Teaching and learning in virtual worlds: is it worth the effort?

Educators have been quick to spot the enormous potential afforded by virtual worlds for situated and authentic learning, practising tasks with potentially serious consequences in the real world and for bringing geographically dispersed faculty and students together in the same space (Gee, 2007; Johnson and Levine, 2008). Though this potential has largely been realised, it generally isn’t without cost in terms of lack of institutional buy-in, steep learning curves for all participants, and lack of a sound theoretical framework to support learning activities (Campbell, 2009; Cheal, 2007; Kluge & Riley, 2008). This symposium will explore the affordances and issues associated with teaching and learning in virtual worlds, all the time considering the question: is it worth the effort

Open educational practices in Australia: a first-phase national audit of higher education

For fifteen years, Australian Higher Education has engaged with the openness agenda primarily through the lens of open-access research. Open educational practice (OEP), by contrast, has not been explicitly supported by federal government initiatives, funding, or policy. This has led to an environment that is disconnected, with isolated examples of good practice that have not been transferred beyond local contexts. This paper represents first-phase research in identifying the current state of OEP in Australian Higher Education. A structured desktop audit of all Australian universities was conducted, based on a range of indicators and criteria established by a review of the literature. The audit collected evidence of engagement with OEP using publicly accessible information via institutional websites. The criteria investigated were strategies and policies, open educational resources (OER), infrastructure tools/platforms, professional development and support, collaboration/partnerships, and funding. Initial findings suggest that the experience of OEP across the sector is diverse, but the underlying infrastructure to support the creation, (re)use, and dissemination of resources is present. Many Australian universities have experimented with, and continue to refine, massive open online course (MOOC) offerings, and there is increasing evidence that institutions now employ specialist positions to support OEP, and MOOCs. Professional development and staff initiatives require further work to build staff capacity sector-wide. This paper provides a contemporary view of sector-wide OEP engagement in Australia—a macro-view that is not well-represented in open research to date. It identifies core areas of capacity that could be further leveraged by a national OEP initiative or by national policy on OEP.</p

New models for digital government: the role of service brokers in driving innovation

Executive summary Digital Government strategies are being rolled out in many Australian and international jurisdictions, ushering in a fundamentally different approach to the design and delivery of public sector services. Digital Government makes digital services (usually delivered through internet and mobile channels) the default delivery channels for the majority of services, and places them at the centre of innovating, designing and operating government services. Public sector or independent service brokers are increasingly important to delivering and designing these services. Service brokers are organisations or businesses that enable customers to interact with other organisations through easy-to-use and seamless interfaces. In the digital realm, a public sector service brokers example is one that provides a customer-focussed portal, such as the Federal Department of Human Services’ MyGov website. Independent service brokers from the private or community sectors can also provide greater service choice and innovation in how people interact with governments. Models for independent service brokers include Digital Mailboxes and Personal Safeboxes (eg Australia Post); public transport information service brokers (eg TripView, Tripgo and Google Transit), taxation service brokers (eg Xero and MYOB Online), community service brokers (eg HubCare) and access brokers for government services (eg public libraries, online access centres, etc) to assist those unable to access digital services. It is likely that the ambitious goals for large-scale adoption of digital government will only be achieved if governments encourage the involvement of independent service brokers to complement the role of public sector service brokers. However, there is currently little guidance on best practice models for agencies seeking to collaborate with independent service brokers or the other way around. This report addresses this critical knowledge gap by providing a practical guide to the service broker model. It explains the different roles of public sector and independent service brokers and provides case studies of service broker models. This will help to inform digital government strategies and policies to encourage the development of public sector and independent service brokers. It also considers how the emergence of a marketplace of service brokers will raise important issues such as how customer data is managed and protected, identity assured and how research and analysis of the data generated by these digital services can help inform better public policies and service improvement

Sustainable eLearning in a Changing Landscape: A Scoping Study (SeLScope)

The report begins by exploring the concept of sustainable e-learning - defining it and establishing its characteristics in the context of Higher Education. To ensure a sound and systematic process, the review is informed by a five-phase methodological framework for scoping reviews by Arksey and O'Malley (2005). Examples and perspectives on the concept of sustainable e-learning are summarised and key factors impacting on sustainability are abstracted. highlights potential gaps and suggests directions for further research on the topic

The silver lining: cloud computing and small and medium enterprises

This paper shows how Australian businesses can get the most out of one of the biggest global innovations: information communications technology. Overview: Innovation – the successful application of new ideas – drives Australia’s productivity. Australia’s biggest innovation opportunity lies in creatively exploiting global innovations. One of the biggest of these is information and communications technology. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are an engine of the Australian economy. They employ two-thirds of Australian private sector workers and contribute half of Australia’s private sector GDP. Yet many SMEs have low productivity. Innovations may spread slowly to many smaller firms because they lack the capital or market intelligence that large firms can access. Online innovations – including mobile devices, e-commerce, and cloud computing – offer opportunities for firms of all sizes to become far more productive. This paper explores issues raised at a workshop run by Grattan Institute and Google on how policymakers and business can accelerate the spread of cloud computing among SMEs. It uses cloud computing – the delivery of on-demand information technology services over the Internet – as a case study for how online technologies can benefit smaller firms. Cloud computing can help level the playing field for smaller firms. It allows them to access sophisticated IT services that were previously out of reach. For example, it can allow them to manage and monitor their sales, operations and finances in real time. The cloud also offers capabilities that were previously unavailable to firms of any scale. For example, it allows multiple users to access applications or update documents at the same time from mobile devices. Cloud computing makes it easier for small firms to take new ideas to market. Firms that use cloud computing report more growth in revenue and profit than others do. But many Australian SMEs say they do not use cloud services. Many are not aware of the benefits or believe they do not have skills to capture them. Some are concerned about transition costs, data security and privacy. Networks are too slow or unreliable for cloud services in some areas of the country. Workshop participants agreed that government and industry can remove obstacles to the use of cloud computing and help SMEs capture its benefits. The industry itself should lead the education of SMEs on the case for cloud computing. Yet government can: &nbsp;Choose policy settings that promote broader productivity growth and innovation; &nbsp;Ensure interaction with government over the internet is the default for all businesses; &nbsp;Provide an appropriate policy environment for investment in broadband networks that meet the needs of small business. Information technology’s contribution to productivity is just getting started. Small and medium enterprises should get on board