From the comforts of print to the possibilities of digital media: leading the way in teaching political leadership in a faculty of arts

Since it inception, Deakin University has been committed to the delivery of innovative, high quality course materials to its off campus students. Until recently these packages were predominantly print based, although augmented with audio-visual materials delivered in cassette format. Ironically, with the advent of information and communications technologies (ICT), and some select computer assisted learning and multimedia packages, there was an overall decline in the use of audio and video as important means of enhancing learning. Like many other universities, Deakin has moved to a strong, centralised approach to the provision of its digital and online corporate technology environment. With investment in these technologies has come a renewed interest in the ways in which text and audio-visual materials in digital form can enhance students\u27 learning experiences. Moreover, the ways in which a variety of digital media supported by online developments can create new models and approaches to teaching/learning has figured prominently. This paper presents a case study of how this challenge has been taken up in a unit, Political Leadership, in the Faculty of Arts. The academic teacher\u27s intentions in moving to a completely digital approach are examined along with students\u27 experiences of learning in the subject. Issues are considered from the experience. <br /

Framing the role of technologies in the recognition and development of staff capacities to enhance learning in higher education

There are practical initiatives which can be taken by university management to move institutions forward by engaging a broad range of staff and in cultivating leadership capabilities in teaching and learning. These initiatives are considered in terms of 12 &lsquo;levers of engagement&rsquo; currently being implemented in our university, and shown below. Deakin, as a major flexible education provider, is used as an institutional case study of the role of technology in supporting organisational change in higher education. Many of the levers of engagement are evident in other Australian universities.<br /

Implications for ID practice of Instructional Designers' Cultural Identities

Are there social and political purposes for design that are culturally based? A growing body of research is concerned with the design of culturally-appropriate learning resources and environments, but the emphasis of this panel is on the instructional designer as the agent of the design. Colloquially put, if we design for ourselves, we should understand the sociocultural influences on us and how they inform our practices. We should also develop respect for, and learn from, how various global cultures address similar design problems differently. This panel includes instructional design scholars and practitioners from a range of geopolitical regions, who will share culturally-based narratives and metaphors of ID, and invite participants to do the same. (Authors' abstract

Cultural factors affecting the adoption of e-learning in Turkey

This paper reports findings from an ethnographic study of e-learning adopters in Turkey and examines ways in which cultural factors shape the adoption and use of information technology for online teaching. This research focuses on influential early adopters in the tertiary education sector in Turkey who have become change-agents by inspiring small networks of their peers. The study examines the operation of trust and inspiration in networking and teamwork in the Asian academic environment. The key findings of this research are that the early adopters become change agents in small groups and networks and that the process of adoption relies heavily on social networks and connections. Findings from this research can assist individuals and institutions to better understand ways in which to optimize the online teaching and learning experience for staff.<br /

Cultural factors behind the growth of e-learning in Malaysia Academic guanxi

This paper aims to discover and examine ways in which cultural factors shape the adoption and use of information technology for online teaching. This research focuses on influential early adopters in the tertiary education sector in Malaysia who have become change-agents by inspiring small networks of their peers. The study examines the concept of guanxi to understand the operation of trust and inspiration in networking and teamwork in the Asian academic environment. This study points to the importance of developing guanxi, through the middle-down nurturing of peer networks, in developing a rich and rewarding environment for the development of online teaching.<br /

Case study of e-learning experts in Malaysia : impact of social capital and social networks

This paper examines the experiences of selected academics pioneering e-learning in Malaysian tertiary institutions. It begins with an overview of the broad factors shaping the Malaysian educational environment and then proceeds to examine the experience of individual teachers and e-learning programs. It takes an in-depth qualitative approach to engaging with this case study material drawing heavily on semi-structured interviews with key actors.Conversations with several respondents suggested that the social networks of mentor relations found in the Malaysian case studies might be aptly described as &lsquo;bamboo networks&rsquo;. Bamboo, which happens to be plentiful in the Malaysian peninsula where these case studies are based, spreads from clump to clump through a series of underground connections involving a mature clump of bamboo sending out a subterranean runner, often over very long distances that then emerge into the open as a new bamboo clump.All of those interviewed reported that they have found it difficult to find a support base in their first years of pioneering online developments. Consequently, they tended to fall back on their peer networks linked to the institutions at which they had studied. Prominent individuals championing e-learning in the institutions where they teach tend to form small groups for information sharing and networking. They do look to their management for tacit &lsquo;permission&rsquo; rather than direct encouragement. Consequently, the active promotion of e-learning in Malaysia can be described as being &lsquo;middle-down&rsquo; rather than &lsquo;top-down&rsquo; in nature. That is to say, it is mid-level teachers that inspire those below them to join in the development of e-learning programs. They are internally driven and strongly motivated. In time, their activity should produce new generations of locally developed e-learning experts but this has yet to take place in a substantial fashion. This study shows that both men and women &lsquo;academic guanxi&rsquo;, or peer networks, play a key role in the adoption of online technologies. Key early adopters become change-agents by inspiring a small network of their peers and via their guanxi networks. It was also discovered that motivation is not simply an individual matter but is also about groups and peer networks or communities of exchange and encouragement. In the development of e-learning in Malaysia, there is very little activity that is not linked to small clusters of developers who are tied into wider networks through personal contacts.Like clumping bamboo, whilst the local clusters tend to be easily seen, the longer-range &lsquo;subterranean&rsquo; personal connections are generally not nearly so immediately obvious. These connections are often the product of previous mentoring relationships, including the relationships between influential teachers and their former postgraduate students. These relationships tend to work like bamboo runners: they run off in multiple directions, subterranean and unseen and then throw up new clumps that then send out fresh runners of their own.<br /

Social capital framework in the adoption of e-learning

This is a study of the influence of social and cultural factors on the adoption of e-&shy;learning in higher education in Malaysia, Indonesia, Turkey, Singapore and Australia. Particular attention in each case was given to factors relating to social capital, attitudes and patterns of behavior in leadership, entrepreneurialism, and teaching and to broader sets of attitudes that shape general outlook. A case study approach was chosen in order to enable a richer and more finely grained analysis of the issues. The case studies are based on semi-&shy;structured interviews and observations conducted over several years. This research shows that previously known factors that affect the adoption of e-&shy;learning in higher education, namely, policy, guidelines, paradigm shifts and pedagogical change, are also significant in the contexts of each of the case studies in this research. However, this research shows that the adoption and uptake of e-&shy;learning technologies is also strongly shaped by cultural and social factors but not in ways that might first have been expected. It is not so much that there are specific cultural and social factors relating to specific e-&shy;learning technologies, but rather, that the degree of uptake of these technologies depends on teachers being encouraged, guided and assisted to innovate and adopt new technology. This can only occur when there is sufficient social capital, mediated through appropriate social networks, to build trust, overcome objections and anxieties, and generally motivate staff to engage in challenging, time-&shy;consuming initiatives in e-&shy;learning that generally do not promise immediate rewards.Certain culture-&shy;based issues emerged as important. These included staff mentoring, clustering through &lsquo;bamboo networking&rsquo;, trust-&shy;building and overcoming fear of &lsquo;losing face&rsquo; (kiasu), facilitating women to take the initiative and lead, developing sensitivity to cultural differences, encouraging entrepreneurialism and rewarding pioneering endeavours, all of which were present in varying degrees across all five case studies. There were subtle variations on a central theme, which was clearly that of the impact of social capital as a driver. It was social capital played out through personal relationships and social networks that most strongly influenced individual teachers to be sufficiently motivated to add to an already busy schedule by taking on the additional burdens of pioneering e-&shy;learning technology and it was those social relationships that provided guidance and ongoing encouragement. As a consequence of these findings, this study offers a social capital model of e-&shy;learning adoption, which suggests that the adoption and uptake of e-&shy;learning technologies is strongly shaped by cultural and social factors.<br /