2018: ASCILITE 2018 Conference Proceedings

In a changing Higher Education landscape, universities are increasingly under pressure to implement transformative learning experiences, leveraging advances in technology and increasing flexibility in the curriculum. This paper discusses

In a changing Higher Education landscape, universities are increasingly under pressure to implement transformative learning experiences, leveraging advances in technology and increasing flexibility in the curriculum. This paper discusses the process by which our University transitioned from one Learning Management System to another, and the impact of this transformation. This impact is viewed across the College of Science, Engineering & Health learning and teaching strategies and the student experience, our planning and staff capability development. The complexities and lessons learnt from this process are identified in an attempt to reflect on the LMS transformation as a broader catalyst for change.

In response to the issue of a wide variability and structure in the Learning Management System (LMS) design across subjects at the school level in an Australian university, the researchers of the study developed a research-informed LMS

In response to the issue of a wide variability and structure in the Learning Management System (LMS) design across subjects at the school level in an Australian university, the researchers of the study developed a research-informed LMS template. The template drew on the critical factors identified in the literature that could contribute to students’ positive learning experience in online learning spaces. The study aimed to evaluate the usability and continued use intentions of the template by trialling it in four Business subjects and applied a mixed method approach to explore lecturers’ and students’ perceptions. Results showed that both students and lecturers responded to the new template positively in terms of its usability and suggested strong intentions to use it in the future.

With the increased importance placed on first-year university units to transition, retain and engage new students, there is a need to carefully design the navigation within a unit of study. The importance of reducing confusion for new

With the increased importance placed on first-year university units to transition, retain and engage new students, there is a need to carefully design the navigation within a unit of study. The importance of reducing confusion for new students and the cognitive load placed on them during their first experience of university learning may assist with retention. This paper presents a collaborative project between a first-year Unit Coordinator and Senior Learning Designer to redesign the navigation of a core communications unit in a Bachelor of Science (Nursing) degree. The purpose was to reduce the confusion over what was required of the students each week and to reduce the number of clicks and scrolls through the weekly content, allowing students to focus on the content itself.

Digital literacies are no longer optional for higher education staff - they are a necessity. However, comprehensive solutions on how to develop digital literacies in the workforce remain elusive. While many institutions implement clear

Digital literacies are no longer optional for higher education staff - they are a necessity. However, comprehensive solutions on how to develop digital literacies in the workforce remain elusive. While many institutions implement clear definitions and frameworks in policies at the macro-level, rigid application of these tools is ineffective at a micro-level wherein personalized approach is needed. This paper describes the approach of a pilot professional development program at a regional university library that scopes and evolves to meet the needs of the workforce. The program is guided by design principles focusing on personalization and flexibility. In the future, the program will be evaluated to determine its impact on the workforce’s development of digital literacies to provide guidance for other higher education institutions.

While the academic community and the general public often refer to learners today as inherently tech- savvy digital natives, those in the educational technology community have long advocated for a move away from digital native stereotypes

While the academic community and the general public often refer to learners today as inherently tech- savvy digital natives, those in the educational technology community have long advocated for a move away from digital native stereotypes in favour of fostering digital literacy. As such, the educational technology community can play a vital role in shifting from popular conceptions of digital natives and toward developing digital literacy for the benefit of all learners. In this paper, we provide a comparative analysis of search data from Google Trends showing continued use of the term digital natives and the rising interest in digital literacy. In order to help educators move away from popularized concepts of digital natives by instead developing digital literacy in three domains, we propose a conceptual framework for anchoring digital practices within a Learning Design model.

There are many pedagogical benefits of peer assessment: it can develop content knowledge, students’ feedback skills, and afford additional sources of feedback for students. Furthermore, peer assessment can contribute to the development of

There are many pedagogical benefits of peer assessment: it can develop content knowledge, students’ feedback skills, and afford additional sources of feedback for students. Furthermore, peer assessment can contribute to the development of students' evaluative judgement, a core capability for independent practice and lifelong learning. However, peer assessment is frequently seen as problematic, due to logistical issues, and concern from both staff and students around the ability of peers to contribute meaningfully to learning. Somewhat paradoxically, students’ evaluative judgement is likely to contribute to successful peer assessment. Technological solutions for peer assessment can have a significant role in improving uptake of peer assessment practices. If such implementations also focus on the core requirements/principles of evaluative judgement development, this may be one way to improve the success of peer assessment. This paper provides a rationale for the inclusion of peer assessment within curricula. It introduces the concept of evaluative judgement; highlights the benefits and challenges currently faced within peer assessment, and identifies desired functionalities for peer assessment and evaluative judgement that could be implemented through technological means.

The uptake of digital technologies in education is a significant issue for governments and organisations across the world as concerns are expressed about students’ lack of progress in these areas. As a result, the inclusion of digital

The uptake of digital technologies in education is a significant issue for governments and organisations across the world as concerns are expressed about students’ lack of progress in these areas. As a result, the inclusion of digital technologies is often unquestioned and caught up in a largely aspirational discourse of inevitability, where the belief is that using digital technologies will lead to curriculum reform. The case study of Slow, presented here, aims to enlighten the conversation with examples from research in different education jurisdictions in Australia. Slow is a national vision for digitally rich education through a different lens. This new theoretical framework of Slow comprises four convergent themes: state of mind, time, process and connectedness. These themes are offered through interdisciplinary, technology-rich secondary school examples that highlight the potential of Slow to re-imagine the way we think about education. Important critique offered throughout the concise paper signposts diverse interpretations of the digital technologies agenda that is often missing from ‘click-bait’ media snapshots and in recent government reports. Examinations of understandings and practices in some Australian education contexts offer universal and readily transferable treasures that suggest powerful options and ripostes for policy, education leaders, teachers and young people.

This paper analyses parts of speech in a training corpus with 13,189 learning outcomes in which Bloom’s Taxonomy levels were previously classified by human experts for 3,496 subjects offered at an Australian university. This paper explores

This paper analyses parts of speech in a training corpus with 13,189 learning outcomes in which Bloom’s Taxonomy levels were previously classified by human experts for 3,496 subjects offered at an Australian university. This paper explores the automatic identification of verbs and other parts of speech impacting the semantic meaning and Bloom’s classification of learning outcome statements. The frequency with which words in learning outcomes appear as different parts of speech and at different Bloom’s levels is described as a preliminary step of a larger project that aims to automatically classify Bloom’s levels using a combination of table lookup and machine learning approaches. It is indicated that automated parts of speech classification can assist human learning and teaching designers to write clearer learning outcome statements. This is in addition to playing a role in automated Bloom’s Taxonomy classification, and identifying cases requiring review in conjunction with normal institutional curriculum management processes.

This study investigated how network externalities affect users’ persistence in completing massive online open courses (MOOCs) through the mediation of human motivation. A theoretical model was built utilizing network externalities and

This study investigated how network externalities affect users’ persistence in completing massive online open courses (MOOCs) through the mediation of human motivation. A theoretical model was built utilizing network externalities and self-determined theory, and was validated with the responses from 346 students in a public university in China via partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The findings indicate that network externalities constituted essential social contexts that directly and indirectly impacted the development of learners’ self-determined motivation. Learners’ persistence in completing MOOCs was significantly predicted by learners’ competence, followed by relatedness, autonomy, and network benefit; network benefit, which was predicted by network size (direct network externalities) and perceived complementarity (indirect network externalities) also had greater indirect influence on learners’ persistence in completing MOOCs. As to gender differences, relatedness showed stronger influence on female learners’ persistence in completing MOOCs than males. Network benefit had stronger prediction on female learners’ perceived relatedness; but it exerted greater direct influence on male learners’ persistence in completing MOOCs.

For academics participating in graduate certificates of higher education, the advice and feedback of their teacher peers is a potentially powerful resource. This paper reports on an evaluation-in-progress of one subject in a graduate

For academics participating in graduate certificates of higher education, the advice and feedback of their teacher peers is a potentially powerful resource. This paper reports on an evaluation-in-progress of one subject in a graduate certificate for university teaching, a fully online unit on the scholarship of technology-enhanced learning (SoTEL). Two demands are made of participants in this unit: that they should develop a prototype activity using technology for learning and teaching, and that they should review and receive a review from a class peer to enhance these individual prototypes. The assumption at the heart of this unit design is that, by undertaking a review of a colleague’s learning design, the teacher learns from these additional perspectives and can then improve their own designs for learning. Challenging this assumption are multiple aspects of the context, including the relative value of design reviews from academic developers versus less experienced peers; the multiple criteria by which a design might be evaluated; and interdisciplinary work between peers. Artefacts from participants and the academic developers teaching them are analysed to probe this underlying assumption, and to consider the value of peer review in SoTEL.

Online Interactive Activities are becoming increasingly popular at many universities as a method for introducing Blended Active Learning experiences. The advancement of technology has meant that the toolkits no longer require experienced

Online Interactive Activities are becoming increasingly popular at many universities as a method for introducing Blended Active Learning experiences. The advancement of technology has meant that the toolkits no longer require experienced multimedia designers to create content. Teachers and Educational Support Staff have been given the power to design and develop their own activities. Whilst many people understand that the technical parameters of the tools need to be understood, elements of design also need to be considered and appreciated for the development of quality learning experiences. In this paper we consider design principles to prompt active learning and encourage student engagement.

Constructive Alignment has been with us for quite some time. From its origins in education theory in the 1990s, partly as a means to address some of the pedagogical challenges of scale in mass, higher- education, it has now become the

Constructive Alignment has been with us for quite some time. From its origins in education theory in the 1990s, partly as a means to address some of the pedagogical challenges of scale in mass, higher- education, it has now become the dominant pedagogy in Australian higher education. Originally intended as a means to consistently and holistically design syllabi around learning outcomes and delivery and assessment methods (Biggs, 2003), it is now—as claimed in a recent book on the subject—an overly mechanistic, industrial process that may stifle innovation and creativity, some of the key skills of a 21st Century workplace and society (Nelson, 2018). This is because of its slavish, uncritical application and lack of imagination regarding refreshing and building upon its significant legacy. Is there a Post- Constructive future and what may this future look like? And what does this mean for digital education, in its various guises, one of the more transformative areas of higher education? In this debate we will survey the various applications of Constructive Alignment and perhaps imagine a Post-Constructivist future!

Based on the concept of a continuum of openness, this session will respond to the Australian contextualisation of Open Educational Practices (OEP) in higher education, and openness more broadly within different institutions. This will be

Based on the concept of a continuum of openness, this session will respond to the Australian contextualisation of Open Educational Practices (OEP) in higher education, and openness more broadly within different institutions. This will be undertaken through brief cases of implementation at the panellists’ institutions, with an invitation to the audience to expand, and contribute to, the ongoing Australian OEP dialogue. The complexity, considerations for engagement, and practical examples will be considered to catalyse discussion with the audience. The panel will also discuss possible challenges facing practitioners and their institutions, and opportunities to explore future directions, as well as the roles the OEP SIG, as part of the ASCILITE community, could play in progressing and nurturing OEP developments in Australia.