2022: ASCILITE 2022 Conference Companion Materials

Industry-focused micro-credentials are paving the way to a new ‘culture of partnership’ between higher education and industry (Dawkins & Bean, 2021). With rapid changes in industries and workplaces, micro-credentials offer potential to

Industry-focused micro-credentials are paving the way to a new ‘culture of partnership’ between higher education and industry (Dawkins & Bean, 2021). With rapid changes in industries and workplaces, micro-credentials offer potential to enhance transitions from learning to work and respond to industries’ emerging workforce needs. However, this potential can only be realised if micro-credentialed learning achievements are both recognised and valued by industries and employers. Thus, strong and engaged partnership with industries is key. Over the past five years, we have been utilising ‘Participatory Co-Design’ (PCD) (Kristiansen & Bloch-Poulsen, 2013), combined with an evidence-based, ethnographic Design Thinking approach (Liedtka & Ogilvies 2011, Liedtka, 2018), to develop employability frameworks for several professions with both educational and professional lenses. Gomez, Kya and Mancevice (2018) argue that PCD ‘represents a sociocultural theoretical commitment to learning from, and designing for, local contexts’ (p.403). Our experience has shown that PCD offers a powerful pathway to productive partnerships that combine educational and industry expertise and insights, to surface current and future employability needs. Starting with global scans of emerging industry needs, we built out prototypes to test resonance with industry experts and gather feedback to iterate our models. This process resulted in employability frameworks that are being embedded in a range of post-graduate and professional short-form courses. The PCD process is a logical choice for validating industries’ specific employability needs for micro-credentials across tertiary and professional education. Through applying this approach, contextualised design principles are co-defined, specific employability needs are confirmed, and industry leaders and stakeholders buy into both the process and ultimately the verified learning achievements targeted by micro-credentials. This Pecha Kucha session provides an overview of our process, opportunities and challenges we have experienced, and what’s next.

Over the last decade in response to the Universities Australia National Best Practice Framework for Indigenous Cultural Competency (2011), Australian Higher Education curricula have become increasingly permeable to First Nations ways of

Over the last decade in response to the Universities Australia National Best Practice Framework for Indigenous Cultural Competency (2011), Australian Higher Education curricula have become increasingly permeable to First Nations ways of knowing being and doing. Online Campus Floras ("Turning campus grounds into botanical learning and teaching spaces,"Quinnell, The University of Sydney, 2020) can offer valuable teaching resources for biology and for experiential place-based learning beyond biology (e.g., in ecology, human geography, storytelling) as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage walking trails (Muecke & Eadie, 2020), and as portals to translate intergenerational knowledge by offering cultural, experiential learning for everyone (Muecke & Eadie, 2020). Partnerships between schools, two Australian universities (one in Brisbane and one in Sydney) and respectful working practices with First Nations knowledge holders in use of co-designed citizenship science projects to create, curate and disseminate location and information about Indigenous Knowings in plants by incorporating learning objects (photos, videos) derived from observations of campus flora at a university in Brisbane, Queensland, is the first of its kind to create a distinctive learning environment celebrating co-creation alongside Indigenous Knowings in curriculum via use of technology. The value of outdoor learning in the context of First Nations’ cultural connections to the living worlds is well-documented, with most botanical gardens and universities offering Aboriginal heritage trails (e.g., Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology("RMIT Keelbundoora scarred trees and heritage trail," 2020), Murdoch University ("Murdoch University: Ngoolak, Poolgala and Koorloo Walk Trail," 2020), Monash University ("Monash University:Aboriginal Trail," 2020)), The University of Sydney (“Patyegarang Language Trail, 2016). In addition, citizen science approaches offered the means for students and knowledge experts to collaborate in an online environment whilst working outdoors (e.g., Pettit et al., 2014; Struwe et al., 2014). Citizen science applications like iNaturalist App, resolve the challenges for collaborators (students and knowledge experts) when unable to physically meet due to remote locations and COVID-19 restrictions, to meet online and work in equal partnership to develop their digital literacies and resources. Here, First Nations plant knowledge was gathered in partnership from an external Indigenous plants/garden local consultant for Brisbane with students from our school collaborators via regular guidance and consultation. Learning objects (i.e. plants, yarning circles, native beehives) were crafted into a virtual educational tour using an online mapping system iNaturalist App to facilitate blended learning experiences. Students follow up by participating in development of appropriate inclusion of this information in the curriculum. Use of these online resources can widen participation outcomes and deeply embed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives into school and university curricula leading to preservation and promotion of Indigenous Knowings both to a national and international audience. Permission to disseminate and share this information as a teaching resource between First Nations, participating schools and the two participating universities was secured. Implications for further practice include co-creation and development of online Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander heritage walking trails at other universities, linking to local and national botanical gardens and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander resource websites.

Satellite campuses have had varying success with some being in a state of decay (Fraser & Stott, 2015, p. 79). The distribution of resources is often contentious. Learning within these environments can be an underwhelming experience and

Satellite campuses have had varying success with some being in a state of decay (Fraser & Stott, 2015, p. 79). The distribution of resources is often contentious. Learning within these environments can be an underwhelming experience and students complain about unequitable learning experiences compared with their parent campus cousins. These frustrations are compounded with the costs of studying being the same (Fraser & Stott, 2015, p. 81). Another concern is that satellite campuses have a higher percentage of low socio-economic students (Ballantyne as cited in Craft, 2019, p. 1372). This is only going to rise with the Australian government enacting a recommendation from the Bradley review to increase this to 20% (Craft, 2019, p. 1372). Some of the most vulnerable students will be at a greater risk of receiving sub-optimal education. The authors are a part of a small, centralised media production team looking to reduce such risks by utilising their area of expertise. Distance posed a challenge in providing equitable services to one satellite campus at their institution. Academics did not see the value of driving an hour each way to record content that could sometimes take 5 minutes. Initial video production DIY setups were implemented but had low adoption, poor quality and were plagued with technical issues. In response a remote studio was proposed and funding became available to turn this concept into a reality. In the design of this studio, an important emphasis was placed on creating an equitable experience for academics who would use the space. This studio was required to have all the features of the central campus studio. It needed to be highly configurable so that a variety of recording options could be possible. This included recording pieces to camera with curtains or virtual backgrounds, teleprompter support, interview format, slide presentations with picture in picture and touch screen stylus functionality. This would enable the creation of best practice multimedia informed by key researchers such as Richard Mayer (2012) which had already been proven in the central studio. Other areas of research that informed the design included educator presence (Swan, Garrison, & Richardson, 2009), visibility (Pi et al, 2020), delivery techniques and duration (Guo, Kim, & Rubin, 2014). A point of difference for this studio was that it needed to be fully remotely operated. This objective proved to be the most challenging aspect which required a large amount of research, liaising with suppliers, contractors, and IT. These challenges were ultimately overcome, and a highly functional remote studio was established. After the successful launch and trial of this studio, a similar remote studio was constructed at another satellite campus. These studios have recorded approximately 500 videos across dozens of courses and have provided enhanced learning opportunities for many students. Qualitative feedback from teaching staff of the room has been overwhelmingly positive. The remote studio project was an ambitious and unprecedented undertaking. This experience can be used by other institutions as a blueprint when negotiating the same types of equability issues across multiple campuses.

Our Faculty has embarked on an ambitious multi-year project aimed at taking advantage of lessons learned during emergency COVID online learning and teaching, to develop a set of Faculty principles and implement a transformation of unit

Our Faculty has embarked on an ambitious multi-year project aimed at taking advantage of lessons learned during emergency COVID online learning and teaching, to develop a set of Faculty principles and implement a transformation of unit offerings into a suite of integrated hybrid experiences supporting and connecting students both on campus and online. The challenge we faced was around the traditional way of delivering content and building knowledge as well as how we assess students. To support the transformation process, the teaching staff and the design staff involved, we have developed and continue to refine a collaborative and non-linear design process template in Miro. The template is designed to guide conversations with academic staff about proposed changes to the unit design. It allows entry into the design process at any point that suits the academic and supports an iterative design thinking approach. Additionally, it enables rapid ‘paper’ prototyping of ideas and establishes a common design language amongst teaching and design staff. This template helps rapidly explain current development thinking to others. The fundamental difference of this template and commonly used design processes is the visualisation of connections between learning outcomes, assessments and sequencing of learning activities. This approach to learning design uses digital mediating artefact in facilitating unit design. The template currently shows the design of a unit from its place within a course or courses, all the way down to the finer details of lesson planning. At every turn, it unobtrusively buttresses the design process with reference to selected design and educational theory, and university policy, subtly reinforcing good teaching practice. The following are currently included in the template, and there are plans to incorporate frames that support the development of assessment rubrics, lesson plans and the conceptual development of new units and courses. Curriculum Mapping - places the unit within its course context. Course and unit learning outcomes are mapped to unit assessments. Enables a simple and clear visualisation of unit place in multiple courses where applicable. Unit Delivery Mode - enables integration of face-to-face and remote learning activities, enables visualisation of connections between activities, and helps track unit student workload. Assessment Design - links assessment design to assessment theory - assessment by, for and of learning (Voinea, 2018), enables visualisation of connections between assessments and sequencing of learning activities, marking and feedback. It tracks student workload in assessment preparation. Refining Learning & Defining Content - links to Blooms and Solo and University learning outcome writing guide to guide crafting of unit learning outcomes if they need to change Class Lesson Plan - Enables the visualisation of in-class plans and implementation of University active learning guidelines (4As) (Vella & Ashworth, 2007) Semester Map - lays the entire unit out across a semester timeline. It enables a bird-eye view of the sequence of all unit-related activities. It can be used to compare student learning experience and workload over multiple units in any given semester timeframe.

Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused numerous economic, health and wellbeing issues and significantly disrupted the education sector. In response to the pandemic, universities scrambled to transition from face-to-face teaching to

Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused numerous economic, health and wellbeing issues and significantly disrupted the education sector. In response to the pandemic, universities scrambled to transition from face-to-face teaching to fully online teaching practices. With many institutions being unprepared for such a transition (Jung et al., 2021; Metcalfe, 2021), educators and students faced a variety of challenges, barriers, and opportunities (Garnett, 2021). Critically, one of the opportunities provided by the pandemic was for educators to re-evaluate and re-envision learning and teaching practices (Singh et al., 2022). One area ripe for re-evaluation is the nature of teacher-student relationships. While the teaching profession has long been associated with emotions and connection (Tackie, 2022), the shared experience of the pandemic saw students and their teachers finding themselves in the same virtual lifeboat with the pandemic becoming a universal factor for students and educators, making the processes of learning and teaching even more challenging (Mitchell et al, 2021). Additionally, educators - often called on to act as counsellors and therapists (Tackie, 2022) - found themselves during the pandemic having to manage both their own and their students’ well-being. This Pecha Kucha provides preliminary results and associated reflections of a study undertaken at the University of New England (UNE) while learning, teaching and assessment were being transitioned to fully online delivery. Despite, having a large proportion of classes being delivered online prior to the pandemic, challenges were still faced by UNE staff as they managed both their own and their students’ well-being. Here, technology played a critical role in brokering the shared experiences between students and staff with evidence suggesting that social presence was a critical factor in fostering a greater sense of connection amongst members of the university learning community. In learning design, the importance of connections, interactions, and the socio-emotional aspects of learning (i.e., elements that characterize social presence) are often overlooked and underrated (Ensmann et al., 2021). Consequently, the focus tends to fall on subject matter content coverage (i.e., teaching presence and cognitive presence) at the expense of interpersonal relations (i.e., social presence) (Patel, 2021). Our results suggest a re-evaluation of the importance of interpersonal relationships fostered through social presence is necessary to help ensure positive and well-balanced online learning experiences. At UNE, the interpersonal relationships that emerged during the pandemic - although largely unplanned and unintended - were nevertheless effective in supporting and maintaining student and staff well-being. Due to the critical role interpersonal relationships were shown to play, they should not be left to chance. Accordingly, the building of interpersonal relationships and the fostering of social presence should be intentional outcomes of every learning design.

Open Educational Resources (OER) are defined by UNESCO as “any educational resource that may be freely accessed, copied, re-used, adapted and shared and which are available under an open license or are in the public domain for use without

Open Educational Resources (OER) are defined by UNESCO as “any educational resource that may be freely accessed, copied, re-used, adapted and shared and which are available under an open license or are in the public domain for use without paying royalties/license fees.”(Study On International Collaboration on Open Educational Resources (OER), 2017). In particular, Open Textbooks (a form of OER that provides an alternative to traditional publisher textbooks) has been found to both reduce costs for students (Wiley et al., 2012) and have been found to be as effective or more effective than traditional textbooks (Robinson et al., 2014). In Australia, Open Textbooks continue to grow in use, being developed through grant projects through the Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL) and other groups, however as Stagg and Partridge (2019) note, awareness and understanding of OER and open textbooks is still quite low amongst academic staff in some institutions.Additionally, Lambert and Fadel recommend that more resources be earmarked for creation and use of Open Textbooks(Lambert & Fadel, 2022) In this presentation, an alternative to the widely used PressBooks platform is presented as a work in progress, one that that decentralizes the requirement for a single space to author and store Open Textbooks. PressBooks is an open-source platform for the creation of open textbooks based on the WordPress blogging system. For most organisations, it is primarily implemented as a hosted system, meaning institutions pay for PressBooks to store and maintain their books. Some universities in Australia are exploring PressBooks through pilots that tend to limit instructor access and creation of materials. Inspired by BCCampus’ Open Textbook Repository (https://open.bccampus.ca/) and a lack of accessible options for open learning materials creation, the presenter began to explore alternatives. theopenbook was developed as a Wordpress theme that could be added to any existing Wordpress site, either hosted on WordPress’s free site (www.wordpress.org) or on any university or privately-hosted Wordpress site. It provides a fast and modern user experience and navigation, while also providing easy block-based authorship, license selection on each book, design and accessibility choices, LMS / VLE embedding, upvoting and commenting, with ePub and PDF export currently in development. Like PressBooks, theopenbook allows for more plugins to be added for collaborative annotation, text-to-speech, automatic podcast generation, dead-link checking, H5P integration and even student-editable content, which can build connection between students while also demonstrating learning (Snowball & McKenna, 2016). Providing multiple means of access, in a mobile-friendly and flexible manner provides students with new ways to interact with learning technologies, learning materials, and each other. For authors, it provides fast and way to start creating with minimal professional learning requirements. theopenbook is currently being piloted at https://edtech.une.edu.au/books/, housing all learning materials for the University of New England’s Graduate Certificate in Digital Learning.

Professional and academic staff with a focus on learning and technology are both increasingly present in Australasian universities and seen as vitally important in the delivery of high-quality learning experiences. These professional staff

Professional and academic staff with a focus on learning and technology are both increasingly present in Australasian universities and seen as vitally important in the delivery of high-quality learning experiences. These professional staff often have titles such as learning designers, technology integrators, educational designers and similar. Yet their precise position and role within higher education, and indeed, the requisite skills and knowledge required to successfully perform these roles often remains vague, especially for academic staff with whom they work. These roles became even more important during the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic (McIntosh & Nutt, 2022). These staff often work in what is described as the “third space” (Whitchurch, 2008), a hybridized zone that requires an understanding of different types of learning programs, and ways in which these can be delivered most effectively in a virtual environment (Zellweger, Moser & Bachmann, 2010). In this way, they are boundary crossers (Watermeyer, Crick & Knight, 2021) between the academic and professional spaces, required to work within both, but belonging to neither. This can often contribute to feelings of professional isolation amongst these staff, as well as a lack of clarity about career progression. Mentoring is recognised as an avenue for welcoming new members of the profession. It combines more experienced members with less experienced members and takes the form of regular meetings to discuss challenges and opportunities (Bean & Hyers, 2014; Donelly & Mcsweeney, 2010). The online variant is hardly new, although it has grown significantly during the pandemic (Joseph, Lahiri-Roy & Bunn, 2022). It offers advantages in terms of reach and scalability to participants, although there are potential weaknesses, too. Traditionally, mentoring is an activity that takes place between one mentor and one protégé. However, group mentoring is on the increase. This presentation reports on how a group approach taken in a community mentoring program (CMP) comprised of five staff from different universities (three mentors and two mentees) provided an avenue for third space staff to share their experiences with each other in order to begin formulating a collective professional identity. Group mentoring allowed a greater diversity of experiences and ideas, which in turn contributed to a greater feeling of ‘being in it together’. The CMP became a space for the exploration and discussion of different roles within higher education, as well as the sharing of common experiences, successes and frustrations. Our reflections may inspire you to create a similar opportunity within your own institutions, or through the ASCILITE Mentoring Program.

This study has its genesis in the ASCILITE Community Mentoring Program (CMP), in which the authors are active participants. This program runs primarily for the benefit of ASCILITE Members and involves partnering members from across the

This study has its genesis in the ASCILITE Community Mentoring Program (CMP), in which the authors are active participants. This program runs primarily for the benefit of ASCILITE Members and involves partnering members from across the sector in professional mentoring relationships. The CMP is a vehicle designed to enhance specific knowledge, skills and capacities among the membership, where more experienced members work with those wishing to develop-up their expertise in agreed areas (ASCILITE, 2022). Mentoring has been recognised as an important professional development medium for academics and professional staff working in higher education. These relationships are seen to provide personal growth opportunities that contribute to an individual’s career development and professional identity (re)formation (Qi, in press). Individuals who engage in mentoring are generally team-players, able to function flexibly and in an agile fashion in challenging work environments (Fenwick, 2016; Fenwick et al., 2012). These attributes bode well in building mentoring relationships and sense of belonging. During the mentorship, mentees and mentors build upon their multifaceted competences needed for collaborative, critical and creative work. They take an inquiry-based and reflective approach to build and expand connections, interactions and relational endeavours to potentially align with their personal and professional agenda. They constantly negotiate and self-position in the mentoring space to transcend disciplinary boundaries (Manoharan, 2020). Here, we are conscious of a fundamental question which alludes to mentees and mentors in how they might traverse and relate to their respective professional contexts and concurrently their learning and development opportunities within the mentoring relationships through technology. More recently, Mentors and Mentees leverage the affordances of digital technologies to enhance access to each other, resources and learning across a multitude of contexts. In response to ever-diversified academia in Australasia, mentoring has been perceived as a deep, meaningful and reciprocal learning and developmental avenue. The hybridity of learning and development has created greater opportunities for richer learning experiences and ways to belong (Press et al., 2022). This study employs ‘Third Space’ as a metaphor to reimagine and analyse the relationships and learning of mentors in the mentorship as a co-developmental opportunity. The idea of Third Space derived from cultural theory explores spatial relationships (Padro, 2022; Whitchurch, 2012) and rejects the dichotomy of relationships. It however takes into consideration the contemporary, blended, socially enabled sites for participation and collaboration (Soja, 1996) intersecting with digital technologies. In this sense, mentoring is characterised by the hybrid nature of 21st century learning and development to seed opportunities for new ways of interactions and collaborations across disciplines, to help address the challenges of the modern university (Manoharan, 2020). To help the researchers understand the lived experiences and learnings derived from mentoring, this study has adopted a phenomenological approach that explore the nexus of learning, mentoring and digital technologies. The well-established ASCILITE CMP program then provides the ideal analytical lens into the Third Space, to address the following research questions: How do Mentors experience mentoring, and what do their relationships, learning and development look like? How and in what ways does the Third Space construct position a Mentor’s approach in framing their CMP mentoring activities? To what extent do digital technologies promote a sense of belonging for learning and development in the Third Space? How might mentoring be designed for the Third Space (re)shaped by digital technologies? These questions pose complex concerns. Our empirical study is not necessarily to resolve all these challenging issues. Our point of departure is to raise awareness of mentorship through ongoing critical inquiries, reflexivity and considerations that contribute to the higher education community.

Given the challenges with COVID-19 in the past two and a half years, clinical programs have struggled to find placements where students can get hands on experience assessing and working with real patients. Placements have switched to

Given the challenges with COVID-19 in the past two and a half years, clinical programs have struggled to find placements where students can get hands on experience assessing and working with real patients. Placements have switched to tele-practice or simulations each of which has a range of limitations. A key learning objective in healthcare programs is that students will be able to develop procedural skills, so reduced placement availability impacts students’ opportunity to practice these skills. Learning procedural skills also poses a problem for time-poor educators who must provide feedback to students and opportunities for students to practice in the classroom environment. An online learning tool aims to bridge these learning gaps and address the abovementioned educational challenges. Bridge2Practice (B2P), created by the School of Health Sciences, The University of Sydney, enables health students to practice identification of a range of specific features of clinical interventions and receive immediate feedback. B2P uses patient recordings for the learner to identify features of clinical interactions and procedures and subsequently receive immediate feedback and comparison of their assessment to that of their peers and experts. As such, it utilizes consensus learning and harnesses aspects of successful coaching such as reflection and explicit practice (Cushion et al., 2012; Cushion et al., 2003; Madill et al., 2020), to support the learning and teaching of motor and procedural skills to patients in clinical settings. B2P is freely available 24/7 and is utilised by over 7000 users from more than 14 institutions around the world for research and teaching purposes. It is currently used to support skill development in physiotherapy, sports science and speech pathology students and is integrated with online only and blended-learning educational programs. B2P incorporates features of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) (Dinmore, 2014), an approach to learning that involves embedding engaging and authentic learning opportunities into teaching and assessment using multiple modes of engagement. B2P also optimises relevance, value and authenticity, fostering collaboration and community and increasing mastery-orientated feedback. In a case example of clinical skills of entry-level speech pathology students, we will show B2P’s flexibility in supporting learning objectives and skill development based on a UDL perspective of learning. Students watch and rate a range of clinical videos in B2P to identify features relevant for clinical practice and receive immediate feedback of their ratings compared to experts’ and other students’ ratings of the same sample. This immediate feedback enables students to see the difference between novice and expert ratings, and observe the formation of a consensus answer by the student group. The benefits of practice via B2P is evidenced by a positive correlation between students who engaged with B2P and improved assessment results. Furthermore, B2P was of benefit to staff in saving them thousands of hours of marking and feedback. In the future, B2P will continue to be implemented to promote student engagement in skill development across a range of allied health settings with the capacity for application in other disciplines where interactive skill-based practice is required.

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, technological transformation in higher education was promoted globally. While e-portfolios are not necessarily new as an educational approach, their significance as an alternative online assessment

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, technological transformation in higher education was promoted globally. While e-portfolios are not necessarily new as an educational approach, their significance as an alternative online assessment model increased during this rapid, compulsory shift from face-to-face learning into distance learning modes (Rodriguez et al., 2022). Meanwhile, amidst the unprecedented pedagogical and technological changes, mental health issues are an alarming concern. Students in higher education face stressors impairing not only academic performance and social life but also mental health and wellbeing (Davis & Hadwin, 2021; Hartl et al., 2022; Prasath et al., 2021; Stallman et al., 2022). The significance of developing collaborative, safe and supportive digital environments has been increasingly emphasized by educators and researchers in higher education institutions and universities around the world. However, no previous study has mapped existing studies on the impact of e-portfolio practice on student wellbeing. In that context, the aim of the study was to map and assess published empirical studies on the contribution of e-portfolio practice to student wellbeing in higher education. Our leading research question was: What is known from the existing research literature about the contribution of e-portfolio practice to student psychological wellbeing? A scoping review was conducted using the methodological framework of Arksey and O’Malley (2005). A systematic and comprehensive search of ProQuest, Scopus, Web of Science, Wiley Online Library and Google Scholar databases was performed for studies published between 2012 and 2022. Eligibility criteria were agreed upon among the writers before the review started. One of the authors assessed eligibility in two stages and extracted data using Covidence Software. Where doubts arose, the authors came together to reach an agreement at the full text review stage. The review included 23 papers based on empirical findings and discussions. Five thematic groupings around student wellbeing were identified among the included papers: motivational outcomes, self-perception outcomes, identity outcomes, social outcomes, and self-efficacy outcomes. E-portfolio practice, when designed to allow creativity and communication, seems to contribute positively to student wellbeing in higher education. When it is regarded as summative assessment, on the other hand, it might affect student wellbeing negatively as a stressor. Most of the students have a positive perception of e-portfolios on their personal development, self-efficacy, self-esteem, and motivation. There is also a minority of students reported to see no value in e-portfolio practice and perceive them as a waste of their time. Future research should investigate how and what kind of e-portfolio learning design can help with building resilience and wellbeing among higher education students. More empirical research is needed to develop an instrument to measure the impact of e-portfolio practice on student psychological wellbeing as well as retention and success.

Learning to sail is more than on-water lessons. Prior to the global pandemic 2020, students were required to attend a day of theory lessons before their lesson on the sea. During the crisis, the in-person contact was prohibited. Therefore

Learning to sail is more than on-water lessons. Prior to the global pandemic 2020, students were required to attend a day of theory lessons before their lesson on the sea. During the crisis, the in-person contact was prohibited. Therefore, the learn-to-sail programme continued with students attending the theory lessons online followed by a recording that could be accessed. For the practical part, the students were introduced to an app for virtual sailing experience. However, the synchronous online lessons attracted more attendance (i.e., up to 100 participants per session) than the virtual sailing experience. Voluntary student feedback of 2020 and 2021 reveals that the students enjoyed the online synchronous theory lessons especially when they could re-watch the recording after the lessons to acquire certain skills at different individual paces (e.g., tying different knots). When the Covid restrictions eased and the students were back for their on-water session, the teacher realised that there is more practical time for students as the students were able to relate what they had learnt from the online theory lessons. Most importantly, the connection between the teacher and the students is found to be more engaging and interactive with Q & A than the previous in-class cohorts. Therefore, in 2022, we piloted a learning portal for the Level-1 course to increase the meaningful learning experiences for students. Adopting a theoretical framework (2021) that integrated technology acceptance model (TAM) and theory of planned behavior (TPB), we redesigned the original in-class theory lessons into eight online self-paced modules. Each module is a short video clip that covers a topic followed by a short auto-generated quiz, and the modules are sequenced in a scaffolding manner but the students could re-visit any module(s) as frequent as they need to. The students will receive the feedback straightaway, and they will be able to compare their scores with other students in an anonymous manner. They can re-do the quiz if they wish to and the answers for each question are randomised in every attempt. Pedagogically, the anonymous quiz results allow the teachers to realise the aspects that need to be re-emphasised/re-explained during the practical session. This helps the teachers to reflect if they have taught those aspects well in the modules. Also, the fact that the learning portal becomes a revision resource for the students after the course is beneficial, particularly if the students are embarking onto the next level(s). The insights from the current voluntary student feedback highlight that the sense of connection and reconnection can happen efficiently and effectively when the learning is carefully designed to address student needs, particularly in higher education. The learning portal is self-driven and paced, and largely asynchronous, but the follow-up in person session can then focus on human relationships which are significantly the key ingredients for connection and reconnection among students and between students and teacher in higher education. The enhanced student learning outcomes shows that it is time for us to re-evaluate the ways we use digital tools in the teaching and learning process.

COVID-19 has magnified the need for online deliveries in higher education. This has further driven the necessity to create innovative learning and teaching tools to engage and motivate students. Further innovations can also assist in the

COVID-19 has magnified the need for online deliveries in higher education. This has further driven the necessity to create innovative learning and teaching tools to engage and motivate students. Further innovations can also assist in the training of practitioners to deliver quality health remotely. This panel will introduce virtual learning tools used in teaching and practice, and will discuss the benefits and challenges in developing and implementing these into curriculum across disciplines. The focus will compare the use of virtual learning tools to deliver health education, and related practices to its use in other disciplines of Teacher Education, Computer Sciences and the Arts. This session will explore how virtual reality (VR) technology, simulation and game engine have been applied across different disciplines and identify areas of challenge. For example in pharmacology education, the decline of laboratory activities globally is the impetus to develop VR resources to fill this pedagogical gap

Since the dawn of online learning, educational institutions have wrestled with evaluating Learning Management Systems (LMS) to find a solution that best meets their many and varied needs. These needs include the pedagogical, technological

Since the dawn of online learning, educational institutions have wrestled with evaluating Learning Management Systems (LMS) to find a solution that best meets their many and varied needs. These needs include the pedagogical, technological and organisational, but central to each of these is the need for a platform that maintains and extends connections between learners and educators. In this light-hearted panel discussion, our presenters will attempt to prove that their chosen LMS is the best. Through this absurd adversarial tussle, the audience will come to appreciate the nuances and complexities of LMS partisanship and some limitations of evaluative frameworks.