2021: ACODE Whitepapers

ACODE Whitepapers

• Survey of micro-credentialing practice in Australasian universities 2021 An ACODE Whitepaper – October 2021

  Ratna Selvaratnam, Steven Warburton, Dominique Parrish, Suzanne Crew

  Since the last whitepaper, there has been significant progress in the sector at a national level. Highlights of current and recent work to provide guidance to the higher education sector in Australia include the work by the Department of Education, Skills and Employment (DESE) in setting up a Micro-credential Marketplace. As a prelude to that, a working group produced a framework that will guide the establishment of the Marketplace. Universities Australia also produced a Guidance for the Portability of Australian Microcredentials. At a global level, UNESCO has produced a draft preliminary report attempting to produce a common definition of micro-credentials, in consultation with global experts. Another global effort of note is pulling together an international Taxonomy, Quality Criteria and Quality Grid by the International Council on Badges & Credentials, acknowledging the important need to move to digital micro- credentials. The data from the 2021 ACODE survey will help institutions to contextualise local activity and effort against this larger global backdrop of work in the micro-credentialing space. The method employed in this survey is similar to previous years. ACODE members were given the link to the Qualtrics survey via the members’ forum and subsequently follow- up emails were sent as reminders where needed. With participants’ permission, the responses are collated and shared with ACODE members as per usual practice of knowledge sharing and wider dissemination via presentations and publications. Members who are unable to answer the survey with the information needed were encouraged to consult or ask other colleagues in the institution with expertise in the area, ideally at Pro-Vice Chancellor level, to respond to the survey.

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• Returning to lectures in 2021

  Michael Sankey

  With the advent of COVID-19 in 2020 and the ensuing social distancing measures adopted in relation to large gatherings, universities in the Australasian higher education sector found themselves unable to run traditional face to face lectures, or large tutorials. This necessarily meant that all institutions had to adopt alternate approaches to providing the key information to students that would normally be done in a lecture format. In many cases institutions pivoted quickly and implemented a range of online strategies, while others changed the forms of delivery altogether, replacing their traditional lectures with other forms of information sharing. But now, as we move into 2021, and the social distancing restrictions that most jurisdictions put in place have been relaxed somewhat, it is important to understand what institutions are intending to do in relation to returning to face-to-face lectures.

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• Virtual Collaboration and Groupwork in Online Learning and Assessment

  Sherre Roy, Michael Sankey

  This white paper is a consideration of factors raised by universities prior to and during the ACODE 83 Workshop on Virtual Collaboration and Groupwork in Online Learning and Assessment, held online in April 2021. The workshop offered the opportunity for participants to share and discuss how things like collaboration and groupwork in learning and assessment may have changed due to the rapid shift online. It also considered the affordances of online and blended environment, and more specifically what equity/inclusion challenges have arisen from this, and how various universities have addressed these challenges. Prior to the workshop, a 10 question survey was distributed to the ACODE Membership with a focus on gaining insights into the collaboration tools currently being used in the learning and teaching context. This information was drawn-on during the workshop and used as discussion starters. The survey was completed by 32 Australasian Universities. An extension activity was also conducted during the Workshop that sought to identify further issues organisations faced in the design and delivery of virtual collaborative learning. This paper will first share insights from the initial survey, followed by further insights gained from the extension activity. It will conclude by drawing some high-level ideas drawn from both activities.

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