2006: ASCILITE 2006 Companion Materials

Blended learning has become a prominent trend in university learning and teaching. This raises various questions for traditional distance as well as face-to-face universities internationally and in particular in Australia. A key area where

Blended learning has become a prominent trend in university learning and teaching. This raises various questions for traditional distance as well as face-to-face universities internationally and in particular in Australia. A key area where many issues arise is the development process to create effective digitally-enhanced learning environments within a blended learning milieu. A comparative study of Australian Universities has been conducted in 2006 to identify factors in the development of learning materials and environments that support effective blended learning that is digitally enhanced. The prominent team-approach for the development of learning materials (Bates, 1993; DEC working party, 1989; Garrison, 1989; Holmberg, 1995) has been one of the foci of the study. Innovative approaches have been identified in learning material development that could benefit both Australian and international universities that are pursuing blended learning which is digitally enhanced.

Educational settings in tertiary institutions these days are often constituted by characteristics that address the specific needs of today’s culture. One of these needs is the notion of being free of time and place constraints. Typical

Educational settings in tertiary institutions these days are often constituted by characteristics that address the specific needs of today’s culture. One of these needs is the notion of being free of time and place constraints. Typical scenarios resulting from such needs are distributed group settings whose communication and collaboration is supported by technology. This paper focuses on the use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in a teacher education class. We will describe the flexible implementation of chat rooms and discussion forums as communication means in computer-supported learning settings. Special emphasis is placed on students’ perceptions of media usage and their development as the learning process unfolds. Initial results show that a low level of ICT experience as well as ICT usage in private settings do not provide a sufficient skill set to cope with ICT usage in learning settings. We underestimated the initial low level of ICT acceptance as well as participants’ difficulties to adapt existing ICT skills from private usage to application in learning settings. The occurring difficulties are not an exceptional phenomenon in teacher education in higher education institutions. Special attention has to be paid to particular needs of students in teacher education.

The use of information and communications technology (ICT) has an increasing influence on teaching activities in higher education. Material such as online pre-laboratory work can be accessed by students off campus at any time to allow

The use of information and communications technology (ICT) has an increasing influence on teaching activities in higher education. Material such as online pre-laboratory work can be accessed by students off campus at any time to allow students some timetabling flexibility whilst offering the university a cost effective means of delivery. This poses the question: does one version of any online activity benefit students with different levels of prior knowledge? This study investigated the effectiveness of online pre-laboratory work modules on students’ learning and their academic performance in a related practical exercise and the final examination. It clearly demonstrated that students, with a relatively poor chemistry background prior to commencing university study, who completed the module performed significantly better in a laboratory titration assessment and final examination than those who did not complete it, indicating the benefits of the module for students with weaker chemistry backgrounds. Furthermore, this study has shown that not all students benefit from the one version of the online modules. Therefore, adjusting the online modules to cater for students with varying levels of prior knowledge may be beneficial in helping all students to achieve improved outcomes.

The World Wide Web as a source of information retrieval has become increasingly important. Web-based environments allow for combining different representational codes and addressing different sensory modalities which might be especially

The World Wide Web as a source of information retrieval has become increasingly important. Web-based environments allow for combining different representational codes and addressing different sensory modalities which might be especially beneficial for users with special needs (e.g., for blind people or for people with reading and writing disabilities). Our study investigates which representational formats are beneficial to foster recognition and understanding of mentally retarded users. As factors, we varied modality (visual, visual + auditory) and codality (text, text + pictures) aspects which led to a 2*2 design, whereas visual information was presented by means of symbols. Dependent variables were recognition, understanding, concentration and motivation. Participants are students from schools for special educational needs. Preliminary results show that they profit mostly from auditorily presented information whereas purely textual information leads to the lowest performance. This is in line with our expectations because research shows that only a few learners with mental retardations are able to process written language in a meaningful way. The studies are still being conducted and we expect final results within the next weeks. These results will be presented and discussed with respect to their implications for ways to make web-based environments more accessible to disabled users.

eLearning advocates in campus-based universities in Britain and in Australia are having difficulty helping senior budget holders and strategic planners articulate a vision for eLearning in a campus-based experience. Too often sensible

eLearning advocates in campus-based universities in Britain and in Australia are having difficulty helping senior budget holders and strategic planners articulate a vision for eLearning in a campus-based experience. Too often sensible plans for embedding eLearning support and infrastructure in the learning and teaching systems of campus-based universities are put to one side because there is insufficient confidence by the executive of being able to justify why such investment is needed. This can be as simple a problem as being unable to talk about eLearning and its contribution to the whole student learning experience convincingly for non-specialists. Further adding to such confusion is the fact that academics at the executive level may still hold old conceptions of eLearning being predominately about distant learning and can not envision why or how eLearning should be part of the reputation of a predominately campus-based institution. This special discussion session at ascilite 2006 will discuss the nature of this phenomenon and strategies for how to begin to talk about and plan for integrated eLearning experiences in which eLearning is part of a more meaningful whole. Ideas and understandings that help non-specialists in the executive will be sought in discussion with the audience and the panelists. The experience of British universities engaging in an international benchmarking program and the experience of Australian universities grappling with these problems will provide a substantial framework in which to discuss the issues. The panellists have significant and diverse experience: The chair, Associate Professor Rob Ellis, is Director of eLearning at the University of Sydney. Professor Shirley Alexander is about to take up a position as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Teaching, Learning and Equity) at the University of Technology. Eddie Gulc is Senior Advisor for eLearning in the Higher Education Academy in England. Professor Sandra Wills is Director of CEDIR at the University of Wollongong.

ascilite, in partnership with education.au and ACODE, have completed a preliminary investigation for this project with The Carrick Institute of Learning and Teaching in Higher Education. This session will provide an overview of ascilite's

ascilite, in partnership with education.au and ACODE, have completed a preliminary investigation for this project with The Carrick Institute of Learning and Teaching in Higher Education. This session will provide an overview of ascilite's contribution and will also explore education.au's models of use to engage higher education. We will call for expressions of interest from ascilite members to contribute to the next stage of the project.

In this session we wish to project an encouraging and supportive view of the editorial role. Editors, and reviewers, are not there as all powerful, ruthless guardians of high academic rigour, putting down all authors except the lucky or

In this session we wish to project an encouraging and supportive view of the editorial role. Editors, and reviewers, are not there as all powerful, ruthless guardians of high academic rigour, putting down all authors except the lucky or highly ranked few. The more important role in relation to authors is as advocates, developers, coaches, even 'guides on the side'. Editors do have other roles that are also important to authors, so we will use a little time, in 'Journal policies', to discuss scholarly publishing as an industry and how societies, editors, libraries and the commercial world have responded to the ICT revolution.

Successful dissemination of elearning designs and digital resources created to support them implies real use by others. Continuing discourse at institutional and national level on strategies for dissemination implies that observed reuse

Successful dissemination of elearning designs and digital resources created to support them implies real use by others. Continuing discourse at institutional and national level on strategies for dissemination implies that observed reuse remains limited. To achieve this on a broad scale benefits must be greater than the efforts of meeting the challenges faced. The goals of this symposium are to: Bring together people who have either experienced a migration/ reuse/ repurpose and lived to tell the tale and reflect on the experience, and/or who have researched such lived experiences; Promote discussion about experiences, issues and recommendations for facilitating use in universities of existing elearning designs and the digital resources created to support them. The realities, rather than the rhetoric, of dissemination, adaptation and use will be the focus of this symposium.

This Symposium presents some of the research of members of the eChina-UK programme. The programme is funded in the UK by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, and its purpose is to bring about cultural awareness and good

This Symposium presents some of the research of members of the eChina-UK programme. The programme is funded in the UK by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, and its purpose is to bring about cultural awareness and good pedagogic practice between teachers and higher education institutions in the UK and China. Collaboration between UK and China teachers and researchers is a key feature of the programme.

Participants will: develop a general understanding of the capabilities of eLearning in enhancing online interactions; view a variety of working examples in which the Web can be used for learning (either offline or online); be involved in

Participants will: develop a general understanding of the capabilities of eLearning in enhancing online interactions; view a variety of working examples in which the Web can be used for learning (either offline or online); be involved in hands-on sessions for each of the 3 types of interaction in which they try out the working examples; (3 types of interaction within this workshop are enhancing interactions with content, with instructors, and with peers). be involved in discussions regarding the potential benefits and drawbacks to learners and facilitators of eLearning by using a specially designed eLearning decision worksheet.

The workshop is based on the outcomes of the e-CDFi 423 Information Literacy e-Learning Modules project, funded by the Tertiary Education Commission in New Zealand. The aim of this 2-year project is to develop a range of on-line modules

The workshop is based on the outcomes of the e-CDFi 423 Information Literacy e-Learning Modules project, funded by the Tertiary Education Commission in New Zealand. The aim of this 2-year project is to develop a range of on-line modules, predicated on the ANZIIL standards of information literacy (Bundy, 2004ii), and amenable to adaptation and use in a range of contexts. The project was conceived to address four main areas in the tertiary sector associated with information literacyiii learning: Barriers to tertiary study which can occur as a result of poor information literacy skills and the diverse needs of marginalised, mature and distance students. A shortage of high quality online information literacy modules which are reusable, portable and have pedagogical flexibility. A need for professional development opportunities for staff in the area of information literacy. A tertiary sector requirement for centrally maintained and managed, standards-conformant, online resources in this important foundation field.

Engaging the online learner remains a major challenge for e-learning designers and facilitators. How do we inspire the learner and energize the learning environment without any visual clues and when learning is not taking place

Engaging the online learner remains a major challenge for e-learning designers and facilitators. How do we inspire the learner and energize the learning environment without any visual clues and when learning is not taking place concurrently? This workshop introduces some of the basic concepts of engaging and collaborative learning design for online environments. Workshop participants will be given an opportunity to experience hands-on what it takes to make this happen. At the end of the workshop, the participants will be able to: discuss and construct principles for engaging learning design for online delivery; explain what makes an effective online learning design to foster collaborative learning; design an inspiring online group activity; recommend facilitation approaches to promote a ‘learner-centred’ learning experience in a virtual learning environment.

The workshop is designed as an interactive and participative session where the presenters will pose key challenges in the creation of emergent, engaging, interactive and motivational online learning environments. Using multi-disciplinary

The workshop is designed as an interactive and participative session where the presenters will pose key challenges in the creation of emergent, engaging, interactive and motivational online learning environments. Using multi-disciplinary perspectives, participants will engage in discussions and activities designed to contextualise these challenges and develop environmentally-specific design and development solutions for their individual online learning programs. On completing the workshop, participants will also have a set of tools to support the construction of their own “online architectures”. The expertise of Dr Kays and Dr Sims in the international higher education sectors, in instructional design, learning design and contemporary online learning environments will ensure that participants will develop their knowledge and skills to maximise the success of their own online teaching and learning practice. At the end of this one-day workshop, participants will have: reviewed and critically reflected on the key components for effective online learning; analysed the major issues that confront and prevent designers from achieving the full potential of online learning; synthesised the key elements required to construct Architectures for Online Learning, including emergent design, proactive evaluation and interaction metrics; participated in a case study of their own workplace environment to implement contextual and functional Online Learning Architecture; access to a full set of resources and tools to develop and implement more complex online learning architectures within their workplace.