Authentic learning experiences: complementary organizational strategy for academic professional development

There are numerous websites and considerable literature which describe approaches to learning and teaching using a range of technologies in higher education contexts for academic staff. Further, that as academic staff development is increasingly recognized as having an essential role to play in the recasting of ways in which teachers work with students and how students best learn, that this is an area ripe for new consideration. It is the author's contention here, that embracing the role of student, as a lived experience, can assist academic developers in reconsidering and renewing their conceptions of learning and teaching. This could go in some part in informing the practice and processes of academic staff developers in understanding, promoting and supporting flexible learning modes

Why the student voice? The case for investigating the distance learners' experience of ICT in distance education

In recent years the student experience of higher education in general and distance education in particular has been strongly influenced by wide scale uptake of internet based learning approaches, internationalisation and an expanding distance education market, amongst many other trends. As competition within the sector increases because of access to the WWW and other in-country socio-political influences, the push to attract and retain students is becoming a key issue for institutions. Understanding the distance student’s voice in relation to these trends and developing appropriate responses to ensure a satisfactory learning experience is becoming of critical importance. This paper reports on a work in progress. It discusses some of the trends influencing students’ learning in our increasingly borderless world and outlines a rationale for investigating the student voice to meet the unique needs of the distance learner. It describes approaches that will be adopted by a consortium of Australian and New Zealand distance education providers to undertake this work

The adventures of Miranda in the brave new world: learning in a Web 2.0 millennium

This paper looks at the implications of Web 2.0 technologies for university teaching and learning. The latest generation of undergraduates already live in a Web 2.0 world. They have new service expectations and are increasingly dissatisfied with teacher‐centred pedagogies. To attract and retain these students, universities will need to rethink their operations. New social technologies mean that universities have the chance to create a new generation of student‐centred learning environments, to realize the idea of a University 2.0. The following discussion draws upon a fictional character in order to capture the possible futures of such a brave new world

Distance learners: connected, mobile and resourceful individuals

In recent years the student experience of higher education in general and distance education in particular has been strongly influenced by the wide scale uptake of Internet based learning approaches and an expanding distance education market, amongst many other trends. As competition within the sector increases because of access to the WWW and other in-country socio-political influences, the push to attract and retain students is becoming a key issue for institutions. Understanding the distance student's voice in relation to these trends and developing appropriate responses to ensure a satisfactory learning experience is of critical importance. This paper reports on a recently completed study that explored the distance learners' experience at one dual-mode Australian institution. The paper outlines a rationale for investigating the student voice to meet the unique needs of the distance learner. It describes the approaches that were adopted to undertake the research and discusses some of the main themes that emerged from the study - individualness, connectedness, quality, mobility, and resourcefulness. The paper concludes with considerations for policy and practice in relation to utilising the distance learners' voice in enhancing distance learners' experiences

Distance learners: connected, mobile and resourceful individuals

In recent years the student experience of higher education in general and distance education in particular has been strongly influenced by the wide scale uptake of Internet based learning approaches and an expanding distance education market, amongst many other trends. As competition within the sector increases because of access to the WWW and other in-country socio-political influences, the push to attract and retain students is becoming a key issue for institutions. Understanding the distance student’s voice in relation to these trends and developing appropriate responses to ensure a satisfactory learning experience is of critical importance. This paper reports on a recently completed study that explored the distance learners’ experience at one dual-mode Australian institution. The paper outlines a rationale for investigating the student voice to meet the unique needs of the distance learner. It describes the approaches that were adopted to undertake the research and discusses some of the main themes that emerged from the study - individualness, connectedness, quality, mobility, and resourcefulness. The paper concludes with considerations for policy and practice in relation to utilising the distance learners’ voice in enhancing distance leaners’ experiences

Managing projects for change: Contextualised project management

This paper will detail three projects which focussed on enhancing online learning at a large Australian distance education University within a School of Business,School of Health and School of Education. Each project had special funding and took quite distinctive project management approaches, which reflect the desire to embed innovation and ownership at the instructor and student interface. By responding to the stakeholder requirements these three projects provide insight into a) how integrated professional development serves to enable change in practice; b) why leadership at both junior and senior levels of the organisation is an important driver to support instructor engagement for real change; c) what role external private contractors can play; and, d) how instructors were integrated through the varied project management approaches. The integrating theme of the paper is instructor engagement for real change. Each project will be detailed as mini-cases and key lessons drawn out that describe and explain the challenges, opportunities and scope of varied project management approaches to suit the distinct four contexts. This paper builds on and brings together considerable investigation into how we can support and enhance dissemination of a variety of project-based models that respond to contextual needs and issues. The multiple school case study methodology serves to provide an approach that is both robust and cognisant of current trends in increased university investment through shortterm project funding. The final recommendations will highlight how different approaches to project management are both desirable and essential for successfully embedding change of instructor practices for enhancing student learning in distance education modes

Why the student voice? The case for investigating the distance learners' experience of ICT in distance education

In recent years the student experience of higher education in general and distance education in particular has been strongly influenced by wide scale uptake of internet based learning approaches, internationalisation and an expanding distance education market, amongst many other trends. As competition within the sector increases because of access to the WWW and other in-country socio-political influences, the push to attract and retain students is becoming a key issue for institutions. Understanding the distance student's voice in relation to these trends and developing appropriate responses to ensure a satisfactory learning experience is becoming of critical importance. This paper reports on a work in progress. It discusses some of the trends influencing students' learning in our increasingly borderless world and outlines a rationale for investigating the student voice to meet the unique needs of the distance learner. It describes approaches that will be adopted by a consortium of Australian and New Zealand distance education providers to undertake this work

Findings from the USQ students' experiences and expectations of technologies survey 2012

The Students' Experiences and Expectations of Technology Survey (SEETS) was designed to provide USQ with an understanding of how its students are currently using the technologies they have access to in support of their learning and how they might like (intend) to use them in the future. It also investigated the differences between their use of technologies for academic purposes compared to their use in everyday life. This survey was originally used by three universities in Sydney in 2010; Macquarie, UTS and UWS (Gosper, Malfroy, McKenzie & Rankine 2011), and was broadly based on both the ECAR Survey, originally developed by EDUCAUSE (ECAR, 2008) and the Great Expectations of IT Survey (JISC, 2008) from the United Kingdom. Since its original use in 2010 some of the terminology was updated to reflect the use of more recent popular online tools and trends. To help determine which tools should be included in the survey reference was made to the work of The Horizon Project, a project of the New Media Consortium (http://www.nmc.org/horizon). This project regularly highlights the technologies likely to impact on teaching and learning in universities for the foreseeable future. However, it was also recognized that not all students, and in this case USQ students, have access to, or use the latest technologies (Kennedy, et al., 2008), it was therefore important to ensure the survey also covered the use of more traditional technologies (email, SMS, mobile phones), together with the more recent cloud based technologies

Academic Professional Development to Support Mixed Modalities

This chapter will explore professional development (PD) of academic and teaching staff in the use of technologies to support learning in mixed modalities including blended and online modalities in higher education contexts. The authors will explore current practices in both face-to-face (f2f) and online/distance education contexts. A succinct annotated review of key seminal and recent texts will be provided of current trends in relation to PD of staff and the implications that arise from this research for practitioners. Two very different but relevant examples of PD will be provided to bring the discussion to life: (i) at the Open University, UK, and (ii) at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia

Virtual tutor support using SMARTHINKING: Preliminary findings

The University of New England (UNE) has been using a virtual tutoring service called SMARTHINKING since 2007. UNE explored the use of a "virtual tutor service" to support distance education students in their academic development; to reduce attrition; and to provide academic support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to all students with access to a computer irrespective of geographical location. A cascading selection of units across different disciplinary areas and cohorts of students were targeted for the virtual tutorial support service over 6 semesters to provide rich data. A survey consisting of 20 questions was developed and implemented at the end of each teaching period. Preliminary analysis of data indicates that SMARTHINKING appears to be making a difference to student learning outcomes. However, while uptake tends to be low in all cohorts but where students select to use the service they are positive about its effects. Keywords: SMARTHINKING, student feedback, virtual feedback Introduction Tertiary institutions have been continuously making use of new technologies to enhance student learning and to improve student competition and retention rates ___________________________________________________________________________________ Proceedings ascilite Sydney 2010: Full paper: McDonell, Parkes & Tynan 596 Since the first pilot in 2008 an evaluation cycle has investigated the use of the virtual tutor support for students called SMARTHINKING. The investigation and evaluation cycle will conclude in 2010. The preliminary findings presented here describe the methodology for the evaluation and an example of the findings at this stage. The research team were interested in how SMARTHINKING is used by students and staff; sentiment towards the use of SMARTHINKING; identification of the reasons for any hesitancy towards the use of SMARTHINKING; best practices examples and evidence of impact for learning; costs and benefits; and any lessons learned. The research will provide recommendations on the investigation of use of tools within about the further use of SMARTHINKING and evaluate use for blockers, issues, and best practices that could be re-used by other groups