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2008: ASCILITE 2008 Conference Proceedings

 

 

 

The proceedings of the 2008 ASCILITE Conference.

R. J. Atkinson, & C. McBeath (Eds.) (2008),

Hello! Where are you in the landscape of educational technology? 

Proceedings ASCILITE 2008. Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia.

Published: 25 November 2008

ASCILITE Conference - Concise Papers

  • Adult educators’ authentic use of smartphones to create digital teaching resources

    Anthony Herrington

    The development of digital resources set in authentic contexts using mobile technologies is reflected in this study. The research involved adult educators creating teaching episodes or digital narratives using smartphones, as part of a postgraduate subject designed to introduce these learners to technological applications in adult education. The study involved interviewing students to determine the affordances of the technology in this context and the pedagogical strategies suited to such an approach.

    Read article: Adult educators’ authentic use of smartphones to create digital teaching resources

  • Letting in the Trojan mouse: Using an eportfolio system to re-think pedagogy

    Julie Hughes

    E-learning research, as an emergent field in the UK, is highly political in nature (Conole & Oliver, 2007, p.6) occupying a complex landscape which houses policy-makers, researchers and practitioners. Increasingly and more interestingly, the landscape is being shaped by the narratives and experiences of the learners themselves (Creanor et al., 2006, Conole et al., 2006) and the use of Web 2.0 technologies. However, as Laurillard (2007, p.xv) reminds us we still, ‘tend to use technology to support traditional modes of teaching’ and ‘we scarcely have the infrastructure, the training, the habits or the access to the new technology, to be optimising its use just yet’ (p.48). Web 2.0 spaces, literacies and practices offer the possibility for new models of education (Mayes & de Freitas, 2007, p.13) which support iterative and integrative learning but as educators and higher educational establishments are we prepared and ready to re-think our pedagogies and re-do (Beetham & Sharpe 2007, p.3) our practices? This concise paper will reflect upon how the use of new learning landscapes such as eportfolios might offer us the opportunity to reflect upon the implications of letting in the e-learning eportfolio trojan mouse (Sharpe & Oliver, 2007, p.49).

    Read article: Letting in the Trojan mouse: Using an eportfolio system to re-think pedagogy

  • The virtual patient project: Using low fidelity, student generated online cases in medical education

    Michelle Imison, Chris Hughes

    This paper reports on an in-progress study of low-fidelity virtual patients (VPs) created by and for medical students at the University of New South Wales. Its goals were to advance the diagnostic reasoning and patient management skills of all participating students. Methods: Two groups of volunteers from among the University’s fifth-year medical students were trained in the use of software programs that enabled them to produce virtual patients. The cases they subsequently created were then reviewed for accuracy by clinical specialists, and are soon to be trialled with more junior student readers. Results: Student authors, who came to the project with varying levels of technical confidence and ability, were all able to create interesting and engaging cases. Thus far they have produced eleven VPs, and qualitative analysis indicates positive impacts for their confidence in diagnostic pathways, treatment options and consolidation of knowledge. Quantitative analysis of changes in their clinical reasoning abilities is ongoing. Conclusion: Given the success of the project, it is highly likely that student-created virtual patients will become an optional assessment task for senior medical students in the future, with the added benefit that this will develop a bank of VPs for future use in the program.

    Read article: The virtual patient project: Using low fidelity, student generated online cases in medical education

  • Towards community based learner support: A case study

    Benjamin Kehrwald

    This paper reports on the preliminary results of a heuristic evaluation of one learner support community in the BEd(Teaching) Primary programme in the College of Education at Massey University. It examines the use of an online community structure to support a programme delivered in blended modes for both internal (face-to-face) and external students. The presentation includes a description of the context for the case, the development of a learner support community including key feature of the community design and development process and issues arising in the early phases of implementation of the design.

    Read article: Towards community based learner support: A case study

  • Taking iPods into the field to capture and share teacher wisdom stories

    Lisa Kervin, Jessica Mantei

    Mobile technologies offer significant possibilities for educators. This paper explores the use of iPods as a tool to bring together the teaching field and the tertiary classroom. We have designed a learning experience to engage our students in collecting and reflecting upon knowledge shared by practitioners in the field. It builds upon the premise that educators need to consistently gather and evaluate evidence to inform their professional practice. The task encourages students to consider the ‘teacher wisdom’ (Labbo, Leu, Kinzer, Teale, Cammack, Kara-Soteriou, & Sanny, 2003) that can be gathered and disseminated through ‘new literacies’ (such as podcasts) as they plan, record and edit an oral text to share with their student colleagues through their subject website.

    Read article: Taking iPods into the field to capture and share teacher wisdom stories

  • Virtual teams: Worlds apart

    Ian Knox, Deirdre Wilmott

    Virtual teams are a relatively new phenomenon. A number of studies have focused on the description of team development and the group process of virtual learning teams as they form. This paper is a study of how Australian and American undergraduates worked together in virtual teams to respond to ethical and business practice problems for a given scenario. The study specifically examined the communication methods, task completion methodology and cultural differences exhibited by two undergraduate classes from the University of Ballarat, Ballarat Australia and Jacksonville State University, Jacksonville, Alabama, United States. Both synchronous and asynchronous communications methods were used with differing levels of enthusiasm and acceptance. Although the study was based on a small sample, which limits its generalisability, there are implications to inform those who are considering similar methods in their teaching.

    Read article: Virtual teams: Worlds apart

  • “You’re breaking up …”: Responding with integrity to the student voice in asynchronous online discussions

    Jo Lander, Sharon Reid

    Recent years have seen the increasing integration of asynchronous online discussions, often embodying a collaborationist, constructivist pedagogical paradigm, into on- and off-campus postgraduate courses. This paper uses data from published research, a series of course evaluations and one study by the authors into the development of a community of practice to highlight the tensions between pedagogy and student expectations in this context, and explore possible biases in existing research methodologies. These, taken together, may mean that educators and researchers are not clearly hearing student voices when they interact online or report their experiences of asynchronous online discussions.

    Read article: “You’re breaking up …”: Responding with integrity to the student voice in asynchronous online discussions

  • Blending real work experiences and virtual professional development

    Julie Mackey

    Blended learning holds promise for re-thinking the various ways that learning theory, pedagogy, and technology might be brought together to engage learners. This paper draws on variation theory and social learning theory to describe how blended learning can facilitate learning experiences which occur across the boundaries, and at the intersections, of communities. The data is drawn from a preliminary analysis of a project investigating the connections between online learning and teachers’ communities of practice. The emerging premise is that teachers (as learners) negotiate much of the ‘blend’ themselves as they work simultaneously in their school communities and engage in online learning communities. While the online learning community provides the experiences of variation necessary to provoke reflection and engagement with new ideas, teachers situate their learning within their daily practice. This authentic participation is an integral part of the workplace learning experience but this aspect is often overlooked in blended learning discussions. Higher education institutions offering virtual professional development programmes would benefit from leveraging learners’ participation in everyday work as a valuable ingredient in the blended learning experience. Online professional development can adopt a thoughtfully designed blend of mode and environment incorporating virtual and real interaction, and study and real work to support teachers’ learning.

    Read article: Blending real work experiences and virtual professional development

  • Learning how to e-teach? : Staff perspectives on formal and informal professional development activity

    Juliana Mansvelt, Gordon Suddaby, Duncan O’Hara

    This paper reports on the findings drawn from a New Zealand research project (Professional Development in e-Learning PDeL) which is producing a sector-wide framework for professional development in tertiary e-Learning. The findings indicate that staff engaged in e-learning in tertiary institutions are not making use of the formal professional development opportunities available to them. Rather they seem to gain their knowledge and support from a variety of informal means. This is despite an emphasis on the provision of formal professional development opportunities by both the New Zealand government and institutions themselves. The conclusion drawn from the findings is that institutional approaches to e-Learning professional development do not yet fully reflect the demands and constraints that working in a digital context impose.

    Read article: Learning how to e-teach? : Staff perspectives on formal and informal professional development activity

  • Facilitating online integrity using OpenID

    Tony McDonald

    "Integrity is the essence of everything successful" (Richard Buckminster Fuller) How can individuals behave in an online environment that enables them to keep and enhance their integrity and reputation, fills colleagues with confidence, allows for free exchange of information and yet still manage to keep private those things that they wish to keep private? The Internet is a largely anonymous world, with flame-wars, spamming, phishing and distrust being the order of the day, but I will argue that by allowing some carefully controlled non-anonymity to 'leak out', mutual trust can be built up. I will outline some existing authentication and authorisation systems, and will touch upon identity management issues in general. I will discuss some initiatives such as Shibboleth, OpenID in general and discuss in particular how OpenID might be used in practice to allow individuals to have a greater say in what information is held about them, and how this information is used by third parties.

    Read article: Facilitating online integrity using OpenID

  • Designing for authentic relationships, content and assessment in unpredictable learning contexts

    Ann McGrath, Julie Mackey, Niki Davis

    The professional development landscape is being redrawn as e-learning and educational technologies provide opportunities for participants to connect everyday life and formal online learning in new and dynamic ways. These connections call for authentic learning pedagogies which challenge traditional teacher/learner relationships, formal course design and assessment practices. This paper explores some of the difficulties and benefits arising from responsive course design requiring mutual engagement and collaboration between teachers and learners, and where learning and assessment are framed by authentic problems and situated in everyday contexts. We explore how relevant knowledge can be constructed and assessed within an e-learning community; specifically how e-learning can facilitate learner-negotiated pathways linking work/interests and study; and provide a balance between flexibility and structure in course design to enable participants to select relevant activities and resources. This investigation into the practices and strategies of linking work and study has highlighted changing relationships between people, the virtual and the physical, and objects in our educational technology landscape.

    Read article: Designing for authentic relationships, content and assessment in unpredictable learning contexts

  • Fostering collaboration amongst off-campus students

    P. Craig McIntosh, Debbi Weaver

    While the importance of developing and giving feedback on generic skills is widely recognised for on-campus students, this is still largely ignored for off-campus students, primarily due to the practical difficulties involved. This paper reports on a pilot project that introduced a compulsory group work project into an off-campus unit, delivered through Open Universities Australia. Wikis were used as the technical tool to facilitate the project, which was mostly successful for students, albeit stressful and time-consuming for staff. While all participating students successfully completed group projects, only one group demonstrated high levels of collaboration during the process.

    Read article: Fostering collaboration amongst off-campus students

  • Developing peer review of teaching in blended learning environments: Frameworks and challenges

    Jo McKenzie, Lina Pelliccione, Nicola Parker

    The growth of blended learning environments in higher education has emphasised the need for better ways of describing and recognising good teaching that promotes student learning in these environments. Although the affordances of e-learning technologies have long been discussed, there has been little emphasis on developing systematic processes for recognition of good teaching in blended learning environments and developmental feedback for academics. This paper reports on work in progress on a two year ALTC project in which teams across the ATN universities are developing a scholarly framework and a sustainable process for peer reviews through a co-productive, action research approach. The peer review process is currently being developed and trialled, with team members focusing on aspects of their teaching in blended learning environments across a wide range of disciplines and contexts. The challenges encountered to date include: successfully combining formative and summative goals for reviews; balancing concerns about trust and independence; the extent to which blended learning and/or disciplinary expertise is necessary for reviewers and the ubiquitous time constraints. Peer review of learning and teaching in blended learning environments is complex. A significant challenge for this project is ensuring that the processes and resources developed are sustainable and helpful for a wide range of academics and universities, as well as useful for improving student learning.

    Read article: Developing peer review of teaching in blended learning environments: Frameworks and challenges

Showing 105–117 of 135 articles