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2011: ASCILITE 2011 Conference Proceedings: Changing Demands, Changing Directions.

 

The proceedings of the 2011 ASCILITE Conference

G. Williams, P. Statham, N. Brown & B. Cleland (Eds.), Changing Demands, Changing Directions. Proceedings ASCILITE Hobart 2011

Wrest Point, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

December 4-7, 2011

ASCILITE2011 Conference Website - https://ascilite.org/conferences/hobart11/index.htm

Published: 8 December 2011

ASCILITE Conference - Concise Papers

  • Learner experiences of online learning in a blended learning situation: Different cohorts, different needs

    Benjamin Kehrwald, Peter Rawlins, Mary Simpson

    This paper discusses a key finding of a recent study of learners' experiences of blended learning in a case involving multiple cohorts of students in a single degree program. The theme of differing experiences across learner cohorts is discussed. The presentation includes quantitative data drawn from student surveys. The findings and discussion highlight considerations for teaching academics, academic developers and program administrators related to the implementation of blended learning.

    Read article: Learner experiences of online learning in a blended learning situation: Different cohorts, different needs

  • An evidence based approach to evaluation: A case study of the Positive Partnerships web space

    Chris Kilham

    The Positive Partnerships is an Australian Government initiative that is designed to provide information and professional development for Australian parents, carers and school staff working with school aged students with autism, using a combination of face to face and online delivery. This paper investigates first, how the website can present research-based interventions in a field marked by "bad science, risky medicine and the search for a cure" (Offit, 2008). Second, the paper offers suggestions for website evaluation. Maintaining a clear focus on the purpose of the site, and judiciously selecting among readily available online evaluation tools, are central to success. Triangulation, representativeness, independence and other key safeguards can also shore up the validity of website appraisals. The paper concludes by describing nine different complementary ways that the Positive Partnerships website has been evaluated, and briefly sketches a sample of the findings. Suggestions for future research are provided.

    Read article: An evidence based approach to evaluation: A case study of the Positive Partnerships web space

  • Support and promotion of mobile learning strategies

    Paul Lam, Morris Kwok, Kevin Wong

    The Mobile Learning Project at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) started in 2010 as an initiative to promote mobile learning (mLearning) among teachers at the university. The paper describes the strategies employed by the project in supporting the promotion of a range of mobile learning activities at the university, and reviews factors in relation to challenges and success.

    Read article: Support and promotion of mobile learning strategies

  • The emergence of educational technologies in ethics education: Exploring the Values Exchange decision making software

    Amanda B. Lees

    The Values Exchange decision making software offers a unique way to deliver ethics education to health care professionals. It does not attempt to objectify ethics nor does it use traditional ethics terminology. Reflecting a changing direction, it places emphasis on a student's existing knowledge, experience and ability to reason. This ability is seen as an inherent characteristic of all students but can remain latent if ethical decision-making is only valued if undertaken by ethics 'experts'. A case study, with five participants explored the ways in which the software facilitated users to think about ethical issues. The online environment created space that facilitated decision- making. Learning about oneself and others enabled users to arrive at new ways of seeing practice based issues, and new ways of seeing themselves. The findings from this small scale study suggest that the Values Exchange encourages thoughtful reflection that has the potential to manifest itself in benefits for both patient and practitioner.

    Read article: The emergence of educational technologies in ethics education: Exploring the Values Exchange decision making software

  • A discussion of the factors affecting the implementation of one-to-one computing learning environment in a primary school

    Siew Khiaw Lim, Lee Yong Tay, Cher Ping Lim

    This ethnographic case study describes and analyses the conditions that support the seamless integration of information communication technology (ICT) into the classroom with school initiated student one-to-one computer ownership program in a primary school. The findings suggest the importance of two factors: technological infrastructures and teachers' beliefs and practices. In addition, curriculum, school leadership and professional development also play less visible but supporting functions in the process of integrating ICT into the teaching and learning process.

    Read article: A discussion of the factors affecting the implementation of one-to-one computing learning environment in a primary school

  • An instructional design model for screencasting: Engaging students in self-regulated learning

    Birgit Loch, Catherine McLoughlin

    Students entering first year university mathematics courses in Australia often show gaps in their mathematical understanding and may not have the cognitive and metacognitive skills to cope with abstract thinking. Screencasts produced as learning support for these students have definite benefits as learners have flexibility in accessing the resources at their convenience, and they can watch step by step model explanations of concepts and operations. Nevertheless, the instructional format of most mathematical screencasts focuses on expert performance of, and commentary on a particular skill, and often neglects to consider the active engagement and participation of the learner. This article provides an overview of instructional design approaches to screencasts, and of self- regulated learning models. It then introduces a preliminary instructional design model building on self-regulated learning theory for the creation of screencasts, in order to foster and enhance students' cognitive and metacognitive skills in understanding complex mathematical concepts.

    Read article: An instructional design model for screencasting: Engaging students in self-regulated learning

  • A perceptual training module for pilot instrument scans

    Greg McLean, Lisa Wise, Benedict Williams

    The current generation of young people have grown up with digital technologies and this has led to widespread consideration of how to use these technologies for education and training. We are interested in the potential for developing game-like training modules for deployment on personal digital devices to allow trainee pilots to practise information extraction skills for a variety of different contexts. The current study is based on an instrument scanning perceptual training module reported by Kellman and Kaiser (1994). While we expect that novices will be able to easily learn the instrument scanning tasks, it is important to ascertain whether their performance reflects an increased understanding of the flying situation, or just a correct choice learned implicitly within the context of the specific experimental tasks. If the latter, the possibility of negative transfer of gaming strategies to real world performance requires further examination.

    Read article: A perceptual training module for pilot instrument scans

  • Reinventing the 21st century educator: Social media to engage and support the professional learning of teachers

    Catherine McLoughlin

    Learning for the professions has grown beyond mere consumption of knowledge and become a knowledge creation process. The new effective teacher must think more about process than content, enabling learners to operate in the digital world rather than learn a discrete body of facts. The paper will present the teaching and learning possibilities accompanying the social, participatory and collaborative tools that have emerged in the Web 2.0 era. For beginning teachers, competence in e-learning and the capacity to employ these tools to support lifelong professional learning is essential. As technologies continue to change, there is a now a stronger emphasis on teacher learning and that is proactive, experiential and mediated by digital tools. The complexity of teachers learning and teachers' knowledge is acknowledged and theorised, and evidence is presented that digital tools and their affordances can enable and support teacher learning in a number of productive ways.

    Read article: Reinventing the 21st century educator: Social media to engage and support the professional learning of teachers

  • Managing Large E-learning Development Initiatives: Lessons learnt from the Australian Flexible Learning Toolbox Project

    Mark McMahon

    This paper reports on a research consultancy undertaken for the Flexible Learning Framework in reviewing management processes undertaken as part of Series 13 of Flexible Learning Toolboxes. Toolboxes are e-learning products that cover multiple Units of Competency in National Training Packages. In the 13th iteration of the project a number of initiatives were implemented designed to support the development of 7 Toolboxes. The research explores the role of documentation and communication processes and their impact on the development experiences of key stakeholders such as the designers, developers and managers of the products. Findings identified a number of important factors with regard to the use of design documentation and project management processes that are important to successful development as well as some recommendations for future iterations.

    Read article: Managing Large E-learning Development Initiatives: Lessons learnt from the Australian Flexible Learning Toolbox Project

  • Developing critical perspectives in a media saturated world: Using digital video clips to shape learning in marketing

    Cathi McMullen

    This paper describes how digital video clips are being used to support the development of critical perspectives and greater awareness of the location of marketing practice in wider moral, social and political arenas. The context is an undergraduate marketing subject, Brand Management. Adobe CAPTIVATE 5.5 facilitates the combination of video clips sourced from YouTube along with music, images and educator voice-overs into integrated online learning resources for the subject. Discussion in this paper is limited to just one topic area for the subject, ethical issues in branding. To engage students to explore contested ethical issues a multimedia resource has as its focus the Australian Government's proposed legislation to mandate plain cigarette packaging. This illustration of the use of digital video clips highlights the significant potential for development of online marketing curriculum and meaningful learning in marketing, providing greater attention is paid to the pedagogy that underpins the use of digital videos.

    Read article: Developing critical perspectives in a media saturated world: Using digital video clips to shape learning in marketing

  • Engagement at the Epicentre

    Antoine Monti, Susan Tull, Alan Hoskin

    Following the February 22nd, 2011 earthquake in Christchurch, Learning Advisors observed what happened to an institution forced to suddenly confront significant damage and loss of physical teaching space and infrastructure on only the second day of the teaching Semester. The university's struggle to restore and deliver its teaching programme and care for the welfare of staff and students, was a laboratory for observing lecturer interventions that contributed to maintaining student engagement and good pedagogy. This is a record of our observations from a case study sample of lecturers and their courses.

    Read article: Engagement at the Epicentre

  • Benchmark yourself: Self-reflecting about online teaching

    Maria Northcote, Jack Seddon, Philip Brown

    Teachers need effective online teaching and course development skills to engage higher education students in meaningful, socially contextual, challenging and engaging learning experiences. To develop these skills, academic teaching staff typically attend professional learning activities, such as workshops to investigate online learning and strategies, engage in one-to-one consultations with online learning experts, and analyse practical exemplars. Online teacher/designers are often perplexed by the transitional conundrums between the modes of on-campus and online teaching, and grapple with how to endow online learning contexts with the same qualities of good on- campus learning contexts. Many online teachers and designers of online courses are self-taught whereas others rely on institutionally-provided courses, workshops and seminars to extend their online teaching skills. This paper reports on a utilisation-focused evaluation methodology (Patton, 1997) that was adopted to develop a self-reflection rubric tool to guide academic teaching staff in the evaluation of their own online teaching and course development skills.

    Read article: Benchmark yourself: Self-reflecting about online teaching

  • Multidiscipline Multi technologies: How can technology support allied health students from multiple disciplines increase their access to clinical training?

    Ian Olney

    This paper describes the current progress of a federally funded project that is attempting to provide a multidisciplinary approach to increasing the clinical training capacity of undergraduate health students. Students from five disciplines: physiotherapy; podiatry; psychology; medicine and nursing from the one Australian multi-campus university are being encouraged to undertake a small component of their clinical placement in local hospital settings that are supported by the project and state government health networks. Using an exploratory case study approach this paper reports on the early stages of the project and highlights some of the issues in dealing with the myriad of stakeholders and how various technologies are being used to connect with students and provide supports and spaces to reflect.

    Read article: Multidiscipline Multi technologies: How can technology support allied health students from multiple disciplines increase their access to clinical training?

Showing 105–117 of 147 articles