology is rapidly expanding and changing and our society is becoming progressively more networked, digitilised and globalised. Teaching and learning processes are affected by technological developments. and the portfolio has been modified to utilise this technology (Penny & Kinslow, 2006). The process of developing electronic portfolios promoted a technology-enriched environment for creative arts students to cultivate their learning and knowledge. This paper reports from an OLT (formerly ALTC) funded project at its mid-way point. The project is introducing ePortfolios to students through existing curriculum in the creative and performing arts at four universities in Australia. The project forms part of continuing work to research practices in technology supported teaching and learning.

    Read article: Technology, identity and the creative artist

  • Evaluating an institutional blended & mobile learning strategy

    Carol Russell, Qi Jing

    The University of Western Sydney is investing in three levels of learning technology provision: institutional, academic-led and student-led. A new strategy launched in 2012 included infrastructure and software upgrades, recruitment of more staff to assist in blended curriculum design within disciplines and, from 2013, the issue of iPads to all new undergraduate students and to teaching staff. This paper describes how these initiatives are being evaluated, to gather evidence of the initial impact of the investment on the student learning experience and on the capacity of staff to provide quality teaching and curricula.

    Read article: Evaluating an institutional blended & mobile learning strategy

  • Understanding our present: Teaching disputes resolution through online role-play

    Darryl Saunders, Alison Reedy

    The Disputes Resolution unit in the School of Law at Charles Darwin University demonstrates how new technologies can be used in higher education to design connected, innovative and interactive learning environments that stimulate the teaching of practical mediation skills. A pedagogic approach suited to online teaching is used in which online role-play scenarios are conducted using a variation of the online fishbowl approach. With this approach internal and external students take on character roles and interact in a synchronous online environment during a two-week intensive teaching block. The students jump in and out of their roles over the course of the two weeks as they research, role-play, interview and conduct peer reviews of the interactions. New technologies combined with innovative pedagogy enable the repositioning of external students as very much internal in the learning process and a new level of connection and interaction is possible between internal and external students.

    Read article: Understanding our present: Teaching disputes resolution through online role-play

Showing 105–117 of 130 articles