2010: ASCILITE 2010 Conference Proceedings: Curriculum, technology & transformation for an unknown future

There are growing calls to make equity a focus of research concern in Australian higher education. In turn such research will, it is anticipated, inform the planning, delivery and implementation of education in an era of rapid global and

There are growing calls to make equity a focus of research concern in Australian higher education. In turn such research will, it is anticipated, inform the planning, delivery and implementation of education in an era of rapid global and technological change. Yet to undertake such research requires generating a greater understanding of the complex and multidimensional nature of educational disadvantage for the purposes of equity. This paper explores the Equity Raw-Score Matrix as a means of capturing economic, geographic and social disadvantage.

The contribution of the lone ranger educator who tinkers with applications, testing discarding and working haphazardly around systems, should be seriously considered. Whilst learning organisations want to be perceived as dynamic structures

The contribution of the lone ranger educator who tinkers with applications, testing discarding and working haphazardly around systems, should be seriously considered. Whilst learning organisations want to be perceived as dynamic structures that recognise and support innovation in curriculum and teaching practice they cannot responsibly incorporate every technical change, new invention or application, and idea into their curriculum. Collaborative teams concerned with responsible sustainability, should not be subjecting their ideas to natural selection. Before ideas can be disseminated through collective teams, there needs to be a diffusion of originality, innovation and thought between members of teams, and this frequently stems from the very tinkerers whose willingness to take risks and fail with new technologies is often regarded as inefficient and contradictory to organisational development. As learning organisations embed open source and community developed software, they are finding themselves enmeshed with systems that are never complete and always being changed as the Internet magnifies the opportunities for tinkerers to adapt applications. When learning organisations embrace the open source option instead of using proprietary licences, they too have an obligation to support and participate in the development. This development is often done within a community that exists without concerns for sustainability and responsibility but uses an adaptive process of natural selection. An important way in which they can respond to this obligation is to provide an environment where lone rangers tinkering in the developmental role of resources can function.

A dramatic, pedagogical shift has occurred in recent years in educational environments in higher education, supported largely by the use of ubiquitous technologies. Increasingly, emphasis is being placed on the design of new learning

A dramatic, pedagogical shift has occurred in recent years in educational environments in higher education, supported largely by the use of ubiquitous technologies. Increasingly, emphasis is being placed on the design of new learning spaces, often referred to as “Next Generation Learning Spaces” and their impact on pedagogy. The idea of “classroom” now incorporates the use of both physical and virtual space. This change has meant a greater focus on the design and use of flexible learning spaces, more use of blended learning approaches and more personalised, individualised learning opportunities for students. While many such classrooms have been built and utilised in universities globally, only a few formal studies have been reported on how these spaces are used by both teachers and students. This article focuses on a pilot study of the use by lecturers and students of a technology rich next generation learning space – the Pod Room – and makes recommendations for further research into the effectiveness of new learning spaces in universities.

This paper examines the use of an interactive online Educational Video platform with collaborative temporal Annotation (EVA), with the aim to develop undergraduate psychology students’ competence in assessing and understanding cognitive

This paper examines the use of an interactive online Educational Video platform with collaborative temporal Annotation (EVA), with the aim to develop undergraduate psychology students’ competence in assessing and understanding cognitive development. Two videos were developed, showing children being assessed on cognitive tests. One video was shown in a tutorial and actively guided by a teacher. The other was available online via the EVA platform with peer feedback as a voluntary supplement to the tutorial; the aim is to facilitate collaborative peer supported learning, scaffolded by pre-set prompts from teachers. Low level online users were compared with active users. Overall, students gave positive evaluations of the peer supported online learning especially among the active users. However, students in general preferred the classroom tutorial experience largely because of the presence of active teacher guidance and facilitation. Given that the online learning activities were voluntary and delivered in a competitive learning environment with minimal guidance, we believe that collaborative peer supported online learning has demonstrated educational potential in a range of contexts. We discuss factors that may facilitate greater student participation, elicit better learning outcomes, and promote learning satisfaction in an online peer learning environment.

Assessment in the arts can be challenging. The problems associated with assessing student performances are that judgements are complex and even more so when they involve multiple markers (Campbell, 2005). It can be difficult to ensure

Assessment in the arts can be challenging. The problems associated with assessing student performances are that judgements are complex and even more so when they involve multiple markers (Campbell, 2005). It can be difficult to ensure assessment is fair, valid and reliable and that students are provided with clear feedback that is meaningful to them. This paper describes the development and trialling of an innovative, technology supported tool, designed to improve the confidence, efficiency and effectives of student performance- based assessment in arts education. This project is a work in progress and early trials of the Internet based digital computer technology tool suggest that it reduces tutor anxiety, increases markers' confidence, improves the management of assessment and record keeping, facilitates easy and quick moderation, and provides explicit feedback to students to enhance ongoing learning. The perception by stakeholders is that this assessment is far more accessible and easy to use than previous methods. The project was implemented in a Bachelor of Education course, with 170 third year pre-service teacher students. The performances were an end of semester assessment where groups of students were simultaneously assessed on short creative performances by each of their three tutors. Initial assessment was conducted online during the live performances and also online for one week afterwards, where tutors were able to review video clips of each performance and discuss marks via a confidential online tutor 'chat box'. The marked electronics rubrics with the video clips and tutor comments were emailed as pdf documents to students. The students' responses have been overwhelmingly positive. They have a preference for electronic assessment as this enables them to review and engage with their assessment multiple times. They felt that having the video clip of their performance side by side with the assessment clearly demonstrated learning.

This paper reports on a study based on a project involving a collaborative partnership between an academic literacy lecturer, an information literacy expert, an e-learning instructional designer and an HIV/AIDS expert. The rationale for

This paper reports on a study based on a project involving a collaborative partnership between an academic literacy lecturer, an information literacy expert, an e-learning instructional designer and an HIV/AIDS expert. The rationale for forming a partnership was to include library information literacy and e-learning into an academic development (AD) course which is offered to students from the Faculty of Health Sciences at a Higher Education Institution in South Africa. The subject material used was based on HIV/AIDS topics that students had to debate within an online discussion forum. The aim of the study was to ascertain whether an integrated approach enhances the learning experiences of students and to evaluate the role of the different collaborating partners, as well as to assess the logistics of working together in a partnership with stakeholders from different sectors of the university community.

Our future is not uncertain. What is certain that there will be a major transformation in the way people live and work, and our planet as we know it will become a very different place. Climate change, population growth and critically low

Our future is not uncertain. What is certain that there will be a major transformation in the way people live and work, and our planet as we know it will become a very different place. Climate change, population growth and critically low levels of non-renewable energy sources are three key factors that are shaping our future. We do, however, have a degree of control over that future - if we are proactive in our transformation. The action we take will influence that certain future. Firstly, action towards transformation will need to take place at two levels - local and global. Secondly, action will need to take place in two time frames: immediate and long term. Immediate actions include what we do every day in the ways in which we work and study and live our lives. For the long term transformation, attitudinal and behavioural changes are required. At Charles Sturt University one initiative that has the potential to make a significant long term difference is the CSU Curriculum Renewal Program. The curriculum students study is the beginning of the transformation in attitude and behaviour that will determine the path they choose. Through education, via technology and the curriculum, we have the potential to shape students’ learning experiences students and to prepare them for their roles in effecting the transformation we have to have.

Traditional approaches to teaching legal ethics which focus primarily on the content of the professional rules lack the essential problem solving aspect essential to a proper appreciation of professional responsibility in practice. They

Traditional approaches to teaching legal ethics which focus primarily on the content of the professional rules lack the essential problem solving aspect essential to a proper appreciation of professional responsibility in practice. They are also non responsive to the needs and expectations of modern students. This presentation showcases the Entry into Valhalla multimedia program, which utilises cost effective technology, including Second Life machinima, to transform traditional legal ethics curricula. It contextualises otherwise abstract principles and facilitates a problem solving approach based on real world-type contexts that closely resemble the kinds of dilemmas that students may encounter when they enter legal practice.

Future generations will look back at current assessment practices and wonder why it took so long to replace pen and paper assessment with quality digital forms of assessment. Digitization of the assessment process, from student work to the

Future generations will look back at current assessment practices and wonder why it took so long to replace pen and paper assessment with quality digital forms of assessment. Digitization of the assessment process, from student work to the recording of marks is occurring now but haphazardly and is often only a replication of the paper assessment. The desired goals and aims of learning have rarely been fully achieved with pen and paper assessment. Could digital forms of assessment finally achieve them? This paper begins with a background to the failure of traditional forms of assessment based on pen and paper to assess what counts and then argues through research findings that it is time that we in education catch up with the rest of society and move into the digital world especially went considering assessment. While many parts of education have abandoned the analog world for the digital one, assessment has not been one of them. This lack of digitization of assessment is holding back what is learnt and taught in all fields of education, as the form of assessment drives what is learnt and taught. Our research has shown that high stakes assessment can be successfully digitized from the capturing of authentic student performance, to high stakes comparative pairs marking. Not only have we demonstrated this with current technology but that the reliability, validity, manageability and scalability are as good as or better than current practices.

This poster presentation will outline the background and current findings of an action research project which investigates the use of wikis in a Higher Education setting. The objectives of the project are to improve student engagement by

This poster presentation will outline the background and current findings of an action research project which investigates the use of wikis in a Higher Education setting. The objectives of the project are to improve student engagement by providing them with well- researched and evaluated wiki-based assessment tasks. The Cybergogy instructional design model (Wang and Kang, 2006) which incorporates social, emotive and cognitive factors is used to iteratively work with three academics across business, science and humanities faculties, on six iterations of wiki-based tasks.

The successful introduction of web-based lecture technologies (WBLT) into higher education institutions requires a blend of inter-dependent approaches (e.g. business model; governance) each designed to enhance the pedagogical potential of

The successful introduction of web-based lecture technologies (WBLT) into higher education institutions requires a blend of inter-dependent approaches (e.g. business model; governance) each designed to enhance the pedagogical potential of the academic programmes. The implementation path for these approaches varies widely between institutions, often dependent upon finance, senior leadership and the capacity for change. An analysis of the approaches taken by eight UK and US institutions at various stages in their implementation highlights a high level of commonality in issues faced, good practice arising and the direction of travel. Furthermore, it is believed that the model presented can be more broadly applied in academic settings for the planning and implementation of similar large-scale technological systems.

The establishment of the ‘Centre for Educational Design and Development’ heralds a new approach to programme and course design at Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology. The immediate task for our team now designated ‘Educational

The establishment of the ‘Centre for Educational Design and Development’ heralds a new approach to programme and course design at Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology. The immediate task for our team now designated ‘Educational Designers’ is to engage faculty in a design process that starts with context rather than content, and is informed by current and emerging models of learning centred practice. It must also meet broader institutional goals for developing high quality, flexible and inclusive learning experiences and enhancing the teaching performance of staff, as well as accounting for the challenge of using technology to transform teaching and learning and improve the quality of the learning experience (Laurillard 2010) in a ‘supercomplex world’ (Barnett 2000).Ideally this is an evolving and emerging philosophy but while we work to become a team, the institute requires us to meet deadlines, thereby propelling us into making decisions about who we are and how we work, and about our processes and practices.

Our paper outlines an initiative to achieve systemic change in the teaching culture of a faculty through providing staff with teaching supports and resources embedded within the University’s reward and recognition processes. We explain why

Our paper outlines an initiative to achieve systemic change in the teaching culture of a faculty through providing staff with teaching supports and resources embedded within the University’s reward and recognition processes. We explain why this initiative is important, describe our evaluation plan, outline the evaluation challenges and describe what we did to meet those challenges.