Network of Australiasian Tertiary Associations: a space for discussion, collaboration and advocacy in tertiary education

This presentation explores the development of a network focused on enhancing network leadership in tertiary education associations. The Network of Australasian Tertiary Associations (NATA) is an Office for Learning and Teaching (OLT) project that aims at facilitating a sustainable collaborative network between established higher education associations. NATA provides a space for discussion, action and advocacy on key issues pertinent to the Australasian tertiary environment. Members of NATA comprise Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ascilite), Australasian Council on Open, Distance and e-learning (ACODE), The Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia, (HERDSA), The Council of Australian Directors of Academic Development, (CADAD), Open and Distance Learning Association of Australia (ODLAA), Australian Academic and Research Network (AARNet) and Netspot. Networks are important hubs for the development of new ideas and are discussion and dissemination spaces for individuals and communities. The project is now focused on progressing achieving the NATA's key objectives through three strategic activities. These comprise: ● Disseminating the ALTC Good Practice Reports through the development of asynchronous 'E' Resources, completed in partnership with report authors ● Conducting research into the network and network leadership through interviews, focus groups and surveys ● Supporting partner associations to engage in small-scale projects aligned with the key objectives of both the NATA and their association to provide value to the sector and strengthen communication and engagement of NATA partners. Through the creation of collaborative connected spaces for discourse and action, the NATA aspires to develop a model that will influence policy, research and learning and teaching in the Australasian tertiary environment

Gazing into the future of Sri Lankan higher education: capacity building for the future

This paper reports on an investigation into capacity building processes in relation to e-learning resource development and delivery (RDD) in a Sri Lankan higher education institution. The capacity building was investigated in three main areas: strategic planning, institutional capacity building, and the resources acquisition processes. The project investigated the embedding of e-learning into the Sri Lanka Institute of Advanced Technological Education (SLIATE). Like many other higher education institutes SLIATE aspires to excel in providing quality teaching and learning facilities and quality learning experiences. The research project concentrated on the exploration of areas of capacity building within the academic community at SLIATE by identifying possible improvements to the management of e-learning RDD. The paper focuses on the findings in relation to the effectiveness of the capacity building process in e-learning resource development and delivery, and how this could assist SLIATE students with their learning

On-line communities

The term 'virtual communities' has increasingly been applied to communication networks in which the participants focussed on a common topic are not located in the same geographical place, but are distributed across the globe. Unfortunately the term seems to have almost as many definitions and descriptions as the 'traditional' communities of place, and arguments still emerge as to what is and is not an online community. Yet it is important that we have at least a clear working definition, even if we amend or reject this subsequently. We cannot begin to clarify how online communities actually function, nor compare their successes and failures to the operations of a physical 'on-site' community, if we cannot agree what constitutes such a community, and by definition, what does not. This is not as easy as it may seem. The difficulty is that 'community' appears to mean different things to different groups of people, some of whom even deny that there is such a concept, or that it is a useful way of thinking. Though most early work related to the concept of community as a physical territory where residents interact, there was also a contrasting view of community as 'an interactional field held together by the human need to interact with other human beings' (Allen, 1993, p.156). Due to the ability to utilise the internet to create abstract places (virtual offices, hybrid libraries, online work spaces, and spaces for peer-to-peer interactive games), representations of the self (online identities), and abstract interactions (with other identities and with automated tasks), (Streibel, 1998) it is this latter view of community which has come to be applied to online social networks. This is perhaps unfortunate, as an increasing number of formal and non-formal online communities are being utilised to sustain some very meaningful and substantial learning support activities for learners in higher education

Assuring best practice in technology-enhanced learning environments

This paper documents the development and findings of the Good Practice Report on Technology-Enhanced Learning and Teaching funded by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC). Developing the Good Practice Report required a meta-analysis of 33 ALTC learning and teaching projects relating to technology funded between 2006 and 2010. This report forms one of 12 completed Good Practice Reports on a range of different topics commissioned by the ALTC and Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching (OLT). The reports aim to reduce issues relating to dissemination that projects face within the sector by providing educators with an efficient and accessible way of engaging with and filtering through the resources and experiences of numerous learning and teaching projects funded by the ALTC and OLT. The Technology-Enhanced Learning and Teaching Report highlights examples of good practice and provides outcomes and recommendations based on the meta-analysis of the relevant learning and teaching projects. However, in order to ensure the value of these reports is realised, educators need to engage with the reports and integrate the information and findings into their practice. The paper concludes by detailing how educational networks can be utilised to support dissemination

Starting with the end in sight: 1st year outcomes of a course embedded e-portfolio

The paper describes the use of an ePortfolio in the first stage of an undergraduate Program/Degree, a Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood & Primary). The unique aspect of this initiative is that it is planned to be embedded throughout the course over the four-year program

Using Computer Technology to Enhance Problem-Based Learning

The focus of this paper is on how computer technology can be used to enhance the effectiveness of clinical problems in a problem-based medical curriculum. Visual/audio triggers are being used in the medical course at The University of Melbourne to set the stage for clinical problems by introducing students to a virtual patient, and to some of the circumstances surrounding the hypothetical situation. Digitised photographs, Shockwave movies, digitised video segments or a combination of these media types act as entry portals into the on-line "problems of the week". In designing the triggers our aim was to create authentic images that would "suspend the disbelief" of students and allow them to approach each problem as if it were a real life clinical scenario

Digital futures research and society: action, awareness and accountability

The contemporary Higher Education research environment demands ‘real-world’ impact as a key means of accounting for public sector funding. As such, there is increased pressure on researchers and research institutions to ensure research delivers outcomes for public good. This paper reports on research focused on a Digital Futures collaborative research program. The aim of the research was to explore how researchers and research stakeholders understand research impact. Impact was articulated as ‘making a difference’ however that ‘difference’ was translated by research participants as meaning the tangible impacts relating to quantitative components of research activities. The more subtle influences of research impact on society were less well articulated. Results from this research suggest that in the complex world of impact, action, awareness and accountability, as elements of research practice, are key to creating maximum value from knowledge creation initiatives