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

ASCILITE Conference - Concise Papers

• olpc : Messages for a community approach in education

  Tabitha Roder, John Roder

  Within the theme of 'Curriculum, technology and transformation for an unknown future' it seems appropriate to present an image of seeing and doing things differently that comes from outside of formal education. The context for this story comes from working as part of the NGO one laptop per child (olpc) community in New Zealand. The impact of the global olpc movement has been widely accepted as transformative in its mission to enable children‘s agency in learning and participation in knowledge building communities. It is a vision that frames future learning within highly fluid and unstable spaces. In this paper the focus will be on a local community network that supports this project. Members of the NZ olpc volunteer community largely learn through informal means. Their learning spaces are both physical and virtual. They are spread across New Zealand and are connected to diverse global networks, where they can access 'mentors' and co-learners using Web 2.0 internet based technologies. Using narrative inquiry (Clandinin and Connelly, 2000) we invite readers to draw parallels between the community of practice described, with its rich experiential and informal learning features, to pedagogical possibilities for formal tertiary settings. Roles for teachers and learners are examined with particular emphasis paid to the learner as maker and designer in both the lived physical reality and in the constructivist sense of meaning-making. This raises questions about the nature of knowledge and its relationship to pedagogy. In addition the recount draws attention to sociocultural and co-constructed dimensions, where learning is distributed across the community and knowledge is seen as stretched across the activities and members of the community (Scardemalia, 2004).

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• Knowledge building in 21st century: Learners, learning and educational practice

  Arianne Rourke, Kathryn Coleman

  The integration of the Internet and mobile learning devices in blended and face-to-face (f2f) teaching and learning is not a 21st century invention. For many decades teachers and instructors have sought the best technologies for their students in order to offer enriched learning pedagogies with the most recent forms of technology. Recent literature on the so- called millenials purports that Generation Y prefers mobile learning and VLE to f2f learning and teaching methods because they have grown up learning and living with them (Oblinger & Oblinger, 2005; Howe & Strauss 2003; Lancaster & Stillman 2002). It has also been noted in the research about the 'new' higher education student that they seek to learn anywhere, any time to fit learning into their schedules (McLoughlin & Lee, 2009). This led to discourse into the digital divide and Prensky's (2001) reference to the 'digital native'. This current generation of undergraduates in the western capitalist world has grown up with the Internet, digital technologies and second and third generation mobile phones. Many have however, only been introduced to this technology as a learning device when they entered university, only in the last few years have they experienced Learning Management Systems (LMS) in schools. This paper will argue however that despite the increase of technology into the daily lives of Generation Y, many students in higher education may not be as widely supportive of the idea of integrating this technology including their social networking systems into the f2f classroom as has been recently presumed.

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• Development of a resource to promote resilience in international students undertaking health courses

  Sandra Sacre, Robyn Nash, Jennifer Lock

  The Resilience in International Student Education (RISE) project was funded by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) and aims to develop and build supportive strategies for international students in the nursing, public health, and nutrition and dietetics disciplines. The project is led by the Faculty of Health at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), working in partnership with the University of South Australia (UniSA), as well as clinical partners, to develop, implement and systematically embed a supportive model for promoting resilience and effective workplace functioning in international students. In addition to providing direct student support, this model will enhance the mechanisms by which international students are mentored and supervised when on practicum placement in clinical settings. The model and accompanying resources developed through the educational partnership will be informed by critical iterative feedback from a network of tertiary health education experts, specialists in the area of language and learning support, and other key stakeholders to ensure that project outcomes have the potential for mainstreaming across both the health education and health service sectors. The RISE project embeds a sustainable model for tertiary institutions and healthcare services to support international students in health courses that will result in more resilient, confident and job-ready international graduates. It will also contribute to safer and more culturally responsive healthcare in Australian hospitals and health services generally. The project has developed a range of innovative online resources to assist international students, and those supporting them, to negotiate common situations more successfully and access appropriate resources and networks.

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• Professional knowledge building in Online Learning Community (OLC): Embracing the unknown future

  Eunice Sari, Jeremy Pagram, Cher Ping Lim

  This paper discusses a number of elements of the knowledge building process that were evident amongst educators in Indonesia. These educators took part in the discussion board of an online learning community, called OLC4TPD (Online Learning Community for Teacher Professional Development). OLC4TPD is an OLC-based professional learning case study developed at Edith Cowan University to investigate the feasibility of an OLC-based model to support ongoing professional training of educators in Indonesia. Starting by examining the current professional challenges faced by the teachers in their professional work, the paper talks about the potential of the OLC-based model to provide ongoing support for teachers. It examines in detail one particular aspect of the learning interactions amongst the main stakeholders of the project that is that between teachers and teacher educators. Inspired by Scardamalia’s Twelve Socio-Cognitive Determinants of Knowledge, the authors examined the discourses generated on the Discussion board during the period of 2009 – 2010 using qualitative and quantitative analyses. The paper reports the preliminary findings of the study, including the challenges and future works to be done on this project.

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• Use of student audio recordings to develop communication skills in a first year physiology unit

  Mark A. Schier, Julie Mulvany, Jillian Shaw

  Several academic reports have emphasised the importance of communication skills development within science programs. Despite employer concerns, there is little research in the academic science literature regarding how generic skills, including communication skills, can be embedded into the curriculum of science programs. Although there are instances in which dedicated communication skills units are offered, the practice of explicitly embedding these skills in disciplinary science units is rare. While science students typically receive practice in writing reports and essays, less emphasis has been placed on oral or spoken communication. We conducted a study where students made a two-minute audio recording on a topic in first-year physiology. The exercise has generally worked well (with some minor technology issues), and informal student feedback has been positive, particularly students’ appreciation of not having to do their presentation in front of other students. More student feedback will be sought via an online survey. In the future, additional ways of embedding the assessment of oral communication skills in units offered in each year of the science program could be investigated.

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• Technology leadership: Lessons from empirical research

  Seng-Chee Tan

  This paper uses a grounded theory approach to derive key findings from 12 empirical studies on technology leadership. Roles of technology leaders were identified and categorized into four main areas of change: infrastructural, organizational structure and policy, pedagogical, and cultural change. Relationships between technology leadership and other factors were reported: School technology leadership is a strong predictor of the level of technology use in schools; the cultural and structural characteristics of schools could affect the level of computer use in classrooms; and transformational leadership is correlated with the principal’s ICT competencies. Issues related to technology leadership and recommendations for future research are discussed.

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• Integrating technology into lessons using a TPACK-based design guide

  Alan Soong Swee Kit, Seng Chee Tan

  The Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework, first discovered by Mishra and Koehler in 2006, has gained much interest among teacher educators as it recognises that pedagogical uses of technology are greatly influenced by the content domains in which they are situated in. Recent studies on the TPACK framework have been focused mainly on analysing the TPACK constructs and measuring as well as assessing TPACK of teachers. However, how TPACK can be utilized by teachers to guide them to integrate technology into their teaching has yet been well developed. This paper describes a proposed TPACK-based design guide for teachers to use when they consider integrating technology into their lessons. A case vignette that further articulates the design guide is included.

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• MUVEing slowly: Applying slow pedagogy to a scenario-based virtual environment

  Miriam Tanti, Shannon Kennedy-Clark

  This paper presents the research theory and design of a work in progress that investigates how the application of slow pedagogy can be applied to an ICT rich educative environment. More specifically, the research will focus on an inquiry learning strategy within a scenario-based multi-user virtual environment and will evaluate the impact of such a strategy in terms of student interaction and engagement with a complex inquiry problem. The research proposes that by applying the philosophies of slow to the learning experience and permitting students to explore a problem space, without the rigid structure normally encountered in inquiry learning, that students will not only be more motivated and engaged, but the result will be the acquisition of a greater depth of knowledge and the procurement of transferable inquiry skills.

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• Examining the efficacy of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to understand pre-service teachers’ intention to use technology

  Timothy Teo, Chwee Beng Lee

  This study examined pre-service teachers’ self-reported intention to use technology by employing the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) as the research framework. One hundred and fifty-seven participants completed a survey questionnaire measuring their responses to four constructs in the TPB. These were administered at the beginning of the course in which technology was taught and used. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used as the technique for data analysis. The results of this study showed that attitudes toward usage and subjective norms were significant predictors of behavioral intention to use technology while perceived behavioral control was not. Overall, this study found that the three explanatory variables in the TPB explained about 40% of the variance in behavioral intention to use technology.

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• “As simple as possible”: The bones of curriculum design

  Deborah Veness

  Einstein is reported to have said, “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler”. Educational designers working with university teachers bring to their work models and theories from a range of disciplines, many of which are unfamiliar to or discounted by their discipline-based colleagues. This paper outlines a simple yet flexible approach to discussions of curriculum design which highlights key aspects - intended learning outcomes at program and course level, content (declarative knowledge), teaching and learning activities and assessment (functioning knowledge), and graduate attributes, qualities and capabilities. The Bones Model provides a framework to assist discipline-based teaching academics to describe more clearly their curriculum and the standards to which they hold their students. It demonstrates the links between program-level intended learning outcomes, statements of graduate attributes, and course-level intended learning outcomes. It highlights the most obviously pedagogically relevant purpose for assessment strategies: to collect evidence of how well students have achieved intended learning outcomes. It provides for discussions about the link between declarative knowledge and functioning knowledge. Moreover, it provides a mechanism to assist the institution to collect some of the evidence necessary to demonstrate quality to external reviewers and auditors. The Bones Model guides discipline-based academics through the essential aspects of the curriculum design process quickly, without requiring of them a deep knowledge of the theories and research underpinning the practice of educational designers and developers.

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• Quantifying the benefits of narrated screen capture videos

  Lyndon Walker

  This article provides a quantitative analysis of student results for an Excel-based statistics assignment in a first year statistics course, before and after the implementation of narrated screen capture teaching videos as the primary method of teaching the statistical functions of Excel in the course. It describes the production of the videos and then examines how student performance changed after their implementation. A two-sample t-test found a significant difference between the mean assignment mark before and after the implementation of the videos. This was followed up with a multiple regression model which controlled for other factors that may have influenced the assignment marks. Once these factors were controlled for, the implementation of the videos still showed a positive effect on the assignment marks of the students.

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• Digital landscapes: Inclusive potential versus exclusive practice

  Sue Watling

  The expression ‘Digital Divide’ refers to more than access to technology, for the possession of hardware cannot guarantee equity of participation. For users of assistive technologies, all the prerequisites for access can be in place but if the digital data has not been designed with the needs of their technology in mind then access will continue to be denied. The advantage of digital data is its flexibility which ensures it can be available in multiple formats and customised to individual preference. To transform the curriculum for the needs for future learners, and work effectively within digital landscapes, requires confidence and competence with the environment plus an understanding of inclusive practice so as to minimise barriers. These requirements should be neither under-estimated nor their presence assumed. As digital data becomes increasingly prevalent so the divide between inclusive and exclusive digital practices is in danger of widening. This paper suggests that ensuring accessible digital landscapes in higher education requires individual responsibility supported by a whole institution approach; both of which recognise the value of digital inclusion.

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• Making sense of learning design: Co-teaching within a blended educational environment

  Nicola Westberry

  Large classes seem to be a permanent fixture in tertiary education, often necessitating the use of multiple teachers to design and enact learning activities with many students. Within these multi-teacher learning environments, there is a need to gain a deeper understanding of the ways teachers make learning designs meaningful through their pedagogical beliefs. Employing the terms “design-for-use” and “design-in-use” (Folcher, 2003, p. 647) to draw a distinction between planned and enacted design, this paper reports on a qualitative study that followed the experiences of three teachers in a blended tertiary-level business writing course. The findings suggest that the teachers related to the same learning design in differing and conflicting ways, revealing the relative nature of “pedagogical sense-making” (Goodyear, Markauskaite, & Kali, 2010, p. 16), and paving the way for a more extensive discussion of co-teaching within ICT-supported learning environments.

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