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2009: ASCILITE 2009 Conference Proceedings

 

The proceedings of the 2009 ASCILITE Conference

R. J. Atkinson, & C. McBeath (Eds.) (2009), Same places, different spaces. Proceedings ASCILITE 2009. Auckland.

University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.

December 6-9 2009

ASCILITE2009 Conference Website  https://www.ascilite.org/conferences/auckland09/

Published: 1 December 2009

ASCILITE Conference - Concise Papers

  • What spaces? : Designing authentic, sustainable online learning spaces for children with diabetes

    Richard Sprod, Shirley Agostinho, Barry Harper

    This paper presents a work-in-progress of how social networking, Web 2.0 and emerging communication technologies might be successfully used to support authentic self- management education for children aged 11-13 years who are living with Type 1 diabetes. The study employs a mixed-method approach that has been adopted within a Design Based Research framework. This paper explains the research problem, the theoretical framework that will underpin the study and the overall research design. Keywords: learning communities, authentic learning, Design Based Research, diabetes education

    Read article: What spaces? : Designing authentic, sustainable online learning spaces for children with diabetes

  • To spray or not to spray? : A scenario-based exercise for tertiary-level horticultural students

    Terry M. Stewart, Mark E. Brown

    A scenario-based exercise was developed to expose third-year degree-level horticultural students to the complexities of modern orchard pest and disease management. Using scenarios developed and presented with the e-learning tool SBL Interactive, students are required to analyze four successive scenarios set at different growth stages in the crop, and provide justified recommendations for all. The lesson combines formative and summative assessment and uses sound learning design principles. The exercise could be adapted to workplace training. This paper describes the lesson and discusses the rationale behind the lesson design.

    Read article: To spray or not to spray? : A scenario-based exercise for tertiary-level horticultural students

  • A contextualised online writing support system: Creating the links between generic skills and the discipline

    Pat Strauss, Robin Goodfellow, Marianne Puxley

    This paper describes an ongoing research and development project aimed at providing contextualised, individualised online writing support for postgraduate students. It is the result of a collaboration between UK and NZ academics who share similar challenges and concerns. The massification of higher education globally means that many tertiary students drawn from non traditional or second language backgrounds struggle to master the academic literacy requirements of particular discipline areas. These writing difficulties can, and often do, impact negatively on their academic success. Universities attempt to address this problem by providing online generic resources for students. Unfortunately research indicates that students are not successful in transferring generic concepts to their own discipline. We are attempting to devise an online programme where lecturers will be able to draw on these generic resources and, following models provided, construct a link between the specific and the generic in their own discipline area.

    Read article: A contextualised online writing support system: Creating the links between generic skills and the discipline

  • A dialogic approach to online facilitation

    Jennie Swann

    Social construction of understanding has long been a significant underlying principle of learning and teaching and while there are many models for the design of online activities to promote this there are considerably fewer models for the facilitation of such dialogue. This paper examines some of these facilitation models from the point of view of a university lecturer seeking to encourage social construction of understanding through online dialogue and proposes an alternative which extends the principles of Community of Inquiry theory. It describes a design-based research project which focuses on the dialogue itself in a university learning environment, and on the development of facilitation techniques which will encourage it to flourish.

    Read article: A dialogic approach to online facilitation

  • New beginnings: A report on the ALTC Exchange version 2

    Patricia Treagus

    The ALTC Exchange is an online service that provides learning and teaching resources and facilities to support professional communication and collaboration across the Australian higher education sector. Released in May 2008, the Exchange is an integral part of the ALTC's strategy for disseminating good practice and aimed at fostering change and development in learning and teaching. Membership is open to academics, managers, and leaders of learning and teaching in Australian higher education and internationally. Considerable input into the design requirements and development of the Exchange has been made by practitioners, sector leaders, professional associations including ascilite members and other interested teaching and learning professionals. In August 2009 an extensive upgrade to the Exchange was released. This paper reports on the current status of the Exchange and outlines recent developments to improve usability and enhance functionality.

    Read article: New beginnings: A report on the ALTC Exchange version 2

  • Developing a responsive system to enable students to develop realistic expectations of higher education

    Lucy Warman, John O’Donoghue

    TAG – The Alternative Guide to UCLan aims to be a dynamic, interactive, web based platform of support, which enables potential students to develop realistic expectations of HE. The information provided by UK universities to potential students is designed to highlight the positive aspects of the university to entice students into applying. However, as the UK Government seeks to widen participation at universities (HEFCE 2009), the literature shows many students are coming from backgrounds where they have no peers or family members with experience of HE to draw on (Thomson and Quinn (2007)) and the students’ expectations of university do not match the reality. Students who go to university with misguided expectations are likely to withdraw or struggle with the course. TAG aims to help potential students understand what to expect from HE and help them develop ownership of their own learning.

    Read article: Developing a responsive system to enable students to develop realistic expectations of higher education

  • Innovation and entrepreneurship education: Embracing Web 2.0 across a postgraduate program

    Ruth Weeks, Richard Seymour

    In recent years there has been much discussion in the literature about the potential of Web 2.0 tools to enhance the learning process, in terms of their collaborative and connective nature and their potential for the transformation of pedagogy itself. Wikis in particular are recognised as a useful platform for collaboration and knowledge sharing within a tertiary context. This short paper describes the experiences of setting up a wiki for a large cohort of students with diverse learning needs in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship program at The University of Sydney. The purpose of the wiki was to act as not only a repository of collaborative knowledge but also an assessment tool, complementing the program learning outcomes – to “develop skills and perspectives relating to opportunity seeking, initiative taking and ownership, and curiosity.” This paper will describe the process and its successes and shortcomings from the perspective of the educational designer, academics and tutors.

    Read article: Innovation and entrepreneurship education: Embracing Web 2.0 across a postgraduate program

  • Moving between workplace and online learning spaces: An activity theory perspective

    Nicola Westberry

    In recent years, blended learning has experienced significant growth in higher education; however, there is a need to gain a deeper and richer understanding of the interplay between face-to-face and online learning spaces in order to inform the design of blended learning settings. The intent of this paper is to offer new perspectives on blended learning within vocationally-oriented programmes by drawing on the concepts of activity theory (Engeström, 2001) and epistemic frames (Shaffer, 2004). The paper reports on a doctoral study which explored how English as an Additional Language (EAL) learners experienced the interplay between face-to-face learning experiences in workplace contexts and an online discussion activity within an undergraduate nursing course. The findings suggest that enabling the appropriation of resources across the boundaries of face-to-face and virtual spaces should be a key issue in the design of learning activities in blended learning settings.

    Read article: Moving between workplace and online learning spaces: An activity theory perspective

  • UniTube: Making media accessible for learning and teaching

    Richard Zeng, Jenny McDonald, Ayelet Cohen, Swee Kin Loke, Peter Vlugter, Tiffany Cone, Michael Winikoff

    Sharing video and other media for teaching and learning in the University setting can be problematic. Negotiating the mix of in-house systems for hosting files, dealing with competing file formats, copyright and intellectual property rights, not to mention supporting the access and use of material by students can present significant challenges. This paper describes a new open source web application, called UniTube. UniTube is based on the YouTube concept, but is specifically tailored for use in a Higher Education setting. This short paper describes the rationale for developing UniTube, an overview of the system features, usage data to date, initial evaluation and plans for further development.

    Read article: UniTube: Making media accessible for learning and teaching

  • Increasing flexibility for staff development: Modelling good practice at the University of Western Sydney

    Tom Bowring, Lynnae Rankine

    Crafting a quality online learning and teaching environment requires specialist skills and knowledge that can be achieved through well designed and engaging staff development activities. However, as many academic staff have busy workloads balancing the design of e-learning environments, teaching students, undertaking administrative tasks and pursuing research endeavours, engaging these staff in e-learning staff development activities is a challenge. Complexity is added to this scenario when academic staff are geographically dispersed across campuses and staff development programs are centrally provided. This paper describes the staff development approaches of a multi-campus university to engage academic staff in the development of their e-learning knowledge and skills.

    Read article: Increasing flexibility for staff development: Modelling good practice at the University of Western Sydney

  • Using social media to enhance the first year experience

    Joshua McCarthy

    This study explores blending virtual and physical learning environments to enhance the experience of first year by immersing students into university culture through social and academic interaction between peers. It reports on the progress made from 2008 to 2009 using an existing academic platform, the first year design elective course Imaging Our World, at the University of Adelaide. Over one semester, 120 design students engaged with their peers through an online forum within the host site Facebook, in addition to the traditional teaching mechanisms of lectures and tutorials. Students were required to submit work online to Facebook and provide critiques of peers’ submissions. Resulting discussions were then transferred into the physical classroom with the aim of building meaningful relationships between peers based on the embryonic online connections. The evaluation process involved pre and post semester questionnaires, weekly feedback from students and project-specific reflections at the completion of the semester.

    Read article: Using social media to enhance the first year experience

Showing 131–141 of 141 articles